Aria gave a quick nod before she disappeared inside. Sighing, I took a sip of wine. Patience had never been my strength, and I was surprised at how much of it I actually possessed, at least around Aria.
After I’d turned on the Jacuzzi, I followed my wife. When I arrived in the bedroom, I could hear her in the bathroom. I got out of my clothes and slipped on my black swim shorts. For a moment, I wondered if Aria was hiding from me inside the bathroom, but then the door swung open and she stepped out in a white bikini with dots. I almost groaned because she somehow managed to look sexy and innocent at once, bringing out my protective as well as my predatory side. Fuck it.
I touched Aria’s hip. “You are perfect.” I was rewarded with a small smile and led her out of our bedroom and back out onto our roof terrace.
Goose bumps covered Aria’s skin and her nipples strained against her thin bikini top. I lifted her into my arms and she pressed against me, seeking protection from the wind that had picked up. Her palm rested lightly against my chest, right over my heart, as if she needed to reassure herself that I did, indeed, have one. Sometimes even I wasn’t sure that was the case.
I stepped into the hot water with her and lowered us so we were both covered up to our shoulder blades. Aria clung to my neck, her lips against my skin. I stroked her back, feeling the tension rippling in her body. “There’s no reason for you to be scared.”
“Says the man who crushed a man’s throat with his bare hands.”
“That’s got nothing to do with us, Aria. That’s business.” I wasn’t a good man, and I wasn’t kidding myself into thinking I could be, nor did I want to. I was the man I needed to be to become who I wanted to be: Capo.
Aria sighed. “I know. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
I peered down at my wife but only saw Aria’s hair. She was hiding her face from me. “What’s really the problem?”
“I’m nervous because I feel vulnerable, like I’m at your mercy because of the deal.”
I managed to swallow the first reply that shot through my head: that Aria had been at my mercy from the moment she’d become my fiancée. If I’d insisted, her father would have given me his fifteen-year-old daughter, and, since she’d become my wife, everyone in our world considered her my property. “Aria, forget about the deal. Why don’t you try to relax and enjoy this?” I lifted her face so she had to look at me.
Aria licked her lips nervously. “Promise you won’t force me to do something I don’t want to do,” she whispered, then continued in an even softer voice, her gaze cast down once more. “Promise me that you won’t hurt me.”
For a second, I wasn’t sure what to say. I’d thought these last few days had showed Aria that I was trying to be good to her—as good as a man like me could be. Maybe that was the problem. Aria knew what kind of man I was, and she was waiting for me to reveal my true nature to her. Maybe she had reason to be wary. Maybe this side of me was bound to fail. Maybe I was a monster trying to be more. Was the gentle side something I had in me, or only something I forced on myself?
“Why would I hurt you?” I said quietly, keeping my thoughts to myself. “I told you I won’t sleep with you unless you want me to.”
Aria’s eyes widened in alarm. “So you will hurt me when we sleep together?”
Her innocent shock almost made me laugh. “Not on purpose, no, but I don’t think there’s a way around it,” I murmured, kissing the soft skin below her ear. “But tonight I want to make you writhe in pleasure. Trust me.”
I wanted her trust not because she gave it freely, but because I deserved it. I wanted to earn it.
Shoving those thoughts aside, I ran my tongue along her pulse point and inhaled Aria’s sweet scent. My grip on her tightened as I suckled her skin. She felt and tasted so good, and my body reacted to her closeness. I trailed my kisses back up until I reached Aria’s sweet mouth, which I claimed for a hard kiss as I pressed my erection against her butt. Fuck, I wished we were naked.
Aria drew back and I let out a groan in frustration. I wanted to lose myself in her taste. “Can we talk for a bit?” she asked softly.
Trying to hide my impatience, I sat back. “What do you want to talk about?”
My hands had a mind of their own, stroking along Aria’s naked back and waist, then lower to her bikini bottoms. Her breath caught when my fingers slid along her ass.