Chapter 25

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

Anya

S averio is quiet on the way home. Two of their men are dead. Giorgio said so on the phone. Why? What happened at the club? Something terrible for sure. I both can't stand being in the dark and don't want to get dragged deeper into Saverio's sinister crime world.

The less I know, the better.

As always, he's attentive when we arrive home, cooking me dinner and making sure I have everything I crave, but he's distracted.

When I come out of the bathroom after my shower with a towel wrapped around my body, he sits on the edge of the bed.

I give a start.

He seemed so occupied during dinner, I expected him to work on the problem or to go for a long jog like he does to blow off steam. The quiet, serious energy surrounding him gives me pause. The vibe that emanates from him is dark and ominous. Whatever went down at Obsidian put him in this mood.

I make a ninety degree turn and walk as fast as my feet can carry me to the dressing room, but I'm halfway across the floor when he stops me with a single word.

"Anya."

It's not that he addresses me that halts my steps. It's how he says my name—with a warning.

Reluctantly, I face him. He's still dressed in those fancy suit pants and the black, slim-fitted shirt that shows off his muscles. The first three buttons are undone, exposing his hard chest with the deep groove between his pecs. He looks both hot and dangerous, so dangerous that I don't dare to argue when he tells me, "Come here."

I walk back slowly and stop a few paces from him. He trails his gaze from the messy bun on my head to my bare feet. Every inch of me feels exposed under his scrutiny. I'm not shy, but I don't measure up to his perfection. I could never drop my towel with the self-confidence he showed this morning.

Spreading his legs, he points between them. "Here."

I swallow, remembering the spanking he promised me this morning. "Why?"

"Are you really going to make this harder on yourself?"

"You said?—"

"I'm not a good or honest man. You should've figured that out by now."

My heart starts pounding. He's right. He's not a good or safe man. I never needed to figure that one out. He just confuses me when he's so kind. His gentle and sweet acts lure me into thinking I have a measure of power, that what I want and think matter, and that he'd consider my feelings. But standing in front of him now, I realize what a mistake that was. I should never underestimate him or let my guard down with this man who's capable of the worst kind of violence.

I remember that time in my kitchen so vividly that my body responds to the memory with heat sparking in my belly. It's enough to want to stall even though I shouldn't test his patience.

"Why?" I ask again.

He meets my gaze squarely. "You know why."

I grit my teeth. "Because I insulted you?"

He doesn't reply.

No, it goes so much deeper. "Because I'm your plaything, your toy ?"

"Because your life is mine."

Ah. Some honesty. "And that gives you the right to do with me as you please?"

"I know what's best for you."

"Do you?" I cock a hip. "Explain to me how a spanking is in my best interest."

He pushes to his feet, towering over me. Predatory energy rolls off him like a thick fog, its darkness swallowing me whole. The frosty blue color of his eyes makes them appear as cold as always, but sparks glint in their depths.

His words are measured. "Because if I don't spank you, I'm going to fuck you, and if I fuck you tonight, I'm going to break you in two."

I'm so caught off guard not only by his statement but also by his honesty that I don't see him coming until he's on top of me, pinning my wrists in one big hand behind my back and locking the other around my nape.

We're standing chest-to-chest, the length of his body covering mine. His cock grows hard against my stomach as he holds my gaze with a look that devours, letting me feel and see his intention.

I twist in his hold. "Let me go."

"You can walk to the bed and lie down willingly, or I can carry you there and tie you up."

The last part gives me pause. I don't want to be that vulnerable with him, especially not when I'm naked underneath the towel. I stop breathing when he lowers his head and brushes our cheeks together.

"Are you going to do as I say?" he whispers in a deep, seductive voice in my ear. "Or would you like the second scenario better? It's a fantasy for many women I've been with."

My temper flares like a firecracker, eradicating the guard I should keep in front of my mouth. Fighting him anew, I blurt out, "I don't want to hear about all the damn kinky women you've been with."

We both still. I cringe internally while he stares at me with a mixture of surprise and victory.

My chest rises and falls with my erratic breaths as we face each other in the aftermath of the truth I just dropped. That a part of me is envious. Jealous.

I'd give anything to take back those words, but all I can do is look at him with defiance and not as if I want to bite off my own tongue.

He drops his gaze to my mouth, studying that treacherous part of me as if he wants to eat it. Before I can blink, he loosens his grip on the back of my neck and tangles his fingers in the bun on my head. Holding me in place with one hand in my hair and the other around my wrists, he crashes his mouth on mine and kisses me. He sweeps his tongue along the seam of my lips before parting them and stealing inside.

