Blood & Marriage (Dark Mafia Romance) (9 page)

The electricity between us wasn’t gone though. If anything,
it seemed to be pulling us closer, and neither of us wanted to part. I
swallowed hard, gazing at his scar again.

“Look after yourself.”

He gave my pussy another glance, but I knew it was time to
pull my legs back together.

“You’re sure you’re all right?” His fingers trailed up the
side of my thigh. This needed to end. He had to leave, or my heart would break.

“I will,” I whispered and pulled him down for that one last
kiss. Letting him go after our lips met again was like tearing open a wound
after it’s been sewn together, but it needed to be done, or I’d die sooner
rather than later. “Don’t worry. I’m not always this reckless.”

He grabbed my garter and slowly pulled it off my leg before
stepping away. “I won’t forget this,” he said, hovering by the door.

I slid off the desk, standing in front of him so very
exposed in my sheer set, without the panties on, but even like this I could look
into his eyes. It was as if something had changed in me. “Me neither. Whatever
happens.”

“Just one more.” Santo stole another kiss, and I couldn’t
deny him.

But then he slid out the door, and the room was so silent
and empty I wanted to scream just to fill it.

*

I never felt as beautiful and as unhappy at the same time as
when I walked down the aisle and everyone’s eyes took me in. The ruined hairdo
wasn’t worth saving, so I had Mona help me pin it into an artistic mess that
went very well with the modern earrings I’d chosen. My dress wasn’t even a
dress at all.

The skirt, long white tulle, caressed my legs with each
step, and the lacy crop top that showed a touch of my stomach was scandalous in
my father’s eyes. I could see it all over his face. But in the end, he didn’t
make a scene or try to send me back to change like a little girl. I was a woman
now, and I somehow felt everyone understood it, even if they didn’t know why.
If I wanted to wear a crop top to my wedding, I would wear a Goddamn crop top.

But I also wore Santo’s scent on my skin and a gift from him
on my left hand. It was him my eyes sought out first, in the second row on the
groom’s side. He was as meticulously dressed as he had been when he’d first
entered my room earlier, and I wondered if he liked my dress, or if the dress
even mattered to him when our eyes met.

The longing in his eyes told me everything, but he also took
me in from head to toe and gave a little nod of appreciation.

When Father led me down the aisle, I imagined I was walking
to Santo.

Everything went according to plan. The food had been
delicious, nothing went wrong during the ceremony, and several people
complimented me on my dress. Seth wasn’t a keen dancer, which was just as well,
because I didn’t want to spiral across the floor pretending to be in love with
my pleasant but oh-so-indifferent husband.

Everything was fine.

And yet a little past midnight, the banquet diverted from
what I’d seen at other weddings I’ve been to. Instead of staying with our
guests, I was expected to leave and ‘get to know my husband better’, which was
a fancy way of being told to sleep with him.

I looked into the mirror in the ensuite bathroom adjoining
the huge bedroom we’d been offered for the occasion, and I hardly recognized
myself. The truth that Seth was now my husband refused to sink in, even though
we’d, very publically, agreed to the union in front of the priest and had spent
the last few hours celebrating our marriage with our families.

This was
really
happening.

After sex with Santo, I needed to put on a different pair of
white panties, but with the way Seth didn’t seem to pay attention to detail, I
doubted he’d notice the difference in fabric. I had also been worried that,
after losing my virginity, I would’ve bled all over the skirt of my wedding
outfit, but nothing like that happened. It was as if nothing had changed, yet I
felt profoundly different.

If I got pregnant with Santo, would there even be any way to
tell that it was his baby, not Seth’s? They were cousins after all.

The mere thought made guilt wash over me again.

It was time to face my husband. I took a deep breath,
loosely tied the satin sash of my see-thru, floor length robe, and walked out
with a smile plastered to my face. It was like an out-of-body experience. As if
I was steering my muscles from afar and telling my face what to do.

Seth looked up at me with a little smile, his tie hanging
loosely from his open collar. His shoes were off, and he created the most
handsome picture as he reclined against the pillows of the massive four-poster
bed.

“Long day, right?” I asked, silently cursing my inability to
come up with something less awkward. But it also summed up my relationship with
Seth perfectly.

“The food was amazing though.” He leaned forward, watching
me approach, and no matter how charming his smile was, I couldn’t force myself
to feel the same way about him as I did about Santo. It was as if Seth saw
right past me while Santo didn’t even miss a silly detail like my charm
bracelet.

“I’m glad you liked it. It took hours to decide on the
wedding cake,” I said, continuing the silly conversation that was a replacement
for passion that simply wasn’t there. But I still approached him in my
negligee
,
hoping he’d know what to do. If I was to spend my life with this man, I needed
to make the passion happen.

