Page 50 of The Devil's Torment

He shows me around the boat, but despite my best efforts to remember everything, much of it goes right over my head. I think I have port and stern locked down, and I know what the boom is and to avoid it when it swings across the boat unless I want to take an unplanned dip in the Adriatic, but that’s about it.

“I’m not sure how useful I’m going to be as first mate.”

“You’ll do fine. I’ve sailed alone many times. Sit back and relax. If I need you to help out, I’ll make sure I’m clear on what you have to do.”

He takes the wheel, and it isn’t long before we leave the dock behind and sail into open waters. Fortunately, I seem to have built-in sea legs, although the sea is calm today. If it was rough, it might be a different story. As much as Nicholas jokingly offered to hold my hair while I puked, vomiting in front of him hasn’t made my bingo card for at least the first year of marriage.

Unless you’re already pregnant.There wasn’t any talk of using contraception during last night’s marathon sex session, which means that Nicholas fully expects us to have children. I’d love kids, too, but I hope it doesn’t happen too fast. I want to get to know Nicholasandlaunch my business before becoming a mother. When I get home, I might talk to a doctor about going on the pill just to give me a bit more control.

I haven’t told Nicholas about Montague Interiors yet, and I’ve no idea how he’ll take the idea of me working. Not that it matters. He’ll have to suck it up. After graduating college, it took me a while to narrow down what I wanted to do with my design degree. I could’ve gone in many different directions, but interior design was the thing that excited me most. Once we return to England, I’m going to reach out to the contact Eloise’s dad gave me and get my business off the ground.

We sail along the coast for about an hour. The scenery is breathtaking, and I snap a ton of pictures on my phone, sending a number of them to the group chat with my friends.Jealousis the overwhelming response, and as I watch Nicholas expertly sail this gigantic boat, the breeze lifting his hair, his muscles flexing as he shifts the boom, I think they have a fair point. If the roles were reversed, I’d be jealous, too.

At a rocky outcrop, Nicholas drops anchor, and the boat comes to a stop. “Thought we’d maybe go for a swim.” He frowns, his head tilted to one side. “You can swim, can’t you?”

It’s one more reminder that we don’t really know anything about one another, but there’s time. We have the rest of our lives to discover our favorite color, how we like our eggs (runny, please), and which movies make us cry. Although I can’t see Nicholas shedding a single tear even atMe Before You, which both Beth and I cried buckets at.

“I can swim, but I didn’t bring a swimsuit with me.” If he’d told me what he had planned, I’d have packed one.

A crooked grin lifts his lips on one side. “Neither did I.” In one smooth movement, he pulls his T-shirt over his head and tosses it at me. His jeans and underwear follow, and he stands there, a man completely comfortable with being naked. Throwing me a wink, he dives off the side of the boat into the sparkling water of the Adriatic Sea.

When he comes up for air, he crooks a finger. “Strip, Mrs. De Vil, and get in here. The water’s gorgeous.”

A rush of pleasure gallops through my veins. I’ve never skinny dipped, but there’s a first time for everything.

Grabbing my dress by the hem, I yank it over my head and toss it on the bench that runs around the rear of the boat. I kick off my trainers and discard my underwear. Instead of diving in, I perch on the rim of the boat and jump off, legs first. Thankfully, the water is warmer than I expected. Strong forearms encase me from behind, one arm banding across my stomach, the other cupping my breast. He kisses my shoulder, and his half erect dick nestles between my bum cheeks.

“I want you again.” He sounds wondrous, as though he can’t quite believe his admission. “I want you all the time. Are you a witch, wife?”

That same rush of power I felt when I had his dick in my mouth engulfs me. This is how I win. With sex. I’m not stupid. I’m aware that both men and women can enjoy vigorous sex without love being involved, but it could lead to something more.

He nuzzles my neck, and a second later, I’m facing him. He kisses me like he’s been handed a death sentence, and this is his dying wish. Joy explodes in my chest. In my wildest dreams, I never thought this would happen. And to think when my parents first told me about my arranged marriage, I’d fought them on it. Though at the time, grief for Beth and blaming Nicholas for what happened to her had consumed me.

I’m still deep in mourning and drowning in guilt, but it doesn’t stop me from stealing this slice of happiness. I deserve it. Ido.

He breaks off the kiss and splashes me. It’s such a teasing thing to do, and not at all like the Nicholas I thought I knew. Turns out I didn’t know him at all.

“See that cove?” He points to a small stretch of sandy beach hidden by rocks that jut out from the hillside above. “Think you can swim that far?”

“I’m sure I can.”

“Good girl. Let’s go.” He glides through the water, his front crawl far more impressive than my breaststroke. It takes me about ten minutes to make it to the shoreline, and I’m breathless by the time I emerge from the sea and dig my toes into the sand.

“Think I need to work harder at the gym.” I press a hand to my stomach and suck in a full lungful of air.

“Sex is the best exercise.” He snags me around the waist and tugs me flush to his body. “Fuck, what are you doing to me?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. His tongue pushes past my lips, and his hands are everywhere at once. He only has two, but damn, he uses them well. There isn’t an inch of my body that escapes his attention as he lowers me to the sand.

“What if we’re seen?”

He nibbles my earlobe, and my core clenches. “We won’t be.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I made sure of it.”

I’m not sure what that means, but I’m too needy for him to question it. As he pushes inside me and his piercing drags along my inner walls, my concerns scatter like ashes in the wind. If anyone cares enough to watch us then they’re in for a hell of a show.

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