The Marriage Clause. Alexx Andria

loved the way he took control. I always felt safe with Luca. He seemed so worldly, so accomplished.

      Of course, he was the Donato heir—the expectations were high. Giovanni Donato had groomed him from the time he was a kid to take the reins when the time came for the mean-eyed bear to retire.

      Giovanni scared me and always had. It amazed me that Luca sprang from Giovanni’s DNA. Luca was nothing like his father. Luca was kind, sweet, caring and so romantic, whereas Giovanni was cold, manipulative and quite comfortable playing the bad guy if need be. To be honest, I avoided Giovanni whenever I could, which wasn’t difficult, as Giovanni paid as little attention to me as he would the multitude of servants looking after his palatial mansion.

      But who cared about Giovanni Donato, anyway? He wasn’t around. It was just me and Luca, and I was his princess. The sleek car ate the road as we headed to our unknown destination. The joy in my heart was near to bursting. I was living the dream. How’d I get so lucky?

      Just as I was about to scream from the building anticipation, Luca pulled into a dirt driveway lined with a white picket fence for as far as I could see. Rolling hills with gently swaying dried grass waved as we drove by, and cows dotted the pastureland.

      “Where are we?” I asked, delighted as we parked in front of a huge farmhouse, chickens clucking and scratching around the front yard. It was like the living embodiment of “The Farmer in the Dell.”

      “I thought you might like this place,” Luca said, opening my door with a wide smile. “It’s a sanctuary for animals that have been rescued from abusive owners.”

      My eyes widened as I exclaimed, “Do they have goats? Oh, please, say they have goats!”

      “They have goats.”

      I squealed and jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his strong torso. His hands cupped my behind as he laughed at my enthusiasm while I peppered his adorable face with kisses. “You’re the best! This is amazing! I can’t believe you brought me here.”

      Luca knew I’d always been obsessed with goats; they always made me laugh and I’d tried, unsuccessfully, to get approval from my dorm manager to have one as a pet.

      I hopped down and slid my hand into his as we walked into the farmhouse, a permanent smile on my face. The old hardwood groaned in welcome beneath our feet, and the smell of beeswax and lemon was the most heavenly aroma I’d ever known.

      “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Donato,” a plump woman said, coming forward as she wiped her hands on the apron tied around her ample waist.

      I blushed at her assumption, biting my lip at the wild thrill of being called Mrs. Donato, but Luca corrected her with a coy “She’s not mine yet, but hopefully someday.” I wanted to pinch him playfully. Of course, I would marry him at twenty-three, after I graduated college, but no one knew that.

      “Young lovebirds.” She sighed as if remembering her own youth. “Well, I’m Mrs. Ellering, but you can call me Iris. Welcome to Knucklebocker Sanctuary. We’ve prepared a special day for you and your sweetheart. Just follow me.”

      Oh, that sneaky devil had prepared everything in advance, and I loved it.

      “I heard someone is an animal lover?” Iris prompted as she led us to the large redwood barn.

      “That’s me,” I piped up, squeezing Luca’s hand as I beamed. “I hope to work with animals someday. Maybe go to veterinary school.”

      “That’s a noble profession,” Iris said, pushing open the barn doors. The scents of barn wood, hay and horse poop immediately assaulted my nose, but I liked it. It was so earthy and unlike the city that I drank in the ambience. Plus, the fact that Luca had arranged everything made it extra special.

      “Harvard,” Iris called out, “we have guests.”

      A bald, wiry man in faded overalls and a full white beard appeared from a stall where a horse nickered. “You them fancy folk from the city that’s bought us out for the day?” he asked.

      I tried not to blush, but Luca answered for us both, saying good-naturedly, “What gave it away? My soft hands?”

      “Oh, go on now, be nice.” Iris waved at her husband with mock disapproval, but it was easy to see they were both playing around. My heart melted a little at how easily the older couple flowed together, an obvious by-product of a long, happy marriage. I tightened my grip on Luca with a wistful sigh. That will be us, someday...

      I awoke with a start, realizing that I’d been dreaming and we were landing. Luca was already awake, his attention focused on his phone.

      What a difference from then to now. Gone were the smiles, the laughter...the sweet, good-natured Luca who went out of his way to make me happy with an over-the-top gesture, replaced by this manipulative caricature dressed in a ten-thousand-dollar suit.

      I absently rubbed at the dismal chord that twanged in my chest. If I cared, I might’ve mourned the loss of the man I used to know, but I didn’t care. Disdain had replaced any pain that lingered, and I was grateful. Just as Luca wasn’t the man he used to be, I wasn’t the girl he used to know, either.

      If Luca thought he could persuade me to forget the past with this phony seduction act, he didn’t know how much I’d truly changed. Of course, Luca probably felt secure in the idea that he could win this little wager; otherwise he wouldn’t have extended the offer.

      Time to negotiate. “I want our deal in writing,” I said.

      “You don’t trust me?” He tsked as if I were being unfair. When I didn’t budge, he relented. “Fine. Anything else?”

      “Yes, I will give you seven days, but at the end of those seven days, when I haven’t changed my mind, you will not only agree to end my contract, but you will not seek any damages from the breach and you will leave me to live in peace. I never want to see you or another Donato again. Clear?”

      “If I can’t change your mind,” he repeated, but there was something about his tone that sent a warning chill dancing along my skin. “But I will change your mind, Katherine. I have no doubt that by the end of the week, possibly sooner, I’ll be between your legs and you’ll be gasping my name.”

      I sucked in an embarrassed breath, glancing around quickly to see if anyone had caught what he’d said. “I said no sex,” I said with a sharp hiss. “Absolutely no sex. No touching, no sucking, kissing or licking...nothing.”

      His knowing chuckle undid me, and I suffered an intense need to run far and fast. It was as if he could sense that my heart rate tripled when he was around, that my skin heated and my toes curled inside my shoes against my will.

      My attraction to him was mortifying. My dignity cringed and wailed, Remember how he destroyed you without skipping a beat? Do you want to be tied to him for the rest of your life? Afraid of when he’ll, no doubt, do it again?

      God, no. Then suck it up, buttercup, and get ready to win at all costs. I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat but held my ground. “No sex,” I growled.

      “Fine.” He sighed but then added with a silky whisper against the shell of my ear, “But I promise I won’t think less of you in the morning if you change your mind.”

      A tremble rattled my knees. Was I afraid that he was right? That it wouldn’t take much for me to crumple beneath his touch if I so much as gave him one single opportunity? That if I did let him in, I’d willingly bare my neck for the slaughter as I sank into the pleasure that I knew he could wring from my body? Okay, maybe that part was a little dramatic, but my life was on the line. And as much as I hated to admit it, sex with Luca had been pretty good. Okay, spectacular.

      True story—after one particularly long and exquisite orgasm, I temporarily went deaf. Yeah, that had done wonders for Luca’s already healthy ego when I’d shared that phenomenon with him.

      But no one had been able to deliver that kind of pleasure since, so I knew Luca had some skill.