Page 98 of If You Claim Me

“You already got me a wedding gift.” She holds up her arm and jingles the bracelet. “Now there’s another?”

“Sort of.”

She rolls her bottom lip between her teeth. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“You are the gift, Mildred.”

She makes a sound and carefully unwraps the box. Inside is a piece of paper folded into the shape of a house. “What is this?”

“Unfold it and find out.”

She sets the box aside and unfolds the piece of paper. She pushes her glasses up her nose, brow furrowing as she reads it, then lifts her eyes to mine. “These are ownership papers.”

“I was able to finalize everything yesterday. The apartment is yours. You can rent it out, if you want. You can keep it as it is. If you need space, you have a place to go that belongs to you.” I rub the back of my neck. “I want you to feel like you have agency and choices. You’re my wife, and I’m your husband, but I don’t ever want you to feel trapped in this with me.”

She throws her arms around my neck. “Thank you.”

I gently embrace her. “You don’t have to thank me. I told you I would take care of it. The timing just happened to work out in my favor.”

She cups my face in her palms. “Just say you’re welcome, Connor.”

“You’re welcome.”

She smiles.

“Is there anything else you need from me?” I ask.

She turns her back and bows her head. “I need you to help me out of this dress.”

“Hmm... So you do.” I steady my hands and begin unfastening the many, many buttons one at a time. Her skin is soft and warm, and she smells like strawberries and vanilla. All I want is to kiss a path up to her neck, but we’re not here because we’re in love.

“I’ve been thinking,” she says.

“You make that sound dangerous, darling.”

She glances over her shoulder, smile coy. “It’s our wedding night.”

“Yes, it is.” I continue unfastening buttons, her white lace bra appearing.

“And you’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that we could make an amendment to our contract.”

“I have done that, haven’t I?”

“Very cheekily, I might add.”

“I do have a tendency to be cheeky, don’t I?”

“Mmm... Exceedingly cheeky,” she agrees.

“Last button,” I say.

She turns, holding the bodice of her dress in place. “What if we made a verbal amendment to our contract?”

“What kind of verbal amendment?”

She releases the bodice, and her dress slides down. She tugs it over her hips and lets it fall to the floor. Stepping out of the puddle of satin, she moves closer, dressed in nothing but her bra and panties. She’s perfectly curvy and soft in all the right places.

“You look hungry, husband.” She reaches behind her, eyes on mine as she unclasps her bra and lets it fall to the floor.