Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Most likely, he hadn’t even noticed. He’d barely made it down the stairs to join the party, and exhaustion sapped his senses.
I’d taken note of it. And I was wary that Dante hadn’t come to meet with my father once since the wedding. I had no idea what his next move might be. He hadn’t declared open war on me, but he hadn’t come back into the fold either. For all appearances, he seemed to be running his business as usual. The money was still coming in from his various enterprises, so there was no reason for my father to be suspicious.
I would never trust the sadistic bastard.
So, I’d been working long hours away from Nora, coming home to find her already asleep in our bed. I hadn’t fucked her in the harsher way I truly wanted since the night I’d taken her virginity, a delay I wasn’t keen to continue. After the reception, she’d been too traumatized by her sick cousin’s attack for me to touch her sexually. And in the days since, I’d been more cautious in how I handled her. I’d made sure she experienced pleasure when I claimed her body, but I hadn’t been fully satisfied.
I hate you. Every time her acerbic words needled my mind, they dug a little deeper. I didn’t want to share my life with a woman who hated me. And I certainly didn’t desire Nora’s disgust.
On the night she was assaulted by Alberto, she’d shown remarkable strength and resilience. And she’d never once crumpled and sobbed since I’d kidnapped her and forced her into this marriage. She’d told me that men had beaten her throughout her life, but she still possessed fire in her soul. I’d liked that defiant fire the first time I’d taken her over my knee. I didn’t want to be the one to snuff it out.
I’d been more careful with her than I would like since the reception, sparing her from my darker needs. I liked taking care of my pretty bride, but I didn’t intend to deny my desires for the rest of my life. She would learn to accept them; I would teach her to love my more deviant plans for her.
I just had to woo her outside the bedroom, and she would be more amenable to trusting me to fuck her however I pleased. This could be a happy marriage, if I could just convince my beautiful wife not to hate me.
She watched me warily as I approached her in the library, sinking slightly deeper into her plush armchair and pulling her book protectively up to her chest. Nora didn’t fear me, exactly, but she always tensed when I neared. Particularly now, when I was in a deviant mood. She must’ve been able to read something darker in my demeanor, because she licked her lips in trepidation and desire.
Perfect. My pretty wife was learning to please me, even if she didn’t realize it.
I planned to take another step in her training.
I held out my hand, beckoning. “Come here.”
She was breathtakingly graceful when she unfolded herself from the chair and got to her feet. She truly did have a dancer’s form. I relished the prospect of admiring her at my leisure. I hadn’t wanted to marry, but Nora would be a good companion for me. There were worse fates than having such a striking woman in my bed and at my side.
She looked up at me, curiosity sparking in her hazel eyes despite her attempt to put on the composed mask that I hated. She couldn’t seem to help herself; she always tried to hide behind it, a lifelong mechanism for self-preservation.
I could be patient with her. I loved slowly making her come undone as I tempted and provoked her by turns, until the real woman underneath was panting and moaning in my arms.
“I have a surprise for you,” I told her, watching every nuance of her expression.
Her eyes sparked before she blinked away the moment of anticipation. An arrogant, satisfied smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Yes, she would like this. She would love every aspect of what I was about to give her.
“You don’t have to give me anything,” she murmured, demure behind that false serene smile.
I touched two fingers beneath her chin, lifting her face so that she was locked in my steady stare. “I want to give you things, Nora. I can make you happy. Let me.”
Her brow furrowed slightly, the mask starting to crack. “You really mean that?”
She still didn’t believe me.
I caressed her cheek. “Why would I want my wife to be miserable?” I reasoned. “We can have a good life together, kitten.”
Her lips no longer pursed with irritation when I used the endearment.
My smile widened. She was doing so well.
“What’s the surprise?” she asked, avoiding my more serious assertions about our future.