“It was delicious. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you choose.
There was a lot I had to…take care of.” Seth frowned, and took off his suit
jacket. “I hope you’re not angry with me. I…want to make this work, you know.”
Did he not care that he was seeing me half-naked for the first time? It was as
if I were as see-through as my robe.

“No, of course not,” I said quickly, making the decision to
sit on the bed and wait. I was ready for this, so maybe I needed to give him
more time. “I’m happy you’re so nice and that you like to travel. Maybe we
could plan our honeymoon tomorrow?” Or now? Instead of having sex?

“Yes, I guess. I haven’t thought about it.” Seth ran his
fingers through his hair, and I couldn’t help comparing him to Santo. Seth was
taller, bigger, with larger hands, but also hairier, I noticed that on his
forearms when I’d seen him in a T-shirt. Frankly, Santo could be intimidating
at times, but Seth? Despite all his nice words, his sheer size frightened me
slightly.

“Do you have any preference?” I tried, watching him unbutton
his shirt. He looked at his hands rather than at me, as if he were embarrassed
of being here in my presence. Surely, someone so handsome couldn’t still be
inexperienced, so what was it? Was there really an elusive girlfriend in
America?

Seth licked his lips when he got up and took off his shirt,
glancing away as soon as our eyes met. “I’ve read a lot about how good French
food is. Maybe we could go to France? What about you? Any dream destinations?”

I couldn’t help my disappointment. Santo would have been
charming me out of my panties by now. But I went with it, in hope Seth would
come around eventually. “I always dreamed of seeing something exotic. Maybe we
could go to the Caribbean? Or South America?”

“I will have to consult with my father if there’s anywhere
he needs me to go, but to be honest, I wouldn’t mind going far away either.” He
sneered, and it was like seeing a wax mask drip off his face, but then he looked
at me quickly and raised his hand. “I mean, not far away from you! Just
from…here.”

I sighed, realizing that maybe he needed more help. Santo’s
words about Seth not being able to become my protector were crawling up my
spine as I stood up and stepped toward him. “I understand that.”

As I’d predicted, Seth had more hair on his chest and
stomach than Santo, but it wasn’t curly and horrible like on an 80s porn star.
It was hot. I could work with that. Even though my mind instantly drifted off
to wondering if Santo would grow more hair with age.

Seth pulled on the sash around my waist and opened my robe.
“You look very beautiful,” he whispered.

I swallowed, when his fingertips grazed over my naked skin,
but the passion just wasn’t there. He watched me as if I were a cute puppy, not
a woman he was about to have sex with. But still, I tried my best to seduce
him. “I bet you can’t wait to lay me down on the bed.”

Seth nodded, and the clang of his belt
buckle
sounded
final. “Yes, but I don’t want to hurt you. Tell me if anything’s wrong, okay?”

Maybe that was it? Maybe he was used to women much more
experienced, and the idea of bedding a virgin made him uncomfortable?

I would still have to act like one, but the thought that he
was simply worried for me provided a bit of relief. “Don’t worry. I’m not made
of glass,” I said, before slipping the robe off my shoulders, remaining in the
provocative lingerie set.

Seth nodded, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll keep
that in mind.” He pulled off his pants and left them on the floor.

I couldn’t help thinking about his size being intimidating,
despite the reassurance I’d given him. It was strange, because Santo wasn’t all
that much smaller, and yet he didn’t make me feel so nervous about the
potential violence his body could unleash. Seth on the other hand was an
enigma, and I couldn’t predict how he would act when angry, upset, or even
drunk.

I took a deep breath and sat on the bed, backing away to the
middle as I watched him undress completely. My heart was in my throat when he
approached, more than acutely aware that he could break my neck by accident
with arms like his.

I cleared my throat. “On top of the comforter, or are you
cold?”

Seth stilled, frowning as if unable to make up his mind, but
then he entwined his fingers with mine and my heart started pounding in panic
despite his encouraging smile. “Let’s go under, it will be more comfy.”

I chuckled nervously and crawled underneath the covers,
wondering if he wanted me to stay in the lingerie or not. I decided to leave it
up to him and pressed my head into the soft pillow while he crawled under the
covers after me. His huge body felt even bigger now, and it produced so much
heat I was already sweating.

His hand on my hip, pulling my thong down, made me so
nervous I tensed up as if I were a frightened rabbit, not a woman who had already
lost her virginity today. Everything about this situation felt wrong, and yet I
still lifted my hips so it was easier for him to remove my underwear.

The silence was killing me. Couldn’t he have at least put on
some music?

His hand went to my breast, kneading it through the bra as
if it were dough. It was almost as if he’d never touched a woman before. Or
alternatively, no woman had shown him how to do it right. Maybe he’d only had
sex with prostitutes. I hoped he’d used condoms with them.

