Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Holy fuck. I take a shaky breath. “I don’t know how marriages work where you’re from, but here in the US, a marriage is a partnership. Equals.”
His movements slow as he focuses on my terrified stare, his arm locking around my waist and holding me to him. “No, Sweet Angel. This marriage is only for the public and to keep your identity concealed. When we are in the confounds of my home, we will continue as originally discussed. Nothing changes. You belong to me, Chiara. I am a powerful man, and I cannot simply give up that power to another. I was not raised that way. Already succumbing to your many requests has been a challenge.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call that succumbing.”
“No?” he questions with an arched brow, his fingers dipping inside the material of my dress and brushing across my lower back. “I do not think you realize just how much pull you have over me.”
I suck in a breath, swallowing hard over the lump in my throat as my heart races erratically. A little over a week ago, my life looked like a sack of shit, and I could have sworn that it would only go downhill from there. But now, Killian DeLorenzo, the most wanted and powerful man in the world, is looking at me as though I hold his whole future in the palm of my hand.
Words escape me, and he spins me around, letting the silk gown flow out around me before pulling me back in, allowing me a small chance to collect myself and process his words. I gaze up at him, feeling the stare of every last person in the room. “I think . . . I would very much like to be your wife, not just in the public eye.”
His face softens as he brushes his fingers down my spine. “You’ve been with me a week, Chiara. You do not understand what it is you are asking.”
“Perhaps not,” I agree. “But I know how I feel, and I know that this electricity between us isn’t something you come by every day. Don’t tell me you can’t feel it.”
“Of course I feel it. From the moment our eyes connected in that warehouse, I could feel a connection to you. Your soul cried out for help, and I’ve been mesmerized since that very moment, but that is no reason to take you as my wife in a world you are not yet familiar with. I know you may not see it this way, but it would be cruel. When I truly make you mine, it will be with your eyes wide open.”
He spins me again, our pace slowing as the words spoken between us start to hold so much weight. “I’m terrified of what this life with you could mean, but at the same time, I’m also terrified that you’ll let me go.”
“I know, Sweet Angel.”
He pulls me back into his chest as my heart continues to race. Somehow, my life has turned into some kind of twisted fairy tale, and all my darkest fantasies have become reality. Only, I don’t get to take home the hero. I get the villain, and it’s ten times more thrilling than having a white knight could ever be. I mean, damn. I doubt a white knight would have the balls to plunge a butt plug so deep in his girl’s ass the first time he touched her.
A sly grin pulls at the corner of my mouth, and I watch the way his eyes spark with excitement. “Just for the record, I’m no sweet angel.”
“Oh, I know. You’re the devil in disguise, and I’m going to enjoy fucking you into submission.”
He dips me low before I get a chance to say a word, and the way he looks down at me so full of desire makes my whole body clench with need. He pulls me back up against him, this time knocking the breath right out of my lungs. “You will stand at my side at the head of my family as my queen, and you will learn to play the role. It will take time, and there will be trials and tribulations, but one day, once you’re fully able to grasp the magnitude of who I am and what I do, you will embrace this new world.”
I stare up at him, absolutely dazzled by this perfectly lethal man. Then before I even get a chance to figure out how to respond, his full lips are crashing down on mine. I sink into him, my eyes fluttering closed as something settles within me.
His tongue delves into my mouth, claiming me as his own, just as he did the very first time I saw him. I was his then, but I can’t help to wonder if he is mine now.
I kiss him back, letting him feel the rush of emotions I’ve felt over the past nine days. The fear, the anxiety, the nerves, the unadulterated passion, and the raw need I feel for him.