Page 29 of The Forbidden Husband

His eyes narrowed, and his eyes drifted down my body once again in an intimate way that had goosebumps covering my arms and legs. “I have a better idea.”

The predatory way his eyes drifted before locking on mine had my breath seizing in my throat. “What is it?”

“One answer for one piece of clothing,” he replied. “I believe that gives you… three questions?”

I had so many options. So many ways I could play this. Ordinarily, I would have turned him down and tried again later. But the lack of tension between us was new. Different. I didn’t know when it had faded, but I felt almost comfortable standing here and speaking to him.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and reached for one of my shoes. “I count five,” I corrected as I popped the buckle from one heel and then the other. I tossed them to the table and glanced at him. “You owe me two answers. Oh, and you’re wearing too many layers if we’re playing this game. I’ve already answered over five questions. I’m being very generous with that estimate, just so you know.”

He licked his lips before nodding and peeling off both shoes and both socks. Then, he reached for the hem of his button-down shirt and pulled it over his head, exposing me to a chest I had seen and admired once before. Up close, though, the patchwork of tattoos had me reaching a finger out and tracing them.

“Why a dog?” I asked, running my finger over a black tattoo across his chest.

“I had a corgi as a kid.”

“That’s it? Did your corgi have a name?”

“Muffin,” he replied dryly. I gaped. “Are you going to pay for a third question?”

I blinked. Then, I blinked again, wondering if I had heard him right.

I made direct eye contact as I grabbed the hem of my bathing suit cover-up and pulled it over my head. It dangled from my fingertips as I revealed more of my body to him than I ever had to another man. The bathing suit was nothing more than patches of material across my body, but I didn’t give myself a moment to feel self-conscious.

“Why did you go through with this marriage when it’s clear you don’t want it either?”

I expected my words to wipe the haze from his eyes, but it didn’t. He stepped closer, moving as if he lacked control of his limbs. He wrapped an arm around my hips and pulled me into his chest. I gasped as my soft body met the hardness of his. It was impossible not to notice the full length of him pressed between us, barely concealed by the hem of his shorts.

“Why do you think I don’t want this?”

“You… you told me that you didn’t do commitment. You said…”

I could hardly find my voice with him so close, smelling so good. God, he had no right to make me feel this way when I had spent my entire life hearing rumors of his brutality. But the man who had lived with me for a week—the man who held me in his arms—showed no sign of that brutality. I knew it lurked beneath the surface, but there was so muchmore.

He shook his head. “I don’t do love. I’m married to you because it is mutually beneficial, but we’re still married. I didn’t lie during my vows, Aria. I will be loyal to you as long as we are married. You aremine, and nothing is going to change that.”

I parted my lips to say something, but a sense of reckless abandon filled me. He was myhusband, for God’s sake. If Iwanted to kiss him, I could do that. Nothing was holding me back.

So I did.

I leaned forward and left a lingering kiss on his lips before pulling away. He didn’t allow me to go more than an inch before grabbing me and pulling me back into him.

Never in my life had I felt so much passion and desire behind a kiss. My stomach dropped, and the world around me became an afterthought as his lips—his touch—burned through me. I went loose and warm deep inside myself. My entire body fired up with the sensation of him merely kissing me, and my breath picked up at the thought of doing more and going further.

Maybe itwouldbe okay.

If he could make me feel this way with a kiss, I didn’t even want to consider what else he could draw from me.

He pulled back slowly, and I felt the restraint in each motion. I exhaled a shaky breath, unwilling to admit how deeply that kiss had consumed me. How much I longed for more.

“Love is the only thing off the table?” I asked, my voice shaking in a way I didn’t intend.

“Yes.”

It was a relief that he wanted nothing from me. I couldn’t imagine betraying someone physicallyandemotionally, and that’s what would happen if we let this intensity grow.

I was entirely sure of one thing, though. Enzo Rissi was not entirely a monster, as no monster could make me feel like this.

I couldn’t get his taste out of my mouth.

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