Chapter 8

E NZO

S omething is wrong with me. The woman I care about more than anything sitting on the floor showing me my cum in her mouth is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. The need to break her down is strong, but not to hurt her… To build her up. To show her she belongs to me, that she’s safe with me.

I cradle her in my arms, a sense of peace falling over me. My mind has raged for most of my life. I like to kill people because it gives me a sense of control, reminding me that no one can harm me again like they did in the past. Nothing but murder and mayhem has done that before. Reese changed that. Now, all I need is Reese in my arms. She’s saved me. I need to tell her some hard truths about my plans, and the fear of her walking out plays on a loop in my brain.

Her head tilts back, and she gazes at me, her hand pressed on my shirt. “Why don’t you ever take off your shirt?”

“They tell the truth about my past.”

“Will you tell me?”

The pleading in her voice pierces a part of my heart I thought died a long time ago, but the thing about the truth is it can rip everything to shreds. My past is so horrible that telling her could mean I’ll lose her forever, and there is no way I’ll risk that. “No, Principessa . It’s not something I talk about. Ever. Now stop asking.”

“Why are you like this? Every time I try to get close to you, you have one arm out trying to push me away.”

I move her off me and place her on the sofa before I storm out of the room. I need a moment to get myself together before I fuck it all up.

Her footsteps break my concentration, and I flinch at the loud slam of the door. She’s pissed. I can’t understand why I have to tell her about the past. I don’t even want to know about my past. That shit was horrific. She doesn’t need to take on my shit. Telling her would ruin everything. I don’t want to put that burden on her. I want to barge into the room and fuck her until she can’t see straight. It seems the only way I can make her happy is with my fuckin’ cock. Doesn’t surprise me. It’s one of two ways that people have always used me.

My eyes go to the liquor cabinet. I rarely drink, but right now, I want to drown in the bottle of Jack and hope I pass out and don’t have to deal with any of this shit.

Soft moans interrupt my plans.

Is she crying?

My fist slams into the wall, punching a hole. “Fuck this.”

I barge into the room, not bothering to knock. Why should I? I own the fuckin’ place. My gaze takes her in. She’s in a fetal position, hugging a pillow, her body shaking as sobs rack her. I’ve taken a lot of punches in my life, been shot, had someone stab me in the spleen, and been left for dead. But nothing is as gut-wrenching as seeing her cry because I’m unable to give her something she obviously needs.

I close my eyes and curse myself as I realize I’m about to rip my heart out. “I can’t bear to hear you cry, but hearing you cry because of me feels like I’m dying.”

She shifts her body at the sound of my voice, making herself seem smaller somehow. The bed shifts as I sit on the edge, my back to her, not wanting to see the disgust in her eyes when she hears my truth. More than anything, I want to touch her, but the idea of her recoiling from me after I tell her is something I could never bear.

“I was thirteen. My parents and I were watching television. My sister was with my grandmother, but I didn’t want to stay there. Gran was nagging me a lot, and I wanted to be home playing my video games. I can’t even remember which one I was into. I was in bed when it happened. I remember waking up ’cause I was hot, and then I saw the smoke. The house was on fire, and I didn’t know what to do. A kid who barely paid attention to anything, let alone fire safety.” I pull my shirt over my head. “I got caught in the fire. They say I was lucky. A firefighter found me before the flames did any more damage. The man saved my life, though sometimes I wish I’d died—most nights I wish I’d died. A family took in me, respectable by community standards, but they weren’t. They ran an underground sex ring, mostly children.”

Reese gasps, and I close my eyes. Realization dawns on me. I won’t let her leave. I’m a sick fuck who will keep her even when she hates me, disgusted by me, ’cause losing her would be like stopping my heart. I silently pray to God, the devil, and anyone who will listen that they let her stay with me, that she’ll want me. But I want her here because she wants to be, not because she’s forced to be. I know how fucked up it is to be someone’s prisoner, and I’m ashamed I’m willing to do that to her.

