Page 37

“As your wife, I promise to be obedient,” he intoned, then paused briefly, lifting his eyes to mine with one slightly raised brow.

I was profoundly aware of the importance of this particular vow to Ryker.

“I promise to love and care for you in return, always,” he continued, providing the rest of the vow I was expected to make.

I cleared my constricted throat and repeated every word with feeling, all while holding Ryker’s gaze. I blushed when I promised obedience, knowing exactly what would happen in our marriage bed if I failed to keep that vow.

“Do you, Dr. Naomi Vaughn, take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” I whispered, my voice shaking with emotion.

“Ryker Gates, do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do,” Ryker answered, his voice steady and sure. My heart pounded in my chest.

“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

Ryker pulled me toward him, wrapping his arms boldly around my waist as he captured my lips in a kiss that shook me down to the roots of my soul.

He kissed me with a fierceness that had never been there before.

I was his wife now. I belonged to him, and he was sealing his claim and his ownership with this unprecedented kiss.

When he pulled away, I was trembling in his arms, but he held me steady.

“I love you, Naomi,” he purred, brushing an errant happy tear from my cheek. I’d never cried happy tears before.

“I love you too, Ryker.”

He swept me off my feet and carried me off down the winding path. There were glasses of champagne waiting for us in the car as it ferried us back to his home for our first night together as man and wife.

Soft string lights lit the entryway. Ryker carried me through the front door.

There were flickering candles everywhere.

The table was laden with meats, breads, fruits, and cheeses, much like what I had made for the first night he’d stayed over at my house but much grander.

There was wine and a bottle of champagne on ice.

He set me down in a chair with a grin and another kiss and fed me bite after bite by hand until I was full.

I was surprised when he let me feed him too.

With a wink, he popped open the bottle of champagne and we both burst into laughter as it bubbled up in a golden fountain, as if celebrating with us.

He poured glasses for each of us and showed me how to link arms to share this momentous sip.

“To my perfect wife,” he toasted, his smile revealing his happiness.

“To my perfect husband,” I returned the sentiment with joy. Feeling like I was floating on air, I moaned with delight as the bubbles tingled against my tongue.

“I’m relishing the sight of you in that gown so much that I almost don’t want to take it off of you,” he drawled, with a sly look on his face.

“Almost?” I questioned.

“Stand up, my beautiful bride.”

I obeyed, of course. He stood and lifted me up into his arms. I wrapped an arm around his neck as he carried me into his bedroom. When he set my feet on the floor near his bed, he lifted his hands to my shoulders, his touch lingering on the sensitive skin of my throat.

“Let me look at you,” he murmured. I stood silently, heart pounding, as he circled me slowly, dragging his fingertips along my flesh. His touch caused fiery tendrils of sensation to go slinking through me and I bit my lip, hopeful that tonight would finally be the night that he fucked me.

All the romance novels suggested that that’s what happened on the wedding night. They called it "making love”, and I liked the sound of that tonight, very much.

His palm cupped the side of my neck. It was gentle, but it felt possessive enough for a fire of desire to blaze to life deep inside me.

“Ryker,” I breathed.

“My beautiful, blushing bride,” he leaned down to me and breathed the words into my ear, sending goosebumps racing down my arms and making my nipples hard.

Without another word, he drifted behind me and slowly unbuttoned the line of pearls down my back. One by one he bared my flesh. My impatience almost got the best of me several times and I had to bite my lip to keep quiet.

I felt like I had been waiting forever for this moment.

When the gown was fully undone, he pushed the draped sleeves all the way down my arms. The dress loosened around my hips, and it took little effort on his part to push it down to the floor.

Carefully, he helped me step out of it. Standing there in nothing more than my bridal lingerie and a pair of heels, I watched as he took the time to drape my wedding gown over a wingchair by the window.

When he turned back, he strode over to me in two long strides and pulled me against his massive chest.

“I wanted to tear it off you,” he said. His expression was feral, and my heart was palpitating in my chest.

