27. Scarlett
Chapter twenty-seven
Scarlett
I collapse onto our bed, still wearing my red satin dress. It hugs my body like a second skin, but I’m itching to get it off and throw on one of Leo’s T-shirts.
“Tired, baby?” Leo removes his cuff links and slowly rolls up his crisp white sleeves. My eyes wander over his muscular forearms, covered in black ink, down to his thick fingers, knowing precisely what they can do.
I swallow hard and shake my head, suddenly feeling wide awake. My fingers glide over the soft fabric of my dress, every nerve ending in my body on fire. He steps beside the bed, looking down at me. His knuckles graze my cheek, traveling along my neck. “You did so well tonight,” he praises. “Especially when you gave a little show in front of the governor.”
I lick my bottom lip. “I wanted him to know who I belong to.”
He lets out a guttural groan in approval, and my core erupts in need. His fingers trace my collarbone delicately and slowly. My breath catches as the pads of his fingers dip lower.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” He watches me cautiously as his fingers drift over the satin.
I blink back the lust I’m feeling, tightening my thighs together. “What about?”
He hesitates for a second before reaching inside his nightstand drawer, his hand sneaking in and coming out with a… knife .
My body tenses. Everything around me stills.
“W-what is that?” A cold shiver crawls over my skin.
“Please trust me,” he says softly, sensing my trepidation. His free hand cups my cheek, his thumb gliding over my bottom lip. “Mauro suggested teaching you how to use a knife to protect yourself, and I agree.” I start to shake my head in protest, but he continues. “He doesn’t know your feelings on them. He doesn’t know that part of your story because that’s only between you and me.” He places the knife on the nightstand and sits on the edge of the bed, twisting his body toward me. “If you’re up for it, I think it would be good for you to take back the power Le Diable still holds over you because of this object.” His eyes look off across the room and then back on me, something I’ve never seen before passing over him. “I want to know that you can take care of yourself if something ever happens to me.”
My lips part, my heart rate accelerating in alarm. Why would something happen to him?
“I’m not going to live forever, baby.” He smiles, but it’s sad. Filled with regrets and fears. “You know as well as I do that what my family does is dangerous. Deadly even. And if something were to happen to me, well…” He pauses, his head dropping. “It destroys me thinking that I didn’t prepare you better. That I failed you.”
I sit up, grasping his face in my hands. “You’ve done more for me these past few months than anyone has in my entire life. You haven’t failed me. You saved me.” I crash my lips to him, desperate to be close to him. His lips move ravenously with mine, but for only a brief moment before he pulls back, searching my features.
“You’re the bravest woman I know.” His forehead rolls against mine. “And because of that, I know you can do this. So, let me help you.” He pushes my hair back, holding my face as his eyes sear into mine. “Please.”
I’m taken aback by his plea. This man has never asked anything of me before, but now here he is, asking, no, begging me to fight my demons with him by my side.
I nod, my breath heavy as I give in to his request. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to be able to look at a knife as your strength and not your weakness.”
“How?”
He leans back, his eyes holding a command over me. “Lie back.”
I nervously bite my bottom lip, blinking back any hesitations or fears I might have. Lying down, my head snug on the pillow with my hair pooled around me, I wait for what’s to come with bated breath.
Leo reaches for the knife, gripping it tenderly. As he holds it above my heart, I feel a panic blooming within me. My chest heaves, my trembling fingers digging into the sheets.
“Who am I, Scarlett?”
“L-Leo.”
He shakes his head, a mischievous grin growing. “Who. Am. I?”
“You’re…you’re my husband.”
“That’s right.” He brings the tip of the knife only an inch away from my bare skin. “Would I ever hurt you?”
“N-no.”
“Do you trust me?”
“With my life,” I rush out, my pulse thundering.
“Good.” The tip of the cold blade barely touches my skin, a shallow gasp escaping me. “Are you attached to this dress?”
I shake my head, my eyes never leaving his.
The blade travels down my chest, hitting the edge of the red fabric and slicing through it like butter. The bodice tears in two, revealing my breasts.
With precision, he glides the tip of the cold blade over my breast, circling it around my nipple. The peaks of both harden unbearably as he skims right across them, triggering an intense pulse in my core. His eyes darken, drinking in the sight of my desire.
Knowing my previous experiences with knives, I should be terrified. Shaking with fear and trepidation. Begging him to stop.
But I don’t want to.
Not when I trust this man with every piece of my broken soul.
And not when my body is begging for more.
“Leo,” I breathe, feeling more aroused than I ever have before. I grip the sheets, my fingers curling into the satin. The sensation of the deadly metal against my warm, soft skin is sinfully sweet.
He gradually drags the steel between my breasts and over my stomach. “Whose body is this?”
“M-mine.”
“That’s right, baby. And what do you say when you’ve had enough?”
“Stop.”
One side of his mouth curves up. “Good girl.”
As the blade coasts lower, leaving more of me exposed, my body thrums in…fear? No, not fear. But anticipation. I feel a stimulation awakening every nerve ending in my body.