Her fingers gently touch the grotesque marks across my flesh, causing me to wince. No one has touched my bare skin in fifteen years. Those who tried saw the monster, a monster I’d created to protect myself.

“Enzo…”

“The burns aren’t all from the fire. It’s how they controlled me. If I didn’t do what they wanted, they’d douse me in lighter fluid and burn the spot.”

“Jesus, Enzo.”

“Your father is the one who controls it all.”

Her touch leaves my flesh. She might as well burn me herself because the pain of knowing this moment is the last time she’ll touch me is enough to put me on my knees. “Don’t leave me, Reese.”

My fingers encircle her throat, forcing her onto the bed, the hunger in me desperate to be freed. I should despise her. She’s the daughter of the man who haunts my nightmares, but she’s also the balm that softens my crippled, demented soul. “You can never leave me. I won’t fuckin’ let you.”

I crush my lips to hers. The kiss isn’t gentle. It isn’t kind. It’s the kiss of a man drowning and clasping to the only lifeline he’s ever known. Reese is my salvation, and if I lose her, I’ll lose the only reason I have to live. “I breathe with you.”

Her fingers tug at my hair, and I take the pain. She’s the only one I will allow to cause it. If she wants it rough, she can have it because she gives back so much more than any physical pain she can take out on my body.

I cup her pussy with rough hands and savor her moans against my lips. “You need me to fill your cunt, don’t you?” When she doesn’t answer, I pierce her with two fingers, and she screams, her head thrashing on the pillow. Removing my fingers from her mouth, I bring them to her lips. “Open up.”

Her lips fall open for me without hesitation, and my cock stiffens. She doesn’t know what she’s giving me with her trust, that she allows me to degrade her, fuck her, show her every hard facet of my body, and take it without complaint.

I force my fingers into her mouth, all the way to the back of her throat, making her gag on them. “You’re so fuckin’ beautiful.”

Her lust-filled eyes answer my call when she closes her lips around my digits and sucks all her cum from my fingers.

“Who’s are you?”

She doesn’t answer.

I whip my fingers out of her mouth and wrap my hand around her jaw, holding her immobile, the trace of her saliva on my fingers now transported to her cheek. “I said, who do you belong to, slut?”

Her nails dig into my shoulder, branding over the burn marks left there years ago. I welcome the sensation, revel in it. I want her marks on me, marks made from passion and desire. Marks to replace all the burned flesh that has incinerated me.

Her teeth tug at my earlobe before she whispers, “I belong to you.”

I shove her legs apart with my knee and pierce her sweet pussy with my cock. “Mine.”

My thrusts are violent and demanding. She matches them with the same heat. My fingers pull and tug at her nipples, dousing her pleasure with slight pain. “I’m going to use all your holes until you’re too tired to walk straight. I’m gonna own you, heart, body, and soul.”

Her teeth scrape against my shoulder. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

“It’s forever. That’s what it is. You’re mine forever.” I pull out of her and flip her onto her stomach. “Ass up, baby. Show me that sexy ass of yours.”

Her knees slide up the bed until she’s on all fours. She’s a vision.

I kiss her cheek. “You’re gonna be a good girl for me until I get my fill.” When she nods, I slap her ass. “What did I say about nodding? You need to say yes.”

“Yes.”

My hands fist her breast, holding her, while my dick finds a nice little spot in her cunt. “You need my cock, don’t you, baby? You know what you’re good for. To milk my cock until you have my cum leaking out of your tight cunt.”

“Yes. Enzo, please.”

I yank her hair like it’s a horse’s rein. “Yes, baby, beg for my cock like a good little cock slut. Tell me how it’s the only time you feel you’re worth anything. When my cock is in one of your holes.”

“Yes, please, don’t stop.”

“Oh, sweetheart, I don’t plan on stopping until I’ve filled all three of your holes. One down. Two to go.”

She’s at my mercy, and I’m going to destroy her, leaving her desperate for me and no one else. This wave of possessiveness is sick even for me, but I don’t care. I’m going to ruin her because, somehow, she’s ruined me.