Fire roars through my veins and yearning spears through my soul, but I replay my mother’s threat from this morning in my mind and wait until the worst of the storm subsides. I can’t leave Tristan all alone in that fucked up household.
I open my eyes. My heart leaps as a muscle ticks along Giorgio’s jaw. Expecting to find him glaring at me, I blink in surprise and confusion at the softness in his gaze.
He drops his forehead to the wall beside my ear, surrounding me with his bulk and ghosting his breath over my sensitive skin, but when I shiver, he loosens his grip on my throat.
Heat pools low in my belly. As terrifying as it is to have his hand encasing my throat, I like the way it feels, and I know I should hate it, but an odd sense of security flows through me.
“I should apologize, but I don’t think I can,” he murmurs oh so close to my ear.
I scoff.
“What, are you going to excuse your horrible behavior like a high school bully? Aren’t you too old for that? I didn’t even go to high school, and I—”
He flexes his fingertips into my jugular, so I stop my nervous tirade.
“I thought you graduated. What do you mean you didn’t go to high school?”
I swallow and stumble through my explanation.
“I was homeschooled. Well, online learning. At home. In fact, I rarely leave my house. I-I need my routine. I’m not against marrying you, truly. I just want to stay home until after our wedding. Give me some time to adjust to the change.”
When he doesn’t immediately refute me, I hold my breath against the hope rising in my chest.
He relaxes his fingers against my throat and brushes the pad of his thumb along my jawline. Shivers travel down my spine at the unexpectedly gentle and intimate caress.
“Do you want to marry me?”
I stiffen at his loaded question.
“I didn’t know I was getting married until this morning,” I answer.
His low chuckle arrows straight to my core.
“You knew before I did, then. My father ambushed me a few minutes before you arrived.”
Shock filters through me at his wry honesty. My tongue loosens.
“I didn’t know it was you I was marrying until I walked through your front door,” I say.
For some ungodly reason, I can’t stop challenging him at every turn.
“You win this round by a handful of minutes, then. I half expected a scrawny little kid covered in frills to stomp into the foyer. Maybe that’s why I can’t keep my hands off you. You’re too fucking gorgeous, mia topolina.”
Electricity buzzes through me as he skims his nose over the shell of my ear and traces his thumb higher on my chin, barely teasing my bottom lip. I push against his chest and tilt my face away from him.
He growls and nips my ear in displeasure. I gasp at the delicious sting and struggle to comprehend his words as he speaks.
“You said you were okay with this. Why are you shying away?”
I take a shuddering breath and swallow before responding.
“It’s just so sudden. Please, Gio—” I stop myself from saying his name as his warning rings in my ears. “Please don’t yank me away from the only constant I’ve ever had in my life. Let me live at my home until our wedding.”
“Why would I do that? Why would I limit my access to you when I could have you naked in my bed twenty-four seven?”
The guttural quality of his voice as he nuzzles my temple and teases my neck, ear, and face with his fingers sends throbbing interest through my belly.
“If I can have dinner and breakfast with my family and sleep in my room at night, I’ll do anything you want.”
“Anything?”
Only an idiot would miss the dirty suggestion in his tone. I dig my knuckles into his rock-hard muscles and ignore the desperation filling my voice.
“Yes.”
“Prove it,” he whispers against my ear.
Tendrils of dread sneak through my chest, but I firm my resolve and remind myself nothing is too drastic if it means protecting my brother.
“How do I prove it?” I ask, even though I already know what he’ll say.
“Kiss me.”
I pause, taken aback by his answer. I expected something much lewder, especially since he already stole a kiss from me.
“Okay, I can do that,” I say before I try to think my way out of it.
“A real kiss, Aurora. Not some hesitant, teenage fumbling, but a deep and dirty kiss to prove how much you want me. Make me hungry. Make me hard. Make me desperate for you.”
He licks the shell of my ear. I bite back a groan and press harder against the wall.
Part of me wants him hotter and hungrier than he is now, but I’m already overwhelmed by his attention, so I’m not sure I’d survive more.
I can’t fail my brother, and there’s no point in denying Giorgio since our parents insist we marry, so I push aside my misgivings and open my hands to press my palms against his chest.
“Okay. I’ll do it. I’ll kiss you.”
Even to my own ears, I sound like I’m giving myself a pep talk. He lifts his head and pins me in place with the intensity of his gaze.
For long, endless moments, I drown in the depths of his eyes. Almost dark enough to appear black, his irises hide a rich brown hue.
He’s going to eat me alive. An inferno rages in my core. I skim my hands up to his shoulders—his strong, impossibly wide shoulders—and fight an entire flock of butterflies as his attention dips to my lips. He pushes my chin up with his thumb and spans his thick fingers around my neck.
I dig my nails into his shoulders and lock my muscles, halting his descent, and search his expression.
“Wait. I know you don’t have the final say, but if I do this, you promise you’ll help me? Promise you’ll fight for me, even if it means going against both of our parents?”
My ribs ache as I hold my breath, waiting for his answer.
It would be so easy for him to lie to me—or just take what he wants—but no matter how cruel or demeaning he’s been, I can’t help but trust him.
First impressions leave a mark. He may not remember, but our reunion in the foyer wasn’t the start of our relationship, and neither was the mortifying incident six years ago when I fainted at his feet.
His low, animalistic rumble turns my bones to mush.
“I’d fight the world if you asked me to, so just give me a goddamn kiss already.”
It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, but my heart flutters and heat pulses between my legs. I pull him down to me before I lose my nerve.
