Sweet Temptation by Cora Reilly

don’t need to get up.”
Giulia only nodded, not saying anything when I could tell she wanted to. I
was glad for her silence. I nodded down the corridor. “Let’s go to bed. I need to
get up early, and Simona will probably wake us a few times tonight.”
I led Giulia toward the master bedroom, wondering how long she’d want to
sleep in it before she moved to one of the guest bedrooms. I turned on the lights
and motioned for Giulia to enter. She slipped past me into the vast room. She
looked around curiously. Her three suitcases waited beside the door to the walkin-closet.
“I told Sybil that you’d probably want to put your clothes away yourself.”
“Yes, thank you. That way I’ll know where everything is,” she said absentmindedly
as she walked toward the window, peering outside.
It was too dark to see much but the general outline of the gardens. She
looked petite, and I had to resist the urge to walk up to her and touch her
shoulders. Last night she had to accept my closeness, but I wouldn’t force it on
her again.
I cleared my throat, causing Giulia to turn. Her gaze fell on the king-sized
dark-wood bed on the left. Her expression tightened ever so slightly.
“I’ll get ready,” I gritted out and headed for the en suite bathroom.
I wasn’t even sure what had me on edge tonight. I had been wound tightly
for almost a year now. It was getting harder and harder to suppress the flood of
emotions. Only once I’d released my frustration, and it had felt good, so fucking
good. It had led to this point, had ultimately cost my children their mother.
Trying to stop this dangerous train of thought, I started brushing my teeth and
getting ready for bed. A bed I’d have to share with another woman who didn’t
want me.
Giulia still hid her resentment better than Gaia ever did. Yet she couldn’t feel
anything but resentment considering she was forced to marry me. Her feelings
toward sharing a bed with me again tonight had been clear as day. Trepidation.
She needn’t have worried. Despite the dark hunger for my young wife’s lovely
pussy, I was a man who could control himself. I abhorred the idea of sleeping
with a woman again who didn’t want me. The years with Gaia had been bad
enough. Even when she’d approached me for sex—which only happened when
she had ulterior motives—she never wanted to sleep with me. She didn’t even
think of me when I fucked her.
A new wave of fury twisted my insides. I spit the toothpaste into the sink
then washed my face and changed into my pajama bottoms. My anger didn’t
lessen as I stepped back into the bedroom. Giulia had changed into a silken
nightgown with tiny sunflowers all over it. She stared at a picture of the white
beach taken from my summer house on Long Beach Island on a beautiful spring
day. A picture meant to call to the calm within me.
In vain. It was unreasonable to be furious over her choice of wardrobe,
especially when she looked exceptionally pretty in her gown, but I was. “Didn’t I
tell you to get rid of those sunflower atrocities?”