Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 38942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
"None," she assures me, meeting my gaze directly. "It was... everything I hoped it would be. More, even."
The simple honesty in her voice, the clear contentment in her eyes, settles something in me I didn't know was restless.
I watch my wife turn back to her workplace, gathering the seals and checking them one at a time. It makes me want to do something - anything - so that I can seal her in my possession.
Because this time, it's no longer enough to protect her.
I also want to own her. Forever. No matter the means. No matter the cost.
KLEAH
I've never felt anything like this.
My body hums with lingering pleasure, with the sweet ache of new muscles used, with the strange and wonderful awareness of having been thoroughly, completely loved.
Because it was love, I think, even if neither of us has said the word. Not just sex, not just physical release, but something deeper, something that connected us beyond flesh and sensation.
Gabriele moves around the kitchen with his usual grace, preparing dinner while I sit at the counter, watching him with a contentment I've never known before. There's something different about him now—a softness beneath the controlled exterior, a tenderness in the way he looks at me.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks, glancing over his shoulder as he stirs something on the stove. "No discomfort?"
"I'm fine." He's asked me that five times in the past seven minutes. It's so adorable, really, but even I know better than to tell him that.
"Don't lie."
"Fine then," I concede with a sigh. "I'm a little sore—"
My husband's jaw clenches.
"But I swear you'll break my heart if you use that as an excuse not to touch me again."
A few seconds pass.
And just as the reality of what I've said hits me—-
Have you no shame, Kleah Martell?
My husband's dark eyes gleam, and oh, the heat I see it in simply makes me catch my breath.
"Just remember, cara. You asked for this."
Why do I suddenly have this feeling I've asked more than what I can chew?
We eat dinner on the terrace, watching the sun set over the ocean, and afterwards, we move to the library. We're starting to have a routine, my husband and I...
And I like it.
No, actually, I love it. So, so much. To the point that I'm starting to worry everything we have is just too good to be true.
Gabriele and I talk well into the night. We talk about anything. Everything. It's already half-past one when he catches me yawning. But as soon as we're back in the bedroom——
Oh no.
That's when my husband makes his move.
"Don't forget," he growls, and my heart jumps to my throat. In excitement. Not fear.
"You asked for this."
Chapter Seven
KLEAH
TWO WEEKS. THAT'S HOW long I've been married to Gabriele Bronzetti. Two weeks since I stood in a courthouse and bound my life to a stranger's for protection. Two weeks of learning to navigate this new reality—danger and desire, fear and fascination intertwined.
In some ways, it feels like years. In others, mere moments.
I watch him now from the doorway of his office, unaware of my presence as he works. His focus is absolute, brow slightly furrowed as he studies whatever's on his computer screen, one hand absently rubbing the tension from his neck.
My husband looks handsome. Strong. Disciplined. If it were up to me, I'd love to spend every waking moment with him making love. I'm pretty sure he'd like that, too. But because there are still threats looming over my head, Gabriele hasn't let me slack off from my training.
And with every day that passes, the training has become more intense, to the point that I sometimes wonder if I'll just pass out in exhaustion one day.
But I don't complain, of course. I know it's for my own good. And while a part of me wants this to be over, another part of me is terrified. What will really happen once the danger has passed? Will Gabriele still keep me as his wife? He says we have forever. But can I truly believe him?
I step into the room, deliberately making enough noise that he won't be startled. His head lifts immediately, eyes finding mine, expression softening in a way that still surprises me.
"I didn't hear you," he says, pushing back from his desk slightly.
"You were focused." I move closer, perching on the edge of his desk. "Important work?"
"Security updates. Nothing immediate, but developments we need to monitor."
I nod, accepting this. I've learned not to ask for specifics when it comes to security matters. Some details are better left unknown, for my peace of mind if nothing else.
"Is there something on your mind?"
Oh. Right. I did come here for a reason.
My husband arches a brow. "You have a surprise for me?"
"Yup."
"This, I'll have to see then."
I lead him through the house to a part we rarely use—the Roman-style bath installed by the previous owner, a decadent space of marble and glass that feels almost mythical in its luxuriousness.