He eagerly bends down but stops with his lips a millimeter away from mine. I close my eyes, rise onto tiptoes, and press our lips together, praying I don’t fuck up what could be my only chance to earn Giorgio Vivaldi as an ally.
When he doesn’t open his mouth or further the kiss, panic grips my heart, but the softness of his lips enchants me. It’s fascinating how such a tall, dark, and lethal man could have even an ounce of softness on his impressive body. Even if it’s only his lips, my curiosity wins, and the lump of embarrassment and fear lodged in my chest dissipates as I explore him.
His hot breath warms my face as I brush my lips over his.
It’s not enough.
I test his bottom lip with my tongue. When he doesn’t take over, I lose myself in cataloguing every centimeter of his lips, teeth, and tongue, until urgency sweeps me away and I can no longer discern where I end and he begins.
Every cell in my body animates. Need throbs in my clit. My nipples harden. Wetness dampens my panties.
He pulls back. I chase him. He tightens his grip on my throat and stops me.
Reality crashes down on my head. I shake from head to toe, but I can’t unsheathe my nails from his nape.
I don’t know when I released his shoulders and started clawing at the back of his neck, but his heavy-lidded gaze tells me he doesn’t mind. In fact, his lopsided smirk encourages me to do it harder. To scratch him deeper. To leave my mark on him.
Despite my death grip on him, he doesn’t press his body to mine.
Did I do something wrong? Am I reading too much into his expression? Is he mocking me again?
“You’re fucking delicious, mia topolina. More. Again.”
I tuck my face against my arm mere milliseconds before his mouth crashes onto mine.
“I-I did what you asked. I kissed you. You promised.”
He groans and drops his forehead to my temple.
“I did. I will. I’ll fight for you, Aurora.”
Weight lifts from my shoulders and I sag against the wall. My shoulders and neck ache from the odd angle, but I don’t dare let go of his nape.
My reprieve doesn’t last.
He flicks the tip of his tongue over my cheekbone in a teasing lick before dropping his mouth to my jawline and brushing his lips over my flesh as he speaks. His half whisper, half growl travels down my chest and throbs in my nipples.
“But I never said I’d stop touching you. I’ll protect and ravage you at the same time.”
I twist my fingernails deeper into his nape and whimper as he nips and licks his way down the side of my throat.
“No, wait. You can’t.”
“I can and I w—”
We both startle as I slap my palm over his mouth, and for an absurd moment, I wonder who moved my body without my permission. My heart pounds in my throat. I swallow and consider peeling my hand off his face but decide to trust my knee jerk reaction.
“Don’t say it. Man of your word, remember?”
After a terrifying moment, the cold fury in his gaze fades away, so I rush to explain.
“You can’t protect me if you knock me up without legal ties already in place.”
He quirks a brow.
“No matter what our parents say, their verbal agreements won’t hold up in a court of law.”
His eyes darken. I press my palm harder against his mouth and continue.
“I know, I know, in this lifestyle, a man’s word is supposed to be law, but… I don’t trust them. I know it sounds stupid, but we should sign a prenuptial agreement before—”
He removes his forearm from the wall for the first time in forever and pulls my hand away from his mouth. His thick fingers cover most of my forearm as he holds my wrist.
“Is this part of some elaborate, convoluted scheme? Did your mother put you up to this?”
I suffer a keen sense of abandonment as he rises to his full height, forcing me to release his nape, but his fingers still wrapped around my throat keep me grounded.
“No! I don’t know what my parents are thinking, which is why I don’t trust them,” I say.
When his skepticism doesn’t wane, I swallow and touch the wrist near my throat. He flexes before loosening his grip and sliding his hand to my collarbone, pinning me back against the wall. With my other arm trapped in his and held above my shoulder, a wave of powerlessness washes over me, but I firm my resolve.
My brother’s safety and future are more important.
“I don’t want your money. I want your protection.”
The hard edge leaves his expression.
“The prenuptial would be for us. To protect you and me against whatever our parents hope to gain from our union.”
Funny sensations flutter through my belly as he sharpens his attention to my eyes.
“Write whatever conditions you want in the agreement. I don’t care, as long as we’re both legally protected if things go sideways…” I decide to take a chance and include my next thought, even if it means his fury returns. “Which includes protection from each other.”
After a few tense moments, he quirks his brow and lifts his arm, forcing me onto my tiptoes.
“Is this a warning in disguise, Aurora?” Before I can respond, he yanks my hand to his nape, pulling me off the wall and flush against his front as he wraps his other arm around my waist and rests his hand on my lower back. “Because if you’re trying to scare me away, it won’t work.” He leans forward until his lips brush against my ear, bending me backward and grinding our bodies together. “I like the way you challenge me as you sink your nails into my flesh. I’m already addicted, mia topolina.” Magma bubbles in my core as he curls his tongue over the shell of my ear. “No one can protect you from me, but I’m also the only one allowed to hurt you from now on.” I bite back a groan as he nips the top of my earlobe. “Capisci?”
It’s too much. He’s too much.
“Yes. I understand,” I say in a breathy voice.
“Good girl. Now give me another kiss to tie me over until after lunch.”
“After lunch?”
“We’re signing a prenup as soon as possible. I’m not waiting a second longer than necessary to have you. You’re mine, Aurora.”
I should hate his declaration of ownership. I’m not an object.
My body doesn’t listen.
In less than an hour, Giorgio Vivaldi barged his way into my life and completely rewrote my body’s framework, and now my brain struggles to process the new set of rules.
I’m so fucking screwed.
