13. SIENNA
13
SIENNA
I freeze in place and lift my eyes to the opposite side of the room, seeing the very man I’m trying to avoid sitting on a chair in the shadows by the doors that lead outside to the patio. He’s wearing a simple black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to mid-forearm, showing off the his ink . No tie, a gold chain around his neck, black slacks, and shiny black shoes. He looks like a typical mafia man, and trepidation fills me. His dark eyes bore into me, and his mouth is quirked up into a smile that can only be called smug. But it’s the dark anticipation in his expression that has my heart starting to pound.
I slowly pull the towel from my hair, letting it hang from my fingers as I stare at him. “Caruso,” I return calmly. How the fuck did he find me so fast? I was so careful, and I know Branson didn’t put me on any social media. I thought I would have at least another twenty-four hours. Clearly not, and now I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do. He’s not going to let me escape again.
He doesn’t move, just regards me for another moment. The silence between us is thick, and I refuse to be the first one to look away. After a few more tense seconds, he says, “You know, I have to hand it to you. You are far more clever than I thought. And incredibly stupid.” He gets to his feet, and gone is the relaxed version of him. In its place is the dangerous one that has me swallowing and subtly shifting to the balls of my feet. “Would you like to know why you are incredibly stupid, Sienna?” he asks silkily as he starts to prowl around the bed toward me in slow, steady steps.
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me, but personally, calling someone stupid is very insulting, Alessio,” I manage to deadpan, even as I try to gauge if I can make it to the door. I don’t want to be trapped in this room with him. It’s too small, too tight. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you that?”
“My mother was a useless whore whose name I will never utter for the rest of my life,” he informs me matter-of-factly as he gets closer. “She never taught me shit, that was all my father. And right now, cara mia , I don’t give a fuck if I insult you or not.”
“Pity,” I reply. Then I make a rush for the bedroom door, using every ounce of speed I have, and tossing the towel at his face to try and buy myself a couple precious seconds. But of course, luck is not on my side this time, and before I can reach it, he’s on me, shoving me hard against the wall, blocking any strikes I try to make against him, until he finally he pins me , his hand around my throat, and his body between my legs. I stare up into his dark eyes, my breathing erratic as I try to get myself under control.
I also try to ignore the heat that’s burning through me. The last time we were in this position, things turned out a lot differently, and I’m not unaffected by the memories. Considering the bulge pressing against me, neither is he. Chemistry really is a bitch.
His fingers flex on my throat as he leans in, his face so close to mine that I can’t mistake the anger, the triumph, and the dark desire all swirling around in the depths of his eyes. “Your days of running are over, Sienna,” he tells me softly, oh-so-softly that I have to fight back a shiver of trepidation. “As for what I said before, you are incredibly stupid for running into the arms of another man. For giving him your smile, for letting him hug you and feel your body against his. For leaving me to spend two days wondering if you were in his bed, letting him touch parts of you he has no right to touch.” His grip on my throat tightens even more, threatening to cut off my air supply completely. “No one gets to feel that but me. Ever. You belong to me .”
Maybe I am stupid, because fuck if I can help gasping out, “It’s probably not a good time to mention I’ve seen far more of Branson’s body than you’re going to like, huh? And I don’t belong to anyone but myself.”
His eyes flash with an unhinged rage, and I do have to fight fear this time. I might have pushed him a little too hard. My air is cut off, making me reach up and claw at his hand in reflex, even as I try not to panic. Oh fuck.
“That is where you are wrong, Sienna,” he hisses. “You belong to me. I can kill you in an instant if you push me hard enough. Do not mistake anything I’ve done up until now as weakness. I have been incredibly patient, but that ends today.” He loosens his grip just as dark spots start to impede my vision. I heave air desperately into my lungs, but he doesn’t back away.
The loss of oxygen to my brain is the only excuse I have for my next statement. “Fuck you, Alessio,” I rasp out. Yeah, see, now that was stupid, because the instant the words leave my mouth, I see the dark pleasure burn hotter in his eyes.
“Only since you asked so nicely, coniglietto ,” he purrs, before his mouth comes crashing down on mine.
