Page 47 of Wed to the Devil

It might not be visible just now, but Talia is growing my child inside her body right this minute. And one day? One day, that infant is going to be a kid, every bit as real as I remember being at seven years old, half a world away from here and suddenly cut adrift.

Mourning my mother.

I hold Talia close for a few more seconds before relaxing my grip. She pulls away, her head dropping back, her lips more appealing than they have ever been. Cupping her jaw, I kiss her, pushing her back onto the mattress.

Her body is lush and warm and willing. The breathy sounds she makes as I use my hands and my mouth to tease her and pull her toward the edge are so fucking hot, I swear that my very soul is on fire. I fuck her like a man who’s going to the gallows, like I’ll die if I don’t feel her come around my cock as I drive it home again and again and again.

I clench my eyes shut as I come, the sensation like freefalling from the top of the highest cliff imaginable. Afterward, I stay inside Talia’s body for a couple of minutes. She wraps her arms and legs around me and welcomes me like a sheltering cove during a storm.

And I’m just a tiny sailboat, blown into the cove by nothing but pure chance.

I keep my eyes closed and press my face against her neck, surrendering.

ChapterFifteen

TALIA

When I wake in our loft a few days later, I am alone. Dare’s preferred side of the bed is made up, but there is a square black box lying on his pillow. Beside it is a neatly-folded note.

Sitting up, I rub the sleep out of my eyes and pluck the note from the bed.

These belonged to my mother. Wear them tonight at dinner with my family.

The note is not signed, but it could only be from one person. Dare knows that I don't have any interest in going to dinner. But apparently what I want doesn't matter.

Frowning, I pick up the box and pull off the lid. Inside are two of the most jaw-dropping chandelier earrings I've ever seen. They are dripping with diamonds and sapphires, easily a million dollars each. I swallow hard and pick them up, weighing them in my palm. They're pretty heavy, just like you would expect real diamonds and sapphires and gold to be.

I run my tongue over my teeth. This seems to be something of a habit for Dare. We have a romantic weekend. He acts as though he hates his family. I comfort him.

And then I wake up to expensive jewelry and a note telling me to be ready for a family event.

It's a little old by now. I lift my hand, holding the earrings up to catch the sunlight streaming in the windows of the loft. I wonder if this is Dare's way of paying for my comforts and attention. Like you would pay a prostitute, maybe.

It certainly cheapens the whole experience if I think of it that way.

Nesting the earrings back in their box, I get out of bed. The rest of my day is taken up by beauty treatments and a nail appointment. My hair color is touched up, the ends of my hair are trimmed, my body is made smooth and hairless, my eyebrows plucked, my nails and toes painted a soft blue. I ask the aesthetician to send someone along with a rack of brand new dresses for me to choose from. Hours later, I stand in front of the mirror, looking at the stranger staring back at me with a puzzled frown. I'm wearing a strapless white chiffon Valentino dress with a matching white chiffon shawl. On my feet are a pair of white leather pumps. My long hair is artfully twisted into an up-do that looks extremely chic. Underneath the dress, I wear a piece of shapewear that hides the slight bump of my pregnant belly.

The new earrings shine at my earlobes and I wear a chunky gold chain to finish off my look.

All in all, it's an outfit that I wouldn't have dared to put on my body a few months ago. But being Dare's wife has boosted my confidence somehow. It's forced me to become more elegant, to say the least.

Dare knocks on the bedroom door, his eyebrows rising slightly as he looks me up and down. “You're gorgeous,” he says. “I can't wait to rub you in Daisy and Burn’s faces. They will absolutely die of jealousy and envy.”

“I don't really think that I want to put myself in harm's way again by going to an event with Burn.”

Dare walks over to me, grabbing my hand and drawing me in. He wraps his arms around my neck, looking at me quite seriously. “He will never touch you again,” he swears. “You're going to be right by my side the entire night. I'm going to follow you everywhere, even if it means leaving a conversation. Not only that, but I've doubled up your personal security. So Frick and Frack will be paired with two other agents of their choosing. They know that Burn is a dangerous man. Trust me, I don't want Burn to even look in your direction. In a few months, when we win this inheritance race, we will never have to see them ever again. Okay?”

I swallow. “What if I say no?”

“I'm hoping you won't. Besides, I’ve made arrangements for the entire family to meet at Tusk.”

My eyebrows rise. “Is there a reason why you picked that restaurant in particular?”

A mischievous light dances in Dare’s eyes. “Because if I am going to spend the evening rubbing you in Burn’s face, you might as well have a little payback of your own to focus on. I get the feeling that the people that you worked with at Tusk did not treat you particularly well. So now you can let them know that you’ve gone from someone they can kick around to being someone of real means and status.”

I roll my eyes a little. “I didn’t need you to help me stick it to my old manager. I was doing just fine by moving on with my life and forgetting all about him.”

He shrugs his shoulders. “What is life for if not for petty little paybacks?

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