Keeping his bride

Luca

T

HE NEXT MORNING, I wake up with Verona curled up in my arms. I’ve never slept with a woman in the same bed before, so at first I’m confused and disoriented by her warmth enveloping me. I stare down at the top of her head and study her beautiful face and the way her long, dark lashes are fanned out over her cheeks.

God, she’s beautiful, I think to myself.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Something changed between the two of us last night. To know that I’m her first for everything, that she trusted me enough to give up her virginity makes me feel…I don’t know…protective of her. And it’s more than just a possessive feeling like I don’t want anyone else to play with my toy. No, I want to protect her in a way that makes me want to kill anyone for looking at her the wrong way.

Sure, I still view her father as my enemy. But just like Benito told me the other night, Verona is innocent, just like my mother was. I need to stop taking my anger out on people who don’t deserve it. And Verona definitely doesn’t deserve that.

I pull her closer to me and kiss the top of her head. She doesn’t even stir. No, she’s fucking exhausted. And she has good reason to be. I couldn’t get enough of her last night. I would wake up with my cock aching for her or my tongue watering for a taste of her. I devoured her pussy too many times to count. And the way I was able to just wring orgasm after orgasm out of her made me feel like a powerful sorcerer. She came for me on my command. Only me.

I pull her impossibly closer, my cock longing to be inside of her again even though I had her several times last night. I know I need to give her a break today. I have no doubt that she’ll be sore when she wakes up.

But as soon as she’s ready, I’ll have her again and again and again. Last night wasn’t enough to quench my thirst. I’m practically starving for her.

Reluctantly, I roll her over to the other side of the bed and slowly crawl out. I stare around the bedroom. It’s opulent; there’s no doubt about that. But it’s time for a change. Knowing that she’s in here all alone every night is no longer an option for me. I need her close. Having her in my arms last night and waking up with her in them this morning was an indescribable feeling, and I need to experience it more than once.

I dress quickly and fish my cell phone out of my pocket, texting Benito some instructions. And then, after looking longingly back at Verona one last time, I return to my room for a much-needed shower. Even though I would love to, I can’t stay in bed with her all day long, ravishing her. She needs a break from me even though I know I won’t be able to give her much of one.

Verona

I

WAKE UP the next morning…or afternoon? The sun streaming through the windows makes me think that it’s way too late for morning. Panicking, I sit up and glance at the clock on the nightstand. It’s nearly two in the afternoon. I slept in. Really slept in. But after last night, I was so exhausted that I’m sure I could have slept even longer.

Swinging my legs over the bed, I stand up and instantly feel the soreness between my legs. I have a pressing urge to pee, and I go to the bathroom to take care of my business.

After I’m done, I wash my hands and stare at myself in the mirror. My hair is all messed up and out of place, my lips are swollen, and I look like I was thoroughly fucked. A smile lifts the corners of my mouth as I remember that I truly was. Luca couldn’t keep his hands to himself last night, and I know that he spent the entire night with me.

He left at some point this morning, though. Not that I can blame him. I slept most of the day away, and Luca has a business to run.

I walk out of the bathroom and go to the closet to look for an outfit for the day before I take my shower. But when I turn on the light, I realize all my clothes are gone. The only thing left hanging is a robe. Shocked, I grab the robe and wrap it around my naked body.

Walking back into the bedroom, I realize the clothes I had on last night are gone. Running into the bathroom, I glance into the shower. Not surprisingly, everything is gone from in there as well.

Cinching the tie around me tighter, I try to wrack my brain as to what is going on. Is Luca throwing me out? All of my stuff is gone, so that can be the only explanation. He screwed me, and now he’s gotten his fill of me. I’m no longer useful to him.

Fuming, I stalk out of the room and head downstairs. I pass Dante on the way, and his eyes look me up and down before his dark brows furrow.

He stops me in a hallway. “What’s wrong? What did he do to you?” he asks quickly.

