Virgin Bride

LUCA

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Luca said, glancing over at her.

She was looking out the window, not answering him. “You want something to drink?”

With still no answer, he let out a sigh. “Well, I do. I’ll stop up ahead and grab us something.”

Pulling up to a small store, he turned off the car and turned to look at her. “You wait here, and don’t you dare try to take off because I will catch you.

“On second thought, I’ll lock the door. That way I will know you’ll still be here when I get back.”

After stepping out, he locked his vehicle, knowing very well that she would never be able to figure out how to unlock it.

He returned moments later with two bottles of water and handed her one. When she wouldn’t take it from him, he placed it beside her. “It’s right here if you want it.”

ROBIN

Robin looked down. It looked so tempting and her throat was dry. So picking it up, she opened it and finished it all in a few gulps.

As she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, she looked over at him. He was unlike any man she had ever seen.

He had to be around thirty years old. His hair was pitch black, his skin a dark-olive shade. He had a strong jaw and broad shoulders, muscular and extremely handsome.

But he had an aura about him, an arrogance mixed with danger combined with a heart-stopping magnetism. She was deathly afraid of him, afraid of what he was going to do to her.

Was her uncle right? Was this man going to use her body for sex? No man had ever touched her and none would. She would die before she let him touch her.

LUCA

“I bet you’re wondering why I wanted you. Still not talking? Okay, I’ll tell you. I need to find a wife, and you’re it.”

He saw her mouth drop open, and her eyes grew wide as saucers. “No need to look so scared, it’s only for appearance’s sake.

“I need a wife in name only. I won’t be bedding you—I don’t do virgins. I’m really getting tired of this silent treatment. You better start talking before I lose my temper.”

After three hours of driving, he lost his cool and pulled over to the side of the road. He put the car in park and grabbed her arm.

“Talk, say something, anything.”

Maybe he had too tight a grip on her arm, or he scared the heck out of her, and a pang of guilt hit him when she started whimpering.

“I-I won’t marry you,” she snapped at him.

Her soft cries touched his heart. She sounded so scared, so young, and he thought maybe this was a mistake. “How old are you?”

“Twenty.” She sniffed.

“Thank God, for a moment I thought you might be underage, but twenty makes you a woman. Old enough to marry. You will marry me or I’ll take you back to your uncle. Is that what you want?”

ROBIN

Shaking her head, she yanked her arm from his grip, and sitting back, turned her head to look out the window.

She didn’t want to go back. It was only a matter of time before her uncle got drunk, and with his violent temper, he would surely one of these days do serious damage to her, or worse, would end up killing her.

So perhaps being the wife of this wealthy man would be better than the life she was living now, and he did say it was in name only.

But what if he also were to abuse her; was she to cook and clean for him, be not only his wife but his slave? She wondered what she had done to make God want to punish her like this.

“When we get back to my place, you’ll have to clean up, shower, and I’ll see if I can find something for you to wear. Tomorrow we’ll go shopping and get you a whole new wardrobe.

“With luck, Grazia won’t be home. If she sees you looking this way, she’ll have a coronary, but that might not be such a bad thing,” he said, chuckling at his own joke.

Robin wondered who this Grazia was. If she is his mistress, then why doesn’t he just marry her?

She wanted to ask him but was afraid; she’d learned in the past not to question anything a man said or did—it only earned her a beating.

The rest of the drive was in silence, and when he pulled up the long driveway, she stared in awe.

“Your home is a castle?” she said as she stared at it.

Never had she seen anything like it in her life, only in her dreams. A fountain stood in the middle of the enormous front lawn, and statues of Roman gods stood on either side of the double doors leading inside.

She got out of the car and followed Luca up the steps and they were greeted by a man wearing some kind of uniform.

“Welcome home, sir. Shall I prepare your drink for you in the library?”

“No, not now, Seth. Show this lady up to the suite next to my room and have Martha prepare her a bath and see if any of the help has a dress she can have.”

Without saying another word to either one of them, he walked away.

