He shushed me gently and freed my wrists from the silky binding before he sank to the floor, settling me over his lap so he could cradle me close to his chest. He was breathing hard, and his cock pressed into my stinging bottom, but he made no attempt to fuck me. Instead, his kiss turned languorous, indulging in my complete submission to his will. There were no thoughts of fighting him, no glimmer of resistance as I accepted his kiss, clinging to the act of tenderness after so much suffering.
He bushed his lips over my cheeks, tasting my tears.
“I have something for you, darling,” he murmured, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small, black velvet box.
I blinked at it, clearing my watery vision even though my mind still wasn’t working. I stared numbly when he opened the box to reveal the delicate, heart-shaped padlock. An ornateDhad been engraved into the rose gold.
The matching, thick gold chain slithered like a snake as he lifted it from the box. It was cold against my heated skin when he looped it around the back of my neck. He hooked the padlock between the final links at either end of the chain. Theclickof the lock engaging made my heart stutter.
He traced the outline of the padlock with his fingertips, and my skin tingled beneath the tender touch.
“Now everyone will know that you’re mine,” he declared, voice warm with triumph and masculine satisfaction.
His lips brushed mine again, and I retreated deeper into the blankness of my quiet mind. I didn’t want to think. I couldn’t contemplate the fact that he’d essentially locked a collar around my neck like I truly was his pet, his property.
Dante thought that I was his. He thought that he was my master.
I couldn’t let it be true.
Chapter6
Luca
The heart shaped padlock glittered at the hollow of her throat, the pretty trinket a nauseating sight. My stomach churned in the aftermath of the harrowing scene. If I’d eaten anything today, I would’ve vomited.
Her screams had knifed through me, carving furrows deep in my soul. I’d never forget the horror of watching helplessly as the bastard tormented my wife.
And I’d done nothing. I’d said nothing.
Even now, my hands were fused to the wall at my back, trapped in place by Dante’s cruel order, his threat to torture my friends if I defied him. All I could do was watch while he kissed my wife as though he had every right.
She was quiet in his arms, her eyes closed as her mouth shaped to his.
Was she thinking about me instead?
I gnashed my teeth at the thought.
Selfish.
The truth of Dante’s characterization of me was a dagger to my heart. I’d always been selfish when it came to my relationship with Nora. Everything I’d done with her—even trying to make her happy—had been for my own benefit, my own pleasure.
She’d just been punished in the most sadistic way because of me. Why would she think of me in the aftermath?
Yes, I’d been selfish to let her treat my wounds. To claim a kiss from her lush lips. I’d warned her to leave me, but I hadn’t tried very hard to make her obey. I’d been too desperate for her touch, for the distraction of her soft submission. Dominating her made me feel powerful, and I’d indulged in that rather than facing the truth of my captivity and shame.
She’d suffered because I was too weak to turn her away.
The weight of my self-loathing crushed my chest, shoving all the air from my lungs. Even if I could rail at Dante for being a fucked-up bastard without risking my friends, I didn’t have the breath to shout. My throat was already raw from bellowing my helpless rage as he’d hurt Nora, and I’d been forbidden from saying a word in protest. I would’ve begged on my knees by the end if it meant she would be spared.
As it was, my knees remained locked, and my hands were still pressed against the wall. My chest heaved as I sucked in oxygen, willing the sick, dizzy feeling to abate.
Dante’s watch beeped, and he ended his kiss with Nora to check it. His lips brushed her forehead.
“Time for dinner, darling. You haven’t eaten today, have you?”
She stiffened and blinked, a glimmer of awareness returning to her lovely eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off before she could say anything.
“Don’t lie to me. I don’t want to punish you again so soon.”