His urgency takes my breath away. He yanks me closer, pressing our bodies harder together, but I'm grinding just as fervently against him. The flames of anger transform into a different heat that burns deep in my core. He kisses me with that devastating skill until my mind is blank and logic fails me.

When he walks backward to the bed, bringing me with him, I don't resist. I fall deeper into the desire that rips through my body and more under his spell. I forget who he is or why I'm here.

Or maybe, it's exactly who he is that makes me shiver with uncontrollable need. The danger and the wrongness are like fuel on the fire. I've always tried so hard to be a good girl, to not be my mom, that I've never let myself go aside from the night I conceived my baby. The consequences of that night alone, of what happens when I stop being responsible, should bring me to my senses, but when Saverio sits on the bed and pulls me between his legs, I don't want to be a good girl. Not anymore. Not now.

He lets go of my hair but not of my wrists. Staring up at me with the most exquisite hunger etched on his features, he asks, "Do you want this?"

I do, but I shouldn't. A part of me wants to throw caution to the wind while another part clings to the threads of reason, but it's like hanging over the edge of a cliff on a fraying rope.

"Think carefully before you decide," he continues.

I could've easily missed the warning in those words. It was just a hint. Just an intonation of his voice. A little more darkness that bleeds into his eyes. But it hooks into my subconsciousness, compelling me to surface from the lustful fog that's taken over my brain. And that's when my reason returns and my mind kicks back into action. Pinned between his legs with my arms constrained behind my back, I'm in a dangerous position. He can easily take away my choice, and I'll never give in to that.

I tense in his hold. My question is challenging, not giving away how scared I suddenly am. "Do I get a say?"

"Only about if you'll let me inside your body." Those steely blue eyes gleam with dark determination. "But if I fuck you, I'm coming in your pussy."

I gasp at his boldness. No man has ever said anything so primitive to me while making it sound so hot.

Mistaking my shock for the negative kind, he says, "What's going to happen? You're already pregnant. I'm clean. I can show you the test results."

He just happens to have test results? Exactly how many women does he fuck? "Do you often test for STDs?"

He locks his jaw. "I did the tests when I broke up with—" He continues curtly, "It doesn't matter. I've been using condoms since."

My temper gets the better of me again. "So because I happen to be pregnant, my pussy is convenient?"

A predatory smile curves his lips. "I'm sure your pussy is far more than convenient . I have no doubt it's exquisite." Letting my wrists go, he dips a hand beneath the towel and trails his palm up the inside of my leg. "I've only come inside one woman in my life, so that should tell you just how enticing that pussy of yours is."

I gasp when he brushes his fingertips along the seam between my folds and my thigh.

Letting his gaze play over my face, he says in a deep, low voice, "And you'll keep every drop I spill inside you until I say you can let my cum leak out."

His dirty talk has my head spinning. It feels as if I'm drunk. On lust. I hold my breath, quietly begging for a deeper touch, and just when I think he's going to give me what I want, he reverses the path of his fingers, leaving goosebumps on the inside of my thigh and the back of my knee.

"So, my treasure, what have you decided?"

I want to take this risk, but my answer isn't without reservations. "Yes."

His eyes tighten with clever observation. "Are you saying that because you're scared of me and afraid to say no or because you really want this?"

"Does it matter?" I ask in a breathless voice.

"Very much."

He could've already had me by force or by free will. "Why?"

"Because I really want you to want this," he says, the light in his eyes serious. "I've never wanted anything more in my life."

And that's what sways me, what makes me reach for the edges of the towel that's folded over my breasts.

He lets me go and sits back, comfortable in letting me know he's getting ready for the show, how greedy he is for a glimpse of my naked body. I've never had a complex about the way I look. I like my figure, but uncertainty sweeps through me as I loosen the ends of the towel. Saverio isn't an average man. He looks like a god. He must be used to having the most beautiful women in his bed, models and actresses, women who look and dress like Elena and the others at After Dark.

But he wants me, and he wants me to want him too.

More than anything he's wanted.

That's what he said.

So I drop the towel.

He moves a ravenous gaze over me, starting at my breasts and ending on the junction of my thighs. His eyes are feverish with lust when he locks his hands around my waist and drags me closer.

He burrows his face in the valley of my breasts. "You smell so fucking delicious." Inhaling deeply, he says, "Like sunshine. Summer." He cups the side of my breast, brushing a thumb over my nipple. "So soft. Like silk."

My nipples are contracted from the sudden exposure to the air, but his soft caress turns them harder.

He looks up, catching my gaze. "You're fucking gorgeous, and I already know you taste delicious."

Wrapping his fingers around my waist, he lifts me onto his lap so that I'm straddling him. He leans forward and sucks a nipple deep into his mouth. Pleasure hits me right in my core.

