Chapter 46

Clawing past my grief, I searched for Ella.

A primal need to protect and shield her drove me.

She wasn't there.

The villa grounds were filled with fire vehicles, villagers trucks, and countless people still sloshing through the mud created by the narrow rivers of water streaming over the cobblestones away from the drenched, charred trees.

It was chaos… but silent chaos.

The whole scene was muted. As if I had cotton wool in my ears. There were no distinct sounds, just warbles and thumps. Everyone moved as if suspended in molasses. Which made the sympathetic glances I was getting, as word of Alfonso's death spread, seemed to last forever, making them that much more painful.

Where was Ella?

I needed to find Ella.

I needed Ella.

Shouldering my way through the crowd, I searched every face.

I finally spotted her standing under a far-off tree. There was an unnatural stillness about her form.

Terrified she was injured, I bolted down the small hill and across the enclosure until I reached her side.

Her unseeing eyes didn't even blink at my approach. My hands wrapped around her upper arms. "Ella? Baby? Are you hurt?"

It wasnt until I gave her a little shake that she finally blinked and stared at me.

The moment she did, her face crumpled as she used her forearms to break my grasp. Her head shook from side to side and tears fell down her cheeks. "It's all my fault."

I reached for her. "Baby, no."

Holding her palms up in defense, she backed away. "Yes, it is. Fino said he would burn it to the ground. I didn't take him seriously. He warned me if I told you anything, he would burn it to the ground."

She clutched her head and fell to her knees. Rocking back and forth, she sobbed, "That nice man is dead and it's all my fault."

Goddammit.

The harder I tried to shield her from all the evil surrounding us, the more it dragged her down.

It seemed as if a storm of cold air swirled around her, sucking the heat from her body. No matter how hard I held on to her, no matter how much I shared my body's warmth, she seemed to slip further and further into the grips of icy darkness.

She was too vulnerable, too sweet, too naive to survive in this treacherous world alone.

If I let them, her family would slowly strangle my little dove until there was no light or love left in her.

Fuck that.

I wouldn't let that happen.

They couldn't have her.

They had already taken too much from us.

They weren't going to get her too.

I bent down to scoop her into my arms. Her wild and unfocused eyes turned on me. "No!"

With bent fingers she clawed and fought my embrace. She slapped my face, then pounded on my chest. "Why didn't you let me leave? Why? Why?"

I fought past her flailing arms and snatched her to me. Then I grabbed her thighs and lifted until her legs wrapped around my waist. My arms enclosed her.

If it were possible, I would have ripped open my ribcage and tucked her inside my body close to my heart just to keep her safe and warm.

Her tears wet my neck as she clung to me.

Ignoring the trauma around us, I carried her into the villa.

In my own shellshocked mind, I had only one single purpose—to get her warm and clean.

She was covered in the filth of another's treacherous deed.

In my helpless desperation, I vaulted up the stairs two at a time, as if she weighed nothing in my arms.

Storming down the deserted hallway to my suite of rooms, I marched straight into the bathroom. After stepping into the glass stall still fully clothed, I used my fist to turn the shower lever on full blast.

Ella pulled back at the initial shock of cold water. Her beautiful pale face with streaks of makeup and soot stared at me as if seeing me for the first time. "Tell me it's all a bad dream. Tell me none of this is happening. Lie to me."

As the warming water drenched her hair, turning it from a golden blonde to a deeper brown, I cupped her face. "I can't, babygirl. You have no idea how badly I wish I could."

Her face became pinched, her mouth opening on a cry.

Unable to take her pain another moment, I slammed my mouth down on hers. As if I could somehow swallow all the anguish and guilt tormenting her.

Swinging her to my left, I lifted her up and slammed her back against the tiles, pressing my hips into hers as I deepened the kiss. My lips moved over hers as my tongue swept inside.

But it wasn't enough.

I needed something… I needed more.

My fingers twisted in her wet curls as I sank my teeth into her full lower lip.

She cried out and jerked her head back.

With my breath coming fast and heavy, I stared at the pink tip of her tongue sweeping along her lip to taste the droplet of blood that had formed there.

Her hands grabbed my jaw as her gaze fixated on my bared teeth. "Hurt me again, Matteo."

My brow furrowed even as a primal urge rose in my chest. "Ella?—"

"I'm so cold and numb. The guilt is too much."

My fingers dug into the flesh of her hip where I held her anchored between me and the shower wall. "Baby, you don't know what you're asking. I'll be too rough."

She buried her face in the crook of my neck and… bit me. Hard.

An animalistic growl rumbled from my chest.

All the pain. All the grief. All the anger vibrated through every limb.

