Chapter Four

Cia.

Why?

The question had been on repeat in my mind since it’d left Nex’s mouth. The obvious answer was he could be my salvation. A permanent solution to me taking charge of my life. Merrick loved me. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that my brother loved me but he also loved our father along with the power and prestige that came with sitting at the top of a hierarchy.

If that hierarchy was challenged, then nothing and no one would get in the way of Merrick securing his spot on the throne. Not even his love for me, which meant that even if I somehow managed to escape this marriage with Warren, and another demand for me came into play, a demand that challenged his ability to remain in control, Merrick would choose control.

Marrying Nex meant I was no longer a bargaining chip for my father or brother. The obvious answer was taking him as my husband. What I refused to acknowledge aloud was that a man like Nex was sinful. Pure, raw sex.

His face was beautifully sculpted with hard angles, encased in chocolate skin, tempting lips which enticed me to crave the pleasure I was certain they would promise. I was also a sucker for a beard and his was slick, lush, and perfectly manicured. I could already feel the soft tickle of it teasing my inner thighs while he pleasured me with those sinful lips… and tongue. He exuded masculinity and dominance, which was the problem. The man was consumed with a reckless and dangerous darkness. The kind that would undoubtedly ruin anything that got close.

And I want to be close.

I agreed to his one condition. To be his wife, not only in name but in his bed.

And I want that too.

To want Nex created a dilemma. He was everything I’d spent the last thirty-four years attempting to escape a connection to. Men like my brother and father. And Nex wasn’t only like them, he was everything they were and everything they weren’t dark enough to be. Whereas my father and Merrick toed the line by being morally gray, Nex was an abyss of darkness.

And I want that too.

I want him.

My proposition to marry Nex began as a ploy to escape the frustration of being my father and brother’s bargaining chip and quickly shifted into a curiosity born of the need to have the man whose mere presence evoked fear in the hearts of almost everyone in our world. A world I wanted no parts of before him. A world I only wanted attachment to by way of him.

“You look terrified, Cia. If you’ve changed your mind…”

My eyes flitted across the private plane to the seat Nex occupied. Sealing the deal meant a flight to Vegas to actually marry him. Nex’s head was back, and his eyes were closed, so I had no idea how he sensed my thoughts. Were they that heavy?

“I haven’t changed my mind.”

My eyes shot to the man who had my thoughts spiraling chaotically just in time to witness the sinfully lustful smile that tugged at his lips.

“Good because we’re about twenty minutes from landing and an officiant is waiting for our arrival.”

“For someone who was averse to having a wife, you sure moved quickly putting things in place to grant you one.”

He peeled his eyes open, lifted his head, and turned to face me. “I don’t give a shit about making you my wife, Cia. I do, however, want to fuck you. That alone is inspiration enough to expedite our little situation.”

He winked and my pussy applauded the act.

I wanted him to fuck me. Multiple times so there was no point in arguing. Instead, I turned my focus to the window and attempted to ignore him for the last twenty minutes of this flight and what would possibly be the last twenty minutes of me being a single woman.

We landed in Vegas. A car awaited and drove us to the Royal Respite where we checked in and made our way to the Royal Retreat Diamond suite. Ten minutes after we were settled, a man dressed in all black was shuffled into the living room of our temporary residence, making statements about trusting and obeying.

The entire process was a blur and I didn’t snap back into focus until the soft click of the door notified me that Nex and I were alone again. This time, things between us were very different. I was his wife, he was my husband, and he wanted to fuck me.

By the time Nex was standing in front of me, reality settled in by way of a twenty pound boulder dropping into the pit of my stomach. I’d married Nex Barrett. My brother was going to kill me, my father was going to kill him for messing this up, and something about the way Nex was looking at me promised he would kill them both if they touched a hair on my head.

Oh fuck…

“You okay?”

Nex’s smooth tenor was calm and level as it sliced through the chaotic thoughts in my head.

“No.”

“How much time do you need?”

“For what?”

Nex angled his head to the side and his eyes slowly crawled down my body.

“Oh…”

I gasped and lifted shaky hands to the sleeve of my sweatshirt, which I tugged gently. I didn’t get my arm through the sleeve because a large, warm hand wrapped around my wrist. My eyes shot up to his unfairly handsome face and there was a cocky, yet smug, grin waiting.

“What are you doing?”

“We had a deal. If you marry me…”

“I get to fuck you and we’ll get to that. But I was asking how much time you needed before you tell Merrick you’re a married woman.”

My eyes widened briefly after he removed a phone from his pocket and pushed it my way.

“You want me to call him?”

My voice came out a bit high pitched.

“You can, or I will, but he needs to know. Whatever made him promise you to Harte is still very much an issue. If he doesn’t know you’re no longer an option to resolve that issue, he won’t find another way to fix whatever your father has fucked up.”

My eyes went wide again. “What makes you think this is about my father?”

Nex smirked. “I’ve worked with your brother enough times to know the type of man he is. Merrick is careful and calculated. Your father is reckless. He acts and doesn’t think. This isn’t a problem Merrick created, Cia. Call your brother and tell him we’re married so he can find another option.”

“I…”

I shook my head and Nex exhaled a sigh, pulling the phone back. Seconds later I heard my brother’s voice through the speaker after Nex dialed him.

“It’s not a good time, Nex. I have a lot going on.”

Onyx eyes fastened with mine before that sinfully sexy voice followed my brother’s agitated tone. “I disagree. This is the perfect time.”

“I don’t have time for games, Nex. What the fuck do you want?”

My brother’s elevated tone had a devilish smile curling at Nex’s mouth as his words danced through my head.

“It seems you’re forgetting who the fuck you’re talking to, Merrick. How about you try that again and this time with a little more consideration for who you’re addressing.”

Making a deal with the devil. Right now he looked to be one and my brother believed that to be true because when Merrick spoke, his tone was laced with something I hadn’t heard before from him. Concern, for himself, not me.

“Shit, sorry. I’m just under a lot of pressure right now. You know Cia is missing, and if I don’t find her, I’m really fucking screwed.”

“She’s not missing. Cia is standing a foot away from me and she can hear you. Say hello to your brother, Little Flame.”