“Antonio—” The cold steel of the cuffs bit into the flesh as it joined my ankle and wrist. I tried to pull, tried to fight against it, but to no avail. Strong arms grabbed my waist as he climbed over me, reaching for my left wrist. Another click. The feel of cold steel, and within seconds I was bound. Wrist to ankle. Knees bent. Spread open.
On his knees, he sat in front of me. “If only you could see how fucking good you look right now. Spread wide. Glistening. Unable to move.”
“Antonio—”
“Don’t make me gag you too, Doe,” he warned, and I immediately shut my mouth.
“I can’t tell you what it does to me thinking about you, fierce, ruthless, yet so fucking delicate.”
I moaned when I felt the soft touch of his finger slide down my inner thigh.
“All this time I’ve been preparing you, trying to make you realize you’ve got to be cold to survive this world.”
My body started to tremble when he slipped his finger through my wet slit, pleasure shooting through my core from his gentle yet intimate touch.
“You see, Doe, in this world, it’s better to be the hunter than the prey.” His finger slipped inside me, and I arched my back, my arms and legs complaining against the cuffs. “You need to stand at the fucking edge, face up, and fear nothing.”
I heard the strike before I felt it between my legs, and I whimpered from the sting of leather.
“But you’re a fucking natural, Doe. You were born for this life. Tonight proved it. It’s in your blood to fight. That’s why you’ve survived this long.”
Just by the sound of his voice, I knew he was proud. He was proud of the fact that I killed a man—that I survived. And it thrilled me to know he approved. This was what he had been doing all along, trying to get me to realize that the only way I would remain a victim was if I allowed it. If I accepted it. And tonight, in that bathroom, my blade slicing through that bastard’s skin, I didn’t accept it. Just thinking about the kill now, while being completely and utterly at the mercy of the man who owned me in every goddamn way possible, had me writhing and moaning with need. It was different, feeling empowered and powerless at the same damn time. It was bliss in its purest form.
“It’s because of you,” I whispered. “You turned me into this…into this—”
“Fierce and beautiful queen. My queen.”
My body continued to climb, every inch of my flesh sensitive and responsive to his touch, my mind consumed by nothing but him. It was only when I felt the soft leather being dragged down between my breasts that I realized he was holding a flogger in his hands.
One would think I’d be afraid. Scared. I’ve been hurt and marred by floggers and whips so many times, I still carried the scars. But not with him. Not with Antonio. Because I trusted him. Deep down, I knew he would never push me beyond my limits, and right now I was sure there no fucking limits left for me.
“I own you in so many ways right now,” he murmured, teasing my clit with the tip of the flogger. “Your body has been mine for a while now…but after tonight, I own your fucking mind as well.” And then he struck again, the sensitive skin between my legs burning from the leather, yet so fucking close to pleasure. I moaned, cursed, and my body writhed.
Antonio grabbed my knees and spread them as wide as they could go before slamming his cock inside me.
The cries that came from my mouth were laced with ecstasy, and I desperately wanted to meet his thrust by lifting my hips, but I couldn’t. I was bound. Cuffed. Unable to move the way my body demanded.
But as fast and hard as he slammed into me, he pulled out, and it felt like he tore himself from my body.
“Please,” I begged, tears starting to sting my eyes.
“Tell me what you need, Doe.”
“I need you. I need you inside me.”
“What else. What do you need?” His voice boomed through the bedroom, strong and loud. “Tell me what the fuck you need, and you own it. Do not feel ashamed. Do not shy away from what you want. Fucking. Own. It.” One hard thrust and he entered me, burying himself to the hilt inside me. The way he stretched my body so suddenly, so brutally, forced a cry from the back of my throat.
“I want you to fuck me, Antonio. I want you to own me, consume me, possess me.” Finally able to open my eyes, our gazes locked. “I want you to take away every dirty, filthy, perverted thing that has ever been done to my body, and I want you to replace it with nothing but you.”
A single tear slipped down my cheek, and all he did was stare down at me. His face was unreadable, and I would have given anything to be able to read his mind at that moment.
Placing his hands on my knees, he forced my legs wider and slowly moved forward, easing into me without taking his eyes off mine. Suddenly unhurried, he inched inside me, little by little, leisurely filling me. It was almost as though he was really trying to replace the vile touch of others one gentle stroke at a time.
I bit my bottom lip. “You’re torturing me.”
“Keep quiet.”
The second he buried himself inside me completely, the head of his cock pressing against the deepest part of me, I closed my eyes, allowing the pleasure to take control.