I clear my throat. “A large cheese pizza for the master bedroom… and I guess we’ll take a couple of cokes.”
“Now, will that be cocaine, or cola?”
I smile. Good old George always has my back. “Just cola this time. I don’t think Honey is quite so wild.”
“Very good, sir. Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“That’ll be all,” I reply as the bathroom door opens again.
George gives me a polite goodbye before hanging up the phone, and I turn around to see Honey in a small cotton nightgown. Even though it’s old-fashioned, she makes it look like the finest piece of lingerie with the way it hugs her gentle curves. The thin fabric rolls down her breasts like a waterfall, revealing the faint outline of her puffy nipples. I get an erection immediately upon seeing her.
“The pizza is on the way,” I say, putting the phone handset back down on the table and trying to ignore the aching tightness of my pants at the crotch.
“Perfect,” Honey replies, but then she pouts. “Aren’t you going to get your PJs on?”
“My what?” I ask with a laugh.
“Your pajamas,” she says, cocking her head like a bird.
“I sleep naked,” I reply, raising both my eyebrows at her suggestively.
Bad move.
Honey looks startled, her eyes widening like two bright moons behind her long eyelashes. Her soft lips part slightly, further enhancing the effect. “Naked?” she asks, as though it was unheard of to sleep without clothes on.
I nod. “I’m afraid so.”
“Well, you won’t be coming anywhere near me,” she says, her voice flat and dry.
“We’re sleeping in the same bed,” I say, continuing to unbutton my shirt.
“There’s a perfectly good couch in the hallway,” she snaps.
“Oh, come now, you’re not serious, are you?” I ask, surprised by her sudden turn. She was so sweet and playful just a minute ago. I think I want that Honey back. This one is defective.
“I’m very serious. I’m not sleeping with a naked man,” she states, holding her chin up high.
“I’m not going to have you sleeping on the couch,” I reply, tossing my shirt onto the same chair as my bowtie.
She laughs and prods a small finger into her breast. “You think I’m the one who’s going to be on the couch?”
“I’m about twice as long as that couch, Honey,” I say, shaking my head. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Put some damn clothes on, and you can join me in the bed,” she says, hopping up onto the golden sheets as though to claim it for herself.
“I sleep naked,” I repeat, sticking to my guns.
If she thinks she’s going to get an inch of compromise out of me, she’s dead wrong. I never compromise, especially not with a fussy little woman. Well, that’s aside from my grandmother, but that’s family. Honey, she’s just my wife.
Just my wife.
I never thought I’d be thinking something so strange.
Just my wife.
I suppose she deserves better, but if she doesn’t act like my wife, then I won’t treat her as such. Two can play that game.
Chapter Six
Honey
I signed up for a marriage contract, strictly business, where my husband doesn’t try to trick me into sleeping with him while he’s naked. I know what men want when they invite you into their beds, especially if they’re not wearing any clothes. I wasn’t born yesterday.
Even if I was attracted to him, which I’m not saying is true, but if I was, I wouldn’t be hopping into the bed with him so that he could pound me until sunrise. I’m a virgin, for god’s sake. I’m not ready for any of this. I wanted to keep a nice atmosphere in the bedroom for our first night together, but it seems I’ll have to take a more defensive route.
I recline on the golden sheets, feeling the scratch of synthetic fibers against my butt. This nightgown is too damn short, but there wasn’t anything else to wear. I ditched the silly lingerie that I was supposed to put on for Carter, tossing it out of the bathroom window onto the roof. I’m certainly not going to sleep naked like Carter plans to, so the old-fashioned nightgown I found in the dresser will have to do.
I stare at Carter from the bed, watching as he pulls down the tiny black zipper of his slacks, revealing blue underwear. Is he actually going to get naked right now in front of me? Has he lost his mind?
“What are you doing?” I ask as he pulls his pants down.
“What does it look like?” he asks, bending down to pull his pants over his ankles.
“It looks like you’re doing exactly what I told you not to do,” I reply.
“I’m not staying in my wedding clothes,” he says, standing back up and tossing his pants onto the chair. “I have to get comfortable.”
“You look comfortable enough,” I say, eying the massive bulge in his underwear. Is he erect, or is his cock normally that huge?
Carter stands up straight in front of me, his chest puffed out aggressively, and his large arms down at his sides. His eyes are stormy like I’ve triggered the rain with my snide comments, but I’m really only trying to protect myself. He’s the one instigating conflict.
He squints his eyes at me. “You’d better listen to me, Honey, and listen to me closely because I’m not going to say this twice. This is my estate, my mafia, and you’re my wife now. You’d better act like.”
His voice is deep and smooth, sending a shiver through me and causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stick up. This was supposed to be a business deal, with both of us on even ground, but it’s clear he doesn’t view it as such. He wants to be the one in charge, and I may have made a terrible mistake by marrying him.
Jesus, what have I done?
“That’s better,” Carter says in response to my wide-eyed silence. “I prefer submissive women.”
“I’m not submissive,” I say,
