Bitter Vows: A Twisted Arranged Marriage Romance (Crimson Falls Duet Book 1)

by Dani René

  Once we’re alone, I feel his eyes on me, watching my reaction to dinner. Instead of looking at him, I focus on the plate and say, “This looks delicious.”

  “It certainly does.” His response is low, gravelly, but I don’t have to lift my head to know he’s watching me. And his words have nothing to do with the meal before us. Lycan leans back in his chair but doesn’t deter his gaze from me. It’s as if flames of desire lick at my skin, traveling from my hand, teasing their way up to my wrist, forearm, and bicep. By the time they reach my shoulder, I shiver at the heat.

  I’m not sure I can play this game with him. He’s far more experienced. There’s no way in hell I could ever win if he does this to me if I allow him to affect me in such a way. My lashes flutter when I feel his nearness reach for me. His hand lands on mine in a commanding gesture, and I realize why. I’d been trembling, holding the fork as it tinkled against the fine porcelain.

  “You were rather calm walking in here, little red,” he says, his voice taking on the tone of a commanding officer speaking to a soldier readying himself for the front line. “And for a moment, I thought you were finally coming to terms with the wedding. I thought” — he pauses for a moment before continuing — “that you were willing to be my wife, allowing me to finally claim you.”

  His words incite anger through me. A spark igniting the kindling in my gut, causing me to tug away from him, shoving my chair back against the cool, marble tiles. The clatter of cutlery on the table bounces against the walls, echoing in a poignant warning.

  “You’re the rogue in this story, Lycan Shaw,” I point out. “Being kidnapped by a man doesn’t make me want to fall in love with him. It doesn’t even make me want to try.” My plan is in the gutter. I should’ve ignored his jeer, but my stubbornness wouldn’t allow it.

  “I never said anything about love,” he comments, folding his arms across his chest, making his shoulders seem even larger with bunched-up muscles. Strength and dominance are what this man wears, like a goddamned cologne. “Sit.”

  “No.”

  Lycan’s hand's fist on the table. His jaw ticks with frustration as his usually jade irises turn almost black as he regards me. “Scarlett, you must mistake me for a man who doesn’t mind the word no,” he speaks slowly, clearly, and every word is drenched in barely constrained anger. “When I give you an order, you will obey me without question, without sass, and most certainly without that stubborn demeanor you insist on portraying.”

  He doesn’t rise. He sits, still, very fucking still. He reminds me of a predator, lying in wait for the prey to run, because a man like Lycan Shaw enjoys the chase. I can see it glimmer in his stare. The way he’s taking in my posture, my stance, he can tell I’m about to bolt out of this room.

  “Run.” Lycan jerks his chin toward the door just as his lashes flutter with excitement dancing in those dark depths. “I like the chase.” His tone drops to almost a whisper, one that’s heavy with desire and laced with a threat. One that tells me he will catch me, and I may not like what he does then.

  Without another thought, my feet move, and I’m racing toward the patio door, which is ajar, instead of the door leading into the rest of the house. The night breeze hits me as I step out onto the cobbled patio, and my heels click onto the stone, but I focus on the garden. My mind flits through my options, and I quickly make my way deeper into the darkness and away from the house.

  “I know this property very well, little red,” Lycan warns in amusement and condescension. For a moment, I hate him with a fiery passion, and I want nothing more than to turn around and slam my fist into his face. But I know that won’t do anything but hurt me.

  My legs carry me out onto the lawn, and I’m thankful my heels aren’t sinking into the ground. It’s firm, allowing me to run faster than I anticipated. Instinct has me wanting to turn around, but I don’t. Instead, I wonder how I can get off his property. Going into the woods isn’t an option, so perhaps I can find somewhere to hide.

  Heavy footfalls follow me. Even though I’m not faster than he is, he doesn’t come near me yet. My heart catapults into my throat when I hear a howl from deep in the woods. There’s nothing but darkness ahead, so I turn to my left and race toward the pool house. If I can get around it, perhaps I can hide somewhere. Maybe there’s a shed hidden in the shadows.