“This way, Miss,” Seth said and walked ahead of Robin.

She followed meekly behind him, looking at the pictures that lined the wall all the way up the staircase. Pictures of whom she guessed were Luca’s family.

She was shown into a room, a very large room, twice the size of her uncle’s home.

“Wait here. Someone will be in shortly to tend to you.” Seth walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Being left alone, she explored the room she assumed would be hers. There was a sofa and chair off to the side.

A small table with two chairs, another smaller table with a matching chair and a large mirror hung on the wall; she had no idea what this piece of furniture was for.

She went over to the bed, which was huge, and sat down, bouncing up and down. Never had she felt anything this comfortable. Hell, I can’t remember the last time I sat on a bed, much less slept in one.

She got up and opened a double door—it was a closet, the kind you could walk into. Going over to another door, she opened it to find the most spectacular bathroom ever.

The tub was enormous, and the shower was encased in glass. Everything was shiny and clean, the towels neatly folded and hung over the railing. Everything sparkled, and there were no rust stains inside the toilet bowl.

There was another door she hadn’t checked out yet—it was made of glass and was covered with a sheer covering; she pushed it aside and walked out onto a balcony.

The view was amazing with its trees and hills. A sense of fear coursed through her body; she did not belong in a place like this and not with a man like Luca.

Will he beat me, force himself on me, and will he not expect sex once we’re married?

Hearing a knock at the door, she went back into the bedroom, and a young woman walked in wearing a maid’s uniform and carrying some clothes in her hands.

“I could only find this dress and a pair of new panties and a nightgown and robe. Now, let’s run you a bath.”

She looked at the state of Robin’s appearance and hair, shaking her head. “I think a shower is more in order; follow me.”

She walked to the bathroom, where she turned on the water, letting it get to the right temperature.

LUCA

Luca was going to check on how things were going with Robin, and when he reached her room, he heard a blood-curdling scream.

Not bothering to knock, he rushed into a fight scene between Robin and the maid.

“What the hell is going on in here,” he barked loudly.

“She bit me, sir.” The maid held up her arm, showing teeth marks.

Clutching the top of her raggy dress, Robin snapped back. “She was attacking me.”

“No, no, I wasn’t. I was only getting her ready to take a shower,” the maid cried out.

“Go,” Luca ordered her. “I’ll take care of this.”

When she had gone, he turned to Robin, and she said, “I don’t need anyone to undress me. I’m not a child.”

Walking up to her, he stood so close she backed up, trembling.

“You will not hit or bite the hired help, and you will apologize to her. Now go, take your shower and after you are dressed, we’ll go down to dinner.”

He heard the door lock when he left the bathroom and sat down on the sofa, rubbing his face. This girl is wild and untamed. She is going to need a lot of work in order to make her a prim and proper wife.

Since he had decided to make her his wife, she would have to fit in and behave like a lady and not like a wild animal. After all, people would be watching them, and he had his reputation to think of.

It was no longer acceptable for him to be a playboy now that he was getting older. But any wife of his must have class and be a respectable member of society.

He waited until she was done showering, and she walked out, wearing only a towel around her slender form.

A smile crossed his face when he saw her. This is no girl. Who would have thought that under those dirty, baggy clothes she wore was a woman with an amazing body?

Her legs were long and slender, shapely. Not to mention her breasts that were barely covered by the towel.

“Christ, what the hell are you doing in here? Get out,” she screamed at him.

The sound of her angry voice and the way she crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to hide them brought him out of the trance he was in.

Going over to her, he took her chin in his hand. No one talks to me this way.

“Never raise your voice to me again. Now get dressed. I’ll wait for you, and then we’ll go down and have dinner with the rest of the family.”

His hand lingered for a moment, and he looked down at her lips. They looked so pink and soft, a stirring of desire flared within him, and his gaze moved slowly down to the top of her breasts.

As soon as he released her, she grabbed the clothes from the bed and stormed into the bathroom. He chuckled when she slammed the door behind her, once again locking it.