My cock brushed Aria’s thigh and a groan lodged itself in my throat.
“Do you want me to touch you?” Aria asked quietly.
I wanted more than that, and that was the problem.
“No,” I got out, even if it cost me a lot. Aria raised her head, looking hurt.
She didn’t understand my reasoning. She couldn’t understand. “I’m not quite myself yet, Aria. There’s too much darkness on the surface, too much blood and anger. Today was bad. When I came home today and found you lying on the sofa, so innocent and vulnerable and mine…” My desire flared once more, the need to claim what was mine. “I’m glad you don’t know the thoughts that ran through my head then. You are my wife, and I swore to protect you, if necessary even from myself.”
“You think you’d lose control?”
“I know it.”
“Maybe you underestimate yourself.” She stroked my shoulders, that careful touch I was starting to crave like a drug. I wasn’t sure what Aria was doing to me, what was happening to me, but it was dangerous for both of us.
“Maybe you trust me too much,” I murmured, trailing my finger along her spine, feeling her shiver—not with fear. “When I laid you down on the bed like a sacrificial lamb, you should have run.”
Aria’s mouth pulled into that smile. “Someone once told me not to run from monsters because they give chase.”
“Next time, you run. Or if you can’t, you ram your knee into my balls.” I had a feeling that if I ever hurt Aria the way I was capable of, it would mess with me in ways I never thought possible.
Aria shook her head. “If I’d done that today, you would have lost control. The only reason you didn’t was because I treated you like my husband, not a monster.”
I caressed her lips and cheek, my heart seemingly clenching and unclenching at the same time. “You are far too beautiful and innocent to be married to someone like me, but I’m too much of a selfish bastard to ever let you go. You are mine. Forever.”
“I know,” Aria said, for once not sounding resigned. Fuck, Aria, you were meant to be our guarantee for truce, not more.
She put her head down on my chest. For some reason, it felt as if it were meant to be like this, as if Aria had always and would always belong right there—close to my cold, cruel heart.
I turned off the lights, staring into the dark, listening to Aria’s rhythmic breathing as she fell asleep on top of me. The dark had always called to me because it was something I was familiar with, a place I’d grown up in. I didn’t think there would ever be light in my life, that it could pierce the blackness that was my life. My eyes dipped to the golden crown of Aria’s head—a beacon of light even in the dark of the room.CHAPTER 13I was blanketed in heat, but my limbs were still too heavy and sore to move. It took me a moment to realize the nature of the heat source: Aria. She was lying on top of me. The low buzz of my phone burst through my sleepy bubble. I jerked upright, my pulse rate spiking and my arm coming around my wife. I fucking hoped that Matteo didn’t have more bad news for me. Yesterday had been enough of a train wreck.
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand but, before I could press it to my ear and take the call, I released a harsh breath. My cock was wedged between Aria’s thighs, its length enticingly lined up against her pussy. Her heat seeped through her thin panties, giving me all the ideas I didn’t need. I took the call, staring at my wife who clung to me with surprise-widened eyes.
Aria moved and my tip nudged her ass cheeks. Pleasure shot through me. I groaned, my body tightening.
“You looked like shit last night. An update would have been appreciated,” Matteo muttered. “How bad is it?”
“I’m fine, Matteo,” I said. My wounds were the least of my problems now. Blue balls was the only thing that would kill me.
“You don’t sound it.”
Because Aria is pressing her fucking pussy against my dick. “I’m fucking fine.”
“I could send the Doc to check on you.”
“No. I can handle this. I don’t need to see the Doc. Now let me sleep.”
I ended the call before Matteo could say another word and set the phone back down. Aria peered up at me, tension radiating off her body in waves. Her fingers dug into my shoulders. The nerves in her expression calmed some of my desire, and I laid back down to bring some distance between us and get a grip on my overeager cock.
Aria still straddled me but quickly covered her beautiful tits with her arm, her cheeks starting to fill with pink. She shifted, trying to get off me, and her thigh brushed my cock, sending another shockwave of need through me.