  But by the time I slink behind the large structure, my lungs are struggling to pull in air. My hands are shaking as I feel my way around the wall, smooth concrete against my palm. With every minuscule step I take, tension radiates through me. Leaning against the wall, I close my eyes and attempt to focus my hearing on the man following me.

  Even though I don’t hear him running or even walking, it doesn’t mean he’s not near me. I’m almost certain he’s close, and that means I have to find somewhere to disappear. Straight ahead leads to more of the backyard, with what looks like wooden poles sticking up from the ground. I should’ve explored outside earlier, but stupidly, I thought I could do this.

  I thought I was strong.

  My heart cracks at the thought of me losing my life because of my immature thoughts. A scraping sound startles me, and I almost scream into the night, but my hand shoots out to cover my mouth, and I shut my eyes so tight, hoping that it was all just my imagination. Even though I know it wasn’t.

  Quickly, I slip off my heels and take a tentative step toward the grass that leads out to where I’m guessing the kitchen door would be. I move silently onto the softer, mushier lawn, finding my feet in soggy soil. Either they’ve just watered here, or I’m about to sink into quicksand. The thought makes me giggle inwardly as I note how far I have to go before I reach what looks like a shed in the distance.

  Another step.

  And another.

  But the moment I reach the first wooden pole, I’m slammed into the soft, wet ground by a heavy, warm body. A scream pierces the night, and Lycan’s warm breath is at my ear.

  20

  Lycan

  Her body wriggles underneath me. My hand covering her mouth is warm from her short, nervous breaths, and her legs kick upward, but she’s pinned beneath me, and she’s not going anywhere. I can’t help but smile when her ass wiggles against my crotch, causing my cock to harden with need. From the moment I first saw her in her parents’ dining room, I knew she was going to fight this. I could tell. But now that I have her, I’m enjoying the taunt and tease we’re doing.

  “Are you going to behave?” I ask, even as she kicks at me. Her hands attempt to push herself up, but the ground is soft, muddy, and I’m sure the dress she’s wearing is completely ruined. Not that I care because all I can think about right now is ripping it from her body and finally claiming her. I release my hold over her mouth, only to be met with a slew of curse words that have me chuckling.

  Gripping her wrists, I pull them down to her sides, holding her steady as I push myself up on the slippery ground. Her face is dirty, her hair caked with mud, but she’s never looked more beautiful to me.

  “Let me go, you fucking monster!” Her voice is wrenched from her throat, so loud it echoes into the darkness. Thank fuck I let the gardener leave for the week to see his family. When the door to the small structure where he stays opens and Kahn steps out into the night, I can’t help but laugh at his expression of shock.

  “What do we have here?”

  “Help me, please,” Scarlett pleads as she looks up at him, walking toward us. I still have her pinned down, and filthy thoughts of having her bound to my bed infiltrate my mind.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Kahn says. “My boss isn’t a man I’d like to cross. As pretty as you are, I think it’s best you obey him and not tempt him by playing a game of cat and mouse.” Kahn drops to his haunches to take in the girl beneath me. A flicker of interest sparks in his gaze, but it’s gone in the next second, and I’m thankful because I don’t feel like killing my right-hand man.

  Scarlett wriggles some more, attempting to tug her arms from my hold, but she’s too small, too d
elicate to fight her way free. I lean in, my gaze on Kahn’s when I whisper in her ear. “Would you like to play with us, little red?” I don’t wait for her response before continuing. “I’m not usually one to share, but if you’re feeling particularly filthy, I’m happy to oblige just this once.”

  “Fuck you!” Her words are spat with venom and malice, which get lost in the darkness because even though I should be hurt, I’m not. Emotions don’t come into play with her, and I’m almost certain she knows it too.

  That’s what I tell myself. And that’s the story I’ll continue telling myself.

  “If that’s what you’re offering, I’ll bite,” I inform her, keeping my gaze on Kahn. “Your bite first?” I ask him, nudging my cock against the crease of her ass. I know she can feel the hardness against her, and a small whimper of something between pleasure and pain tumbles from her plump lips.

