Page 139 of Bad Little Bride

Boston

Queen Fikile.

I smile, running the pad of my thumb over the clear adhesive protecting the art Mino decorated my skin with. And it is art, a soft, elegant script with the small tip of a tiara curving along the Q. How he managed to do this by hand…with mine moving all around as I’m sure it was, I don’t know. Or maybe I was stiller than I realize.

Don’t see how I could have been, with how they toyed with me.

I shift in the sheets, intentionally searching for the reminder of the delicious ache between my legs, that good kind of sore I didn’t know I wanted.

He marked me. My husband staked a permanent claim. His name is marred into my flesh for life now.

He wouldn’t do that if he didn’t plan for me to be his last and final wife, right?

Katana was just a matter of honor of a man who was raised with none, yet somehow developed it to the upmost extent. He chose to make her his wife to save her life.

But he is choosing meforlife.

Right?

I look to the ceiling. Then again, no one knows we’ve made it this far; no one outside of the people who could bury the knowledge without a care to anyone. His people.

My people?

I sigh, tossing off the covers and stretching as I climb from the bed, moving straight for my little espresso machine. My smile blooms at the small warmer, the little dispenser on top brimming with freshly made caramel. Pressing the cappuccino button, I turn to face the window, staring out at the lake a moment.

My coffee is complete, whipped cream poured in under a minute, so I pick up my discarded book and hit the button on the screen of the left wall, a sense of belonging washing over me as the glass disappears, allowing me to step out onto the balcony. I love this room. This house and this view.

I definitely more than like my husband…

My feet freeze on the heated flooring when I spot a familiar item sitting on top of the patio table.

A single black rose.

My heart beats a little harder, a warmth flooding through me at the sight and all but running over, lifting it to my nose. Once again, it’s covered in Enzo’s scent and I take a moment to breathe it in, letting it overwhelm my senses until my lungs can’t hold any more.

I set my book and mug down, planting my ass in the chair and tip the rose upside down, a small charm falling into my palm.

A low laugh leaves me as I draw it closer, running my fingers along the tiny, diamond- encrusted handcuffs. A smirk pulls at my lips, and I sit back, looking up at nothing and picturing moments from yesterday. Including when he woke me in the middle of the night, sliding into me from behind and fucking me to the rhythm of summer waves.

I’m pretty sure I’m as addicted to him as he is me, and I find I’m not mad about that. This marriage has turned into more than I thought he would give me, and he’s offered more than I would have thought him capable.

I knew I’d be safe with the founder and CEO of the nation’s top security firm as my husband, having bet on his need for me to be alive while he waited to be given all the things he wanted out of our contractual marriage, but I never expected that safety to come with tenderness, maybe not even desire. I assumed sex would be required, and after meeting him face-to-face, decided it wouldn’t be a hardship of any kind—I’d use him for my own pleasure the way he was going to use me for power.

What I anticipated and what I’ve gotten couldn’t be more different.

Hecouldn’t be more different.

There’s passion in his touch, a raw reverence he never tries to hide but rather goes out of his way to ensure I feel it in every part of my being. His yearning for me. His need. And not just for my body or what he sees on the outside, but the girl within. The one who was never good enough to everyone else.

That girl, she means a lot to him.

I mean a lot to him.

A fluttering tickles low in my stomach and I lift my feet up on the chair, dropping my chin to my knees, a soft smile I don’t fight written along my lips.

I’m not sure how long I sit there, but my coffee is long since empty and I’ve reached the epilogue in the story by the time Grandma appears in the room.

“Did you enjoy your morning, Miss Revenaw?” she asks.

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