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“And you think that this person is trying to attack me, because he thinks that we’re like… together.”
Marco nods again.
“And somehow, getting more together, meaning being married, would prevent this?”
“Not from him,” Marco says quickly.
I tilt my head, confusion clouding my face.
“Let’s say that the French, for example, hear that Dino’s father is coming for the wife of Marco De Luca. This is not done, and while my alliance with the French is tentative at best, it might give them an excuse to air an old grievance or do something to fucking gain the support of the De Lucas,” he explains.
My head feels like it’s spinning.
“It’s politics, mostly. People know that I’m attached to Elio, and they know our families are powerful. They might be willing to hop in and support us, if they knew you are part of the family.”
I’m staring at him.
“So it’s not really marriage,” I say slowly. “It’s a bargain.”
I can’t help the hurt that laces through my words.
Marco’s eyes widen. “No, it’s not that, Roisin. It’s…”
“It’s a bargain,” I say flatly. “It’s something that you’re thinking will keep me safe, but not because you want me.”
Marco’s eyes darken. “Roisin…”
“I’m going to take a shower,” I announce.
I don’t really need, or want, to shower. It’s just the only place in this tiny cabin that I can get away from him.
I turn on the shower, taking off my clothes. I let the steam fill the small room, then step inside. The water is blissfully hot, and scalds my skin as I let it pound into me.
I feel like screaming.
Why doesn’t anyone actually want me?
Why am I just some kind of bargaining piece?
Why…
I don’t make it to the next thought. In between breaths, which are coming very quickly because I’m trying not to cry, a naked Marco appears in the shower with me.
Before I have time to scream at him to get out, he leans in and kisses me.
And I lose all coherent thought.
Marco’s kisses are addicting. I know this. But this one is much more. It feels like fire on my skin, and I can’t think straight around it. He’s everywhere; his hands on my face, in my hair, tugging my mouth up to meet him. I moan, lost in the moment as he rubs his considerable length against me.
Marco pulls back, his eyes fierce. His pupils are blown so wide that they’realmost totally black.
“I want you more than life itself,” he growls.
The words lodge in my mind, somewhere, but I don’t have any time to register them.
Marco’s tongue opens my mouth, and I gasp as he takes me in the most breathtakingly dominant kiss I’ve ever experienced.
I have no choice. I have no agency. There’s nothing I can do to resist him or escape him.