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I start to laugh but stop when I see that he’s serious. “Can a girl even get married twice in one day?”
“As you said, you never signed the papers. You never laid in bed with that man.” He leans in closer to me. “Have you laid in bed with that man?” He doesn't even want to say his name, I notice.
I give him the embarrassing truth. “I’ve never laid in bed with any man.”
He lets out a small growl as he leans more in to me. I don’t pull away. I tell myself it’s because I don’t want to show fear, but I really want to know what he’s going to do. It’s wrong, this fascination that’s growing by the second. But he surprises me. And now, the marriage proposal has made me even more confused, hungrier to solve the mystery of the killer beside me. He runs his nose along my neck and breathes me in. My body instantly heats, new sensations growing and unfurling inside me.
“I can smell it on you.” He nips at my jugular, and I gasp. “Oh, cara mia. The innocence is all over you. You didn’t even let him kiss you at the ceremony, did you?”
I’d wondered if anyone noticed.
This man did.
I turn my head, my gaze meeting his. I need to push him away. His mouth is doing things to me it shouldn’t be doing. It’s back, that same thrill I’d gotten when he took the dress from me and demanded it be burned. My husband lay dead next to me, and I’d gotten turned on by his killer. No one would ever know that. I could only admit it to myself. That confession would never pass my lips, not even in church. Because it’s wrong. Because it scares me. And maybe because it means I’m just as messed-up as everyone else in my family.
“Did he taste your sweet lips, cara mia?” His voice is a growl against my flesh. “Tell me.”
“No,” I breathe.
Antonio had barely lifted my veil when he’d gone in for it. I couldn’t stomach the thought of his mouth on mine. It was stupid, because I knew what would be coming hours later. Well, I thought I knew. Now everything has changed.
“Have you ever kissed a man?”
I shake my head no. My voice is too shaky, far too breathy now. I can’t speak, can’t think when he kisses beneath my ear. How many times have I dreamed about my first kiss? Too many to count. Being locked away gives a girl a lot of time. I’d spent most of that time with my nose pressed to a book. I thought if I could never have love, I could at least read about all the great ones, and I did. Austen, Bronte, every bodice ripper and high stakes romance I could find; I devoured them all. And now? Now I’m being devoured by a dark stranger who kills as easily as he breathes.
“Never been tasted.” He licks his lips. “Good.” His mouth comes down on mine.
The kiss is hard at first. I sit there shocked, not sure what to do. My whole body lights up with desire like nothing I’ve ever felt. I shouldn’t be feeling this. Not with this man.
He growls against my mouth, “Open for me. I’m getting my kiss now. You won’t be turning your head from me after you say ‘I do.’”
I part my lips, giving in to his demands. I tell myself it’s because I have no other choice, but the truth is I want to feel what it’s like to be kissed by this man. His hand digs into my hair.
I moan into his mouth as he deepens the kiss. It’s more than a kiss. It’s a claim, and I know he wasn’t lying. I’m going to be getting married twice in one day.
