Page 25 of His Wife

A low growl comes from his throat, and I feel his cock jerk inside me, his hot cum filling me. I whimper when he pulls out of me and sets my feet back on the ground, and I’m ready to collapse, my muscles weak and aching, but my body ignites once more when he drags his fingers through my slit, covering it with slick wetness and placing it on my lips. The scent of it turns the newly ignited flicker into a flame, and I’m moaning around his fingers when he slips it into my mouth, letting me taste his cum mixed with mine.

“Every time you challenge me, thinking you can question my claim over you, I will fuck you so hard it hurts, and I will make you taste my cum as a reminder that youallowingme to do anything is complete. Bullshit.”

He’s right. I know he is. His dominion over me is absolute, and it pisses me off…because I like it. I shouldn’t. But I do, and that’s what makes our dynamic so fucked-up and beautiful—his hunger to dominate and my need to submit even though I know my heart is on the line.

“You and I,” I start, pushing him away so I can step to the side, “we’re the kind of mindfuck that’s going to drive one of us, or both of us, crazy.”

A wicked grin tugs at his lips as he takes off his clothes, standing in front of me naked, and a goddamn king. “We’re unraveling, remember? We might as well drown in the madness while we’re at it.”

“Yeah, well, before we drown, I just want to say one thing.” I clench my jaw to keep the threatening tears at bay. “You’re a selfish asshole, Alexius Del Rossa. Because every time you remind me that I’m yours and I belong to you, you don’t stop to think for one second what you are to me.Whoyou are to me.”

“Then tell me. Tell me who I am to you.”

A rogue tear escapes, but I swipe at it before it can leave a bitter trail down my cheek. If I don’t say this now and acknowledge the truth, I’m afraid I’ll lose who I truly am. It’ll eat me alive, and I’ll be nothing but an empty shell.

I square my shoulders, willing my wildly beating heart to not smother the words I’ve finally found the courage to say. It’s been a long time coming, and I tried to push it all away, to ignore and hopefully smother it. But I can’t do it any longer. The lies I tell myself, they’re toxic.

“You are my husband, Alexius,” I start, my voice shaking. “And the man I’ve fallen in love with. I don’t know when it happened, or how, or why. But it happened.” Another tear trickles down my face. “I’m in love with you, and I know it’ll come at a price. I know loving you will destroy me in the end, but I can’t change it, and I’m done fighting it.” I roughly wipe at my tears with my palms and drag my hands through my hair, feeling more exposed than ever before—not because I’m naked, but because my heart is now open, lying bleeding at his feet.

Time suddenly feels wrong. Seconds are hours, and minutes seconds. Alexius doesn’t say a word. He just stares at me like he feels sorry for me. His eyes that burned with fiery fury mere minutes ago are now blue pools of…pity. Is it…pity? Sympathy?

My stomach coils as the bones in my chest break one by one. “Don’t,” I bite out while tears lap down my lips. “Don’t feel sorry for me for loving you. I did it to myself. I knew what we were from the start, and I allowed myself to fall for you anyway.” My mocking laugh ripples through the heartbreak. “See,that,I allowed. I unraveled and fucked up along the way. It’s my own fault for ending up wanting more than what’s included in our agreement. So, don’t feel sorry for me.”

Still, he just stands there. Unmoved and silent while he watches my heart bleed dry like the cold-hearted bastard I’ve always known him to be. A man who thrives on power—and I’ve just given him more of it by showing him how truly vulnerable I am.

“You know what?” I walk backward. “Isaia was right. Our marriage has served its purpose, and there’s no reason to continue the charade. It’s over, and it’s time for me to leave.” I grab a sheet off the bed, turning my back on him. But before I’m able to wrap it around myself, his hands are on my hips and he’s pulling me flush against him, stealing my breath away.

“Alexius, don’t.”

“I changed my mind,” he whispers behind me.

“Changed your mind about what?”

He places a gentle kiss just below the nape of my neck, and I shudder. “Our agreement.”

* * *

ALEXIUS

She smells like vanilla, sex, and heartbreak—the truth bleeding from her veins. And God forgive me, but I love it. I revel in her truth that’s a mere echo of my own.

I snake my arms around her waist, pulling her close and nestling my nose in her hair, wanting to breathe in her very essence. “Fuck our agreement,” I whisper.

“You don’t have to say that.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

“You made it perfectly clear from the start you didn’t want a wife.”

“I didn’t,” I confess, brushing her hair over her shoulder so I can pepper more kisses on her warm skin. “But our agreement burned to ash the moment I tore through your virginity that day in the boutique, and everything changed.” I let my hand dip down low, easing between her legs because I’m hard. I’m hard as fuck from her confession, and knowing without a doubt that she feels the way I do, I want to be inside her like it’s the very first time.

“Alexius,” she whispers my name like a prayer. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying what you’re feeling,” I roll my hips and let her feel how hard I am, “I feel it, too. I’ve felt it for so long, convinced I had gone mad.”

Her body leans back into me, my fingertip gently massaging her clit. “You have no idea how many times I wanted to tell you that our agreement no longer meant shit to me, that the thought of you leaving turned me inside out. But since we’re all about confessions today,” I bring my lips to her ear, keeping a steady rhythm on the bundle of nerves throbbing beneath my fingertip, “I wasn’t planning on letting you leave.” She sucks air through her teeth, rolling her head back. “You walking out of this house wasn’t an option for a very, very long time.”

“Jesus, Alexius.” She’s breathless and fucking beautiful.

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