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Reese was better at hiding her darkness than I was.
“Van,” she whispers, turning her head to face me. “I swear it wasn’t me who betrayed you.”
My, how the sound of her lying makes my dick rock-fucking-solid.
“Tell you what, love… Since I enjoy a good mystery, if you can prove who set me up that night, I will pardon your crime and release you with time served.”
She lets out this girly sniffle that stops me cold. “But if you cry during this marriage, I will add time to your sentence.”
I might as well have threatened her cat again.
“Let me go, you bastard!”
She thrashes against me, and I nearly go feral. My heart races, and sweat beads at my temple. It’s all I can do to keep my hands on her while my cock strains against my zipper.
I bite her.
I sink my teeth into the soft flesh of her side, relishing the sound of her returning scream as she kicks angrily against the wind. The only thing making contact is her shoes as they fall to the ground.
“Okay!” she screams. “I’ll stop fighting.”
Is it wild that I feel disappointed she gave up?
“Do you hear me, Van? I’ll behave.”
Fuck her for ruining the moment. I haven’t enjoyed myself like this in years—decades, even.
“Stop biting me!”
I do. Slowly and a little pissed off, I ease my teeth off her skin and place a kiss on the reddened mark.
“That was your one free pass,” I warn, straightening and hitching her higher on my shoulder. “The next time you induce an ache in my back, you will relieve it on your knees with nothing but tears in your eyes and my cock down your throat.”
I would have been wrong if I thought my threat would settle her sassiness.
“Do you even hear yourself?” She laughs. “You’re an arsonist, not a mafia boss.”
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she raises her hand like she plans to take a swing at me, but then she grins and lowers all her fingers except for the middle one. “Get my fucking shoes, dear husband, and let’s get this punishment over with.”
I want to shake her. Maybe even toss her into the car’s trunk and slam on the brakes a few times, but she’d enjoy seeing me lose control. Reese Carmichael is an intelligent woman. This whole moment was a test to see where my weaknesses lie. Unfortunately, I might be rusty, but I’m never weak.
I walk up the sidewalk again, sending her a clear signal that I don’t plan to pick up her shoes. Not now or ever. I’m not her mother, and I’m certainly not a caring husband. I will let her walk on the courthouse’s disgusting tile floor if she wants to go barefoot.
After all, it’s essential she understands just how much I don’t give a fuck about her comfort level. This is her prison sentence, not a fairytale with the boy she wanted to run away with.
She laughs as we approach the courthouse doors. “You want to embarrass me, don’t you?” Her long lashes blink up at my face, and I hope she finds a severe look of annoyance. “Guess what, lover? I don’t get embarrassed. You, on the other hand, with your fancy suit and expensive cologne, speak otherwise.”
Fuck, I hate her.
Without answering, I shift her off my shoulder, sending her scrambling to catch her balance awkwardly.
“My expensive suit isn’t made of Velcro,” I state while smoothing the wrinkles from my coat. “Maybe you’ll remember that the next time you want to insult me.”
I couldn’t give two shits about her comment. Everything she said is true. The suit I’m marrying her in cost me eight grand, and the cologne was a gift. I don’t know how much it cost, but my embarrassment at her bare feet and sweatpants is nonexistent.
No one is stupid enough to look at me when I walk through these halls. They know the warning I carry in my eyes. I am not their friend or their colleague. I am the assistant district attorney.
“Wow, threatening innocent people now. You have evolved.” She holds my gaze just as I do hers, waiting to deliver the final blow. Dare I say, I yearn to feel the stab of her knifed tongue. At least this time, I’ll see it coming.