I arched my body to finally kiss him. He smelled nice, and
his lips were soft, but he froze so abruptly as if he didn’t expect me to do it
at all. Before I could pull away, he opened his mouth and squeezed my breast
tighter, still kneeling over me rather than letting our bodies touch.

At least things were moving faster now. He started kissing
me, not giving my breast any peace. Seth wasn’t disgusting, or old as I feared
that my husband would be. He wasn’t a bad kisser either, nor was he a brute.

He just wasn’t Santo.

When he lay down next to me, and his leg slid between mine,
I tried to get into it, I really did, but couldn’t help feeling numb. Even when
I sensed his half-hard cock on my thigh, all I wanted was to recoil. I even
pondered telling Seth that. He seemed like the kind of guy who would give me
those few more days.

But it was my duty to give it my all and consummate this
marriage. My father had had enough decency to marry me off to a young, handsome
guy, and I couldn’t throw that away because some elusive
spark
wasn’t
there. I didn’t even want to think about the fury it could unleash if I decided
I wanted a divorce. Not to mention that it could start a war between the two
families, and people could die. Actual human beings dying because I didn’t
fancy
my husband enough.

So I gritted my teeth and went with it, all the way until he
pushed into me. He tried, he really did, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling
of wrongness when we were in bed together. It stung a bit, because of how tense
I was, but it wasn’t too bad, so I closed my eyes and waited while he pushed
into me over and over, eventually breaking the kiss and burying his face in the
pillow.

His heavy breaths weren’t helping me focus, and his weight,
something that had been so sweet to have on top of me with Santo, was choking
me as if someone put a slab of concrete on my chest.

And it just wouldn’t end.

I hugged him tightly for wont of anything better to do, his
cock stabbing into me time after time.

Seth let out a low grunt, and it was finally over.

I looked at the ceiling and petted his back until he slowly
rolled off me. The heat underneath the comforter was too much to bear. I was
drenched in sweat and the soreness in my pussy begged for a warm shower. But I
stayed as I was, closing my eyes and hoping he’d fall asleep soon, so I could
use the bathroom without being weird. Or wasn’t it weird? I couldn’t tell.

“That was nice. But you made me so tired,” I lied.

Seth opened one eye, all flushed and disheveled. “Oh, okay.
I always get sleepy after coming.”

“Good night,” I said and rolled to my side, still sweating
in the pressure cooker of our bed. But I didn’t want to be naked either, so I
waited.

And waited.

Seth lay on the other side, his breathing peaceful, so I was
sure he must have fallen asleep, but I was too paralyzed to make sure. I hated
the wetness of his cum between my legs with the same intensity with which I had
loved Santo’s.

After what felt like forever, Seth shifted, and it took me a
while to realize he wasn’t going to the toilet, because he was getting dressed.
He tried to be quiet, but I still heard the clang of his belt.

He left.

He just left me there on our wedding night.

I sat up in the darkness, rolling off the comforter. I’d
been hoping for this, but now that he was gone, I felt deserted for no reason
at all. I’d done exactly as I was expected. I’d been pleasant and had tried to
get him into the mood when it should have been him doing it to his virginal
bride.

But as minutes passed, the empty room became less of a cage,
and I took a shower to wash his scent off me and replace it with the aroma of
bergamot soap.

I washed off my makeup and considered changing, but he’d
realize… Would he, though? Did it even matter? I changed into a nightgown and
put on my robe. My pussy was still slightly sore from the endless sex, and it
wasn’t because he was rough with me, but because I hadn’t been as excited as
I’d been with Santo.

With Santo everything felt so natural.

Unable to stand the stuffiness of the room anymore, I put on
my slippers and opened the balcony door, before moving past the curtain. The
cold air outside was a welcome change, and I leaned over the balustrade, looking
into the dark sky peppered with stars. Wasn’t this day supposed to be the
luckiest of my life? This belief that had been pounded into my head since
childhood was now crumbling, and I bit my lips, trying not to cry.

I wished the waves that I could faintly hear from afar,
crashing against the shore, would take me.

I sniffed. Was this how my sex life would be until I die?
Maybe we could learn about each other’s needs with time? Just thinking about it
made my eyes well up. I didn’t want him on top of me again. I felt violated,
despite not putting up a fight and him trying to be nice, even if he had no
idea what he was doing.

Bending over, I crossed my arms on the balustrade and buried
my face in them, letting my tears flow as the music coming from the banquet
room mocked me and everything I was. Wasn’t this celebration supposed to honor
me and my relationship with Seth? It meant nothing.

I didn’t even want to talk to Mona about it, to not upset
her. She would surely start making some elaborate escape plan, or putting
herself in danger with unnecessary comments. No. This was mine to deal with.

I let out another sob, when a voice whispered from below.