“I told you. If anyone is going to kill Vadik, it’s you. After everything he’s put you through, you deserve to be the one to end it all.”
“I don’t want to. I can’t kill.”
“Remember the night at the beach? You said you trusted me.”
“And I do. But I’m not a killer.” My heart started to pound like a jackhammer against my ribs.
Antonio took my hand and guided me through the house. That was when I saw two suitcases standing by one of the couches. “Is there somebody else here?”
He paused then noticed what I was staring at. “No. That’s ours.”
“We’re staying here?”
“A few days.”
“A few days? I think it’s going to take a lot more than a few days to teach me how to kill someone.”
Abruptly, he pulled me closer, my body slamming against his chest. I instantly lost my breath, his power and dominion over me reflecting in his eyes. “Are you doubting me?”
I didn’t like the tone of his voice. “No. No, I’m not—”
“Yes, you are. You’re doubting me. You’re doubting the fact that I know what’s best for you.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what I’m doing, Antonio. I’m just saying—”
“I see you, Doe. I see the real you. I see the hunger for revenge in your eyes every fucking time we mention that motherfucker’s name. I see the way your face turns to stone, how darkness falls over you. It’s all there, Doe.” He grips my wrists, turning the insides of my arms up. “It’s in your fucking blood. Can you not feel it pulsing through your veins every goddamn time I tell you about the men I’ve killed, men who hurt you, men who played a part in ruining your fucking life?”
My throat went dry, my tongue flicking over my lips. “Antonio—”
He twisted my arm behind my back and forced me to turn around, pulling me against his chest, his grip tightening around my wrist.
A rush of air escaped my lungs when I felt the roughness of his five o’clock shadow brush against the skin of my neck.
“I killed those men, Doe. I slaughtered them while I forced them to say your name over and over and over again. I made grown men piss themselves while they had the image of your face in their heads.” His head dipped down, warm, wet lips brushing against my flesh. “Think about it, Doe. They made their descent to hell thinking about nothing else but you…and pain.”
I closed my eyes, my heart racing, my spine tingling as adrenaline and excitement moved through my body. It spread like liquid through my insides, and I felt nothing but pure satisfaction while I pictured those men dying. Slowly. Painfully. No mercy.
“You see, Doe?” His hand slipped inside my pants, and I whimpered when his fingers touched my sensitive flesh. “It’s there. It’s inside you. Your wet pussy is proof of that. All you need to do is embrace it. Don’t fear it. Don’t turn away from it. Accept it.” My legs trembled when he forced a finger inside me, my body weeping with the need to be filled. “Don’t. Fight. It.”
A few more strokes of his fingers, and I came hard and fast. The orgasm that tore through me came out of nowhere, and if he hadn’t kept me upright, I would have ended up on the floor in a giant puddle of pleasure.
“I’ll make a queen of you yet,” he whispered, placing a soft kiss at the nape of my neck.
My heart was still racing, my mind still stuck in a haze of euphoria when he let go of my arm and took a step back.
I turned to face him, and judging by the heat on my cheeks, I was certain my face was a very unflattering shade of red.
Dark, cold eyes stared back at me. “Never doubt me. Ever.”
It wasn’t Antonio talking this time, but my master.
“I won’t,” I replied softly, my cheeks still burning.
“Good.” With one hand, he pulled the black shirt over his head, showing off the hard, taut muscles roped across his stomach. I often wondered why a man like him would prefer to be with a woman like me. Antonio was the epitome of perfection, one of God’s masterpieces. Smooth skin, broad shoulder, strong arms, toned abs. It never did make sense why a man of his caliber had any interest in used and damaged goods. That was what I was—used and damaged.
“Come. There’s lots to do.”
He turned and walked to the back without even checking whether I was following. Probably because he knew it was in my nature to obey. No matter how much he encouraged me to start thinking for myself and to do my own thing, my brain just wasn’t wired that way.