Enemy Sworn (9 page)

chapter nine

A
s soon as the door closed behind them, Sophia turned on her husband. It was her only line of defense against a man who was using her to get to the top of the power food chain, but more important it was the only way she knew to protect her heart. Because despite the craziness of the last few days there was something about him that pulled at her.
Hard.

Since the moment Tony dragged her out of that room at the club she had not stopped thinking of this dark and dangerous stranger who made her feel things she had only dreamed of.

She thought of how clean and virile he smelled, how his rough hands felt against her smooth skin. Of the deep, powerful timber of his voice and the way he took control of everything around him but lost all of it with her.

God help her but she hadn't wanted him to stop in the atrium! Had they had some privacy when he took her, there was no telling how wantonly she would have responded to him. As it was, even knowing they had an audience, there had been something sublime about the way he took her. He wanted her body in spite of all the BS that came with her. He had been thick and ready, and gentle until he couldn't be. And she had liked it. She liked it
a lot
. So much that she wanted more, which was precisely the problem!

Her body had a will of its own. Sophia gnashed her teeth. She had been wet and ready for him despite her inexperience. She wanted him inside her again, to feel the ultimate release she knew came with the kind of sex her husband could give her.

And then what?

She glared at him standing there looking at her like he didn't have a clue in the world of what he did to her.

Didn't he understand that she reviled him for using her status as a Dumas for a power grab yet she wanted him to use her body for her own pleasure? She was the pawn being used by two powerful men. The least she deserved was some happiness. But if she gave herself to him, she would want more and more after that, and when he had what he wanted, like most men he would look for a new conquest and she knew that would hurt most of all.

Even as a pawn she would never settle for only part of him. She wanted it all. And that was impossible for two reasons: he was here under a lie, and even if he weren't, even if they fell madly in love with each other, they could never live a storybook ending in the world of Dumas, even with her father gone. Because Mateo would be so seduced by the power that came with being
el patrón
that he would never give it up. Not for her, not for their children. Not for anything. She was doomed, doomed, doomed. And so was he.

Spitting mad at the ludicrous situation she was in, she took it out on the person who had turned her life upside down. She punched her husband's wounded shoulder. “I don't need you to fight my battles for me!” she shrieked. She knew she sounded like a lunatic, but he made her crazy.

“Apparently you do.”

“I don't!”

Mateo growled, grabbing her arm and pulling it away from his throbbing shoulder, keeping a firm hold on her at the same time. “You don't care that your father manhandles you?” He shook her. “Or that he dictates your life? That he forces you to marry a man you don't know then forces him to fuck you in front of his cronies to prove to the world you're a virgin? This is the damn twenty-first century, not fucking medieval Europe.”

“Leave my father out of this.”

“What if I had given you what you wanted in the club, Sophia?”

She couldn't answer that question because she refused to admit what her father would have done to her.

He shook her. “What if there was no proof of blood to show?”

She looked past him. “What would he have done?” he yelled, shaking her again.

“I don't know,” she screamed. “I don't know.”

“I do,” he said, lowering his voice. “And I swear to god, I would have killed him for it.” Mateo moved in closer, his warm breath brushed her lips.

“Don't touch me!” she hissed, yanking away from him. She hated that he was right about her father. That despite everything he had done or not done, she was still desperate for his approval. For his fatherly pride to emerge and for him to finally treat her with unconditional love and not like a prized filly.

Would giving him a grandchild finally trigger his love for her? It's what she wanted. A family. But could she bring a child into the brutal world of Dumas? No, she realized, as much as she wanted children, she would not bear one as long as her father lived. She would not do that to someone she loved, and she would not live through it as a parent.

“Sophia,” Mateo softly said, “I'm not the enemy.”

Looking up at him, feeling sad resignation settle within her, she said, “You're here under a lie.” When Mateo reached out for her again, she flinched, hating that she did. It showed fear. And, truth be told, she was afraid of him, but not the way she appeared to be.

Raising his hands in the air as if he were under arrest, he stepped back from her. “I give you my word, Sophia: I will not touch you again without your permission.”

Hot tears welled in her eyes. Now he was rejecting her. Be careful what you ask for, Sophia, you will get it.

Angry that he'd seen her weakness, and angrier that he'd sworn not to touch her again, she strode to the middle of the room as she swiped a tear off her cheek, trying to get a grip on her out-of-control emotions. What the hell was wrong with her? She never cried. Not since she was a little girl. She was as level as a balance beam.

Lowering his hands, Mateo's eyes narrowed as she threw her thick mane of hair over her shoulders.

She stood naked and unashamed before him. Oddly, this stranger she had married instilled a level of confidence in her she hadn't been aware she'd been missing. Perhaps it was knowing he would defy the most intimidating man on the planet for something as simple as respecting her wishes. He had been gentle and considerate when her father insisted they publicly consummate their vows. He'd just promised never to touch her again unless she asked him to. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Her husband was not a weak man, physically or emotionally, she knew it instinctively. Why, then, did he treat her as if her feelings mattered to him? Like he actually cared about her? She didn't know what to do with that.

“Why are you here?”

“I couldn't get you out of my head.”

“That's a lie. Tell me the truth.”

“The only truth you will believe is one that doesn't involve you.”

She opened her mouth to deny what he said, but it was probably the only true statement he had made since he'd so brazenly walked through the door.

He made to step toward her but retracted his step. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that a man could simply want you for yourself, so much that he'd be willing to face death to have you?”

“Because that's what fairy tales are made of, and in case you haven't noticed, this place and everyone in it, including me, are hardly fairy-tale material.” She laughed caustically. “More like a horror show.”