  “I think she wants to get dirty with us, boss,” Kahn remarks while reaching for her hair, his fingers fisting into the matted strands, and I can’t help but chuckle quietly. She feels it. She feels me. The vibration of my body rumbling through hers.

  “Let me go, you monster,” Scarlett announces, but she doesn’t move. Instead, her body stills, almost as if she’s giving up, but I’m not going to get played like a sap. She’s waiting for me to lighten my hold on her, and then she’ll strike. I’m not sure with what energy she’ll do this, but knowing my little red, she’ll find it within herself to pounce. And fuck, if that doesn’t make me what to claim her even more.

  When I finally let up, lifting my body from hers, I tug her from the filthy ground and pull her into my hold. Her gaze is locked on Kahn, probably waiting for him to say or do something, but all he offers is a mock salute before he gestures with a tip of his head toward us, leaving us in the darkness.

  “Did you think you were having fun running from me, little red?” I question in her ear, my arms wrapped around her like a vise. She can’t escape because she’s mine.

  “Don’t think for one second you’ll ever get me to submit to your games,” Scarlett hisses, but she doesn’t struggle against me like she was earlier. Instead, she’s placated, her body lax, and for a moment, I enjoy her warmth.

  Perhaps, with time, she’ll come to love me. Even though I’m not capable of that kind of emotion with someone, I’ll make sure she’s safe, taken care of, and she will never want for anything when she’s with me. I don’t tell her this; instead, I slip my hand in hers, tangling our fingers together, and tug her along behind me.

  I focus on the rage coursing through me instead of desire. Both emotions warring in my chest, in my mind. On the one hand, all I want to do is punish her with my hand, with my belt, and then my cock. On the other, I want to bind her to the bed until she finally submits. Until she realizes there is nowhere to run.

  “Wait, please,” Scarlett says as I step up onto the porch, where she stumbles behind me. I halt all movement, twisting around so I can face her. With the soft yellow glow of the lamps that illuminates the area, I’m awed at her beauty. I’ve known she was beautiful since the moment I laid my eyes on her, but seeing her messed, muddy, and broken like this is a new vision that makes my cock throb behind my zipper.

  “Let me make something clear, Ms. Bardot,” I bite out, allowing the anger to drench my words. “If you attempt that once more, I won’t think twice about allowing Kahn to show you what he’s capable of. He’s been my right-hand man for many years now, and he knows my tastes vary, even though sharing may not be top of the list, but I’ll gladly watch as he puts you through your paces.”

  “I’m not some horse you can train,” she grits, her teeth clenching, and I realize she’s trying not to lose her mind at me. “I just need to know the reasons. I have to.”

  “What you have to do is obey me when I speak. There are things that you don’t know about yet, and I will allow you the knowledge when you’re ready.”

  “I am ready now,” she insists, her eyes sparking with curious need and ferocious interest. “Please?” This time, the word is a plea that turns my blood hot with need. How I haven’t taken her to my bed yet is a mystery. It’s only been a few days, but I have to admit, she’s more alluring than I expected.

  “I’ll tell you when you’re ready.” Turning for the door, I tug her behind me, and I’m sure the trail of mud we’re leaving in our wake will be gone by morning. The staircase will be caked with footprints, but all I can think about is locking her in the bedroom until she’s had time to consider what she just did.

  By the time we reach Scarlett’s bedroom, she’s practically vibrating beside me when I stop at the doorway and tug her until her back hits the smooth wooden panel. With my free hand, I tip her chin up, so those pretty eyes are on mine.

  “I’m not the monster in your story, even though you’ve clearly made me out to be.” I want to tell her about her father, but that would be going against the agreement we came to. Horatio requested that he be the one to tell her the sordid secrets he’d been keeping. And even though I didn’t want him to, he’s her father, and the fuck up he’s made is his confession to spill.

  I doubt she’ll ever give him the redemption he seeks, but I’m sure he’ll beg and plead, just to get back in his daughter’s good graces. But I know for a fact, she’ll never again see him the way she does now or did before he signed the contract, offering me her hand in marriage.

