Page 100 of Sweet Animosity

Wife?

Stunt?

Chained to his bed?

WTF?

I blinked several times. “Did they sedate me? Am I on some kind of drug right now, because I don’t remember agreeing to marry you?”

His thumb stroked my lip. “That’s because I didn’t ask.”

My brow furrowed. “You think we’re getting married… but you didn’t ask me. Are you sure they didn’t sedate you?”

His hand moved from my chin to wrap around my neck. As his breath brushed my cheek, he leaned down and whispered ominously in my ear, “Not only are we getting married. I’m going to fuck you senseless until this gorgeous body of yours swells with my child, binding you to me.”

I ripped the oxygen tube out of my nose and jumped out of the bed. Keeping my back to the wall, I shook my head. “You’re mad.”

He stalked around the hospital bed as he gestured toward it. “Get your ass back in that bed. Now.”

I lunged for the door.

He snatched me around the waist and pulled me back.

My legs kicked out as I screamed, “Get off me, you sociopath!”

Var fell back onto the bed with me in his arms before rolling to pin me beneath him.

Stretching my arms over my head, he pressed his hips down onto mine. “Fight it all you want, Vivian. You’re mine now.”

Although he had me trapped, he was careful not to put any pressure on my ribcage. I filled my lungs with air as a turbulent mix of panic, fear, and arousal took hold.

It was like I took some kind of sick pleasure in deliberately baiting this man to bring out a feral response in him. I was like Belle racing across dangerously thin ice, secretly hoping the Beast would catch me.

While it was bonkers to even contemplate marriage to him, it was also mind-blowingly hot to think he was determined to have me as his wife. I mean, most girls wait years for their boyfriends to propose. How could I not be a tiny bit flattered? Not considering, of course, that it was ludicrously irresponsible and insane to even consider it.

“Why are you doing this?”

He studied my face. His gaze was intense. “Because I won’t lose you. I refuse to lose you.”

I struggled against his grasp. “You’re not making sense.”

He tightened his fingers around my wrist. “You almost died today. On my watch.”

I pulled my shoulders up off the mattress as I strained against him. “It had nothing to do with you. It was just a stupid accident.”

“You don’t know that for certain. You defied me and returned to your apartment, knowing there was a man out there gunning for you. That will not happen again.”

“The Russian guy is taken care of.”

His breath came fast and harsh against my cheek as he angrily tightened his grasp around my wrists. “You have no way of knowing that. Christ, Vivian. We still don’t know his fucking name or which syndicate he works for. Do you have any idea how many of these bastards are talented enough to kill you and make it look like an accident?”

I shook my head. “No. I won’t let you gaslight me into thinking I’m in some kind of danger and need to marry you for my own protection. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, Var, but I’m not falling for it.”

And I truly didn’t know what game he was playing.

It wasn’t like I was an heiress or some mafia princess with awesome criminal credentials.

I was a decent art forger. That was it.

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