Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
IVY
“ H e makes you cry, say the word,” Aemon warned in a hushed tone before slipping into the back seat of the town car they arrived in.
“We’ll kill him,” Bren added, and I laughed. If they’d made this offer a few hours ago, fresh off yet another rejection (this time at the altar, in front of my friends and family), I might’ve taken them up on it. But I could already feel myself softening to him, and my resolve weakened each time I rubbed the ring on my finger or felt my dress sway around me. I reminded myself that the man I married had many layers.
“We’ll bury him six feet under, princess,” Caelan chimed in, his eyes shining darkly. Then he hugged me and slipped a piece of paper into my palm. “The information you asked for.”
I stiffened, my eyes widening. “Already?”
After Christian shared some of his story with me, I did a bit of sleuthing and ran into a name. Father Gabriel Metto. A little more and I discovered he was the principal of the school the DiLustro brothers attended. Knowing the kind of sickness that lived inside Father Gabriel, it wasn’t hard to draw conclusions. If I was wrong, Christian could correct me.
“I have contacts in the Vatican.” He winked. “I took the liberty of booking you and my shiny new brother-in-law a private flight and hotel suite in Rome.”
Game. Set. Match.
The priest who dared hurt my husband would never see us coming.
I took my brother’s hand and squeezed it gratefully. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course. Anything for my baby sister.” He kissed one cheek, then the other. “And if you need anything else, you’ll call. Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He climbed into the back seat and I watched my brothers—our last guests—drive away, leaving me alone with my new husband.
I let my gaze roam, but Christian was nowhere to be found. With everyone gone, the church and its gardens felt deserted, despite that only minutes ago it brimmed with energy. The chirping birds outside and hum of the organs inside swirled as I made my way toward the rectory.
The doors of the cathedral creaked as I opened them and stepped inside the cool, dark space.
They closed behind me with a loud thud, making me jump and whirl around. All the candles had been extinguished, leaving it almost pitch black, the faded daylight barely making its way through the windows.
My skin tingled with anticipation.
“Christian?” My voice bounced off the centuries-old stone, the stillness somewhat eerie. “Hello?”
Did he disappear again?
I heard some shuffling behind me and whirled around, my anxiety climbing tenfold.
I scanned the darkness, trying to distinguish shapes, but there was nothing.
My heels clicked as I walked deeper into the church until I reached the altar. A distant howl that could have been the result of my wild imagination sent my pulse into overdrive. My breaths became ragged as I backed against a pew, my thigh jamming against an iron coat hook, but I didn’t even register the pain.
My mouth went dry as I whipped around and around, my head spinning.
“Christian, I swear to God?—”
His hand reached over my shoulder and covered my mouth as he pulled me back against his muscled body.
“There she is,” he rasped into my ear. “Don’t scream.”
“What are you doing?” I asked in a muffled voice.
“I’ve been fantasizing about tasting you again for far too long.”
I gasped against his palm, darting my tongue out and licking his hand. A rumble vibrated in his throat and he pushed his free hand through my scalp, sending tingles of pain shooting through me.
“Someone will see us.”
“Then I’ll end them right after I fuck you.”
My thighs quivered at that thought and my nipples tightened, this reaction confusing me. This wasn’t me. I didn’t have kinks.
You don’t know , my mind mocked. You’re just a virgin.
Maybe I should have told him. It seemed wrong to lose my virginity like this. Yet, I couldn’t push words from my lips. Deep down, I knew I wanted this. I wanted him to take me. Roughly. Without mercy.
I was desperate for him to take all of me.
As if he sensed my surrender, he spun me around and tugged me closer. One moment I was pressed against him, and the next I was laid out on the cold marble altar, golden candle holders and cups flying around, clanking against the ground.
“You’re mad at me.” I shook my head. “Don’t deny it.” His voice was low and deep, growling. “You’re upset because I didn’t kiss you.”
He was too damn perceptive. I’d have to keep that in mind.
“Yes,” I admitted. “You should have kissed me properly in the church.”
“Except, I don’t kiss.”
His words sent shock through me but before I could dwell on it, he gathered up my dress and shoved it up above my hips, exposing my bare pussy and thighs, both slick with my arousal.
“You’re liking this.” He laughed roughly. “Maybe you’re as sick as I am.”
I shook my head frantically. “Not if we both enjoy it,” I protested breathlessly. “You should kiss me.”
A fleeting brush of his lips against mine. It could hardly be called a kiss but pure lust erupted inside me so violently I grew dizzy.
“Whose fucking pussy is this?” He cupped my pussy, slapping it. Hard .
I cried out as he smacked me again and then started to rub me savagely, the friction making pain and pleasure build within me.
His fist tightened in my hair right before he rammed two fingers into my soaking wet pussy, wrenching a cry from my throat as my back arched off the altar.
“I asked you a question, wife,” he rasped. “Whose fucking pussy is this?”
“ Yours !” I sobbed. “Please, Christian… I have to tell you something.”
He stilled, his eyes finding mine.
“You—” I watched his Adam’s apple work as he swallowed. “You don’t like this.”
His fingers still inside me, my breathing turned ragged.
“I do, but—” I swallowed and held his eyes as I whispered, “I’m a virgin.”