I try to resist him, biting and trying to buck him off me, but that only seems to drive him crazier, a dark laugh sounding as he yanks his mouth from mine and then leans down to deliver a hard bite to my jaw that has me hissing out in pain. “Motherfucker,” I snarl, anger replacing my fear, even as I try to shove down the desire that’s burning through me.
“Mmm, wrong again, cara mia ,” he taunts as he presses himself tighter into my belly, and I’m still able to feel the heat of him through his slacks and my thin pajama shorts. I curse my body for being so turned on by all of this instead of cowering in fear, or at least giving me the will to get away from him. “I’m about to be a Sienna fucker in a minute. You have too many clothes in the way, cara mia .” The sound of a switchblade flipping open has me stilling. “How about we fix that now?” he purrs and I shudder.
The light from the bathroom reflects off the steel of the blade as he brings it up to show me, his eyes alive with a sick excitement. “Repaying the favor?” I grit out between clenched teeth, forcing myself to look away from it and back at him. Maybe this is the day I die after all.
“Now that you mention it…” He brings the knife swiftly to my neck, in the exact same place I put mine, dropping his other hand to reach into his pocket and grab his phone. I should be fighting, but I also know that one wrong move will end in my death. Instead, I wait, glowering at him as he snaps a few pictures. “You know, I think I’m going to have this framed,” he says casually as he tosses his phone back on the bed, the knife still completely steady on my neck. “A memento of our little courtship.”
“Courtship?” I repeat incredulously. “You’re insane, Alessio. We’ve done nothing of the sort.”
“No?” He turns the knife so that the tip presses into my skin, not enough to cut, but with enough pressure I don’t dare move. He starts to drag the blade down the line of my neck, the steel warm on my skin from the heat of my body. “You tease me with your quick wit, make me chase you all over Europe for the past week, and tempt me with this delicious body,” he continues as he moves it along my collarbone and over to the other side, making goosebumps pebble along my skin. “Why, Sienna, in my world, that’s akin to a marriage proposal. Which I graciously accept, of course.”
“And you say I’m insane,” I hiss.
“Ah, we fight so well that it will keep things interesting, won’t it?” he returns easily, trailing the blade across my chest, and then over the swell of my right breast, along the edge of my tank-top. My nipples harden instantly, and a haughty smile twists his lips as he watches. “Like how turned on you get when I press a knife to your skin. Who knew that my coniglietto would be into something so dangerous? Does the threat of danger make your pussy burn for more, cara mia ?” He moves the knife to the other breast, using just enough pressure to push down on the fabric and expose more of me. My heart pounds, and I try to fight back the lust that’s burning inside me.
“No,” I gasp, my body so tense from holding myself still that my muscles ache with it.
“Liar,” he taunts. “Let’s see about that, hmm?” Before I can reply, his other hand plunges down the front of my shorts, past the band of my underwear, and he’s cupping me in his hand. I can’t stop my moan from escaping. His face flushes with heat as he probes at me with his fingers, testing me. I instinctively go up on my tip-toes, uncaring of the bite of the knife in my skin. “You’re fucking soaked, Sienna. Fucking perfect. But now, I wonder, what happens if I do this?” Carefully, and with a skill that I’m ever grateful for, he nudges down my top with the knife, my nipple popping free. He twirls the knife, and then using the point, very carefully circles around it, making it harden even more. My core quivers with a dark pleasure. “That’s it, cara mia ,” Alessio whispers, moving his fingers deeper and making me moan at the fullness.
“Alessio,” I gasp out, my eyes closing as I absorb the duelling sensations of the knife now moving to my other breast and giving my other nipple the same treatment, even as he twists his hand in shallow thrusts, driving my arousal to a new height.
“So fucking gorgeous, Sienna,” he groans. “But I need more.” He yanks his hand from my pussy, making me cry out at the abrupt loss, but then he uses it to hold my top taut. Watching me with hungry eyes, he slices through it. I shiver at the chill of the air hitting my skin. Instead of pushing the straps from my shoulders, he grips them one by one and cuts through them easily, letting the now destroyed top fall to the floor and leaving me bare from the waist up. “So fucking pretty,” he murmurs as he stares at me, the knife still clasped in his fingers.