“Part of the truth is ugly, Sophia. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Yes.”

“I killed Javier Bertram, then hunted down his woman, and much to my surprise she came on to me and begged me to fuck her. Before I could, her cousin and his thugs took her away. I chased after her, her father insisted I marry her, then I got to fuck her and now here I am wanting to fuck her more than ever but she won't let me touch her because she doesn't trust me.”

“Knowing you killed Javier, how can you expect me to trust you?”

“Because I'm your husband now, and it's part of your job description as my wife to trust me.”

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Sophia would have smiled. “I trust no one.”

“For your cousin's life, you swore to obey me.”

“Obey and trust are two separate issues. You can't command me to trust you. Trust is earned. This farce of a marriage will be over long before there's time to build trust.”

Mateo scowled. “I'm your husband. You will obey me.”

Shaking her head, Sophia put her hands on her hips and cocked her head disdainfully at the arrogant man. “You're no different from my father or Javier or any man, for that matter. When you can't have your way, you resort to bullying.” She made a disgusted sound as she shook her head. “I had no choice but to make that promise!” She grabbed a robe from her closet and shrugged it on. It was short and made of fine, sheer linen. It didn't hide much but it made her feel less exposed.

“Are you saying you lied to me?”

Fisting her hands she shook her head. Her breasts bobbed against her chest and she caught the drop of his gaze. Her skin flushed warm, and despite everything that had happened, her anger and her distrust for the man she was married to, her body responded ardently to his attention. The flush continued across her sultry skin, warming her in all of her erogenous zones. She swallowed hard when her gaze dropped below his waist and saw that he was clearly aroused. “No—” she stammered, grateful that he promised not to touch her, because if he did at that moment her traitorous body would kick her pride in the teeth and have at it. “It just means I— You must release me from my promise.”

Mateo nodded. “I'll release you from your promise, but I will not release you from your wifely duties.”

“You're no better than my father!”

“When it comes to you, Sophia, I'll dance with the devil to be inside you again.”

His words stirred her deeply. Her nipples tightened, and the heat that had never left her flared at her core.

•   •   •

Mateo
tsk
ed and shoved his hands into his pockets, afraid that if they were free he'd touch her. Her nipples tightened beneath the sheer fabric and it wasn't cold in the room. She stood there taunting him with righteous words he ignored. Call him a dog, and he'd bark. He wanted inside of her again, damn it. But he needed her to trust him, and he'd go as far as he had to but not as far as giving up the one thing he wanted almost as much as he wanted to destroy the Dumas cartel in its entirety.

Sophia. She was in his blood, literally. Under his skin, figuratively. And he wanted inside her head and her body, physically and emotionally. One, because it was a means to an end, but more, he wanted her selfishly, for himself.

And one way or another he was going to bind her to him, so much so that she would give up the national treasury if that's what he asked her to do. And as hardened as he was, there was a part of him that cringed when he thought of using her the way he was. She would discover his duplicity, and when she did, promise or no promise, honor be damned, she'd eviscerate him.

He moved closer to her and saw the glitter of tears on her cheek. Something inside him softened, but he quickly squashed it. He would not allow his emotions to intrude on his mission. “Never compare me to him again,” he said softly but firmly. “I am nothing like him.” And he knew it was a lie. He was worse.

“Why did you kill Javi?” she asked.

“He killed my brother.” At least that was the truth, and the one other truth that he could tell her, that he wanted her for herself and not because of what she could bring him, she would never believe. How could she when it was wrapped around so many lies?

At least his reason for killing her fiancé she could understand. Respect, even. Would she even care? He doubted it. She might be naive in some ways, but there was no way she was clueless as to what her father was doing. Had been doing and would continue to do if left unchecked.

“Your brother must have deserved to die,” she said, her chin high, her words full of bravado.

“No more than your precious Javier deserved to die. You're better off without him.”

“He was my promised!”

“Did you love him?”

She blanched at his question. “No.”

“That sounds like duty to me. Is that why you married me? Duty?”

“It was my duty to honor the blood-for-blood code. Had I not, I would have disgraced my father and the family. I would never do that.”

“Or were you afraid your father would beat you to a pulp if you refused?”

“He would never do that!”

Touching the bruise on her cheek, he traced his finger down to her swollen lip. Raising a brow, he asked, “Who's lying now, Sophia?”

“I married you because I respect my father.”

“Even if that respect isn't returned? Because it causes you misery?”

She laughed, pushing his hand away. “Causes me misery? I find no greater honor than upholding my family's honor.” Her eyes narrowed. “But since you asked for the truth, I'll tell you the real reason I agreed to marry you.” She moved toward him, a predator locked on her prey. “I married you because my other choice was a life chained to a man so despicable the sight of him made me sick to my stomach. I would have had to submit to him until he impregnated me. I'm not a broodmare! I'm a woman with feelings!”

She shoved him against the wall. “Anyone would have been better than the man my father chose to replace Javier.”

She shoved him again. “But don't think just because you were the lesser of two evils you can treat me like some kind of possession.”

She shoved him again. “I swear by all that is holy, I will kill you if you do.”

Instead of fending her off, Mateo bear-hugged her to him. She twisted to get away, but he was stronger. Changing her tactic, she dropped. They went tumbling to the throw rug on the tile floor. Mateo rolled her onto her back and sprawled over her nearly naked, squirming body. Her short robe had come undone, exposing every lush inch of her.

When she tried to twist out of his hold her tits slid across his bare chest, and the blood shot straight to his dick. Her eyes widened as she realized the trigger she had just pulled.