Stolen Vows

CHAPTER THREE

Adrianna's pov

Once he left, a couple of maids came in to help me freshen up. They came with piles of dresses and silk night wears that looked, felt and even smelt expensive. My cuffs were taken off as I was shown to the bathroom where a tub filled with bubbles and floating petals. I stood there in shock for some seconds before I was gestured to enter. The maids used honey and so many other skincare products that were so expensive on my skin. Products that my father would never agree to buy for a daughter he would eventually sell out.

Once it was done I was dried up and dressed in a purple silk nightwear. My favorite color. A tray of spaghetti and sauce was left on the table for me to eat. I played with the food for a while, thankful that the portion was small because my appetite was as good as gone.

I laid on the bed after I was done eating and blankly stared at the ceiling. A thousand thoughts were running through my head. I didn't know when I slept off.

The next morning, I woke to sunlight pooling on the stone floor like gold spilled across a tomb. Valerio hadn’t returned or made a move. A silent maid brought a lavish healthy breakfast for me but I didn't eat it. I was weary of the fact that it might have been poisoned.

But by the afternoon, hunger cracked my pride and I had no choice but to eat it regardless of my fear.

The maid returned again later, a girl maybe a few years older than me. She said that her name was Sofia. Warm brown eyes, soft-spoken, and a mouth that twitched like she wanted to smile but remembered who she was working for.

She looked harmless. And maybe I looked pitiful enough for her to trust me.

And so I started with simple small talk about her day and who cooked breakfast that morning.

Then I asked a question. "How many guards are on this floor?"

She stiffened almost immediately. I smiled faintly. "I just like knowing things. Helps me sleep better, I have paranoia and so I have to know certain safety details so my mind can be at ease."

She didn't answer, but she also didn’t walk away either.

By evening, I had learned three things.

One, there was a rear stairwell that led to the cellar.

Two, the kitchen door was sometimes left cracked open for fresh air.

Three, Sofia didn't report our conversations to anyone.

I waited until midnight before I made my move.

The house was mostly silent. There was no music. No conversation in the halls or a single soul in sight. Just the occasional footstep of a guard, which made me freeze for a few seconds before I continued my journey.

I crept down the hall barefoot, my nightgown whispering around my knees. My heart thundered in my chest as every shadow stretched long and hungry.

The stairwell was colder. The stone beneath my feet was damp. I made it two floors down before the beam of a flashlight swept too close.

I bolted in the opposite direction. Voices shouted behind me. “She’s running!” "Catch her before she escapes."

I turned a corner too fast. Wrong hallway, in the wrong direction.

Panic clawed up my throat as I turned back and saw a sea of lights running after me.

I shoved open a door and slipped inside.

It was dark, warm, luxurious and possessed a pine, chocolate scent. A scent all too familiar.

I backed up and tried to run away but it was too late.

Steam spilled from the bathroom as Valerio emerged, towel slung low on his hips, bare-chested, wet hair dripping over his temples. His body was carved like vengeance. Tattoos running over his spine and dropping down to his chest.

Our eyes met.

I let out a scream but he didn't say a thing.

In a blur, he crossed the room. I turned to run, but he caught me around the waist again and tossed me onto the bed like I weighed nothing.

“You brought yourself to me,” he said, voice rough as he stalked forward. "That's a relief, I thought I would have to force you to have our wedding night."

I scrambled backward on the bed. “I didn’t mean to! I was just...” I stammered not knowing how to expose myself for trying to run away.

A knock came on the door and Valerio's face changed into annoyance. "What is it!" He barked

"Sir! She escaped!" The voice came. "She left her room and ran in this direction."

Valerio didn’t take his eyes off me but his expression changed. “She’s with me,” he called, calm and deadly.

There was silence outside, then the footsteps retreated.

He walked slowly to the bed, towel still riding low. Muscles rippling with every step.

"Why?" he asked. "Why run? Do you want to die out there?"

His voice darkened. "Do you think they won’t find you? That I’ll let you go so easily?"

I couldn’t answer his words, my breath caught.

He stood at the edge of the bed, fury and fire radiating off his skin.

My panic snapped and I did something so stupid.

I lunged for him. My hands gripped his shoulders and I crashed my lips into his.

His entire body stilled like ice and so did mine. A second passed by, then two.

Then he growled and kissed me back.

The world blurred in an instant. His mouth took mine, hungry and rough. His hands found my waist, pulling me against him. I clung to him like a lifeline.

We tumbled onto the bed. His body pressed over mine, heat surged from every direction. My legs tangled with his. I felt everything, every pulse, every twitch of his muscles.

We broke apart only for breath. Our foreheads touched and my pulse roared.

He looked down at me like I was the answer to a question he’d spent years trying to forget. His hands hooked the hand off my dress and one side fell revealing my bare breast.

Valerio's breath hitched as he stared at that naked piece of flesh like it was something he had never seen before. His fingers found their way to my n****e, twisting and teasing them. I just lay there in shock and in pleasure. My neck arched and he used that opportunity to plant kisses and little nibbles all over my neck. He was so slow and gentle that I forgot that this was my kidnapper.