I don’t attempt to speak or move, my entire body so wound up that I don’t think I can. My mind is fuzzy. And it only worsens when he grips my shorts and starts slicing at them too, until they fall to the floor as well. When he gets to my black cotton underwear, I feel a sliver of unease move through me when I finally open my eyes and look at Alessio, who is twirling the knife through his fingers absently as he stares at them.
Then he looks up at me with a hunger in his eyes that makes them appear almost black in color. He stills the knife in his hand, turns it, and moves the blade lightly along the skin of my lower belly, then over toward my right hip. The feel of the blade against such an intimate part of me has my heart pounding so hard I’m sure it’s going to beat right out of my chest, but I somehow manage to keep still. Then he dips the blade under the band of my panties and gives a deft yank, slicing through them and leaving the pieces to hang limply off of me. “You know I learned something about myself a long time ago, Sienna,” Alessio murmurs, watching me as he moves the knife down my hip and along my outer thigh before turning it inward. “There is a very fine line between pain and pleasure. Between fear and desire. I also learned how much I love to ride that line.” He moves the knife up my inner thigh, and my eyes widen when I feel him turn it so that the edge of the blade skims over my mound. “And apparently, so do you. It seems we are perfect match, coniglietto mia .”
One wrong move…
I shudder, unable to suppress it. I try to get myself under control, but it’s to no avail. “Alessio,” I whisper, my breath hitching when he moves the blade back down and then uses the handle to nudge my legs further apart.
“Leave them there, Sienna,” he orders, before the knife finds its way over my left thigh, and then up to the still intact band of my panties, though he makes quick work of it. My underwear falls forgotten to the floor. I’m completely bare to his gaze, and I’m struggling to keep my breathing from becoming too erratic. I feel like my entire body is on a tight-rope, and one wrong step will see me plummeting down into something I’m not sure I’m ready for.
His eyes move over me, taking in the bruises and bite marks he left on me. Most of them are already starting to yellow as they heal, but right now, I’m more aware of them than ever. Then his gaze moves to mine and he steps back into to me, careful to only press the blade flat to my side. He lowers his mouth until it’s inches from my ear and whispers, “Tell me something, Sienna. Did that fucker Branson Booth see what’s mine? Did he see all the marks I left to warn anyone who dared even think of approaching that you were already taken? Did he touch them and realize he never has a prayer of being able to give you what I can?” He moves his mouth down to the bite mark he left on my neck and traces it with his tongue, using just enough pressure to make it ache. “Tell me, Sienna,” he orders, his free hand gripping my hip tightly enough to leave more bruises.
“No,” I gasp, desperate for this torture to end. “We’re not like that. He’s a friend, a client, but nothing more. He spent the entire sail fucking a bunch of groupies, and I made myself scarce. All we did was have dinner, discuss some work he wants done soon, and chat about how life is for him.”
Alessio doesn’t answer for a moment, but the grip on my hip relaxes slightly. Then he lifts his head to stare into my eyes, as if gauging whether I’m telling the truth. I meet his gaze head on, until he finally puts his mouth on mine, kissing me hard and acting every inch the dominant male that he is. I moan, my tongue tangling with his as he plunders my mouth. When he finally yanks himself away, I let out an annoyed sound, which makes his lips quirk before they flatten out and his gaze resumes its intensity. “Make no mistake, Sienna, I will kill any man that touches you, and I’ll do it with a smile on my face. Anything that Booth asshole has said to you in the past, or tried to do, ends now. Because I don’t give a fuck how popular he is, I’ll cut off every appendage he has until he bleeds out and begs for mercy. Do you understand?”
I shudder at his words. Not from disgust—well, only a little—but from shock and a twisted sense of longing. “Y-Yes,” I stutter.
“That’s a good girl. Good girls get rewards, don’t they, cara mia ?” I hear the snick of the knife and glance down to see he’s sheathed the blade, but he doesn’t throw it away. Instead he palms it, and a wicked gleam enters his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about your pussy the last couple of days, even as pissed as I have been. And every night, I’ve gone to bed fucking my own fist, thinking of how good it would feel once I was back inside you. How I was going to fuck you so hard you wouldn’t be able to walk afterward, and never be able to run away from me again.” I bite back a moan at his words.
