Fuck does she know how to push a man’s buttons!
I tug the ties of her corset again, this time forcing her back to be flush against my chest. I do my best not to focus on how her body perfectly molds itself to mine in all the right places, or how easy it would be for me to lift up her flowing skirt and sink deep inside her. I’d make sure to erase the word ‘disappointment’ from her vocabulary, one thrust at a time.
Instead, I lower my mouth to her ear, her skin instantly breaking out in goosebumps with just my warm breath tickling her long neck.
“If this is your way of enticing me into your bed, then someone should have taught you the art of seduction.”
“Seduction?” She breathes out the word in such a way it feels like a gentle stroke to my cock. “You’ve won your prize, fair and square, Tiernan. Why seduce someone if the world views them as already yours?”
Fuck.
I swallow the groan that wants to come out at the sound of my name on her lips.
“Is that what you are, Rosa?” I ask as my fingers run circles on her bare shoulder. “Mine?”
As I anticipated, she refuses to give me an answer, but she doesn’t have to. My wife’s body betrays her when she’s unable to hide the shiver that runs down her spine.
“To do with as I please?” I add hoarsely as my hand travels up from her shoulder onto the pulse point on her neck, feeling her heart rate speed up under my fingertips.
“Is that how you saw this playing out tonight? That I would take you just because some piece of paper said you were mine?”
“If I’m not yours, then whose am I? Not mine, that’s for sure. I’ve never been mine.”
The melancholy that resurfaces in her voice stops me cold in my tracks.
I take a step back, and immediately she lets out a relieved breath.
“One thing you should know about me if we are to get along is that I don’t believe in ownership. I prefer my women to come to me willingly. I know that doesn’t mean much considering the situation we find ourselves in, but I will not take something that isn’t freely given. Hence why I am going to sleep on the couch. So breathe easy, Rosa. Your virtue is safe.”
I watch her forehead crease in confusion but don’t say anything more on the matter. With nimble fingers, I start taking the rest of the ties out of her corset. When I pull the ribbon out of its last loop, her dress falls to her feet in an instant, making my breath catch in my throat, and I curse the fates that delivered her to my door. If I knew that underneath the dress would be virginal white lingerie that leaves very little to the imagination, then I would have forced her to sleep in the damn thing.
Gorgeous sun-kissed skin glistens along every groove and valley of her body, only serving to stretch my restraint to its fullest extent.
No one could ever mistake Rosa for a delicate flower.
She’s all woman.
Long legs that lead up to thick thighs and a mouthwatering pear-shaped ass, paired with a slender waist that is perfect for large hands to grab on to.
However, when she turns around and I see those ample breasts being covered up by lace, as well as her crossed arms, I frown.
“Thank you for helping me,” she struggles to say under my watchful eye.
“If you want to thank me, then I suggest you put some clothes back on. And quickly.”
“Why the rush? I thought you said my virtue was safe with you?”
“It is. But that doesn’t mean I’m a saint. Unless, of course, you’ve changed your mind and want to get fucked tonight?”
Her cheeks flame red at my crudeness, making her lean down and pick up her dress to cover her front with it. Unfortunately for her—and I’m starting to suspect for me as well—when she bends down, she unwittingly gives me a better view of the double D’s she’s been trying to shield from my wandering eyes. She swiftly picks up a small discarded bag sitting on the floor next to the bed and hurriedly races to the bathroom, closing the door shut behind her.
It’s only when I hear her turn the lock that I exhale.
Chapter 8
Rosa
I shut my eyes and lean against the bathroom door, placing my hand over my chest, praying that the pressure is enough to get my beating heart under control. Its thunderous pulse is so loud I wouldn’t be surprised if Tiernan could hear it clear as day in the next room.
Virgen.
It’s only my first night with this man, and already I feel like I’m way out of my depth.
His presence alone is intimidating enough, guaranteed to suck all the oxygen out of a room, ultimately making it hard to breathe. But what’s even more unnerving is when he directs that intrusive gaze of his and focuses all its attention on me. Summoning air into my lungs takes a back seat in priority when such eyes are hell-bent on picking away at the scabs on my soul.
One green.
One blue.
They would be beautiful if their intense stare didn’t make me feel like they were slowly peeling away every layer within me, pulverizing every wall I’ve ever built to keep me safe. I’ve never met anyone who could strip someone bare with just one look. And frankly, I don’t care for it.
It’s as both terrifyingly frightening as it is exhilaratingly seductive.
“Cálmate,” I whisper to myself when my heart refuses to settle.
Tiernan is just a man.
Made of flesh and bone.
Not a god ruling over the underworld, even if his subjects proclaim him as such.
“Just a man,” I repeat to myself as my heart slowly simmers down to its normal rhythm.
Once I’ve made sure I’ve collected myself, I dutifully hang my wedding gown on the door’s hanger and turn the shower on. Before I step in, I slide off the rest of my clothes and frown when I see a wet mark right at the center of my panties. As much as I should loathe my husband, it’s plainly obvious he affects me in other ways, too.
More carnal, sinful ways.