He lets my nipple go with a pop and then kisses the other one before framing my breasts between his palms. "You have beautiful tits." He looks at my face. "Are they sensitive?"

I nod.

"I'll be gentle." He takes his exploration lower, smoothing his hands down my sides and stopping on my hips. "Show me your pussy. I want to see what it looks like."

Heat blooms over my cheeks.

"I've been dying for a peek, but in that regard, I've been a good man—just for you. I resisted." His smile is mischievous. "I think I deserve a good look, don't you?"

I'm sitting on my knees with my thighs spread. Everything is pretty much on display. "Aren't you getting it?"

He clicks his tongue. "Not by a long shot."

He hooks his hands under my armpits and hoists me into the air. I let out a squeal as he puts me down next to him.

"On your hands and knees," he says, unbuttoning his shirt.

"What?" I stammer.

"You heard me." He stands and pulls the shirttails from his pants. "Bend over and spread your legs." He peels out of the shirt and drops it on the floor. "Give me a nice view of what I'm about to take."

The prospect of putting myself on display is daunting. I always thought I was confident about sex, but Saverio proves me wrong.

He unbuckles his belt and pulls down his zipper. I'm fixated on the sight of him undressing. He takes off his shoes and his socks before removing his pants. His cock juts out, thick and long and embedded with veins. The slit in the broad head already glistens with a drop of precum.

He glides a hand over the crest, catching that drop and lubricating his palm before stroking his length. "Anytime now will be good, treasure."

I can't stop looking. Saverio pumping into his fist is such a hot sight that moisture gathers between my legs.

He steps up to the edge of the bed, a vision of godlike masculinity and bunching muscles. "If you changed your mind, say so, but say it now."

No, despite knowing better, I haven't changed my mind.

I go onto my hands and knees, facing away from him and presenting myself like he asked.

"Fuck, Anya."

I look over my shoulder. He's strangling his cock in a white-knuckled grip as he stares between my legs.

"Spread them," he says in a guttural voice. "Wider."

Obeying, I set my knees apart and open myself for him.

"More," he commands. "Show me everything."

My cheeks burn hotter. "I can't spread my legs wider. My muscles are already aching from the stretch."

"Rest your shoulders on the mattress," he instructs. "Reach behind you and pull your pussy open."

"Saverio…"

"You said yes. Now give me what I want."

"I—"

He cuts me short, bending over me and pressing a hand between my shoulder blades to push me down. The position raises my ass and puts me further on display. His cock brushes against my hip, inviting a full-body shiver. When he gives me space, I stretch my arms behind my back and do what he wants.

"That's my good girl," he says. "Show me those pink lips and that tight little button between them. Fuck. You're beautiful, Anya, from the top of your head to your perfect cunt."

Instead of turning me off, the crass compliment makes me hotter.

"Stay like that," he says. "Don't move."

I jerk when something brushes over my clit. Turning my face to the side, I rest my cheek on the covers. He's rubbing the crest of his cock over the apex of my sex, making my thighs quiver with need.

"You like that," he says with a victorious note, tracing the crack of my ass with a finger.

I tremble when he reaches my opening. Without warning, he sinks his finger deep. The pleasure intensifies, coiling through my lower body.

"You're tight," he says. "Hot. You're going to milk my cock so hard."

When he starts pumping, I almost lose my balance. I let go to steady myself, but a sharp slap falls on my ass cheek.

"Keep your pussy open until I tell you to let go," he says. "I'm going to make you come on my fingers, and I want to watch."

My body answers to the promise with more arousal.

"That's it." He adds another finger, increasing the stretch. "I'm going to make you nice and wet for my cock."

I swallow a moan as he increases his pace.

"That feels good, doesn't it?" he says. "But I know how to make it feel even better."

Keeping his fingers inside me, he brings his palm down on my left cheek. This time, it stings. The heat travels all the way from my skin to my belly.

"You're soaking my fingers," he says, emphasizing every word with a swat that sets my backside on fire. "Your ass was made for spanking. You love this."

I never would've thought so, but I can't deny it any longer. I knew from the moment he made me come in my kitchen, even when I didn't want to like it. Already, my inner muscles contract.

"We're a perfect fit," he says.

Whack .

"I wish you could see how pretty you look with my fingers in your pussy and your ass painted red with my handprint."

Whack .

Oh my God. It's too much. "I'm going to?—"

"You're not coming," he says.

Whack .

I suck in a breath, trying to hold back the mounting climax, but it's already spreading like liquid lava through my loins. My muscles clamp down on the intrusion inside me, locking me in a vise of pleasure that refuses to let up. And then it breaks.

