Page 7 of Bound in Matrimony (Belonging to Him Trilogy #3)

Chapter Seven

Knox

Mine. The word pounds through my blood with each heartbeat as I watch her move around our hotel suite.

Seraphina Vance. No longer Vale. The change in her name is a transformation I've engineered since the moment I first saw her, though she doesn't know that yet.

Doesn't understand the depths of what I've been planning.

The white lace of her wedding dress catches the dim light as she slips off her heels, unaware that I'm watching her from the doorway, memorizing every delicate movement.

I've conquered companies and crushed competitors without breaking a sweat, but watching my wife—my wife—preparing for our wedding night has me gripping the doorframe hard enough to splinter wood.

The wedding was perfect. Small, exclusive, exactly as I designed it.

Her parents, a handful of her closest friends, my executive team who've become something like family.

Seraphina looked stunned when she arrived at the botanical garden I'd reserved, decorated with thousands of her favorite flowers.

But nothing compared to watching her walk toward me in that dress, her eyes never leaving mine as she came to take my name.

When she spoke her vows, her voice didn't waver once. I've built an empire on reading people—knowing when they're lying, when they're hiding something—and there wasn't a hint of doubt in her. She meant every word. She promised to be mine forever, and she meant it.

Now she's officially Seraphina Vance, and the predator in me wants to make sure she never forgets it.

"How long are you going to stand there watching me?" She doesn't turn around, but a small smile plays at the corner of her mouth. Always more perceptive than I give her credit for.

"Until I'm done looking." I push off from the doorframe and move into the suite.

The Presidential at the St. Regis—not because I couldn't buy us our own island for the night (that comes later), but because I knew she'd appreciate the history, the art, the carefully preserved details that speak to her aesthetic sensibilities.

She turns to face me then, and my breath catches. The sophisticated art director is still there in her posture, in the graceful way she holds herself, but there's something new in her eyes. A certainty. A surrender that's made more powerful because she's chosen it freely.

"And when will that be?" She reaches up to remove a pin from her hair, sending a cascade of honey-blonde waves tumbling over one shoulder.

"Never." I close the distance between us in three long strides. "I'll never be done looking at you."

Her breath hitches as I cup her face in my hands. The emerald ring I put on her finger now sits alongside the platinum band that matches mine. The stones catch the light as she places her hands over mine.

"Knox—"

"I need you to understand something." My voice is rough, lower than usual. "What happened today changes everything."

Her green eyes—slightly more blue tonight in the dim light—search mine. "We're married now."

"Yes." I slide one hand down to her throat, feeling her pulse jump beneath my palm. "You're mine now. Legally. Completely." I brush my thumb over her bottom lip. "Do you understand what that means?"

She swallows, and I feel the movement against my hand. "Tell me."

I press her backward until she meets the wall, caging her with my body. "It means there's no more separation between us. What's mine is yours." I bring my mouth to her ear. "And what's yours is mine. Your body. Your future. All of it."

A shiver runs through her, but she doesn't look away. "I know."

"Do you?" I grip her waist, feeling the delicate lace of her wedding dress beneath my fingers.

"Because I need you to be very clear on this, Seraphina.

I've wanted you since the first moment I saw you.

I've needed you since our first night together.

But now that you're my wife—" I press my hardness against her, making her gasp, "—I'm going to have all of you.

No holding back. No barriers. Nothing kept from me. "

Instead of the hesitation I half-expected, her pupils dilate, nearly swallowing the green. "Yes."

One word. A simple affirmation. It ignites something primal inside me.

I capture her mouth in a brutal kiss, swallowing her moan as my tongue claims hers.

My hands find the concealed zipper of her dress, dragging it down with one swift pull.

The expensive lace whispers as it falls to the floor, leaving her in nothing but a white lace lingerie set that makes my mouth go dry.

"Did you pick this for me?" I trace the edge of the bra with one finger, watching goosebumps rise on her perfect skin.

She nods, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "I know what you like."

"You do." I unhook the delicate garment and slide it down her arms. "You know I like to see what belongs to me."

