Chapter 6

The silver lining to this hot mess of an arranged marriage agreement turned molten and settled in my cock. It was odd not giving a fuck about trying to hide my more feral tastes in the bedroom.

"Take off that stupid disguise."

She blinked and stood still before me.

I stroked her lower lip with my thumb. "Don't start the bullshit shy act with me now, Antonia. Drop the skirt."

Her brow furrowed at my use of her name. Perhaps she didn't appreciate being referred to by the feminine version of her father's name. Maybe she was more of a Tia.

That was a concern for later. Now I just wanted to see her naked and tied to my bed.

She took a step back. "This isn't a disguise. And we … can't … not until we're married."

"Says the woman who offered me her ass in a threesome less than an hour ago."

Her mouth dropped open. "She did what!"

I cocked my head to the side. "What?"

She shook her head as she gathered the folds of her skirt and took another step back. "I mean, you must have misunderstood me."

"Some things a man does not misunderstand. Being offered anal is pretty damn near the top."

Her arm swept behind her to cover her ass as she pushed out her chin. "Well, this time you were mistaken."

The deep blush coloring her cheeks was an inspired touch. Resisting the temptation, I had to stop myself from falling into her sweetly poisonous virginal honey trap once again.

My chest tightened. Fuck. The sight of her almost going over that dock edge and possibly disappearing beneath the seas dark depths nearly stopped my heart. The seconds it took me to reach her and pull her back in time were some of the longest of my life.

My jaw clenched as anger replaced fear. By once more exhibiting her careless and irrational attitude, she had again put herself in peril. Whether it was playing with fire by agreeing to trick me on Dante's yacht or flirting with other men in front of her current lover or acting like a fool at Carnevale, she seemed to lurch from one poor decision to the next.

While the last thing I wanted was this marriage arrangement, it was obviously the best thing for her.

Someonehad to take control of her. If not, she wouldn't make it out of her twenties.

I shrugged out of my costume jacket and shirt but left the leather devil's mask on.

Time for a little role-playing.

Her gaze traveled over my naked chest. "What do you think you're doing?"

My hands lowered to the top button of my costumes black breeches. "I'm pulling out my cock so you can suck it."

"I'm not putting your thing in my mouth!"

Leaving my black riding boots on, I widened my stance. "Care to make a bet?"

"You're disgusting."

I winked. "You haven't even tasted me yet."

She lunged past me for the door.

With ease, I captured her long hair and twisted my fist into her locks, pulling her back against my chest. "Does this look familiar, baby?"

I gripped the torn edges of the neckline of her blouse and finished tearing the thin fabric down the front, then covered her breast over the lace corset with my free hand. "You couldn't take your eyes off that woman."

"That's not true."

With a swift spin, I took hold of her neck and guided her backward until she met the wall. "Liar. I could feel your pulse as you watched those men fuck her."

Just like it did then, her pulse rose, a rapid flutter against the center of my palm.

With the sleeves of her torn blouse loose around her forearms, she grasped my wrist and tried to pull me away.

I reached down and shoved her skirt off her hips, ignoring her cry of protest.

I then twisted the thin strap of her simple white silk panties where it arched over the soft rise of her hips. Her attention to detail in wearing something so sweetly innocent should be admired. If nothing else, she played the innocent maiden act to the limit. I had to give her that.

"Did you enjoy watching her lower herself onto his cock? Could you feel the pressure between your legs and imagine what it would feel like to have your pussy stretched?"

I twisted harder.

She rose onto her toes as her panties tightened over her cunt.

With my lips a breath from hers, I said, "No. That wasn't the part that really turned you on, was it, baby?"

Her panties snapped in my hand. I tossed the silk aside and replaced it with my hand, cupping her cunt. "It was when the second man flipped up her skirt, spread her ass cheeks …"

She closed her eyes and tried to turn her head.

I flicked my fingers against her pussy, giving her a sharp spank. "Don't close your eyes. Look at me."

Her eyes flew open as she whimpered.

"Come on, baby. Be a good girl and tell me how it made you feel to watch that stranger's cock slowly disappear inside of that woman's ass."

