“Go on, angel.”
She gasped, shivering. “I belong to you, Peregrine,” she breathed.
“Are you my property?”
“I’m your property,” she whimpered.
I drew my length out and slammed it back into her hard, keeping her head up and her face out so she couldn’t look away from our audience. The little wail that burst from her mouth was a euphoric reward. My fingers tangled in her hair so deeply her clip had fallen out and her soft waves were tousled. I released her hair and gripped the nape of her neck as I had on our wedding night and she moaned aloud.
“Do you feel their eyes on us? Watching the things I do to you?” I whispered.
She whimpered.
“Do you think there’s any doubt in their minds who you belong to?”
“No,” she gasped. “Sir.”
I pulled out and flipped her, sinking into her wet heat until there was nothing but her face and the hot breath from her lips. The rest of the world faded into nothingness as I shifted her up the bed and gathered her into my arms. Her soft, dark gaze locked in mine and I fell into it. My chest tightened as her lips trembled.
“I’m yours, Peregrine,” she whispered.
Her mouth trembled when I kissed it and our bodies melted together. Fused up above and down below. We shuddered as we moved in tandem. There was nothing in the whole world but this woman and the things she did to my body. The things she did to my mind. The way her soft pussy gripped me, the way her hips rode up against mine as I fucked her, and the gentle brush of her breasts against my chest.
But it was more than that, it was more than just her body. It was the fire in her eyes and it was the sweet rush of ecstasy when she gave me her submission. When she let me make her mine. It was the way she’d sworn herself to me tonight and carried out my every request.
Something broke as I came inside her and I almost collapsed. Her mouth pressed against my throat, hot and shaky. I reached between us to close the front of my pants. My fingertips brushed her thigh and she jolted, the haziness leaving her eyes. We were both coming down to earth like a building collapsing. Hard, sudden. When I pulled back, her eyes were full of tears.
I’d crossed a line.
From our first moment together, I knew she was vulnerable. That she was unloved, neglected. And from the first time we’d slept together, she had put all that emptiness and want onto me. She had trusted me with her deepest pain. I had always been careful not to abuse that power, not to manipulate or degrade her. But tonight I taken that trust and I’d used it to pull her about like a puppet on strings.
To satisfy my jealousy before the world.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
She swallowed. “I…I can’t do this, Peregrine.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“I love you,” she choked.
“No,” I breathed. “Fuck no, Lia, don’t say that.”
My entire body seized and I pulled back. I’d completely forgotten we had an audience, but Rosalia hadn’t. She glanced over her shoulder and her face flushed and she pushed down her skirts. Before I could move, she’d crawled to her knees and her heels hit the floor as she fled from the room. Everyone froze, watching me for my reaction.
I ran after her, bursting into the hall. She was at the bottom of the stairs and when she heard me, she turned. Her eyes glittered with tears.
“Fuck you,” she seethed. “Don’t touch me.”
“Lia, please.”
“I gave you everything,” she hissed. “From the first moment, I gave you everything, Peregrine Calo. And tonight you nailed me to your cross in front of everyone because you can’t admit you love me. Fuck you, fuck you for making me love you.”
Her face was wet and her shoulders shook uncontrollably.
“Lia, not here.”
“You took advantage of how stupid and gullible I was,” she shouted. “I’m not a plaything to satisfy all the fucked up bullshit in your head.”