Aria Ruso
I paced across the room for the hundredth time, holding my phone to my chest and waiting for something to happen. Matteo hadn’t told me anything other than to behave, but he’d promised he’d be in touch, and I waited for that, hoping with all my might to get into contact with him.
I knew he couldn’t offer me anything more than comforting words now, but at least they would be familiar. Here, I felt lost.
Despite myself, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d been dragged behind enemy lines, and there was no possible way to escape. I felt like Matteo was my only chance at salvation, but I reminded myself repeatedly that he’d been the one to put me in this position. He’d been the one who insisted I be the key to this alliance, and he was the only one I cared to impress. If I did this, things between us would be better. They had to be.
I took a deep breath and looked at my phone before deciding.
I dialed Matteo’s number, and he answered on the fourth ring.
“What?”
“You told me you’d be in contact,” I reminded him. “I’ve been alone in a room for over twenty-four hours, and I’ve heard nothing from you.”
He huffed and then didn’t say anything for a long moment. When he finally did speak, he sounded entirely unamused and frustrated by my call. “I said I’d be in contact because I had a few things I needed to get in order first. Most notably, the alliance contract.”
I shut my mouth, pursing my lips. I guessed that made sense. “Oh,” I replied dumbly.
“Which isn’t yet filed,” he told me. “But I don’t get the impression Cade will make any revisions. The contract binds him from attacking me, and it binds me from giving orders to attack him. If my men launch an attack, I’ll be in breach of the contract, but if you do it, the contract will not be void. You are in charge of gathering the necessary information from the Burns’ home, and you will deliver all that intel to me.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I thought that he wanted an alliance- that he genuinely wanted to make nice with the people who had killed our father. All this time that I’d felt like I was betraying my father, Matteo had been playing the long game. He’d been making plans to avenge my father the way I most wanted to.
“But the contract,” I replied. “You said that you can’t order an attack.”
“But it doesn’t say I can’t do it myself, and with enough information, I can do that.”
It should have been obvious. “You’re not just going to let him get away with killing Dad?” I whispered.
“Of course not, Aria,” he said. “I’m not fucking stupid. I’m not going to let that slide. You’re there to be my spy, and marriage was the only way I knew he’d let you in. Do your job, and don’t give him a reason to distrust
us. Do something right for once in your life.” For once in your life.
“Okay, I can-”
But before I could say anything more, he’d ended the call.
I couldn’t tell if I was pleased about the progression of events or more nervous about them. If I wanted to gather information and send it to my brother, I had a lot of work that I needed to do. If I wanted to be responsible for the justice of my father’s death, I had to play the part, but every time I
saw Cade, irrational anger spurred to life, and I couldn’t find a way to control my reaction.
I lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to mentally prepare myself for what I knew I’d have to do. The role I’d need to play.
***
It was sometime later when the door to the room opened, and I jerked upright, staring at Cade’s hulking figure as it walked through the door.
“You could try knocking,” I immediately said, cursing myself as the words entered the air between us.
“I don’t knock in my own home.” For once, I managed to keep my mouth shut. I glanced over his shoulder to where his guard stood in the corner.
“Get up. We’re training.” “Training?” I asked dumbly.
“Yes, self-defense and fighting. It’s good to keep up on it.”
I raised my brows at the command in his tone. “You mean you and your guard, correct? Because I will do no such thing.”
His eyes immediately narrowed, and his shoulders went back. “Did you learn nothing from the car ride here? I own you, and you’ll do what I say when I say it.”
“Why the hell would you be interested in training me to fight? So I can kick your ass when we get into these debates? I’m not interested in training, and that’s all I’ll say on that matter.”
I couldn’t bring myself to regret my words. Sure, I needed to be on his good side, but I didn’t need to do something as absurd as self-defense training. I knew a few maneuvers, but I wasn’t a fighter, and I had no interest in ever being one. I got enough adrenaline from the ICU in Seattle to last a lifetime. If I had any interest in getting sweaty, I would apply to a local hospital here.
“I won’t have a wife who can’t defend herself. We handle too many dangerous people here, and I can’t risk my enemies using you against me. I have all the close members of my family and inner circle trained so they can properly defend themselves, and that is nonnegotiable,” he said, gesturing to the door.
“How has it worked out for you? Did it help any of them stay alive?”
I knew the question was harsh, especially knowing how many of his people my family had killed over the years. He looked over his shoulder stiffly, and with one glance, the guard left the room and closed the door, leaving us alone.
I had no time to react.
He came at me quickly, and I could only lift my hand to push him away -nowhere near a good enough defense. I pressed it into his chest as he lifted me and slammed my body down on my bed, placing a knee between my legs. He grabbed both of my wrists with one hand and pinned them above my head in the same way as he had the day before. He pressed his other hand into my lower stomach.