Surprise flashed in his eyes and his expression softened before his admittance came in a rough voice.
“I’ll make sure it’s good for you. Always good.” He chuckled, bitter amusement passing through his gaze as he added, “I remembered you from that night in Chicago. I meant to teach you a lesson for what you and your band of amateur criminals did, but I fell under your spell, didn’t I.” The tip of his nose came to nuzzle mine. “You’re the first woman I have ever truly wanted. And once I tasted you… touched you… I couldn’t stop.”
A strange kind of possessiveness shot through my veins and I lifted to my elbows, my wedding dress still bunched around my waist.
“You’re the first man to ever go down on me,” I whispered. “I’ve fooled around with other men, kissed some, but never that.” I inhaled a deep breath before exhaling. “Although, I’ve used plenty of toys by myself.” My cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“I want their names.” It was a harsh demand, but his voice was so full of lust and need it drove me crazy. He ran a rough hand down my bare legs. “And I want to see those toys.”
I had to bite down on a laugh. “Christian, I don’t even remember them, and anyway, forget the toys. You’re the only one I want.”
“No matter,” he murmured, pulling out his fingers. “I’m going to find them.”
I rolled my hips, rubbing myself against his thick erection. The friction drew a moan from my lips and his gaze darkened into stormy blues.
He dropped lower between my legs, dipping his head and licking me from entrance to clit.
“Fuck, I missed the way you taste.” His growl vibrated against me, and I was already fighting the imminent orgasm, wanting to hold on, not wanting it to end. He ran a rough hand down my leg, pulling my thigh over his shoulder, then pushed his tongue inside me. My eyes rolled back in my head as he worked me over. In and out. In and out.
It was like he knew just how much to give before pulling back. I grabbed a handful of his hair and moved my hips at the same time, trying to keep his attention where I needed it.
In my mindless haze, I ground my hips into his mouth. Sparks burned hotter, and then, suddenly, the pressure exploded. I came so hard my ears rang, immediately followed by a languid sensation pulling on my muscles.
The sound of a belt buckle registered through the fog. My eyes fluttered open to find his head still between my thighs but his gaze on me.
His hands traveled up my body, sending a tremble through me, making their way up my stomach, until his gentle yet unyielding grasp latched on to my throat, my body melting against his.
He titled my head with his thumb, and for a moment, I thought he’d kiss me. Instead, he nipped a line down my neck, pulling the skin between his teeth and lightly sucking. My heartbeat dropped like a weight between my legs.
He traced my lips next, his eyes dark pools and full of lust. I leaned up to kiss him, but before our lips could meet, he pushed the straps off my shoulders and tugged my wedding dress down my waist, exposing my bare breasts to him. He captured a nipple with his mouth and a blinding light shot behind my eyes. He switched to my other breast and nipped at it— hard —only to ease the sting with his tongue.
The intensity of his touch licked at my skin, making me burn hotter than I’d ever thought possible. I was so far gone, this maddening lust swirling inside me, that I was ready to beg him to fuck me—kiss all but forgotten.
He grabbed on to my hips and lined his hardness to my soaked entrance, his thickness sliding in. He cursed in Italian, tightening his grip as he seemed to go completely still. In a far corner of my mind, I heard his hiss, then he thrust all the way in, his head thrown back and the tendons in his throat visible in the dim light.
He groaned.
I gasped.
Then, as if a beast had been unleashed, he started to fuck me, violently. Punishingly.
“Look at you taking my cock so good,” he purred, one hand leaving my hip and traveling back to my chest, my neck. “This is my fucking pussy.”
His words filled my chest with heat, feeding the hot buzz in my veins. I screamed, my toes curling and my thighs quivering as I hooked them around his waist.
“You’re mine,” he snarled.
“All yours,” I cried.
He wrapped his fingers around my throat as he thrust into me, over and over again, every taut muscle sheathed under the material of his tux. Our heartbeats raced together as he fucked me, the sloppy wet sounds filling the church.
My body trembled as his pelvis ground against my clit, every fiber inside of me shuddering with the intensity. His hands were everywhere now—the back of my neck, sliding down to my breasts, twisting my nipples, brutalizing them, gripping my hips to ram into me harder.
He shoved his fingers into my mouth as he rutted into me like a wild animal, watching me suck them greedily, gagging on them. He thrusted them to match the tempo of his frantic movements, and I was almost overwhelmed with how it felt. It was everything he’d promised; he wasn’t treating me like some fragile, virginal princess in her tower, he was making me feel good .
I felt his hard cock everywhere. Then he cupped my jaw, his pace quickening, becoming rougher while our eyes locked. Always checking in on me, constantly making sure I was on the same page, and fuck was I ever.
My vision blurred and I gasped, coming so hard I felt my mind drift from my body. The fire inside me burst, spreading a warm, tingling sensation throughout my body.
With a wrenching cry, I screamed, “Oh, God… Oh, God… Fuckkk.”
He drove into me one last time, spilling his hot cum deep inside me while my core spasmed around him, milking him for everything he was willing to give me.
I finally let go, my body melting onto the hard cold marble, sighing out a ragged “ My husband ” as Christian collapsed over my chest.
He ran a hand across my cheek, and kissed the corner of my lips as shock and warmth erupted in my chest.