Page 90 of My Solemn Vow

“Yes, we need to talk, or yes you want to go to dinner with my parents tomorrow night?” Valor clarifies.

“Yes, for dinner tomorrow.” I turn away from him and back to the sink, where I run the tap with only cold water.

“Antonella.” Valor doesn’t leave the doorframe.

But even with his panty-melting tone, there is exactly a zero percent chance I’ll turn to face him, so I acknowledge him simply. “Yes?”

God damn it, how many times can a woman say yes without it being suspiciously weird?

Valor moves, and the bathroom is enormous, so there’s no mistaking it as an accidental touch when he presses his hand against my hip. I try to sidestep, but his hands have closed me in, and in the mirror, it’s clear he’s not trying to move me. Welock eyes in the reflection. His front is pressed against my back, and with long arms, he reaches forward and turns off the tap.

The press of his body against mine isn’t crushing by any means, but it doesn’t help at all with my feelings of lust.

“Antonella.” He says my name again, but this time he doesn’t wait for me. “I’ve been a neglectful husband. Please forgive me.”

My mouth goes dry. I’m burning up. His heat against me, my embarrassment, and those words, stick a fork in me. I’m done.Fuck me. Literally and metaphorically.

Valor leans forward and noses my head to the side to kiss down my neck. He drags his tongue along my skin with each movement, and then he whispers. “Every time you get extra sassy with me, I think about how much I want to see you on your knees in front of me. I want you to show me what else that mouth does.”

A shiver racks my body, and I try to move away from him, but there’s nowhere to go. My pussy clenches, and the ache I felt from our ‘wedding night’ feels like it was forever ago.

He circles his left hand from my hip around to the front of my body. “I keep wondering if you’re a good girl or a brat because I know you’re looking for praise. Is that fiery nature of yours because you’re looking for me to set limits and enforce them, or do you want me to prove myself as someone strong enough to handle you before you’ll submit to me?”

My mind is blank, but then it whirs to life, trying to process. I understand in part, but what is he truly asking? What difference does this make? And why, even though I’m not sure I understand, am I getting aroused?

“I think I can hear your brain operating on overdrive.” Valor lets out a chuckle as he runs his hand down and across my stomach. He expertly pulls up the hem of my shirt before playing with the waistband of my yoga pants I had changed into after school. “Do you want this?”

Yes? No? Yes? No?My brain cycles through the options.If wedo this, what will it do? How will it change us? I want to know what he’s talking about. I want to understand why he makes me feel this way so easily.

I search his eyes in the mirror, and he keeps his gaze on mine. I nod, afraid to speak and ruin the moment.

Without wasting any time, Valor runs his hand between my skin and the fabric of my yoga pants. Forgoing underwear for the ridiculous purpose of not having panty lines haunts me.

“Oh, fuck.” He bites his bottom lip. “No panties. Had I known, I might not have waited so patiently. The only thing sexier than a woman in matching lingerie is one who usually wears underwear but opts out.”

At an almost tortuous pace, he slides his fingers between my folds, and the pressure of his index finger on my clit sends sparks through my body.

But it’s not enough. I adjust by rising on my toes before rolling my ass out toward his hips. The movement has his fingers, which are curled upward, grinding against my clit.

“So needy, taking what I’m not ready to give.” Valor clicks his tongue. “I know you want my praise. You light up every time I give you the littlest bit of attention. But how would you like a punishment? Would you take that like a good girl?”

My eyes had felt heavy, but I force them wide open, examining Valor’s face in the mirror. He’s serious. His stoic neutrality gives nothing away to the interiority of his brain.

He slides his hand out of my pants. “Kerrianne is on her tablet for the next twenty minutes. I’ll give you a little punishment for being so needy and denying us both. And then, I’ll fuck your mouth while I make you come all over my fingers.”

I . . . What? Fuck.

I grip the edge of the counter to steady myself because his words almost make my knees buckle. I’m warm all over, and when I catch a glance at my reflection, my pink cheeks are giving me away.

Valor bites at the side of my neck, and then his hands are back on my waist. He pushes me over the counter, away from the sink.

My body is pliant under his touch, moving easily.

Once my chest is pressed against the surface, he tells me to stay put in that commanding voice he uses so sternly. It’s so fucking hot, and I listen.

Except then he grabs my waistband and starts to tug.

“Valor.” I object, trying to push myself up.