"Anya." He groans. "You're so pretty when you come. I love the way your pussy grips my fingers while sucking them deeper."

He pulls out, leaving me empty. "Keep it open for me. I want to taste you first."

Burying his head between my thighs, he licks my slit before sucking my clit into his mouth. My back arches as he laps at the nub with his tongue, prolonging the almost too intense pleasure of the aftershocks. By the time he gives me a reprieve, my arms are shaking.

"You taste delicious," he says. "I'm already addicted."

I let my arms drop next to me, earning a gentler slap between my legs.

"Keep open for me. We're just getting started."

I simply don't have the energy. "Is this my punishment?"

Rubbing a hand over my back, he bends down and kisses my spine. "That was the spanking I promised you this morning. I told you already, as much as I love your smart mouth, you have to learn to show me respect. If I let this kind of behavior slide, it'll be too easy to slip up in public."

I strain my neck to look at him. "And Saverio De Luca always has a handle on his women?"

"His woman ," he corrects.

Before I can make sense of it, he grips my wrists and places my hands on my folds.

"Hold it, treasure. You can do it. That's right, gorgeous. Now take a deep breath. I'm going to put just the head in."

His words are coaxing and soothing, entering one ear and exiting the other like white noise. I'm floating in a space of lethargic euphoria until he grabs his cock in a fist and positions the crest at my opening.

He locks one hand on my hip and leans into me, moving slowly, but the stretch as he parts me is already too much. I utter a gasp, trying to angle my hips away from the onslaught, but he catches me with an arm around my waist, trapping my arms between us and holding me in place.

"That's a good girl. You can take me."

The burn is incredible. I think I may tear, but then he stops.

He slips his hand from my hip over my stomach. "This is my favorite part of you."

"My stomach?" I ask with surprise.

I don't have a flat belly like some lucky women. My naturally rounded stomach is definitely not my best asset.

"If all other men were blind, I'd make you walk around in tube tops and hipsters all day so I could admire your curves every minute of every hour."

"You're crazy."

He chuckles. "No arguing that."

"Sav," I cry out when he moves another inch and the burn flares.

"Shh, baby girl."

He smooths his palm over my stomach to the center of my legs. When he massages my clit, the need builds again. I'm wet, even wetter than earlier, but it doesn't make it easier to take him.

"I can't," I say, pinching my eyes closed.

"Relax." He tightens his arm around my waist, pulling me harder against his groin as he showers me with sweet promises. "You can lower your arms. I'll take care of you. I'll make this good for you."

He pushes deeper at the same time as he pulls me back, penetrating me another inch. I swear he makes me feel like a virgin. It hurts so good. And just when I think the worst is over, he shoves home and buries himself up to the hilt.

My eyes fly open. We're both breathing hard. I'm inhaling and exhaling through the discomfort, watching his beautiful profile through my lashes. From the way he clenches his jaw and every muscle in his body tenses, he's trying to maintain control. What he said earlier now seems like a real possibility. If he's not careful, he'll truly break me in two.

He caresses my breast while rubbing my clit, keeping perfectly still inside me. After a while, my muscles soften as my pleasure reaches a new height. Just before I go over, he moves. The sting intensifies but then it melts into the pleasure, and when the orgasm hits, all that's left is devastating euphoria.

"Yes," he grits out, thrusting his hips faster. "Come on my cock."

His words trigger more aftershocks. Depleted of energy, I collapse like a sack of bones. Only his arm around my waist keeps me up. I sink into that feeling of hopeless lethargy, letting him use me until his cock grows even thicker and his body pulls taut.

Warmth bathes me inside as he empties himself with a groan. He pumps until he's dry before lowering me gently and following me down to the mattress. He keeps his weight on his elbows while planting a kiss on my neck.

"You took me well. Such a good girl."

I sigh when he pulls out, already missing the contact.

"Put your hand between your legs," he says.

I blink. "Why?"

"Do it."

Frowning, I slide an arm between the mattress and my body.

"Here," he says, taking my hand and pressing it over my folds. "Hold it in. If you let my cum leak out, you'll get another spanking, and this time, I won't be playing."

I'm too tired to argue. It's easier to just do what he says.

I don't know for how long we lie there with him stroking my arm, my hair, and my back while I keep his seed from leaking out of my body, but I'm almost asleep when he says, "You've been a very good girl. I'm proud of you. You can let go now."

I pull my hand from between my legs and turn into a more comfortable position on my side. I should get up and have another shower, but the heat of Saverio's body as he spoons me from behind and traps me in his strong arms is too comfortable.

When he presses a kiss on my temple and says, "Sleep. I'll keep you safe," my eyes are already drawing close.