She throws her chin up, a mask of defiance in place now, and it only makes me smile. Every inch of her is screaming for me to throw her across the bed and shove myself inside her so deeply that she won’t know where I end, and she starts. To take and fuck her into complete submission. It would be easy, too easy, and yet, a voice in the back of my head holds me back. She’s a temptation I cannot afford, a casualty of war. My fight might be with her father, but in the end, hurting her will be the same as hurting him.
When my own body starts responding again, I stand and grab my belt from the bed to avoid temptation.
Little Celia hasn’t figured it out yet, but even her pleasure belongs to me. Until I let her go, I’ll take it every chance I can get.
“So that’s it? You use me and leave?” she whispers.
Who does she think she is?
“Yes, that’s exactly how it is.” I sneer. “Besides, you came harder than you ever have in your life, guaranteed. Don’t act like I took something from you that you weren’t prepared to give me.”
“I don’t want you. I don’t want to be trapped here.” She stares down at the sheets, a visible shiver rippling through her. “You don’t understand. My father doesn’t care about me. Why do you think he was marrying me off? If you’re trying to hurt him, taking me won’t do that. Selling me won’t bother him.”
It’s funny she thinks I care. That she thinks anything she says to me will change the outcome of what’s going to happen. She’s taken a perfect evening and destroyed it.
“It’s not about bothering him or him being hurt about losing you. It’s about control. It’s about taking something that’s his and crushing it in my fist. It’s about watching him squirm and putting a bullet between his eyes.”
I turn and walk out of the room, slamming the door shut and flicking the lock into place before I do something stupid, something that I won’t be able to come back from.
She doesn’t understand that this runs deeper than anything she could ever imagine. This isn’t just revenge, it’s blood for blood, and I’m going to make certain when our time together ends, she sees that.
15
Celia
Even hours later, I can still taste him on my lips. Not just the cum, which he unceremoniously dumped down my throat, but him. The slightly spicy but clean taste of him. Worst of all is that I want more, even after what he did to me, how he used me, and the things he said afterward. I still want more of him, and I don’t know how to stop the want.
All night, I laid awake in bed thinking about him. About the way he touched me and how I reacted. I didn’t understand how he could degrade me and make me come at the same time?
I sit at the countertop in the kitchen, shuffling eggs around the plate that Sarah shoved my way the second I walked in. They taste fine, but I’m not ready to let go of everything else yet. Even if it’s just in my mind since I brushed my teeth last night.
“Salt,” someone asks.
I blink and realize Sarah is staring at me. I also realize she’s noticed I’m shoving my eggs around my plate. She slides the salt and pepper shakers across the granite countertop to me. “You’re distracted this morning.”
My mouth pops open, and I feel like I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. “I’m just tired. Plus, according to his majesty, it’s almost time for me to leave.”
Sarah gives me a sort of hum noise. Either she knows I’m leaving soon, or she doubts I’m leaving soon, and I can’t be certain which. I study her for another moment and wonder how she fits into this world. She doesn’t look like she belongs with a bunch of criminal masterminds. How much blood had she cleaned up while Nicolo rose to his power?
Considering she supplies my food, I decide not to ask such a pointed question. I focus on my plate again and eat as much as I can. I’ve gotten into a rhythm here in the house, but Nicolo intends to ship me off again soon. I don’t know if my meals in the future will be more regular.
A hard lump builds in my throat, and I shove my plate back across the counter toward Sarah’s turned back. It’s not the idea of leaving here that worries me, but who I’m leaving with and what they will do with me. My captor hasn’t exactly been gentle, but neither has he truly hurt me because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to sell me.