The Knight (Stolen Duet 2)

I didn’t see him move. I only felt the pads of his fingers biting into my nape. “Stop acting like you’re still a sixteen-year-old brat. You’re a woman—my woman—and I’m telling you, wife, you won’t be going anywhere.” He had shifted me closer and closer as he spoke until my breasts were flush against his chest.

“You don’t own me.”

“No, I don’t, but I want you safe and safe I’ll keep you.”

“How am I safer here than her?”

“Because she’s not mine. You are.” I didn’t have a response that didn’t include melting, but Anna’s gasp quickly brought me back to reality.

Fucking him or fighting him, it was always easy to forget that Angel and I weren’t the only two people in the world. Anna’s shock, Lucas’s grimace, and Z’s knowing smile told me they’d heard every word.

“Wife?” Anna shrieked.

Angel’s fingers gently massaged my nape where he’d gripped me before letting go. I glanced up for help, but it became clear I’d have none when his eyebrows merely rose. I forced myself to face my friend and confess the magnitude of my father’s betrayal. “It seems, Anna, our fathers had a marriage certificate forged three years ago.”

“What? W—w—why would he do that?”

“He thought he was protecting me.”

“But you can have it reversed, right? What he did was illegal.”

And it was exactly why I couldn’t. An annulment meant implicating my father, and unlike him, I couldn’t so easily sacrifice a person I loved, which left a divorce. Angel would never let that happen. He chose that moment to palm my hip, his touch possessive, a branding of my new life placed on my skin. It made me think of his family crest Angel had permanently inked into my skin.

Anna stiffened when her gaze dropped to Angel’s hand on my hip. The atmosphere shifted, the air becoming frigid, as Anna seemed to draw the same conclusion. “Divorce her.” Everybody in the room froze at the ferocity in her tone.

“And who will make me?” Angel challenged. I shoved an elbow in his gut, but the pain meant for him shot up my own arm.

“How dare you, Angeles Knight.” She charged him as if he weren’t twice her size with at least six or seven inches on her. “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Good.” I felt his fingers grip my arm. “You shouldn’t be, and as long as you don’t cross me, you won’t ever need to be.” I didn’t fight him as he pulled me to the door. I didn’t want to face Anna’s inquisition right now. I wasn’t ready.

I was going to get out of this marriage one way or another.

“Wait. I can’t leave Caylen.” His strides didn’t slow as he continued to lead me away.

“They’ll keep an eye on him,” he said when we reached the first floor.

“I really wish you wouldn’t make decisions about my child. He isn’t your son.”

I nearly collided with his back when he stopped suddenly. He shifted until he faced me, and then his strong arm was like a steel band around my waist. The fingers he shoved into my hair, however, felt like a caress.

“Believe me, Mian. I know he’s not my son. I know it every second of the day. I know it every time I look at him. He’s not mine.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes tight. “But he should have been.”

“We were never meant to be, Angel. You know that.”

“Fuck what’s meant to be.” His head dipped as if he would kiss me. “I only care about what will be.”

“Are you going to kiss me?” I was panicking inside, but also high from anticipation.

“I want to.” His lids lowered, and the sensual husk of his voice made me shiver. “I really fucking want to.”

“What if I don’t want you to kiss me?”

He growled low in his throat as he licked my bottom lip. “Then I’m lucky that’s not a problem.” He then kissed the retort from my lips. I couldn’t deny him how well he kissed or how good he tasted or how right his body felt against mine. I was betrayed by my whimper when he ended it. “I want to kiss you in other places.” I almost begged him to do it when he let me go. He smiled as if he could read my thoughts. Maybe it was the way I swayed towards him. “Maybe later.” He kissed me again, offering his tongue, and forcing his groan down my throat. “Definitely later,” he promised.

When he pulled me through the front door, with his arm around my waist, lust was put on hold. Three large black SUVs were parked at the end of the steps with scary looking men waiting around it. I pulled on Angel’s hand to stop him, but he only forced me down the steps.

“We’re leaving? Why are we leaving?” I dug in my heels, but he simply lifted me from the ground and carried me the rest of the way. “Angel! Manhandling me won’t make me like you!”