The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

territory for me.
“Rave,” I whisper. “What are you doing?” She’s clearly angry, and I don’t want to provoke her
any further.
She clenches her jaw and looks at me, her eyes flashing. “Undressing my husband. What are you
doing?”
I tense and wrap my hands around her wrists, keeping them in place. “It’s just dinner.”
“Is it?”
I nod. “Raven… I swear, I’ll keep my promise. Despite my past with Hannah and my feelings for
her, I won’t cheat on you.”
I tighten my grip on her wrists, and she looks up at me. “Ares,” she sighs. “I don’t want to make
you unhappy. Hannah made it sound like it’s nothing, but three years is a long time. I don’t really
know what to do. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t share well, and I can be quite jealous. The moment
you and I got married, you became mine. I refuse to be made a fool of, and I won’t let you two
sacrifice me for your own selfish goals. I won’t be your front while you screw my sister behind my
back. I don’t know what our marriage will look like, and I’m well aware that you’re in love with her,
but you’re insane if you think I’m going to stand back and watch you date her.” She pulls her wrists
out of my grip and takes a step back. “I want you to be happy, Ares… but not with her. Not like that.
Not after what you’ve both asked of me.”
I smile at her, intrigued. Raven has always been so sweet and calm, and I’m starting to wonder if I
ever truly knew her at all. In the last couple of weeks, she’s been different, and I think I like the
change. I lean in and brush her hair out of her face. “I hear you, Rave. I do. This is confusing for me
too, but you’re right. I’m yours… and you? You’re mine. It’s going to take us some time to navigate
this marriage, but I can promise you this much: I won’t ever betray you, nor will I knowingly hurt
you.”
She nods and turns away, some of her anger draining away. I watch her as her fingers brush over
the shirts in my closet. She picks a white one and takes it off the hanger. “And Raven?” I tell her. “I
don’t share at all. If you’re asking me to keep my distance from Hannah, you better be keeping your
distance from other men, too.”
She turns back around to face me, her eyes finding mine. “I’m yours,” she says, and my heart skips
a beat. “Only yours.” There’s something about the way she looks at me that reminds me of the dream I
had, and the mere memory of it has my cock hardening. I tear my gaze away and take a deep breath.
I’m so fucking conflicted. She’s my wife, yet thinking of her in that way fills me with guilt.
Raven walks up to me and hands me my white shirt. I expected her to walk away, but instead, she
grabs the lapels of the shirt I’m wearing and pushes it over my shoulders. Fuck. She’s so fucking
close, and though I shouldn’t, I wonder how she’d respond if I kissed her.
“I’ll do it,” I tell her, pulling away. Having her hands on me feels too intimate. It’s too much.
Other than that night she and Sierra got drunk, she’s always kept an appropriate distance from me, so
I’m uncertain how to handle this new version of her.
Raven watches me as I change into the shirt she chose for me. “Don’t let me down,” she says, her
voice so soft I barely missed it.
I look up sharply, my eyes meeting her vulnerable gaze. “I won’t,” I promise her. Neither of us
knows how to navigate this marriage, but this much I can do. I’ll keep my promises to her.
Raven nods, her gaze following me as I walk out.
All I can think about as I make my way to the restaurant I’m meeting Hannah at is the way she just
looked at me. Raven looked so hurt, so disappointed.