My clit is throbbing, my core aching, and my thighs tremble from the strain of remaining still. “Alessio,” I breathe, closing my eyes and focusing on the sensation of his body shifting, his hard cock pressing against my hip as he reaches behind me and grips the back of my thigh with his hand. He urges my legs further apart, before he trails it up along the crease where my inner thigh connects with the outer lip of my pussy.
“You’re so wet, cara mia . So fucking perfect.” Then he spreads my lips and pushes two fingers inside me, making me cry out and go up on tiptoe before I let myself fall back down and push him deeper, my inner muscles clamping around him. “Such a greedy little pussy,” he purrs in my ear, working his fingers in and out of me in a slow, steady rhythm, driving me mad. “Soaking my hand so perfectly. But what happens if I do this, hmmm?” My eyes fly open when I feel cool metal press against my clit, before moving slowly but with enough pressure for me to see spots in front of my eyes. I look down and see that he’s pressed the handle of the switchblade against me, turning it at an angle so I can almost grind on it. Thankfully, the blade is closed, but the thought of it opening has me stilling my movements.
“Alessio,” I gasp out.
“Don’t worry, coniglietto ,” he soothes, shifting the handle with small movements and rubbing it against my clit. Sparks of pleasure burst through me, and I grip his thigh with my hand to ground myself. “You’re safe as long as you don’t move any further up the knife. Wouldn’t want to cut you, now would we? But, I wonder, what would you do if you moved just a little faster? A little harder? Would you hit the little button toward the top that would make it spring open? Or does that only add to the excitement?” He gives a low chuckle when I rock my hips with his words, grinding into the handle of the knife, my orgasm rising with each movement. I’m too far gone to care about the damn button, though my brain is screaming at me to stop, that I’m playing into Alessio’s game. I can only focus on the friction of the knife and the fullness of his fingers inside me.
Except, I should have known Alessio wouldn’t play fair. Because the moment before my orgasm arrives, he pulls the knife away and pulls his fingers from me, making me cry out. “Fuck,” I groan.
“Did you really think I would let you come that easily, cara mia ?” he taunts. He grunts and then chuckles when I drive my nails into his thigh. “I have something else you can squeeze.” I don’t stop my hand as it moves swiftly to cup him through his pants, and I grip hard enough for him to bite out a curse. He jerks in my hand before he pulls his own up to grip my wrist hard enough to make me let go. “Bloodthirsty witch,” he huffs, dropping the knife to the floor. Then he takes my mouth again.
The kiss is just as desperate as before, but this time, with the use of both hands, he grips my ass tight and hoists me up so I can wrap my legs around him and drag my hands through his hair, scoring the scalp, wanting him to feel the same pain and frustration as I do. I’m so desperate for a release I can’t help but grind down on him, needing the friction to tip me over the edge. He growls into my mouth, pushing me tight to the wall, and awkwardly undoes his pants and shoves them down. He adjusts me so my legs are over his forearms, giving him better leverage to thrust inside me.
I scream at the invasion, despite my pussy being so wet he sinks halfway in with little resistance. My entire body shudders as he sets a brutal pace, yanking his mouth from mine. “This is my pussy, Sienna,” he grits out harshly. “Mine to fuck, mine to deny, mine to worship. Because it belongs to me. You belong to me, and I plan to feel this pussy wrapped around me every day for the rest of our lives.”
“Alessio,” I sob, grinding down as much as I can with each thrust, desperately straining for the orgasm that is just out of reach. “Please. Please.” I’m too far gone to care that I’m begging.
“That’s right, cara mia , say my name. Remind everyone who owns this pussy.” He punctuates each word with a hard thrust of his hips, slamming into me until I can only hold on, and my orgasm finally overtakes me.
“Alessio!” I scream as wave after wave consumes me.
“Fuck yes, Sienna,” he grunts, his thrusts somehow impossibly harder than before until finally he spills inside me.
Neither of us move for a long time, and I have to fight to catch my breath. Fuck, I’m in so much trouble.