  “Monsters all want us to believe they’re nothing more than heroes. But what makes a man a villain in a story is how he conducts his business and how he treats a lady.”

  “Are you claiming to be a lady, little red?” I allow a smirk to curl my lips as Scarlett’s muddy hand attempts to make contact with my face, but I’m faster. I’ll always be quicker than her. And that’s something my sweet girl needs to remember.

  “You know, Lycan Shaw, just when I think you’re finally showing your true, gentlemanly colors, you go and say something like that which convinces me that you’re nothing more than a monster.” She sneers at me, her nose crinkling, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Never once in my life have I thought of a woman being both cute and seductive, but Scarlett portrays both effortlessly.

  “I never once claimed to be a gentleman, my sweet,” I inform her. It’s the truth. My tastes have darkened both my heart and soul and though I may be polite, there’s nothing about me that would let a woman think I’m a gentleman. “Tell me something, Scarlett. If there was anything in this world that could be given to you, anything at all, what would you ask for?”

  For a long moment, she considers this, her lashes fluttering against the apples of her cheeks, and even through the smears of mud, I notice her cheeks darken with a soft, pinkish hue. A flicker of something dances in her eyes, but before she answers, it’s gone, and suddenly, she’s no longer thinking of whatever had crossed her mind.

  And her final response is a lie. “Just let me go.” Her lips are parted on soft breaths as she shivers when I lean in to inhale her sweet perfume. It reminds me of a rainy morning on an overcast day—fresh, cool, and crisp—but also drenched in dirt. The contradiction is a strangely euphoric fragrance to my senses.

  Tipping my head to the side, I grip her chin between my thumb and forefinger and pull her closer, so our lips are barely touching, but close enough for me to inhale as she exhales. Inadvertently connecting us for a moment before I respond, “That’s not an option. Try again.”

  She tries to pull away, but there’s nowhere to go. I’ve pinned her to the door. My body snug against hers. The soft curves allowing my hard ridges to fit perfectly to her body.

  “Lycan.” She murmurs my name like a parishioner calling out a prayer to the heavens above. It hits me right in the chest, in a place I didn’t think still existed within me. Women I’ve been with have screamed my name, but never with such pained need. It’s as if she’s throwing it out there, allowing it to slither under my skin, snaking its way through my veins until it finds the one muscle I’ve refused to allow t
o beat since the night my brother left with the woman who scorned me.

  21

  Scarlett

  A shiver wracks through me as a lone tear escapes my lashes and trickles its way slowly, gently, down my cheek. Lycan’s quick to react, the pad of his thumb tracing the salty emotion before he locks his gaze with mine as fire blazes in his green eyes.

  Shock escapes me as a gasp stumbles over my lips at the action. He’s so close, watching me, waiting for a reaction, but I’m too tired to say anything more. Fighting now will only anger him, and I’m not sure I can handle punishment under his hand right now.

  “I’m tired,” I whisper. More so that he’ll leave me be, and I’ll be able to think about what he said tonight. Not the promise of him and his friend Kahn taking me, making me pay for running, but that there’s more at play than I can figure out.

  “Tomorrow, little red, I’ll come for you. Be ready at nine. Don’t be late because I don’t appreciate tardiness.” His voice, a tone of deep, frustrated gravel forming the words, as if it’s been kicked up from tires traveling too fast over the driveway. A reminder that everything about him is dangerous. Confirmation of just how unmatched we are, him being too dark, and me, well, I’m fragile under his hold. Not because I’m a woman, but because just a touch from Lycan as he trails my cheek with his knuckles, and I feel as if I’m about to buckle under the electric current coursing through me.

  “Why?” I question in a whisper so soft I’m not sure he heard it. His mouth quirks, a slow, seductive smirk curling his perfect lips as he takes me in, from chin to hairline and down to my mouth where his heated gaze lingers for a long moment. With another movement, he is so close I’m almost certain he’s about to claim my mouth with his, and in that few seconds, I want him to. I want to bend to him. I want to leap onto my tiptoes just to feel those full lips on mine.