Violent Delights (White Monarch 1)

What? My jaw went slack. He couldn’t mean for me to strip down here? I ceased to breathe or function in any way but to stare at him—and shake all over with the force and speed of my hammering heart.

“Y-you can’t,” I said, my mouth completely dry. Even Hades would wait until he was back in the underground for this next part. “We’re in a church.”

“White doesn’t suit you, my lovely wife.” He circled me until he was at my back. I didn’t even have the wherewithal to try to keep him in my sight. He wouldn’t do this here. He couldn’t.

He trailed a finger up my spine until he’d reached the top button of my dress, just under my hairline. He gripped the back of the collar with both hands, slipping his knuckles between the fabric and my skin. It was a warm caress that spurred panic in me as I realized what he was doing.

“Stop—”

He yanked the dress open, ripping my mother’s lace.

I opened my mouth, and my chin trembled. I thought I’d already known the worst of him, but he would prove me wrong. When his footsteps sounded again, I did my best to inhale back the urge to cry. My weakness would only spur him on.

Cristiano finished his circle and stood in front of me again with darkened eyes and lowered lids. “Now, take off your dress, Natalia—and let me see what my brother’s freedom bought me.”