“I need to talk to Luca. Where is he?” I ask hurriedly.

He motions over his shoulder towards the kitchen. “He just finished lunch.”

I walk in the direction of the kitchen with Dante on my heels. I burst through the swinging door and see Luca smiling, talking to one of the head chefs. He looks like he’s in a good mood. Probably because he got laid and the fact that he’s probably moving in a new girl soon enough to take my place.

I storm into the room, and Luca turns, his smile fading as he stares at me in confusion. “Verona,” he says before his eyes dart to Dante behind me.

“You took my things!” I stop an inch in front of Luca, hating the fact that I have to look up at him to meet his gaze. “Are you throwing me out? It wasn’t bad enough you had to fuck me between my legs. You have to fuck me by kicking me out of your house too?” I practically scream.

The entire room is silent as Luca stares down at me. A smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth, and I want to smack it right off of him. “I moved your stuff into my room, Verona,” he says calmly. “And just so everyone knows,” he says, glancing around the crowded room, “Verona is not going anywhere.” He makes it a point to look in the direction of Dante behind me before his eyes return to mine. “Now, if everyone will please leave the room, I think my wife and I have a misunderstanding we need to correct.”

It doesn’t take long for the staff, cooks and Dante to clear the room.

“I didn’t know you’d wake up so…hostile,” Luca says with a grin. He steps forward, forcing me backwards until my back hits the wall. Then, he’s caging me in with his

arms. “Can you still feel me inside of you?” I nod in response as my core clenches.

He leans down to my ear and whispers, “Are you sore?” “Yes,” I whisper with a shudder.

“That’s a shame,” he says softly before placing a kiss on my neck below my ear. “I’ll give you some time to recover, but I can’t wait long, Verona. I need to be inside of you again. Soon,” he threatens before taking a step back away from me.

His phone rings, and he’s quick to pull it from his pocket. When he glances at the screen, he tells me, “I need to take this. Why don’t you go to my…our room and get ready?” he asks, correcting himself. “I want to take you somewhere nice for dinner tonight.”

Then he walks away from me while he takes the call, leaving me breathless. Damn him. I wanted to be mad at him, but he turned my world upside down once again. He moved my stuff into his room. No. Our room. That’s what he had said. Our room.

I’m practically on cloud nine when I leave the kitchen. I’m barely halfway across the dining room when someone grabs my arm and hauls me backwards.

Dante’s piercing dark glare is on me as he stares me down. His hand is around my arm in a bruising grip as he asks, “You fucked him?”

“Dante, what are you doing?”

“Answer me!” he demands, gripping me tighter and no doubt leaving finger-shaped bruises on my skin.

“He is my husband, Dante,” I explain quickly, grimacing from the pain. I can see the possessiveness in his eyes and exactly what Luca has been warning me about. Dante likes me for more than a friend, but I’ve never returned his feelings, and I definitely won’t now that I’m married. “Let me go. You’re hurting me!” I hiss.

My words seem to have an effect on him, because he finally releases me. “You’re really taking this lie of a marriage too far, V,” he says.

“It’s not a lie.” Not anymore. But I don’t add that last thought. Maybe it felt like a farce at first, because Luca and I are so different, and he treated me so badly at first. But last night something changed between us. I don’t feel inferior to him anymore. I feel like I’m his equal. He wants me as much as I want him, and I think we could honestly make this marriage work even if we were forced into it at the beginning. “I just want to be happy,” I confess to Dante, who sneers at my words.

“It’s only a matter of time before he breaks your heart. Don’t come crying to me when he does,” he says before walking out of the room.

His words stay with me for a long time after that. Will Luca break my heart? I mean, it’s highly likely. But we are legally bound by marriage. It’s not like he can divorce me or walk away. We’re stuck in this union together. And if last night is any indication as to the kind of life we could have together, then I’m willing to take a chance…even if it means getting hurt in the end.