Page 13 of Sacred Vow

I must have gone too far. His gentle tone was gone, along with his sexy smirk. Mr. Cold returned and was freezing me in place with his glare. I noticed that when his eyes glittered with danger, they also went a shade darker. All the gold flecks vanished, and the soft amber turned deep brown.

I glanced around the room, but no one seemed to notice that my new husband’s demeanor had become glacier.

“Is that right, Vittoria? Could you bite my dick off without a second thought?” He leaned in so close his breath on my neck felt like fire. “You know what I think. I think you’re a naughty girl who wants to be dominated. Every act of defiance today tells me you want my handprints on your ass and my cock buried deep inside every hole.”

I gasped. No one had ever spoken to me the way he was and it was both insulting and so very hot. He leaned just ever so much closer. His tongue flicked out and licked the shell of my ear. “You want someone who will beat your ass and fuck you hard in the bedroom, then treat you like the queen. You can run as many times as you wish, but I will always find you, will always bring you back, and most definitely will mark you as mine every single time you get out of line.”

My heart thundered in my chest and when he shifted back in his seat, turned his attention to his food. I felt the loss of his overpowering presence. I shivered although I wasn’t cold. I will always find you. The promise in his words reverberated through me, sending all kinds of signals to my clit. I was royally screwed because there was definitely an attraction, a darkness in him that spoke to something within me that until now I hadn’t been aware existed.

By the time the cake was done, so was I, and couldn’t wait to have a shower and go to bed. Romeo, either sensing or wanting the same thing, rose from his chair and took my hand. I followed him as we went to every table to say good night to our guests. The men jibed him about being in a hurry to deflower his new bride while the women offered me looks of sympathy.

An hour later, we were finally alone in his master suite. The room was pristine, with the bed turned down, and even a chocolate on each pillow. Where the white sheets were exposed were rose petals done in the shape of the Vitale crest. It was hard to hold back an eye roll. Who did these people think they were, royalty? I got it already, no more Vittoria Calogerà, only Vittoria Vitale. Mrs. Vitale. The title sounded so foreign, yet hummed through me with an excited buzz. Oh, hell yes, I was Mrs. Vitale. The title, however, I liked. It was power, wealth far beyond anything I’d known in the Calogerà household.

The chocolate on the pillows was a nice gesture, but wasted on a loveless union. I pointed at the pretty mess. “Why go to all the trouble? It’s not as if we like each other?”

Leaning against the door, Romeo chuckled. I couldn’t help but notice his confidence, it poured out of every pore of his body. And god, what a body. I had to admit a part of me had been dying all day to see him naked.

“Come now, Vittoria, we are wed. Are you sure you don’t like your new husband?”

He strutted toward me like a cat, a large and dangerous one. He was prowling and I was his prey. Dear lord, help me close my heart to this man and escape before I decide to let him have all of me.

Chapter Five

Romeo

My father taught me from a young age that we would all die one day, that we should not fear death but that we must not seek it either. It may have been the only time he ever lied to me. Since meeting my new wife a week ago, I’d died a thousand deaths inside of her. More than money. More than power. More than sleep. All I desired was the oblivion I found buried deep inside my wife.

I had always been an early riser, but like so many things, that changed after marriage. For some reason, I just wasn’t getting enough sleep at night anymore, and instead of waking before dawn, I’d taken to drowsing in my bed until morning light poured through the windows, or Massimo woke me. But on this day, I actually was awake already when Vittoria carefully moved my enclosing arm and slipped out of our bed.

I let her think her stealthy efforts had been successful and that I was still asleep. It wasn’t as if there was anywhere she could run off to. As far as she knew, the only way out of our suite was through the outer room door, where two guards—one of mine and one of hers—stood watch. And although I didn’t open my eyes, from what I heard as she rustled about the closet, she didn’t even try her luck with them. Perhaps she just wanted a private shower this morning. I did have a tendency to spoil those for her.

Sure enough, she tiptoed across the floor and soon I heard the bathroom door softly shut. At once, I rolled over across the spacious bed, stretching like a cat. I had work to do and no doubt Massimo was already waiting in the office. I could easily imagine him glowering at my empty chair, counting down the seconds until I was late enough to warrant him interrupting me with a text.

Maybe I ought to get up and show him I still knew where my priorities lay. But I had time to join my wife for a quick shower.

Grinning, I flung back the blankets, my cock already hardening in anticipation as I gathered some clothes and headed for the bathroom.

I hadn’t heard the water running, and on some level, I must have known what that meant, because I was distinctly unsurprised to open the door and catch my wife attempting to squeeze herself out the narrow bathroom window.

I caught only a glimpse of her wide eyes and then her hands must have slipped, because the next thing I knew, she was wedged in the narrow window by her ample backside.

The picture she made, framed by the window and hung on the bathroom wall, was almost as tantalizing as it was exasperating. Almost.

“Naughty girl,” I tsked, setting my clothes down and strolling over to join her. “Escaping so soon?”

Her jean-clad bottom bucked as her legs kicked in a last desperate bid to wriggle through, but it was no good. She tried to wriggle back in next, but that was just as fruitless and at last, she slumped over the sill, humbled but not defeated, her toes dangling several inches above the floor.

“Well, no, actually,” she said sourly and looked back at me over the curve of her upturned ass. “I can honestly say that I am not escaping. Now are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me back inside?”

I thought about it.

“Romeo!” she snapped and slapped the wall.

“I love it when you shout my name,” I told her and hauled her back in, helping her shift around to squeeze through, and set her firmly back on her feet. “Now what is this behavior? Have I not given you enough orgasms? How have I mistreated you? Come on, tell me why you think running away is justified.”

Vittoria folded her arms defiantly, but I didn’t miss the sudden blush on her cheeks, or the way the pulse at her throat throbbed. Heat furled through me. She smelled of roses and vanilla, and something spicy I couldn’t identify, and all I wanted to do was bury myself in that scent and ravish her until she cried my name again, but I needed to remain stern.

“Vittoria,” I warned, unsmiling. “It is never a good idea to ignore me when I ask a question.”