He twirls me back around so my back is facing him. I watch his reflection in the mirror. A furious tick forms in his right cheek as his obsidian eyes study my exposed spine.
“They will all be looking at you,” he sneers.“Every single one of those bastards is going to look at what’s mine.”
I shake my head, turning back around and pressing a kiss to his jaw. Even in my six-inch heels, he still completely towers over me.
“And I will only have eyes on you, Graham,” I murmur.“Besides, if they look at me, I’m sure it will be to judge, not to admire.”
I bite my lower lip as anxiety creeps back into my chest.
His face contorts into a snarl.
“Fuck them. They can judge as much as they want. As long as I have you in my arms, I don’t give a single shit about any of them.”
The monster doesn’t care about his reputation, only me. I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him, but the second our mouths touch, I realize his body is rock-hard. He is incredibly tense.
And I find out exactly why a second later.
Graham bends me forward over the vanity. His hot breath coats my skin before he bites the nape of my neck. He begins to suck and nip his way down my spine, all the way from my neck to the area above the crack of my ass.
He litters my skin with hickeys.
“Great,” I huff, rolling my eyes, though the pleasure sends my pupils to the back of my head.“They’re going to look even more now, Graham. Everyone will see these.”
“Good,” he mumbles against my skin.“They will look at these marks and know that you’re a claimed woman.”
Graham doesn’t leave my side for a single second. Not from the moment I step into the back of his Cadillac to the exact moment the valet opens our doors at the venue.
He is completely all over me. Incapable of staying still, constantly touching me. He caresses the dimples above my ass, presses kisses behind my ear, and spanks the flesh of my inner thigh whenever the car hits a bump.
Honestly, I’m thankful.
It helps distract me from my fears.
Yet the moment we arrive, it appears no amount of affection is enough to distract me. Every single pair of eyes in the room instantly snaps toward us. And then the whispers start.
The fact that Valeria is mentally unstable and that Graham dissolved the marriage the second she was institutionalized is already well-known gossip.
What they didn’t know is that we have a relationship.
Desperate to numb myself, I snatch a glass of white wine from a passing waiter’s tray and down the entire thing in a single gulp.
“Relax,” Graham whispers in my ear.
I nod quickly, forcing a brave face. I don’t want to embarrass him. I spend most of the night glued to his side, where no one dares mention a thing to my face. They are all terrified of Graham.
When I am with him, I am safe.
Safe from the questions.
Safe from the passive-aggressive comments.
Safe from the sneers.
But eventually, the amount of alcohol I’ve downed catches up to me. My bladder feels like it is going to burst.
“I need to excuse myself to the restroom,” I murmur.
As if I needed any more embarrassment or attention drawn to me, Graham crashes his mouth onto mine. He kisses me possessively for the entire room to witness.
