22. Evelyn

Flashes of the car accident swirl around my head at the same speed the car spun before we hit the divider. The anger and worry blending in Alessandro's expression as we wait for Lorenzo to pull the car around while someone shoots at us sends me to another memory. The cold sharpness of the handcuffs gliding across my skin as Alessandro slides his thick dick in and out of me makes me come harder than ever before.

Then, the feeling is gone.

Alessandro's hand is no longer wrapped around my throat and his cock is no longer stroking me into erotic oblivion.

"Come back to me, mio marito," I tell him after catching my breath.

"You scared me, Evelyn. You can't use our word or anything if you're fucking unconscious. What do you think you're doing?" he asks.

"What happened to not kink shaming?" I spit back, sitting up, looking at my dress that's trashed.

"You're forgetting one key aspect to what we do in this room." He takes a beat and softens his gaze. "We have to agree. I don't want you to do shit because you think that's what I want. If it were any other night but tonight, I might take your word for pushing the envelope. I know what I said to you about fearing me at home, but I'm a monster out there. That's not the man I want to be with you. Let me know before we get too deep. I can gauge better when we need to stop."

I nod and hold my arms open for him to come to me. Alessandro walks around the platform to sit on the bed beside me, his back against the headboard. There isn't a single part of me that wants to waste this night.

"I'm sorry, Alessandro. I haven't been fucked in weeks, and there's something in the pain, the gap in time as your hand gets tighter, that feels so fucking good. I was chasing that feeling," I tell him and move in a way that I can toss my leg over his lap. My body slowly rocks his erection back to life.

My hands wrap around his neck as I push my nails up the back of his neck, into his hair, drawing out a moan before I kiss him quiet. It doesn't take long to get him hard again and slide myself on top. His hands grip my ass, moving my body effortlessly.

Up and down, back and forth, we move in a rhythm that makes me come over and over again. Alessandro's passion reignites as he puts me on my back, flips me over, and slides inside me from behind. The dip and pull of every stroke coaxes another orgasm, and it's insane how easily he learns my body.

The minute I hear metal clinking, my nipples harden. He pulls out of me long enough to cuff one hand to the headboard and uses his shirt to bind my hand with his. With one arm behind my back and knees under my stomach, my body's in a contortion that stretches muscles I didn't know I had. He pumps in and out of me with ferocity.

"Yes, mio dolce, come all over my cock. Give that all to me, Evelyn."

His voice is brash, low, and in tune with the rhythm of his thrusts. The warmth of his release comes a few minutes later, leaving us both panting and out of breath. I turn on my side, looking for him to lie in the bed beside me, but he's already picking up his clothes.

"I'll have another dress made for you," he says with a lazy grin, holding up the shards of what was left of my gown.

"It's fine. Come lie down with me."

"Let me get my head together a minute, Evelyn. I'll be right back."

I nod and watch him head to the elevator. Sleep comes to me before Alessandro does, and when I wake up, he's not beside me. It doesn't look like he came back as I'm still naked on the bed, not a blanket over me or anything.

Once I"m back in my room upstairs, the rain-like sounds and steam wafting from the bathroom let me know he's in the shower. I look at my phone on the charger and peek inside to see a pair of his shorts on the floor. He's been boxing. I wonder if it's me or everything else troubling him.

The floor radiates heat as I pad softly into the bathroom and step behind the glass of the shower.

"I thought you were coming back," I tell him, running my hands over his soapy shoulders. The energy between us is slightly different. I want it to be my imagination, but when he softly shrugs away from my touch, I know something's wrong.

"I went back, and you were sleeping. I didn't want to bother you." His words feel cold, even in the heat steaming around us.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The evening must have taken a lot more out of me than I realized."

"It's fine, Evelyn." I never thought the sound of my name would sound harsh coming from him.

"If there's something wrong, something I did, tell me, Alessandro." My voice is quiet, my ego and anxiety searching for an answer as my hands move from his shoulders to his back.

"Fermare."

The command is abrupt and striking, like a whip across the heart. Retreat is the only option since it's clear he doesn't want me in this shower with him. A large towel waits on a bar in the hallway on my way to my room. Rejection has a way of shutting me down, giving me pause with a last glance at Alessandro before pulling the door closed behind me.

Checking the time, I see that it's barely eleven when I call Anita. She picks up after the first ring.

"What's wrong, Ev?" she asks with sleep dripping over her words.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It's a school night."

"No, it's fine. I was going to call you tomorrow, anyway. We should go out for drinks or something soon. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," I admit.

"Aw, babe, I'm sorry. Are the pills helping?"

"Oh, no, not from the accident. Just having an off night with Alessandro. We went to this club, you know, like one of those S M kind of places."

"Really? Shit, let me get my ass up. Tell me all about it, and the next time you're going so I can come."

That gets a laugh out of me. "The Board of Ed would shit a brick if it got out that one of their kindergarten teachers was out here traipsing around with the whips and chains community."

"Ha, half these assholes smoke weed, and the others are on oxy if they don't do coke. Sexual escapades are none of their business so long as it's between consenting adults off school property."

"Yeah tell that to those social media models who lost their jobs."

"That's because they were doing that sketchy shit in their classrooms. Stop deflecting, tell me what happened that you're calling me instead of inhaling your husband."

"We saw some stuff there, and it was a crazy turn-on. We were going to do stuff there but chose to come back home instead. I think he thinks I'm only doing this stuff to make him happy, and not out of genuine curiosity."

"Are you?" she asks.

"Curious? Hell, yeah. This stuff is fascinating."

"No, I meant are you doing it to make him happy? You've always been a people pleaser, Evelyn. It was your way to stand out from Shana. Make sure you're choosing him because you want him, because you love him, because you want to be with him. Don't just be the good little girl who does what she's told. Or not. Hell, it's not like this was a forever thing anyway, right?"

"You're right, Nita, it wasn't supposed to be forever, and he promised to divorce me or get this thing annulled when everything settled down."

"Is that what you want?" she asks.

Before I can say anything, I swear I hear footsteps, but the shower's still running. My eyes dart to the bathroom door, but I think the steam is messing with my head. However, when I hear the shower turn off, I know I need to talk to Alessandro.

"Nita, I have to go."