“You killed him, didn’t you? That night.” The tears start to roll down my face. “A friend messaged me this morning and said Paul was found dead. It can’t be a coincidence that yesterday was when he escalated things with me, and then he’s murdered!”
Raoul searches my face, trying to see how exactly I’m going to react. In reality, I don’t know how I feel about it all. By now, I know Raoul had a violent life before me, but I’ve been hoping that he’s different now. Killing Paul meant he’s still capable of those terrible things, but it’s not like I feel sorrow that my old boss died. And, well, I love Raoul, deep in my soul, even if we haven’t said the words out loud yet.
Finally, he shrugs one massive shoulder. “Yes. He had the potential to hurt you, or even kill you, and that was an unacceptable risk to me. Even if he had given up on you, he certainly would have done the same to another woman, and assholes like that just continue to escalate. I have no doubt he would have hurt someone gravely, and I’m not sorry I took him out of this world. It’s a better place for it.”
So there. It’s out in the open and painfully real. I let the confession roll through me and settle into my bones, waiting to see how it will change my feeling towards Raoul now that I know he’s killed for me. Standing in front of me in one of his many perfectly cut suits, arms crossed and expression closed off, it isn’t hard to imagine telling him that I’m done…that it’s over. Yet, when I picture it, my stomach drops and my heart squeezes in my chest. I don’t want him to leave. I want to let myself be wrapped in his arms. Even after his confession, I’m not scared of Raoul. He will never hurt me, ever.
Then…there’s the secret I hold beneath my ribs, too new to even speak of yet. But it’s there, glowing, alive, and precious inside of me. I want to tell him, but even though I’m sure, I have to take a test and know without a doubt. It would break Raoul’s heart to be told that I’m carrying his child but then have it not be true in the end. I never want to cause him pain like that, not when I…I love him.
That’s it, then. I’m in love with a killer, and I plan on staying with him. It sounds crazy, but at this point, my entire life is in chaos.
“So what now?” he asks, voice gravelly. “Are you going to tell me to leave? That it’s over? Because that isn’t going to happen, Skye. Like it or not.”
Running to the apartment had been a mistake. I know that now. It’s the only place on the island where I truly feel like I’m in my own space, or at least so I thought, but when I entered and the whole place felt foreign and strange, it became clear that I think of Raoul’s villa as home now. I want to tell him that, along with so many other things, but I feel as if words aren’t going to fix anything right now. At least now nearly as well as actions will.
I don’t look at him as I walk to my old couch, but I know without a doubt he’s watching me like a lion would watch a gazelle. It gives me a thrill, that I have so much control over this powerful man, even if he will never admit it fully.
Once I reach the sofa, I lean over it just like he wanted, belly on the arm of it and arms stretched out in front of me, wrists together. My ass is up in the air, almost on display, which would be embarrassing under any other circumstances, but right now it’s making me hot and needy, wondering what he plans on doing.
“Tesorina,” Raoul sounds like he’s barely holding himself together, the tone of his voice low and restrained. “There is so much I want to do to you, but first I have to know. Are you willing to take your punishment now? Because if so, I’m going to consider all this done and over with. You’re going to be submitting to me, body and soul, do you understand?”
I shiver. His words feel like fate. “Yes.”
Raoul exhales slowly, and I hear the sound of his belt being undone before he tosses his suit jacket onto the floor in front of the couch. “Good girl.”
I keep still, only whimpering slightly as he reaches his arms over me and loops the black leather belt around my wrists, cinching it just tight enough that I can’t pull free, but not so tight that it hurts. Then, he jerks my leggings and panties to the ground in one swift motion, making a satisfied sound in his throat at the sight of my bare ass.
“Don’t move,” he tells me, leaving briefly to rummage around my small kitchen. This confuses me, and I want to question him, but something tells me this will just make my punishment worse.
Raoul returns, and out of the corner of my eye I can see him sit the small glass jar of coconut oil from my pantry on the table in front of the sofa. I haven’t even opened it yet, and my mind is reeling at the possibilities that little jar can offer. What in the world could he possibly want with it?
“This is going to sting,” Raoul tells me, his calloused hands plumping and stroking my asscheeks now, “But only for a moment. Remember, you brought this on yourself.”
As if I could forget. His soft touches do make me relax some, though, which is a mistake. The second I start to untense, Raoul raises a hand andspanksme with a sharp slap. He’s right. It really stings, and I yelp, hands instinctively trying to escape my bounds. Now I see the reason for the belt.
“Easy…easy…” he murmurs, “The stiffer you are, and the more you fight, the worse this will be.”
“Raoul—” I start, but then his hand comes down on my other asscheek with another smack. I jerk again, unable to stop myself, but I manage to stay silent. This time, since I’m not taken off guard, I can feel the sting fade into a warm, tingling pleasure once the pain subsides. I’m starting to regret my decision to submit like this but on the other hand, maybe there are some interesting possibilities my punishment will bring to the table for later games.
“Better,” he praises, soothing my stinging flesh with his palms. “Just a little more, and then I think you will have learned your lesson. We aren’t going to stop this time.”
Raoul isn’t lying, either. He spanks me again, and again, and again. By the fourth slap, I’m struggling to get my hands loose again, but it’s useless, and he’s relentless. He never spanks me hard enough for the pain to exist for more than a split second, but the frequency has my whole ass warm and throbbing. Then, his hand starts to land lower, and lower, closer to my pussy each time, and much to my surprise, my body’s opinion on the whole punishment does a complete switch. It feels…good. Too good, even, when he’s that close to my entrance.
When he starts to alternate light spanks with soft passes of his fingers through my folds, I can’t help but to moan. Raoul laughs darkly behind me, satisfied with my reaction. I can feel how swollen and puffy both my buttcheeks and pussy lips are, and it makes everything all the more sensitive. Squirming, I try to get him to touch me more firmly where I need him most, but he doesn’t give in.
I’m breathing like I’ve run a marathon when he stops, laying my damp forehead against the couch as my bottom half shakes from the effort of standing and the ministrations of my lover. I hear him exhale, and he sounds wound just as tightly as I am. I can’t see him, but I hear him remove his pants before his hands land on my hips, and then I feel the brush of his rock-hard erection brush against me from behind. Just feeling it makes my need for Raoul soar, and I know I’m wet and ready for him.
“I’m going to give you what you want, but then,Tesorina,I’m going to take what Ineed.And that’s your sweet ass, understand? We’ll take it slow for you.”
Apprehension surges in me. “Do you mean—?”
“Yes,” he confirms, reading my thoughts. “I’m going to fuck your ass, Skye. When you surrender to me, you surrendereverything.”
I swallow, butterflies of nerves taking flight in my belly. “Raoul I don’t know…”
“But I do.”The blunt head of his cock pushes at the entrance to my pussy, and how badly I want him wars with how scared I am of what is to come next. Raoul has always been gentle with me but how can he make something like that not hurt?
I have to trust him. What other choice do I have?