Keeping his bride

Luca

Y THE TIME we get home, Verona is curled up on my lap in a deep sleep. I hate to wake her, but I don’t

want her sleeping out in the car all night in the cold. I don’t know exactly when Verona snuck her way into my cold, dark heart, but she did.

I care for her. I never thought I would ever care about anyone. It scares me, but also soothes me in a way. Maybe I’m not a complete monster after all.

She told me she loved me. I close my eyes, still hearing her melodic voice say those words. Fuck, I will savor them forever. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to say them back, but I know I have stronger feelings for her than I’ve ever had for any other human being in my entire life.

And the thought of anyone taking her from me has me seeing red. Just thinking about Constantine touching her or thinking he could ever claim any rights to her makes my pulse hammer in my veins like an angry war drum.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

And maybe war is the answer when it comes to

Constantine. I’ve gone to war for far lesser things. And now that Verona is the most important person in my life, I want everyone to know the lengths I will go through to protect her. I would die for her, come back to life and kill everyone all over again. My vengeance knows no bounds on this earth or in the afterlife.

“What’s wrong?” Verona asks, her head still in my lap. “I thought you were sleeping,” I say with a smile.

“I could feel you tense up. Did something happen?”

“No. But we are home. I just didn’t want to wake you.”

She sits up and stares at me with her honey-colored eyes. She looks thoroughly fucked with messy hair and smeared makeup, but I don’t think she’s ever looked more beautiful. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” I tell her before placing a kiss on her lips. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“And where are you going to be?” she asks as we climb out of the car.

“Benito and I have some things to discuss,” I say simply before glancing at my first in command. Benito gives me a nod, and I know he’ll understand what must happen when it comes to Constantine once I explain to him everything that transpired tonight. I’m tired of dragging my feet when it comes to him. Since Constantine won’t comply, I’m going to have to force his hand. It’s now or never at this point. I want to burn his entire empire to the fucking ground, preferably with him in it.

Verona catches up to me before we reach the front door and grabs my hand, pulling me back to her. “Luca, please, don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

I cock a brow at her. Has she been reading my mind?

“If you’re upset about Constantine, let it go. He’s dangerous. I don’t want you even being in the same room as him, let alone going after him.”

I put my palm on her cheek, and I love the fact that she sinks into my touch. “I’ve tried being lenient with him, and it obviously didn’t work. He knows he crossed a line that should have never been crossed tonight. I want to put him down like the dog he is.”

Verona pulls away from me, anger swarming in her eyes.

“No.”

“No?” I ask with a dark chuckle.

“I’m telling you no to getting revenge on him. You can still help the people he’s taken, but from afar and by alerting the proper authorities, if need be.” She touches the lapels on my suit before smoothing them down. “Besides, if you leave, who will be here to protect me? Constantine will come for me when he knows you’re vulnerable and busy trying to take him down.”

I can see the fear in her eyes when she talks about him, and it almost makes me back down. Almost. “Honey,” I start, but she doesn’t let me finish.

Suddenly, she wraps her arms around me. “I can’t lose you, Luca. Please don’t do this.”

And just having her close to me makes the ice around my dark heart melt a little more. “Okay, honey. I won’t.” But I honestly don’t know if I’m telling her the truth or lying. I guess only time will tell.

Verona

I

WAKE UP the next morning to the most soothing massage of my life. I groan in pleasure as fingers skate over my back, rubbing in some kind of sweet-smelling moisturizer.

“The sounds that come out of that dirty, little mouth turn me on, honey,” Luca says from beside me.

I turn my head and stare up at my husband. He’s wearing a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his muscular forearms, and black slacks. His hair looks like it’s still damp from a shower.

“What time is it?” I worry.

“A little before noon. You slept a long time. Something must have exhausted you last night,” he says with a smug smile.

“I think someone exhausted me,” I quip. It’s those rare smiles of his that I live for. He looks so young and relaxed when he’s like this.

His smile quickly fades as his fingertips graze over my neck. “Do these hurt?” he asks.

There must be bruises on my neck from when he held me tight against the wall last night while we fucked dirty and raw in the back of an alleyway. And just the thought of it has my thighs clenching under the sheet. “No,” I tell him honestly. “I’m not made of glass, Luca. You can’t break me,” I assure him.

A cocky smirk replaces the frown, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s thinking about ways to possibly break me. I hope they all involve him inside of me, but I don’t say my naughty thoughts out loud. Going from virgin to practically a nympho with Luca has been a rollercoaster ride. It’s like I always want him. And when we’re not having sex, I’m thinking about it. I suppose that’s normal for all newlyweds…especially if one or both saved themselves for marriage, right?

“What are you thinking about?” he asks me, and I hate that he can read me so well that he knows when I’m deep in thought.

“I was wondering if our marriage is normal or not.”