Her nipples tighten under my gaze, and I capture one in my mouth, sucking hard enough to make her cry out. My hands grip her thighs, lifting her against the wall as her legs wrap around my waist.

"Knox—please?—"

"Please what, Mrs. Vance?" I grind against her, still fully clothed while she's nearly naked. "Tell me what my wife needs on her wedding night."

Her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me back to look at her. There's desperation in her eyes, but something more—a hunger that matches mine.

"I need you to show me." Her voice is breathless but steady. "Show me what it means to be yours."

Those words snap whatever restraint I've been clinging to. I carry her to the bed, laying her on the crisp white sheets before standing back to remove my tuxedo. She watches me with those artist's eyes, taking in every detail as I strip away each layer.

When I'm finally naked, I kneel between her thighs, hooking my fingers into the waistband of her lace panties. "These were beautiful." I tear them away with one sharp pull. "I'll buy you a hundred more."

She gasps, but her thighs fall open wider. I take a moment just to look at her—my wife, spread out before me, her skin flushed pink with desire. I've had countless women before her, but none of them mattered. None of them were mine like she is.

"I'm going to mark you tonight," I tell her, my voice raw with honesty. "So that every time you move tomorrow, you'll feel where I've been. So that every time you look in the mirror, you'll see evidence that you belong to me."

Her eyes darken further. "Yes."

I lower my head between her thighs without warning, tasting her with a groan that vibrates against her sensitive flesh.

She cries out, her hands flying to my hair as I devour her like a starving man.

I spell my name against her with my tongue, claiming her most intimate place as my personal territory.

When she's trembling, right on the edge, I pull back. Her protest dies on her lips as I move up her body, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand.

"Look at me," I command as I position myself at her entrance. "I want to see your eyes when I make you mine."

She doesn't look away, not even when I thrust into her with enough force to slide her up the bed. The connection between us is electric, a current that runs straight from her gaze to mine, grounding us together as I begin to move.

"Say it," I demand, setting a punishing pace that has her gasping with each thrust. "Tell me who you belong to."

"You," she moans, her back arching. "I belong to you, Knox."

"And I belong to you." The admission tears from me unexpectedly, making her eyes widen. I've never said those words to another living soul. "Only you, Seraphina. Only ever you."

Something shifts between us then—the atmosphere changing from purely carnal to something deeper, more profound. I release her wrists to cradle her face, my movements slowing but becoming deeper, more deliberate.

"I'll give you the world," I promise against her lips. "Anything you want. Everything you deserve. But I'll never give you up. Not for anything."

Tears spill from the corners of her eyes, sliding into her hair. For a moment I freeze, terrified I've hurt her, but she wraps her legs tighter around me.

"Don't stop," she pleads. "Please don't ever stop."

I reclaim her mouth as I reclaim her body, my rhythm becoming relentless again.

I slide my hand between us, finding the spot that makes her shatter beneath me.

She comes with my name on her lips, her body clenching around me so perfectly that I follow her over the edge, marking her from the inside with my release.

Afterward, I hold her against my chest, listening to our heartbeats gradually slow. I trace patterns on her bare back, unwilling to break contact even for a second.

"You're quiet," she murmurs against my neck.

"I'm memorizing." I press my lips to her forehead. "Every detail. Every second. The exact way you feel in my arms right now."

She shifts to look up at me, her expression serious. "I meant what I promised yesterday. And today. I'm yours forever, Knox."

"I know." And I do know. I've always been able to spot a lie, to sense hesitation. There's none in her. "But I'm still going to spend every day of our marriage making sure you never forget it."

Her smile is slow, seductive. "Is that a promise, Mr. Vance?"

I roll her beneath me again, ready to claim what's mine for the second time tonight. "It's a guarantee, Mrs. Vance. And I always deliver on my guarantees."

As I sink into her again, watching her eyes glaze with renewed pleasure, I know with absolute certainty that she'll never forget who she belongs to. Just as I'll never forget that the most valuable acquisition of my life wasn't a company or property.

It was her.