The Wrong Bride (The Windsors, #1)(81)

She turns, and her body brushes against mine. I should take a step back, but I love having her so near me. I love seeing the way her eyes widen ever so slightly, the way her gaze drops to my lips for a second before she looks away.

“I’m baking some bread. I’m making enough for both of us.”

I smirk at her and wrap my hand around her waist, startling her. “Are you putting me on a diet, wife? Aren’t you satisfied with my abs?”

She smiles at me, her eyes roaming over my body for a moment. “I’m not sure. How about you take off that shirt and show me?”

I smile as my hands move to my shirt. “You don’t think I will?”

“Do you dare to? I’m constantly surrounded by sexy male models. Can you compete with them?”

My lips fall open and I narrow my eyes at my wife as I unbutton my shirt. “You tell me, Rave.” My shirt falls open, and the way her eyes are glued to my chest brings me a strange sense of satisfaction. “Can I compete?”

She lifts a hand to my chest and lets her fingers trail down my body, taking in every curve of my abs. A sharp burst of desire rushes straight to my cock at her touch, and I inhale deeply in an effort to calm myself. The way she looks in that nightgown… fucking incredible.

“Yeah,” she says, her voice breathy. “You’ll do.”

I grin as I lift her on top of the kitchen counter and spread her legs so I can stand between them. “I’ll do, huh? That doesn’t sound so convincing. How about I show you the rest of my body, too?”

“I think that sounds like a great idea. It’ll allow me to truly assess your body and all, you know?”

A soft chuckle escapes my lips as she wraps her fingers around the lapels of my suit jacket. She looks into my eyes as she pushes it off my shoulder.

“Ares,” she whispers. “Did you mean it? When you told me you loved me… did you mean it?”

I smile at her despite the aching of my heart. I wish I could reach inside my heart and show her that it’s filled with nothing but her. “Every single word, Raven. Maybe it’s too soon, too quick. Or maybe… maybe we’ve been in the making for years, but neither of us had the courage to admit it to ourselves. I barely dare say the words, but it’s true. I’m in love with you, Raven Windsor. Hell, if I’m truly honest with myself, I fell for you long before you said I do.”

She looks at me with wide eyes, a sweet blush slowly coloring her cheeks pink. “Ares,” she murmurs. “I love you.”

Fuck. A rush of emotions I’ve never felt before nearly brings me to my knees. I’ll never get enough of hearing her say that. I roughly thread my hand through her hair and pull her closer, my lips finding hers with a new type of urgency. I’ve never so badly wanted to own someone, mark her as mine. “I’m fucking obsessed with you,” I murmur against her lips. “Every fucking piece of you.” She groans and wraps her legs around my hips, her body flush against mine. “And I, baby, love everything you are, right down to your beautiful soul. I love you, Raven.”

She pulls away to look at me. The look in her eyes tells me she doesn’t believe me, but that’s okay. I’ll spend the rest of our lives proving it to her.





Chapter Fifty-One





Raven





“It’s been a while since Grandma called us all together like that so urgently,” Sierra says as we walk toward the main house together. “The last time she did that it was to announce your upcoming wedding.”

“Do you have any idea what it might be about?”

Sierra shakes her head. “No clue. I asked my brothers as well, and they have no idea.”

My phone starts to ring and groan as I stare at my caller ID. I have no doubt my mother is calling about something related to Hannah, and I don’t want to hear it.

“Who is that?” Sierra asks, glancing at my phone. She rolls her eyes when she sees my mother’s name and declines the call for me, but my mother calls me straight back. She’s so relentless. If I don’t pick up, she’ll just keep calling, until she wears me down.

“Mom?”

“Raven, sweetheart. I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”

Normally I’d have made excuses, but I don’t have it in me today. “What is it, Mom?” It doesn’t sit well with me that she’s calling me sweetheart when every conversation we’ve had since I got married was hostile.

She hesitates for a moment. “I heard Hannah and you had an argument? She’s been incredibly upset and told me that you and Ares… that you’re together?”

I grit my teeth for a moment and take a calming breath. “Is that so? I assume you told her to accept the fact that she chose to walk away from him? Did you remind her that I’m married to Ares? What exactly is so surprising about be being with my own husband? Surely she isn’t thinking anything immoral. You raised her better than that, didn’t you?”

Sierra’s lips fall open, and then she grins wickedly, nodding to herself. I roll my eyes at her and continue to walk.

Mom falls silent for a moment before clearing her throat. “Ares and you are coming home for your father’s 60th birthday, aren’t you? Will you be spending the weekend with us?”