Cruel Surrender by Terri Anne Browning

Bain

My heart wasin my throat as Ciana walked into the library. Her short hair was styled, her makeup flawless, and that white dress… The way it molded to her breasts, over her ever-growing belly, and her hips.

Fuck.

No one had ever looked more beautiful than my bride.

My grandmother’s ring glittered on her hand, an unneeded beacon because every eye was already drawn to her. Beside me, the priest sucked in a shuddery breath, and I had to restrain myself from pulling my gun and popping a bullet in his head. He was a man of God. He wouldn’t touch her. That didn’t matter, though. He was looking at her, seeing her true beauty, and part of him wanted her almost as desperately as I needed her.

Swallowing hard, I stepped forward, meeting her halfway. “You look exquisite,” I murmured as I bent to kiss her softly on the lips.

She fisted her hands in my suit jacket, urging me closer, to deepen the kiss. Resisting the temptation—barely—I broke the kiss and pressed my forehead to hers. “Are you ready to be my wife, mo chroí?”

She hesitated, making my heart stop. Lifting my head, I saw the uncertainty in her brown eyes. But then she gave me a small smile and nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

This was, no doubt, a far cry from how she’d imagined getting married. Her family meant a lot to her, so I knew she would have wanted them here to celebrate with her. Adding this to the never-ending list of things I promised to one day make up to her, I lifted her hand to my lips. “I love you.”

Her smile grew a little bigger. Every time I said those three words, she seemed to melt a bit more, but she hadn’t returned them once. I had a hell of a long way to go before she trusted me with her heart again, but I prayed I was getting closer every day.

The priest cleared his throat, reminding me we had company. After I tucked her hand through my arm, we walked over to where he stood with Brody. The ceremony was over quickly, and then I was sliding a wedding band on to her finger. When the priest told me I could kiss my bride, I cupped the back of her head and put everything I couldn’t voice into our first kiss as husband and wife.

When I lifted my head, we were both breathing heavily.

Licking her lips, she stared up at me, dazed. “If you think you’re not wearing a ring, you’re crazy,” she grumbled.

“You want me to wear one?” Her glower made me laugh. “I’ll have one delivered.”

“No,” she snipped and held out her hand. “I’ll have one delivered. I’ll take one of your credit cards, please.”

Pulling my wallet from my inner jacket pocket, I took out one of my black Amex cards and placed it in her hand. “Your own cards will arrive in the next few days with your new name on them.”

“Hmm,” she muttered as Brody showed the priest out. “I just married Torin Kennedy. Will we have another ceremony for me to marry Bain O’Farrell?”

I scooped her up and buried my nose in her neck. “Legally, you married Torin, but you are very much Bain’s wife.”

She ran her fingers through my hair. The feel of her nails over my scalp made me groan in contentment. But then she tugged on the strands hard enough to jerk my head back. “Does she know you’re a married man now?”

“Who?”

Her eyes narrowed on me. “Cori.”

“You don’t need to worry about her,” I assured her as I carried her out of the library.

“Maybe I want to worry about her,” she argued.

I paused at the bottom of the stairs, giving her my full attention. “Why? She’s nothing to us.”

“You killed Declan for no other reason than he was there. You said Cori was there too, and if it was her voice in the shadows during…” She shuddered. “If she means nothing to you, then why haven’t you dealt with her yet?”

“You heard her voice?” I rasped. “What did she say?”

“That’s not the point!” She squirmed to get down, but I tightened my arms around her and began climbing the stairs two at a time. “Bain! Put me down.”

Ignoring her, I didn’t stop until I got to our room and placed her carefully on the bed. Caging her in with my arms on either side of her, I leaned into her. “What did she say, mo chroí?”

Gulping, she leaned away from me as far as she could. “She told Sheena to cut my hair because it was too pretty and she hated it. When Sheena was burning me… She… She…” Tears spilled over her lashes. “I-I thought you would destroy everyone who hurt me that night. Was I wrong?”

“No!” I groaned. Sitting beside her, I pulled her onto my lap. “I am going to deal with her. I promise, she will suffer for everything she did that night.”

“Do you still care about her?” Ciana whispered, her eyes glued to my face. “Is that why you’re hesitating?”

“I’m not hesitating. I’m already dealing with her.”

Her lashes lowered. “You are?”

“Yes. And by the time I’m done with her, she will be begging me to finish her.” I cradled my bride against me. “I need you to trust me on this. No one who was there that night will escape retribution.”

She was quiet for a long moment, and I held my breath, waiting to see if she would give me her trust in this. Finally, she lifted her lashes. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” I breathed, relieved that she was going to have faith in me.

She lifted the credit card I’d given her downstairs. “I need to know your ring size so I can order your wedding band, husband. Maybe I’ll have it engraved with ‘Property of Ciana’ while I’m at it.”

My cock turned to steel. Her gasp told me she felt my reaction to her teasing and how much I liked it. I kissed just below her ear. “Do you want to brand me, mo chroí?”

With a whimper, she arched her neck, silently asking me to continue. “M-maybe.”

“I will tattoo your name on every inch of my skin if that is what you want, my beauty. I’ll buy a tattoo gun and let you ink my cock with your signature.” I pressed my lips to the shell of her ear, causing her to shiver. “My body, my heart, my fucking soul belongs to you, Ciana.”

“Bain,” she moaned. “I need you.”

“Shh, I know. If you ache even half as badly as I do right now, I know.” My teeth nipped at her earlobe. “But we can’t.”

“I just want to come,” she whined. “Just a little orgasm. W-would it really hurt anything?”

Groaning, I kissed her temple. “I don’t know. Dr. Rose said not even non-penetrative sex for the rest of your pregnancy.”

“You’re not going to want me when my stomach is nothing but a stretched-out, deflated beach ball. I’m already covered in stretch marks. No matter which or how much moisturizer I use, they just keep getting worse every week. By the time the girls arrive, I’m going to be hideous, and you’ll never want to touch me, not even with the lights off.”

“Are you trying to break me, Ciana?” I growled, lifting my head to meet her gaze. “Do not insult either of us by thinking such bullshit. You could gain two hundred pounds, be covered head to toe in stretch marks, and I will still want only you. I love you. Every part of you, not just your body. I will want you when I’m ninety and don’t remember my own name.”

Her bottom lip trembled. “Do you mean that?”

Muttering a curse, I shifted her so she was straddling my lap. Her belly pressed into my abdomen, but there was still a good distance separating us. Supporting her with one hand at the small of her back, I grasped her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “I will never lie to you. There may be things I can’t tell you at times, but I will never speak anything but the truth to you.”

“I want to believe you,” she whispered. “So, I’m going to.”

Happiness exploded in my chest. “Mo chroí—”

“But if I ever find out you have lied to me about something, big or small, that’s it. I won’t ever trust another word out of your mouth,” she warned.

“Then you will always trust me.”

“I better.”