under the icy jet of his shower on his wedding night, his shredded control an astounding concept in itself, there had been a strange exultation in knowing that he had been the reason she had drunk.
A sadistic streak that he now possessed apparently, in addition to being a mistrusting asshole.
Dio, the woman was turning him inside out.
“I was just surprised, Clio.”
“Because I brought you breakfast? Is that really such a hard thing to grasp that I would want to do something so mundane for you? Are you going to weigh and give a price to every little exchange between us as long as we are stuck with each other?”
Stuck with each other?
That very phrase riled him up to no end.
He had moved so close to her that he could see the green of her eyes darken, could see the pulse in her neck flutter unevenly, could hear the way her breath fell short. “Dio, bella. Shut up or I swear—”
“Or what? Will you add another clause to the contract that I can’t speak unless you give me permission—”
Grabbing her slender shoulders, Stefan slammed her to him and kissed her. It was the best thing to start the morning with.
With a gasp, she fell against him, anchoring her hands on his chest.
Shaping her head with his fingers, Stefan slanted her mouth and nibbled at it, his desire slowly spiraling out of control.
She tasted of syrup and coffee, sweet and bitter, like fresh desire and old memories all blended together to drive him to distraction. The scent of gardenias entered his bloodstream and teased his senses.
He groaned as she sank her fingers into his hair. Turned into stone as she sank those teeth into his lower lip.
If only he could finish what they started in the kitchen...
He couldn’t think of one reason why he couldn’t take his wife to bed. Or why kissing her first thing in the morning, in a domestic setting that should have given him hives, felt so natural.
* * *
If they continued this way—kissing and nibbling and pressed flush against each other—it wouldn’t be long before he had her trapped beneath him and thrusting into her wet heat on that huge bed in his room.
The thought, instead of scaring her to her senses, painted such a vivid, erotic picture that Clio whimpered against Stefan’s mouth.
The hands shaping her hips and her bottom with a possessive grip instantly relented, a breath of air blowing over her tingling lips. “Merda, Clio. What am I going to do with you?” his ragged whisper snagged onto her senses. “We should have included a clause for this, bella.”
Somehow, Clio found the sheerest thread of self-preservation and hid her face in his shoulder. His skin was like heated velvet—the muscles beneath tensing.
It had been a flippant thing for her to think the thought about including sex in their contract. But to hear him actually say it, to see that he couldn’t think of anything between them as anything but a transaction, it punched her in the gut like a blow she hadn’t seen coming.
Did he really think no more of her than any other woman? And if he did, why did she care?
Before he could enslave her with his mouth again, she moved away around the breakfast bar and leaned against the wall.
Her legs trembled, her breath felt as if it would never be normal again, but she had finally put distance between them. And judging by how his eyes glittered, it was no small feat.
“Clio—”
She pushed away the need in her to one corner, the cascading hurt to another.
“I know that the media focus is going to be on us for a little longer, but I still would like to be more than your arm candy and apparently, ‘the recipient of scorn and envy of a number of your ex-girlfriends’,” she said quoting from one article she had read today.
All she had done was scan the internet for world news as was her habit with coffee. Instead, she had opened the Pandora’s box of Stefan Bianco’s exes and their reaction about his wedding.
It was a long list comprising models, actresses and singers that even a pretend wife could get insecure about.
He frowned, looking at her as though she had sprouted another head. “Mi scusi?”
It seemed walking away from his embrace cost her every brain cell she possessed. The man kissed like he did everything—with absolute dedication. Her lips still tingled, her breasts felt heavy and her entire body was one pealing mass of sensation.
Marshaling her thoughts, she began again. “I’m beginning Phase One of my reincarnation, beginning a life that’s not defined by whose wife or fiancée I am. I have received a couple of callbacks on some jobs I applied to. Hopefully...”
He started shaking his head and her words trailed off. “Not necessary, I—”
“If you make one comment about me mooching off of you—”
Thunder danced in his eyes. “Keep that delectable mouth closed, cara, or I know of a very enjoyable way now to do it for you. Christian told me just last week that the charity the four of us runs needs a manager. I think you’d be a good fit for it.”
Clio blinked and stared. “Are you serious?”
“Dio, bella! Why are you so doubtful about your own abilities? Where is the woman who thought everything in life was a challenge she had to rise to?”
Clio flinched. More at the fact that she had no answer rather than from his tone.
He clasped her cheeks and lifted her chin. His gaze was awash in tenderness. The unexpected gentling of his mouth mocked her doubts. “Yes, I’m serious. I would never tease you about this, Clio.
“Instead of turning your back on all those connections your name brings, instead of turning away from the powerful friends you have, instead of stubbornly refusing your new status as my wife, use them, bella.
“Use them to further your career, use them to help someone who’s never had the advantages we had, use them to make whatever you want of yourself, Clio.
“You’ve already conquered the hardest obstacle by staying the course on what we started, by showing Jackson what you’re made of.”
“But I swore to make something of myself, Stefan. If I—”
“Nothing will come of all the resources and connections of your family and background if you aren’t smart enough to channel them properly, Clio.”
A lightness filling her, Clio wrapped her arms around her waist. She wanted to hug him so bad. But he wouldn’t like it.
“That is, after and if you ever find something on Jackson.”
“I will,” Clio said with