My hand fisted in her hair, and I captured her mouth again. Giving no quarter.

The beast was unleashed.

Hot water stung the scrapes on my back from the explosion, spurring me on.

Lowering her feet to the slick tile floor, I gripped the front of her dress and tore it open, snapping the fragile plastic clasp of her bra at the same time. My mouth descended. I sucked her nipple into my mouth, using my teeth to scrape the sensitive flesh.

Ella groaned as her fingers threaded through my hair, then pulled hard.

Moving my mouth over the soft curves of her breast, I sank my teeth into her flesh.

She cried out but didn't move away, only yanking on my hair harder.

A sick, possessive satisfaction gripped me as I stared down at the red, crescent-shaped bite mark on her flesh.

Mine.

Marked as mine.

Forever mine.

And no one was taking her from me.

I spun her around. After ripping the dress off her arms, it fell in a sodden heap at our feet. "Hands on the wall."

Her fingers splayed out as she braced herself against the wall.

She wasn't wearing any panties.

I ran my hand over her ass cheek before raising my arm and spanking her. Her wet, warmed skin bloomed with a bright hand mark.

Good.

I wanted to mark every inch of her skin. If I could, I'd tattoo my mark in permanent ink, so she'd never forget who owned her now.

Hating having to take my hands off her even for a second, I made short work of my shirt, tearing it over my head and throwing it aside before spanning my hands over her generous hips.

I wrenched her hips backward until her ass slammed against my hips.

Twisting my hand in her hair, I reached for the almond shower oil. I squeezed the bottle until a thick stream of golden liquid streamed down her lower back to pool between her ass cheeks. The bottle clattered against the glass shower wall as I threw it away from me and ran my fingers along her crack, pushing inside until the tips skimmed her tight, puckered hole.

Pushing one finger inside, I worked the oil in deep before lowering my jeans zipper.

Released from the confines of my jeans, my hard cock sprang forward, bobbing against the top of her ass. My oil-covered hand clasped my shaft in a rigid grip as I coated it before stroking it against her skin several times then pushing it between her cheeks.

Pressing my hips forward, I pushed the head against her hole.

Ella fought my grasp on her hair as she tried to look over her shoulder.

"Eyes forward," I commanded.

She whimpered as I pushed against the constricted muscle ring again.

I leaned over her back to rasp in her ear, "You want the pain, babygirl?"

She moaned.

I yanked on her hair. "I asked you a question," I growled.

"Yes, sir."

I nipped at her earlobe like a stallion preparing his mare. "Beg me for it."

The wet surface of the tile squeaked under her moving hands. "Please. I need this."

The head of my cock pushed inside her ass.

Ella yelped and rose onto her toes.

"Remember, this is what you wanted, baby."

The voice inside my head warning me to go gentle was drowned out by a primal need to claim.

I thrust forward, impaling my cock deep inside of her.

Her body bucked as she screamed.

The sight of my thick girth forced deep inside her tight hole was one of the most erotic things I'd ever witnessed.

It was the ultimate act of submission.

For her to accept the pain, to accept my dominance over every part of her.

"Oh, God! It hurts," she whimpered.

I pulled out slightly and thrust in again as her body clenched around my flesh. Releasing my grip on her hair, I pressed my chest against her back and reached around us to cup her breasts.

All restraint gone, I pounded into her like a rutting beast, squeezing her breasts, pinching her nipples.

My thrusts were so ferocious her knees buckled.

My legs absorbed the impact as I followed her to the shower floor.

With her on her hands and knees before me, I grasped her hair again. Her back bowed as I reared upward. Raising my arm, I smacked her ass before I increased the feverish pace of my thrusts.

Scorching hot water pounded down on us, filling the chamber with steam and making it hard to breathe.

After several more punishing thrusts, I moved my hands to her ass. Splaying her cheeks open wide, I watched my cock open her now sore hole, taking sadistic pleasure in forcing it to accept me.

My balls tightened at the sight. Pressure rippled down my shaft. With a final thrust I roared my release, pulling back so I could watch my come coat her gaping hole before the water washed it away.

Lightheaded from the intensity of my release, I wasn't finished.

I turned her onto her back. Sliding her forward so the shower stream would strike her breasts not her face, I lifted her hips and hooked her legs over my shoulders. I then pushed my face between her thighs and feasted.

Licking and sucking at her clit until her body bucked and she cried out her own release.

Only then did I lower her legs to straddle me so I could pull her up against my chest.

My arms wrapped securely around her, she burst into sobs.

I cupped the back of her head and buried my face in her wet hair, my own tears now falling.