"Please—"

"There will be time for begging later. Right now, I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you say it made this pretty pussy wet."

My finger pushed inside of her again. Proving my point, she was already warm and wet.

Tears filled her dark eyes, her lashes wet from her attempt to blink them away. Although her mascara was slightly smudged and her hair was a mess of damp curls, she was strikingly beautiful.

Way more beautiful than she looked a month ago on Dante's yacht.

There, she was all brittle artifice under a thick layer of makeup.

Here, her face was clean and fresh, only a black watery smear under her eyes to indicate that she had worn makeup earlier.

"Did your cute little asshole pucker when you imagined how it would feel to be violated by a big, thick cock?"

She shook her head as much as my hand around her throat would allow. Her fingernails dug into the skin of my forearm where it held her. "No. No!"

Chuckling, I leaned in and flicked the tip of my tongue against the corner of her mouth. "That's right. I almost forgot. You don't have to imagine it, do you, baby? You've let other men bend you over and fuck your ass before, haven't you, you dirty girl?"

She blinked, all of her micro expressions registering pure shock and horror at the idea. "No! Never! I would never!"

Well, fuck me. Perhaps my bride did have at least one virgin hole left.

"There's only one way to find out if you're telling the truth."

"What are you going to do?"

"Did I say you could ask questions?"

She shook her head.

I released her throat and moved to a silvery gray pine chest at the foot of the bed. I had purchased a few toys in Rome before leaving for Sicily, anticipating just this moment.

After raising the lid, I selected the riding crop with the bulbous ridged handle and turned back to her.

I slapped the leather tongue of the crop against my palm. "Get over here and kneel on the chest with your hands on the footboard."

Her gaze followed the length of the crop, but she remained in place.

"Now," I barked.

She visibly jumped before, with shaking steps, she approached my bed.

I tapped the smooth wooden top of the chest with my crop and narrowed my eyes.

With a sniff, she gingerly raised her right knee and lifted herself onto the chest. After getting settled on both knees, she bent forward and placed her hands over the edge of the low footboard.

Damn, she looked amazing in only her corset and those damn fuck-me boots.

My cock lengthened at the sight of her bare ass and her legs, how they contrasted against the black leather encasing them up to the tops of her thighs. It was incredibly sexy how the corset pinched into her waist and exposed slivers of her lower back through the laces.

No wonder other men couldn't keep their hands off her. If this marriage was going to work, I might have to lock her in a convent and only see her for conjugal visits.

I pushed her hair over her shoulder with the leather tongue of my riding crop.

She bit her lip as she lowered her head, letting a cascade of spiral curls cover her face. The damp had made her blonde hair more of a golden brown. "Are you going to kill me?"

What an odd thing to ask.

Were her Sicilian lovers so boring they played no bedroom games?

It was possible that she had never experienced bondage before.

"Don't be silly, colomba mia birichina. We're just going to have a little fun, but first you need to be punished for all the running away you did tonight."

"Punished?"

The leather tongue of my crop teased the curve of her hip.

She shivered and arched her back away.

As I stepped near, I placed the riding crop across her throat. "Tell me you've been a bad girl."

When she remained silent, I pulled the riding crop toward me, allowing the rod to press against her throat.

Her head tilted up . "I've been a bad… bad girl."

"Now ask me to whip you."

"What?" She attempted to turn her head to look at me.

"Face forward," I commanded.

She complied. Her shoulders rose and fell with her rapid breath. "Please tell me you're not going to hurt me with that thing?"

"Would you rather I use my belt?"

"I'd rather you let me go."

"Not an option. Now you're wasting time and trying my patience. I gave you an order."

Her throat muscles contracted as she swallowed. "I don't know what you want me to say."

I leaned over her kneeling form and whispered into her ear. "I don't want you to say anything. I want you to beg me to punish you."

Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips.

My balls tightened.

Soon.

It was the one pleasure I was allowing myself for now.

The pleasure of her cute mouth.

I rubbed the end of the riding crop along her jaw. "The longer you defy me, the angrier I will get, and the harder I will shove my cock down your pretty throat after your punishment."