She curtsied politely as I took the glass from her. I murmured my thanks and took an appreciative sip before she smiled and left the room. Clara continued to fix my hair, curling and arranging it to perfection. When she was through, she started working on my makeup.
“You don’t need any of this,” she mused. “You’re already so beautiful.”
I blushed hard and looked down, unable to look back at her when she was being so unnecessarily kind.
“If anything, Mr. Asher is lucky to have you,” the older woman added and just when I thought my face couldn’t heat any more, it did.
“Thank you, Clara,” I eventually managed, and she just smiled.
For a while longer, she added small touches to my face. She didn’t do anything particularly drastic, but by the time she was through I felt like a whole new woman. She made my eyes appear bigger and brighter, my lips fuller, my cheeks a bit pinker.
“There now. Let’s get you in your dress,” she urged.
“I feel so pretty,” I began, and she shook her head.
“I had such a beautiful canvas to begin with. I just made your beauty shine that much brighter,” she offered, and I dipped my head bashfully. She took my hand and guided me back into the bedroom, where she took my dress off the hanger. She held it out so that I could step into it. She pulled it up my body and I slipped my arms beneath the straps. There was a plethora of tiny silk-wrapped buttons down the back, and she started from the top. It took her several minutes to work through them, but by the time she was finished the dress hugged my body like a glove.
“There isn’t even anything to adjust,” she said as she fluffed my skirt. “It fits you perfectly.”
She knelt down and slipped my feet into a white pair of silver jeweled kitten heels. I nearly fell when she grabbed my leg and forced a garter into place too.
“Now come. Grayson will be waiting for you in the garden,” she smiled. She turned and walked out of the room, and I knew that the only option was for me to follow. She strode down another hallway that I hadn’t had a chance to explore earlier. There was a glass door at the end and what appeared to be a magnificent garden beyond it. She opened it and led me around the corner to the most beautiful rooftop I’d ever seen.
There were flowers of every color, all in fresh bloom and when the breeze picked up gently, the scent of them took my breath away. The walkway was tiled, and bright red rose petals were scat
tered all the way to the end where Grayson was waiting for me. I swallowed hard as I looked back at him.
Him the groom.
Me dressed as his bride.
Clara moved out of the way and the only thing left between me and Grayson was distance. I licked my lips nervously. There was another man beside him, a priest by the looks of it with the white cloth at his throat. Grayson held his hand out, indicating that I come to him, and I faltered. Like a cornered animal, I looked around, trying to find any last ways out and finding none. Grayson’s hand beckoned for me, and I finally managed to take that first step. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done.
I walked down the aisle, knowing that the only option I had left was to go through with whatever sham this was supposed to be. When I reached Grayson, I studied his face for some clue as to why he’d picked me to be his bride and found nothing but pure and steadfast adoration.
“You are the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” he whispered.
“You can’t make me do this. You can’t make me vow to be your wife,” I said angrily. He reached for me, and I flinched visibly, expecting him to slap me. He didn’t. He gently ran his thumb along my cheek and smiled down at me.
“You can speak your vows like a good girl, Zoe, or I will lift your dress and belt your bare little bottom in front of everyone watching and then you’ll say your vows for me anyway with your ass bright red and on display,” he continued, his voice sure and calm and entirely too steady. My bottom tightened physically, remembering what the painful lash of his belt had felt like across my naked skin. I swallowed hard and nodded once.
I glared back at him.
“You may hold the upper hand right now, but I will fight this with everything I have. A wedding like this would never hold up in court. You know that,” I countered bravely.
“I have very good lawyers. I pay them a lot of money to get things done for me,” he said softly.
“You know I’m right,” I snapped, and he smiled almost with a sense of pride.
“I do know you’re right, my pretty bride,” he said thoughtfully. He pulled me in a bit closer, the touch of his lips just grazing against my earlobe.
“That won’t stop me from putting you flat on your back in my bed and claiming what is mine tonight though, Zoe,” he whispered, and my pussy tightened so hard. My legs jerked closed and I stumbled, but his hand on my upper arm steadied me, not allowing me to fall. I couldn’t deny that his threats of punishment and roughness kept pulling at my core. Even now, I knew that my panties were already soaked through. By the look in his eyes, he knew it too.
“Do I have to take off my belt, or are you going to say your vows like a good girl?” he asked. My gaze flicked back to his and I could see that he wanted me to refuse. He wanted to thrash my bottom with his belt again and when my eyes dipped down, I could see that his cock was hard too.
“I’ll say my vows,” I spat.
“Pity. I was looking forward to teaching you another lesson,” he whispered as he pulled me beside him.