Submitting To The Devil - The Devil's Snare - Book 2

Chapter Twenty Four

Niko

With her breathing ragged and her walls firmly erect, I stare in disbelief that I would be so bold as to ask her whathedid to her.

I wouldn't say I like these secrets between us, and it's only day one. Day fucking one.

But even though I want her to answer me, to reveal who he is and just what I have to punish him for, she doesn't grant me my desires for the second time.

Fear lances through me, a new emotion rarely presented to me. I fear that these things she keeps inside could be a potential threat that puts her in danger.

How can I care for her if I only know half the truth of her past?

Demons tend to live in closets, falling out at a moment's notice.

This gives me food for thought, and I realise I need to earn Bianca's trust to find out these things if only to put contingencies in place to protect her at all costs.

Taking Bianca out back, I lead her to the hot tub directly below the shining moon, hidden by strategically positioned foliage that creates a barrier between the house and the ocean. This is one of my favourite parts of the house, a little paradise on paradise, so to speak. She stands stoically still and even more quietly than I've seen before, yet I feel the sudden shift in her very being as she relaxes only slightly at the promise of something enticing.

I stand behind her, holding onto her shoulders because, despite what she thinks, I do not want to sexualise her before taking advantage of her, but I do want to remove this dress. I do want to cross that bridge between force and will.

I willingly want her as my wife. I want to undress her and call her mine for the first time. Taking off the clothing that held her back in her previous life with the bad memories and things she could do without. The time has come that she needs to let go of all that to accept a future where she's worshipped as a woman should be in a marriage.

Call me superstitious, but I must take every step to protect what we could have in the future from the get-go.

"You're wrong, you know that?" I question her as I pull on the zip. It snags for a few seconds before I line it properly, only to take it down to the lowest point in her spine that it'll go. She's wearing nothing but a pair of my boxers below, another surprise that takes me for six. Her back is free of a bra strap or corset, as expected. I hadn't expected that, and though my body was excited to see her naked, my mind waswhirling with everything she'd said since we left the Moretta's.

Something surely doesn't add up with her behaviour, and despite knowing she must have been assaulted in one form or another previously, I haven't the heart to outright question her behaviour because I need to ready myself for the name that'll eventually drop from her lips.

Instead, showing her gentlemanly behaviour might teach her to trust me.

Can I hope she'll give in and allow me to fuck her eventually? Sure, that is an endgame I'm willing to partake in.

Slipping her dress down her body, waist and hips, I allow the material to pool at her feet. My cock grows hard at the olive skin that covers a gorgeous body. My hands itch to reach for her, a small part of my allowing my thumb to brush against the warm skin on the base of her spine.

That's all I allow; I can't take advantage of her in her headspace, no matter how deep my own needs run.

"I'll turn around; tell me when you're decent," I whisper against the shell of her ear. She shivers just as I rap myself away. A clue that she isn't as unaffected as she wants me to believe. I stow that away for later, though. Doing as I promised.

Taking my hands and feet away from her, I turn back toward the house and take three precise steps away from her. I fumble with my belt, pulling my shirt out of my pants before unbuttoning it. Then, I shove my clothes on the floor in a pile with my shoes as I wait in my boxers for her to talk.

"I...I need your help," she admits shyly after a while. Turning back to her, I noticed her dressed in a bikini and staring at me with beguiling eyes. She's holding the material over her breasts, but I try not to stare for a prolonged moment at the soft swell of the tissue there. Instead, I walk quickly, demanding she turn around, and then I tie the top's back around her back and neck to ensure she's secured.

"Shall we?" I call from the hot tub, holding my hand back in an invitation to join me. She does, eagerly so, as she smiles warmly up to me. I help her inside the bubbling water, which, quite frankly, is the most inviting sight I've seen since she walked down the aisle.

I wait until she's seated and below the water before I help myself inside; instantly, I feel more relaxed.

Sighing, I drop my head against the headrest behind me.

Fuck, when was the last time I took five minutes just to relax?

Never, that's fucking when.

Sighing again, I close my eyes to allow the sounds of the ocean, the nightlife around us and my own breathing to consume me.

I wish I could say our evening was filled with fun sex and experimentation, but it doesn't pan out that way. We must stay in the tub for a good hour, listening to the life around the house as background noise.

Bianca stays on one side of the hot tub, and I on the other. We barely speak any further words to one another, making me stupidly forget her presence for a while. That is until she moves, brushing past me—whether intentional or not, I'm still determining.

I watch her climb out alone, her hand grabbing the railing placed for precisely that. Her figure is uncovered and inviting. The swell of her arse is something that makes me want to moan, but I keep it inside. I hadn't realised just how good her arse looks.

"I'm going to bed," she announces after taking a few steps away from the hot tub. She wasn't going to say anything at all, but Bianca needs to fill the silence I've become accustomed to in recent hours.

"Sleep tight, Bianca," I call after her.