“I think we’ll have to dispose of your underwear, pet. I want access to your body at all times.”
He began to remove the offending garments, and I bit my lip against a tirade that he was a sick bastard for depriving me of the small scraps of control I had left. I couldn’t fight him. I couldn’t regulate my diet. I couldn’t even cover my body.
He’d ripped everything away from me, stripping my soul bare. Righteous rage clawed at my insides, shredding me. My composed mask was long since shattered, and all I had now was the willpower to remain silent when he goaded me.
Once I was completely naked, he wrapped the silken tie from my robe around my wrists, binding them together. He used the ends of the tie like a leash, tugging me forward so that I was forced to approach Luca’s cell.
His ochre eyes blazed with fury, and his fists flexed around the bars.
“Don’t do this.” He was begging. On my behalf. My strong, powerful husband was reduced to pleading with his worst enemy in an attempt to save me from pain.
I knew the blow to his pride must ache more deeply than the wounds around his wrists.
My hatred for Dante was incandescent, burning through my veins.
The monster shot him a sharp smile. “Step back,” he commanded, almost lazily. “Brace your hands against the wall behind you, and don’t say another word. Don’t talk to my wife, or your friends will suffer for your defiance.”
A snarl ripped from Luca, and his muscles bulged and flexed with the need to attack our tormenter.
Dante simply waited, a single dark brow arched expectantly.
My husband bellowed a wordless sound of pain and rage as he wrenched his hands free from the bars and backed away. Obeying Dante’s humiliating command, he pressed his palms to the wall at his back. His square jaw was sharp enough to cut as he clenched his teeth, resolving not to speak.
My captor tugged on the silken tie again, lifting my hands above my head and quickly lashing it around one of the bars. His hand wrapped around mine, urging me to grip the cold metal.
“Hold on tight, darling. You asked for a punishment. You’re going to suffer for me.”
I shuddered, and he brushed a kiss over my chilled cheek. His affection turned my stomach. He was enjoying this, getting off on my fear and Luca’s shame.
I stiffened at the sound of his belt unbuckling. I closed my eyes and took a breath, reminding myself that he’d promised he wouldn’t force himself on me.
He gripped my chin firmly. “Open your eyes. I want you to look at Luca while I punish you. This was his choice. You might’ve come down here to help him, but he should’ve known better than to kiss you. But he’s weak and gives in to his selfish impulses. He takes what he wants and doesn’t truly care about you. Just like how he raped you on your wedding night.”
Luca growled in enraged protest, but his cheeks were red with shame.
I shook my head wordlessly, eyes wide. I wanted to convey to him that I didn’t think of him that way at all, but the tightness around his mouth indicated his self-disgust. He believed what Dante was saying about him, about our wedding night.
But it hadn’t been like that. Had it?
No. Luca had made sure that I felt pleasure when he claimed me for the first time.
Just like Dante always forced me to feel pleasure when he toyed with me.
My lower lip quivered, and I bit it hard to keep from crying. The monster was getting in my head just as much as he was messing with Luca.
Cool leather caressed my bottom, and I jolted at the sudden sensation of the belt on my bare skin. Dante wrapped a strong arm around my waist, directing me to arch my lower back and offer myself up for punishment.
I pressed my forehead against the bars, bracing myself for pain. I’d chosen this. I’d decided to spare Luca’s friends by taking the punishment in their stead.
I could endure it. I was strong enough to handle it. I had to be.
Fire lashed across my bottom, and a scream tore from my chest. I was dimly aware of Luca’s answering bellow of pain as I rocked up onto my toes, moving away from the belt. Two more searing hits burned into my tender flesh, driving all the air from my lungs before I could cry out again.
Dante’s calloused fingertips trailed along the marks, tracing them. My skin tingled and danced beneath his whisper-soft touch, my nerves crackling from the whipping.
“So pretty,” he rumbled, his fingers dipping between my legs.
I tried to squirm away from the erotic stimulation I knew was coming, but he cupped my sex in his big hand and forced me back in position with his firm grip on my most intimate area. Keeping me locked in that unyielding hold, he rotated his fingers against my clit.