Once he has the dress completely split down the middle, I feel a pounding between my legs, a rampant longing for him, and from the way his eyes trail over my body, taking in my flushed skin, he knows it, too. My thighs tighten together, trying to tame the wild need, but it’s futile.
“Want me to help with that, baby?” Leo asks in a husky, silken voice.
I nod unabashedly.
The tip of the knife pokes at the lace covering me, and with a hard tug, he rips it off my skin. A moan escapes me as the fabric strains against my core with a delicious taste of friction, leaving me panting for more.
I’m suddenly aware of the fact that I’m lying here completely naked while he sits beside me, fully clothed.
And it amplifies the lust within me surging madly.
“Spread those legs for me,” Leo orders. I do as he says, his eyes captivated between my legs, not daring to look away. “So fucking beautiful.”
I feel wetness drip down my thighs. Embarrassment threatens to wash over me, but then his fingers snake out, two of them slowly caressing me back and forth between my slit.
“Leo,” I whimper, my body begging for a release. An urge to rub against him, seeking the pressure I so desperately need, takes over as I scoot closer, but suddenly, his free hand lands firmly on my stomach, keeping me in place.
His eyes meet mine. “I’m going to need you to stay very still for me. Understood?”
My brows furrow. He’s never asked this of me before, but I nod, waiting for what he has planned.
He keeps his fingers moving leisurely, temporarily distracting me as he replaces his fingers with the knife handle. I freeze up.
“W-what are you…”
He rips a piece of my dress and quickly wraps it around his hand like a bandage before taking the blade edge in his hand and positioning the handle right above my entrance. “I need you to keep your legs open wide, remain still, and trust me with what I’m about to do.” There’s a pleading look in his eyes as he waits for me. I hesitantly nod, my eyes bouncing from his to the knife. The anticipation is practically killing me as he drags it through my slit, my wetness coating it.
He gently pushes the smooth handle only an inch inside me, my pussy tensing around it.
“Relax, Firefly.” His thumb finds my clit and provides a gentle stroke. Instantly, I melt under his touch, a content sigh leaving me. He pushes it in a little more, but instead of tensing, I relish the delicious stretch. The handle slides deeper until it’s fully seated inside me.
Leo’s grip on the blade tightens as he holds it still, letting my body adjust to the size. “How do you feel?” He circles his thumb over my clit, causing me to toss my head back, my hair fanning out over the pillow.
“Good. I want…” I moan. “More.”
He takes that as his cue to begin moving the handle in and out, steadily building a rhythm of pleasure within my walls. He leans forward, his lips finding my hardened nipples, and a zap of electricity shoots down to my core as he nips and sucks, twirling the tips between his lips.
He increases the pace of his thrusts while his lips trail down my stomach. My pussy squeezes around the handle, grasping it tightly. “You feel that? That’s your sweet pussy begging for more.” His tongue slides over my skin, working its way up my body to my neck. He pulls back to look down at me. “You could stop this at any second with just one word, but you don’t want that, baby. Do you?”
I shake my head, my eyes pinching shut as he hits that special spot inside me over and over again. A powerful orgasm is on the precipice, ready to overtake me. I can feel it in the curling of my toes all the way to the slight vibration in my fingers. The crescendo builds inside me as my body begs for more.
As if Leo knows my body better than I do, he rapidly swipes his thumb over my clit, back and forth, giving me that little something to push me completely over the edge.
“Come for me, Scarlett. Come for your husband.”
He captures my scream with his lips as the earth-shattering orgasm rears its way through my body. I unravel beneath him, my back arching off the bed as stars explode behind my eyelids. My fingers clutch the sheets with all the strength I can muster, my chest heaving violently.
This is pure euphoria.
Eventually, my body and mind float down from the place between heaven and earth. Exhaustion seeps into every muscle and bone in my body. A languid smile takes over my lips as I peer up at Leo with droopy eyes, my heart feeling astonishingly warm.
Carefully, he slides the knife out of me, and I watch in fascination as he licks the handle clean, savoring every last drop.
“The best dessert I’ve ever had.” He winks, making me blush.
As my heart settles into an acceptable rhythm, I sit up, my lips inches from his. “Thank you, Leo.”
He reaches for my hand and brings it between us, placing the handle in my palm. “You’re strong, Scarlett. Stronger than you give yourself credit for.” He wraps my fingers around it. “I had this made for you. I thought if it felt like yours in every sense of the way, you might feel a connection with it instead of fearing it.”
I unwrap my fingers, admiring the smooth silver blade. And right at the edge near the handle, the letters L and S are engraved. I look up at him, my eyes watering. “You never once judged me for my fear.”
His eyes soften. “We all have fears.”
My brows draw together. “Even you?”
“Even me,” he answers.
“You’re one of the most feared men in the world.” My lips curve up. “What could you possibly be scared of?”
His eyes darken, his arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me against him. “Isn’t it obvious?”
I shake my head.
“Losing you, Firefly.” He presses a tender kiss to my temple. “That’s the only thing in this world I fear.”