Victor marveled at how Valentina’s body always accepted him so perfectly. He couldn’t get enough of her. If he could crawl inside her and join his whole being to hers it still wouldn’t be enough. This woman filled a place in him no other woman had ever discovered. He knew he had never loved before and he would never love again—not after Valentina. To lose her would be worse than death.

“You’re one of us now.” He ground his hips against her in smooth circles, moving forcefully inside her. His eyes never left hers, conveying without a doubt the sincerity of what he was saying. That he would not be deterred. That he was taking her. Claiming her. Because that was how she made him feel, like an overexcited stallion being driven to the brink of madness by a mare that refused to surrender.

He plunged into her body relentlessly, touching and stroking every inch of her, inside and out. If it took a lifetime, he would allay her fears and show her that this new life with him was where she belonged. Being inside her wasn’t about marking her anymore, now it was the equivalent of beating on his chest and owning her like no other man ever had or ever would.

She looked up at him, searching his face. It made him feel like he was melting into her. Her voice was quiet but her words rang true. “I love you.”

“You say that now,” he rasped, “but you’ll be pissed at me again soon enough. Then you’ll hate me.”

Valentina closed her eyes at his words, shaking her head as her breaths became little more than mindless, shuddering gasps of air. Her back arched up toward him and stayed suspended there for a seemingly endless moment as she came, groaning long and low with pleasure. With a harsh intake of air, she rode out the orgasm, rocking her hips against the frantic, hungry lunges of Victor’s swollen, searching cock.

“No, no, I won’t,” she cried incoherently, gulping for air and pulling his head down so that his forehead was pressed to hers. “Love you…Victor, I love you…I do…”

Once again, he was sucker punched, weakened and yet somehow strengthened by three simple words uttered when her defenses were down and she was at her most vulnerable. Using his thighs to spread her legs even wider, he sank his cock down deep and hard on a decisive thrust, smiling to himself when she cried out.

“I love you too, baby,” he groaned against her neck and rolled his hips in and out of her snug, velvety sex. “Oh, how I love you, mi amor. You are the light that shines in the blackness of my night. You are my North Star, always leading me home. I need you. I need to know you’ll always be here.”

“Being with you is as natural and necessary to me as breathing. I’m here to stay.”

He laughed softly against her neck because he knew the fiery love-hate dynamic wasn’t going to cool between them – hell, he welcomed it. Valentina never came to him easily, she always made him work for it, made him earn it. And there was nothing in this world better than fucking Valentina when she was pissed off. That greedy pussy of hers used him up so hard and so well that his cock was ruined for anyone else. He had no complaints.

He considered her for a long moment, then nodded softly. He tenderly brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, then placed a finger over her lips. “Shhh, no more talking.”

No, he would need to apply himself if he was going to get her fully on board with the marriage his father had promised him. He was tired of waiting. He wanted it all. Now.

He raised up on his elbows, his thrusts more urgent now. The broad head of his cock stroked her inner walls perfectly, bringing her to another breathless orgasm before he crashed into her a final time, his body quaking as he found his release deep within her.

He rolled over to rest on his back next to her, taking a minute to let his breathing get back to normal and his heartrate settle down. She draped herself across his chest, pressing soft kisses on his deliciously slick skin. He stroked her hair, talking more to himself than to her. “He’ll never bother you again.”

Simple words, yes. But she had already seen two people killed in the short time she’d been here. Was everybody inducted into this family’s bloodstained membership so quickly, or did potential wives get special treatment, being thrown headfirst into the cartel? Was it a particularly gory rite of passage, maybe?

There was one thing she knew for sure, though: woe unto anyone who threatened her because Victor wouldn’t stop until they were dead. That should have made her feel safe, not a care in the world. But she had also learned that love meant risk. Love could destroy you. These were the things that Victor couldn’t control, no matter how much he wanted to. And she wanted to earn her place in the family, in the cartel. She wouldn’t be anyone’s trophy wife. No gilded cages for her.

She had a lot to think about before she could give herself over to this man completely, to stand by his side without reservation, without fear. Victor was right; along the way she’d second guess herself, she’d fight him tooth and nail. But that didn’t change her truth, their truth…

“Love you so much, Victor,” she said on a yawn.

He chuckled and pulled her closer to his chest. He took a deep, satisfying breath before dipping his chin down to bring her into his line of vision, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I know. And I love you.”

“How did he do it, Victor? King did it, right?”

“Let’s just say he brought a friend along to help. Unfortunately, he left a witness. A nurse.”

That got her attention. She raised up on an elbow, a look of grim determination on her face. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “If anyone has anything to fear, it’s that nurse. But she won’t talk. By now King knows more about her than she knows about herself. Nobody’s secrets are safe when he starts digging around. Secrets…we all have them. And within those secrets is where we find our security. The secrets that really count are the ones we’re willing to do anything within our power to keep hidden. The nurse is no different.”

“I hope you’re right,” she said in a deceptively soft voice. “Because if you aren’t and she runs her mouth, I’ll put a bullet between her eyes to protect my family.”

The brutal sentiment brought the caveman in him to full attention. Moving with the practiced ease of a predator, he moved over her, blanketing her body with his own as he surged inside her on a powerful thrust.

“You know, there was a time,” he murmured against her lips, “when I worried about whether you were ready for life in the cartel. But now? I’m worried about whether the cartel is ready for you.”