I wiggled around, but no amount of movement could dislodge him from atop me. I knew I should have been terrified by the position, but my breath caught, and I could only feel that molten heat igniting within me once again. I could feel the closeness of his body to mine and the way his hand moved down my stomach slowly, cupping me between the legs.
He met my eyes, and I released a small cry.
Not a fearful one. Not even a scared one.
This cry was something from deep inside of my chest-something feral and needing. I’d never been in a position like this with a man. I’d decided as a teenager to save my virginity for something special, but my body had entirely different ideas as Cade grabbed me.
“It was easy to pin you, Aria. Too easy. Anyone could come in here and hurt you, and I won’t always be here to stop them. You’re vulnerable.” I liked being vulnerable right now.
My breaths came quickly, and his hand twitched, barely grazing the sensitive bundle of nerves between my legs. I couldn’t stop my hips from thrusting into his hand with the motion. I hated him for making me react this way. I hated him for a hell of a lot of things, and this was just the tip of the iceberg, but I couldn’t stop the waves of want that rolled through me.
Shock registered on his face as he looked me up and down. I couldn’t begin to place the conflicted look on his face as he bent down, hovering his face a mere inch from mine.
I knew he planned to scare me, not turn me on. Based on his reaction, he had no idea how to react to this.
“You can’t scare me,” I told him, biting my bottom lip to keep from grinding into his hand the way my body wanted me to. I should have been terrified, but my body wouldn’t let that happen. What was wrong with me?
“And you’re not going to convince me to do something I don’t want to do.” “I will carry you to the training room.”
His voice sounded different-gruffer than before. I didn’t want to admit that I’d heard it, but his hand moved again, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinding against it and bucking my hips with the subtle movement.
“And you still won’t get me to train,” I said breathlessly.
“God fucking damn it, Aria,” he snarled, moving his hand to the hem of my pants and slipping a hand beneath the fabric there. He dragged it down before cupping the bare skin of my pussy, and when he felt the slickness there, he sucked in a deep breath. “Fuck.”
I didn’t bother saying anything as I bucked into his hand, closing my eyes and arching my back at the unusual sensation of a man’s hand working me there.
“I need to leave,” he said, but his fingers didn’t stop. He continued as if something was compelling him to stay. I knew he hadn’t intended for it to go this far. I hadn’t either. But I could hardly think clearly enough to tell him to stop now. I enjoyed this. I wanted this. I’d never had sex before, and I knew I had good reasons, but I couldn’t think of them with his fingers between my thighs working me so thoroughly.
Why had I waited so long for this moment when it felt so good?
“Don’t go,” I said through a moan.
That seemed to be enough for him, as he jerked away and pulled the pants from my body swiftly. My panties fell down my thighs, and I lifted my hips to make it smoother. With one hand, he continued stroking me, and with the other, he unfastened his belt and pants, dropping them just below his cock.
I shuddered as I saw it. He slipped two fingers into me, stretching me so much that I gasped and cried out. I bunched my fists in the sheets as he slipped a third finger into me. “I don’t fuck gently,” he told me, withdrawing his fingers and aligning his cock with my hips.
He pressed it into me hard, and I shouted. A scorching pain took my breath away as he moved in and out quickly, stretching me so much-too much. But when I opened my mouth to tell him to stop, that pain transformed into something different. A deep, yearning ache built in my belly, and pressure followed it. One that grew and multiplied until I shook on the verge of an orgasm.
“God,” I cried out as the building pressure became almost too much.
Then, I shattered. I fell apart around him, my world turning upside down for a brief moment as I rode all the waves of ecstasy. He tipped his head back and groaned, and I felt as he slowed, riding the same waves as I had moments ago.
I panted beneath him as he breathed deeply, stopping his thrusts at once. He looked down at me, and for the first time, I considered what I’d just done and who I’d just lost my virginity to. A yawning pit of uncertainty and anxiety filled me, and I forced myself to release a small chuckle. “I guess losing virginity is the most important part of marriage, right?” I joked.
He stiffened, and the slight motion of his cock inside of me had me gasping. “You’re a virgin?” he asked.
“Not anymore,” I retorted.
He withdrew himself from me, and I shuttered from the feeling of emptiness as he moved. He buckled himself in his pants and took a step away, shaking his head. I could tell he wanted to say something. Maybe he wanted to tell me that this had been a mistake. Maybe he wanted to apologize.
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his apologizing.
Instead, he gave me one last heated glance before leaving me alone in the room, wondering what the hell I’d just done.