Page 39 of The Mafia's Bride
That grin turns excited at the prospect. “Oh, I hope so, little menace. It’d be terribly boring if I didn’t like my womenfighting.”
His lips are firm as they press into mine. It’s brief, the rubbing of flesh that’s meant to be clinical but it steals my breath, robbing all logic. It takes away my fight and leaves only a wake of intense desire so strong, I nearly fall.
I sway as he pulls away, the sudden movement reminding me that I’m supposed to do something. So, I clamp down, raking my teeth into his sensitive bottom lip and pull.Hard.
He winces, blood staining the side of his mouth. Victory flares in my chest at having taken him down a peg.
“That’s my girl.” He dabs his handkerchief to his mouth before holding our joint hands over our heads.
The crowd cheers, clapping loudly to see our union solidified.
I hate how a thrill of pride shoots through me at the simple praise.
16
LEX
The silence of the hotel suite rings in my ears as I leave the chaos of the wedding downstairs.
Two rival families coming together with alcohol? It doesn’t make for kind words or warm handshakes and affectionate cheek kisses. It brings up all the old tensions, old grudges that a wedding between two families can’t end overnight.
By the third drunken fight, in which a cousin punched a brother for something they did as children, I knew it was time to go. Nico and Maria were downstairs, handling the guests while Maeve handled the venue. Somehow, Nico negotiated a large monetary deal for Sloane’s marriage in exchange for the contract. A real-life dowry, paid for by her sister, another insurance that she’s provided for.
It didn’t matter to me. De Luca coffers ran deep just like O’Brien.
Placing my back against the door, it takes me a moment to realize my new bride is in the suite, already undressing for the night.
It would have been easy for her to disappear. If I didn’t take the precaution.
All the doors and windows had been sealed. Extra cameras were set up. And that gorgeous diamond wedding band—Maria’s engagementring—was rigged with a tracking device. I didn’t trust my new wife not to flee the moment my back was turned.
Taking in the slip of skin I see through the cracked door, it’s easy to give into the fantasy that this is like every other wedding night. A new bride waiting for her groom to attend her. As a child, I always knew I wanted to be married, to be the man and husband my father never was for me and my family.
But this isn’t any normal marriage. Sloane is not a typical bride.
I’d be remiss not to notice how she entered the church, a total vision in her white dress, bright red curls a beacon in the dark. But it was the flashing in those green eyes—eyes that promised my ruin that kept my attention.
Her body deserves to be dressed in jewels, covered in soft silk, but those eyes?Mio Dio. They’ll break me, shatter me if given enough time.
Rubbing a thumb over my still sore lip, I smile in remembrance. It wasn’t enough for her to kiss me, she had to leave a lasting impression. What does it say that I enjoyed her abuse, because I knew it was that inner strength I enjoyed most about her.
Sloane’s fighting might be a normal drawback for others, perhaps a way to push those less deserving away. But it’s heated my blood with an intense longing I can’t rid. I still want to wrap my hands around her throat, but fuck if I don’t want to pull her close too.
Just the idea that she is mine—fully, legally—now makes my head spin. I’ve never been like this before, never this tied up over a woman.
Never have I been this pulled toward one person, all logic, all reason flying out the window whenever they’re concerned. It goes beyond the physical. I want Sloane in such a way that I want a piece of her heart tucked into my chest, kept with me so I’m never alone, never without her again.
She moves again, drawing me to notice the slope of her back, the dainty curve of her neck. I want to know my new wife, but there’s another reason roaring inside of me. A need to have her, feel her. Claim her as mine in the most primal of ways.
I can still taste her release on my tongue. See how her eyes rolled back into her head as I shoved my fingers into her mouth.
Would she let me do it again? Have her so completely that she’s at my mercy?
I need to find out.
I hide in the crook of the door, watching her. The fluffy dress falls to the ground and she steps out, still in those thin white spikes and the white thong that I could break with my teeth.
Everywhere else, she’s naked. Her full breasts hang free, her gold cross right above them reflecting the soft lighting from the beside table.Mio Dio. She’s a Goddamn fallen angel and I’m ready to fall to my knees for just one scathing word from her red lips.
