11
Aurielo
“Trust?” Karina throws her head back and laughs. “We’re not really in a relationship. You’ve forced me into marrying you.”
“It was that or I kill you,” I remind her. “I don’t defy the don.”
“Well, maybe you should,” she snaps. “Try thinking for yourself for once instead of doing what someone else tells you to do.”
She makes my blood boil. My heart thrums against my chest. The beat is hard and rough.
Staring down at her, she’s within my grasp, and her scent is intoxicating.
Like that one night, I had her bent over the desk, I wanted her. There’s a fire behind her gaze, and it makes my body react.
I reach for her neck, pulling her closer, my fingers tangling in her hair, roughly guiding her lips toward mine.
But I don’t kiss her.
I want to rip her clothes off, toss her onto the bed, and lick every inch of her skin, teasing her before letting her climax.
She takes a sharp breath as she inhales.
Karina holds her breath.
Has she forgotten how to breathe?
“You are mine, Micetta. You will do as I command, and you will learn to watch your tongue and your tone.”
“Or what?”
She’s daring me.
Just because we’ll be married doesn’t mean she’s mine to have.
Even if I want her.
And I do—more than anything in the world.
“Or I’ll be forced to punish you.”
She raises an eyebrow. “What might that entail?” Her breath catches in her throat.
Is she trying to give me a heart attack?
My cock stirs in my trousers at her tone and her question.
It wasn’t supposed to be a seductive threat, but damn, she has a way of turning the tables. “You’ll be forced to spend day after day in this room, alone. A guard will be posted outside your bedroom door if you can’t do as you’re told.”
Her smile vanishes. “I still have work.”
“And Francesco will accompany you to and from work, but there will be no exploring the garden, having dinner in the dining room, or reading in the library if you can’t behave. On weekends, the two of us could venture out together if Francesco reports back to me that you aren’t causing him grief.”
“You’re a real joy kill. Do you know that?”
I’m not trying to steal her freedom. All I want is to protect her, not that she understands what we are faced with outside the compound.
“So, I’ve been told,” I say with a shrug. I don’t have to explain myself to her. I take a step back and exhale a sharp breath, heading for the door. “Do you want a tour of the house or not?” I shoot at her over my shoulder.