He cocks his head to the side and chuckles darkly. “It’s anything but normal, honey. Trust me.”

“Not the whole arranged marriage thing. I mean…all the sex.”

His dark brows furl together. “Oh. That,” he says with an amused grin. Pulling back the sheet, he smacks my ass, leaving a creamy handprint behind. “I think our normal can be whatever we want it to be.”

“Have you ever been like this with another woman before?” After I ask the question, I instantly regret it and want to take it back, because what if he says yes? What if this is the norm for Luca?

“No,” he says. “I never fucked the same woman more than once. Never wanted anyone enough to actually want to,” he says with a shrug. Reaching over to the nightstand, he wipes off his hands on a towel. “Lift your hips, honey.” When I lift them, he sticks a bolster pillow underneath my stomach, which causes my hips and ass to lift up in the air.

And then he grabs a bottle of oil. Squirting the liquid on my backside, he rubs his hands over the globes of my ass, massaging deeply.

I groan from the sensation. “That feels good,” I murmur.

“Spread your legs for me, honey,” he tells me huskily.

I do as he says, and he puts his knees between my thighs. His large hands massage the oil into my cheeks, and then I feel a fingertip gliding down the entire length of my slit. He plays with my clit, making me squirm underneath him.

“I love how wet you get for me,” he says as his fingers trail up to my entrance, dipping in and grazing over my G spot, making me groan loudly. He gathers wetness on his fingers and then goes higher, tracing over the rim of my puckered hole. I immediately tense up, but Luca whispers, “Relax, honey. I won’t hurt you.”

I feel his thumb pressing against my tight hole, and I desperately try to relax. Luca told me before he wanted to claim my ass, and I’ve been dreading it. I’m expecting it to hurt, but when his thumb enters me, I don’t feel much pain. It’s just…strange.

He fingers my clit as his thumb pushes in and out of my back hole. I wriggle under him, nonsensical words coming out of my mouth as the pleasure quickly mounts.

“I don’t want you to come until I’m inside of you,” he warns.

He climbs off the bed, and I turn to watch him take off his clothes. His hard cock bobs up towards his stomach, and I swallow back a gasp. How will it ever fit inside of me back there?

He’s between my legs again, and I feel the head of his cock notched at my back entrance. I whimper nervously. “It’s okay, honey,” he whispers soothingly to me as he smooths his other hand over my hip.

My fingers wrap around the sheets in a death grip as he pushes his cock into me. “Luca!” I cry out.

“Touch yourself for me, honey.”

My right hand reluctantly releases the sheet, and I reach down between my legs until I find my clit. I rub the little bundle of nerves with my fingertip, and it feels so good mixed with the pain, but I’m still not totally relaxed.

“That’s it,” Luca hisses. “That’s my naughty girl.”

He pushes further into my ass, and I finger myself faster, needing the pleasure to mask the pain. “Please!” I cry out, but I honestly don’t know if I want him to stop or continue.

“Breathe, honey. Relax. I’ll make it feel good. I promise.”

His voice calms me, and I’m able to relax enough that he can enter me the whole way. When I feel his trimmed pubic hair touching my ass cheeks, I know he’s fully seated inside of me. I expect him to fuck me hard, but he doesn’t. Luca takes his time, easing in and easing out, adding more oil when needed and stroking my back, murmuring praises as he fucks me nice and slow.

When he wanted to claim my ass, I never thought it would be like this. It feels good. More than good. My fingers stroke my clit as he fucks me, and it almost feels like an out of body experience.

I groan and move my body in rhythm with his cock, grinding down on my fingers.

“I’m so close, honey. Your ass feels so damn good around my cock. So tight,” he grunts as he rocks in and out of me. “Come with me,” he begs.

His words are my undoing. I detonate around him, my entire body on fire with pleasure. I almost scream, it feels so good.

“Fuck! Yes,” Luca groans before pulling out of me. I feel rope after rope of his seed striping my backside as he comes.

Our harsh breathing fills the room. That was so intense and unexpected. I close my eyes and begin to relax again when I feel Luca rubbing his cum into my skin.

“What are you doing?” I question.

“Marking you,” he says, his voice husky and raw.

That whole thing with Constantine really did a number on him, and I don’t think I was ever really in danger at the art gallery. Still, Constantine could come for me if he wanted to, I suppose. But he’d be going up against Luca and his army of men. And I don’t think Luca would ever let him win that war.

Smacking my ass playfully, Luca announces, “Let’s take a shower.”

He gets off the bed and helps me to stand. Then, he pulls me into his arms. I can feel something different in that hug, as he holds me, the hug lasting way longer than normal. It’s almost like Luca senses something bad is going to happen to us, and it scares the hell out of me.

Maybe just the thought of losing me is making him fall for me. And that’s probably scarier than anything else in his dark, twisted world.