He kissed me, his experienced hands knowing exactly how to undo every clasp of my bustier in no time at all. In seconds, my upper half was bare, and my overly sensitive and erect nipples were exposed for him to see. He remained fully clothed, which made me feel so much more vulnerable.

Boldly, I grasped his chin and tried to kiss him, but he reached around and smacked my bottom hard.

“No, not tonight, little girl. You will let me take control,” he warned.

“Or else what? You’ll spank me?”

My heart pounded even faster. I licked my lips and glanced up to see his eyes sparkling with dark amusement.

His smile seemed dangerous, like he had something else in mind that I couldn’t even begin to guess at.

My pussy tightened immediately. He didn’t answer and knelt beside me to remove one shoe, followed by the other.

Standing there in nothing more than a lacy pair of panties, I shivered.

His fingertips glanced against the side of my hip.

“It’s time, sassy wife. Climb up on the bed and lie down on your back for me,” he directed. I went to take hold of my panties, but he stayed my hand and shook his head. “Not yet. When I’m ready to bare that soaking wet little pussy, I’ll take them down myself.”

My mouth went dry.

I blushed red as I obeyed his command, lying back and watching as he slowly stripped off his suit.

He didn’t rush to disrobe, instead taking his time and teasing me with the unveiling of the hard lines of his chest and abs.

He toed off his shoes, and I held my breath momentarily when he unbuckled his belt.

Then he unbuttoned and unzipped his slacks and slid them down his muscular legs, followed by his underwear. Ryker was finally naked before me.

As soon as his enormous, hard cock bobbed free, I was more than ready to open my legs so that he could sink inside me.

He didn’t do that though. At least not right away.

He climbed up onto the bed alongside me, him completely naked and me wearing nothing more than a pair of panties. Gently, he kissed me, his lips sweet and supple. I returned his kiss eagerly, pressing up against him with impatient desire. He pushed me back down.

“Do you need me to punish you on our wedding night, my bride?” he murmured.

I blushed hard.

“No, sir,” I whispered.

“Then be a good girl for me,” he warned.

“Ryker,” I breathed his name like a prayer. “Please, make love to me.”

“In time. Not just yet,” he growled his response, and my body shook with need.

His hands caressed my shoulders and my arms, trailing downward and following them with soft kisses.

He worshipped my bare breasts with his mouth, taking his time to suckle each nipple until I cried out with desire.

His tongue slipped over the tip of each one and I bit my lip, shuddering as pleasure blossomed across my chest and settled deep into my core.

“Siirrrrr,” I stretched the word out.

He kissed down my belly, following the curves and lines of my waist and hips and I couldn’t stop my legs from opening wider, desperately wanting to coax him between them.

Each kiss was gentle and sweet, and it spoke to the romantic ideal that I’d kept cloistered away, hidden in my heart all my life. Until now. Until him.

When he finally reached for my panties, I was panting with need.

Kneeling next to me, he edged them down ever so slowly, baring my pussy inch by interminable inch until he finally freed them from my legs.

Inexplicably shy all of a sudden, my wantonness of mere moments ago forgotten, I pressed my thighs together.

He grabbed my knees, digging his fingertips into my flesh, and roughly spread them apart, shifting to kneel between my legs.

I gasped and shot my eyes up at him, only to see his stormy gaze meet mine for a brief moment before he looked straight down between my legs.

I blushed red, knowing what he would see.

I reached for him, hoping to kiss him and pull him down against me. He grasped my wrists and pinned them over my head. He kissed me himself, gradually lowering his body until it was only just pressing against mine.

The hard line of his cock was blazing hot against my thigh.

When I tried again to rush him by lifting my hips, he lifted his body, reached down, and slapped my inner thigh.

It stung more than I expected. Knowing I was treading on thin ice, I finally gave in and submitted my body to his total control.

With my hands pinned, I couldn’t do much but lie there as he had his way with me.

It was even more intoxicating than I thought it would be.

I was absolutely drenched by the time his cock brushed against my pussy. It was even hotter than I expected, and I cried out, but he didn’t rush the next part either.