AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah. He won’t be a problem anymore.”
I nodded, my fingers moving to unfasten the buttons on his shirt. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I breathed, spreading his shirt wide. He slid it the rest of the way from his body, then took off his undershirt. I trailed my hands over his taut skin, and he patiently allowed me to walk a slow circle around him so I could verify he was unharmed.
Once I was facing him again, I lifted my gaze to his as I removed the cuff from my wrist and dropped it onto the ground. An apology and a promise. I hadn’t wanted to hurt him, and I’d try my hardest not to do it again.
His eyes blazed liquid sapphire. Grabbing the hem of my dress, he lifted it over my head, discarding the offending fabric to the ground.
The air around us thickened, pregnant with meaning. With intent and desire.
We were on the precipice of a shift in our budding relationship. A fork in the road that could change everything. The implications were so far-reaching that we stood motionless across from one another, unsure whether to leap the divide or slowly back away.
“My dad killed my mom,” I whispered, freeing the words for the first time in almost seven months.
I’d chosen to leap without ever really choosing. The need to open up to him was simply too great to resist any longer.
Conner stood stock-still as I bared the ugly truth about my family.
“Dad orchestrated the accident, and he knows that I know. He's been threatening harm to Sante to keep me quiet. He’s a bad man, Conner. I was worried about Sante. About you.” The words faded to a near whisper by the time I was done.
My new husband took a shuddering breath, then growled as he lifted me in his arms. I circled my legs around his waist and pressed my lips to his, greedy for his touch.
I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but the barriers between us crumbled. I’d gone from despising him to seeing his worth to craving his approval—all in a handful of weeks. It was the very best and worst of outcomes because no matter how much we wanted one another, there would always be secrets between us.
He had an entire life beyond my reach.
Nothing exemplified that more than the fact that he still hadn’t told me what had upset him about Mia’s visit. Something had triggered him to go after the Albanian though he hadn’t admitted as much. And I couldn’t fault him because I wasn’t being entirely forthright either. I had omitted the reason my father had killed my mother, allowing him to assume her death was a product of his abusive nature, but there was so much more to it than that. If Conner knew the truth, it would give him even more reason to move against my father. The situation could devolve into an all-out war.
Secrets were the essence of Mafia life and the reason I’d wanted out.
How could a man ever claim to value his wife and children above all else when he kept a world of secrets from them? It wasn’t possible. Secrets paved the road to treachery and distrust. A road I wanted to avoid but was instead running toward full steam ahead.
I couldn’t help myself because, despite it all, I wanted Conner Reid.
And even more importantly, I wanted him to want me. To choose me above all others.
That was why my body came alive when I was the focus of his brutal intensity. I craved every ravenous stare. Each mercurial thought that passed behind his eyes and the protective weight of his devotion. When I felt the full force of his desire, my body wept with happiness, the evidence soaking my silk panties as he walked us back to the bedroom.
He unclasped my bra before we reached the secluded master suite so that when he did finally set my feet down, the lacy fabric slipped from my shoulders, leaving only my most private parts covered.
“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Conner murmured, eyes roving hungrily over my body. “Take off your panties and lie back on the bed. I want to see all of you.”
I did as he commanded, all the while spellbound at the sight of him shedding the last of his clothing. Everything about him radiated raw power. He was so much larger and stronger than me that I wondered at my own sanity. It seemed crazy not to be a little terrified of this man—not to fear the vulnerable nature of what I was offering him—but I wasn’t scared. Call it female intuition, but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Not physically, anyway.
Once he was bare, he took his engorged cock in his hand and began to stroke himself. “Spread your legs for me, baby. Show me what’s mine.”
Knees bent, I dropped them to the sides.
Conner’s abs seized as his grip tightened around himself, practically throttling his cock as if to keep himself in check. “Tell me you’re on birth control, Em.” His words were as coarse as gravel tumbling across the asphalt. I felt each word scrape against my skin, heating me from the inside.
“I got a shot before the wedding.”
“Thankfuck.” He released himself and prowled onto the bed, his lips latching briefly to my nipple before raising to capture my lips. “I don’t want … anything … between us,” he said between kisses. “I want to see you stain my cock red.” He rocked himself, rubbing his shaft against my folds.
His heavy warmth felt incredible. I was already so damn wet at the sight of him that he glided smoothly over my swollen clit, aching for more.
“Conner, what about … other stuff?” I didn’t want to derail our moment, but I had to ask. “Are you clean?”
“Baby, it’s my job to protect you in every way. I’d never put you at risk like this if I wasn’t.” He pressed my hands together above my head and wound a seductive path with his lips down my body. The scruff on his jaw tickled and teased while his lips caressed and teeth devoured. I felt like a goddess beneath him, worshipped and adored.
