Chapter 19 – Althea
ALTHEA
A rustling sound wakes me from a deep slumber.
It didn’t take long after Enzo left for exhaustion to take over.
My body feels heavy against the soft bed.
I almost wish I could forget what’s happened this evening, but I am harshly reminded of my state of undress as the air conditioner blows cool air across my body.
I’d cover myself if I weren’t still bound to the stupid bed.
There’s a dim light coming from the other side of the room around the bathroom door.
“Ah. He didn’t want me to wake up alone in the dark. I’d almost think he was sweet instead of the heartless sociopath we all know and love.”
“I’m glad to hear of your affection for me, little devil.” Enzo calls from somewhere in the dark. “It will make what comes next easier on both of us.”
I jump at the sound of Enzo’s voice, instinctively moving myself back. The spreader bar around my ankles prevents me from moving too far. I pull at the restraints around my wrists to no avail.
“Careful,” he says in that dominant, commanding way of his. “You’ll hurt yourself before I’ve had a chance to do it for you.”
“You said you wouldn’t hurt me.” My aim is to tease, but he doesn’t seem amused. His sinister chuckle followed by a strange scraping sound draws a shiver up my spine.
I will not show weakness.
“I won’t kill you. Yet .” His voice sounds closer now.
“And I don’t know if I should hurt you since we both know how much you love the pain I inflict upon you.
Although I see no reason to deprive myself of such pleasures.
” I flinch at the touch of his hand on my cheek, turning my face away, only for him to grip my chin and turn me back to face him.
“Punishing you has become one of my favorite pastimes. I don’t see why I should suffer when you were the one who committed the crime against the Venatti family. ”
The bed rocks as his legs hit the edge. The chains attached to my wrists pull, giving off a light jingling sound.
“Untie me! Now! You are not fucking me,” I yell at Enzo.
He chuckles, leaning on the edge of the bed beside me. He cages me with his strong arms. My heart rate picks up at the closeness and the memory of what this man can do to me. My body remembers too. Every wicked lash. Multiple orgasms. The way he made me float. The serenity he can bring.
Wetness pools between my legs, anticipating his next move. My breathing comes in pants, and the smug look on his face says he’s noticed.
“Mmm. I’ll be doing that and more for a long time to come, little devil.” Enzo rubs his nose along mine. I turn my head, not wanting his soft touch on my skin.
Pain. I need his anger. His whip. Not this tender bullshit.
He lets me avoid his mouth on mine. Taking the opportunity I’ve given him by exposing my neck, he licks and bites a path to my ear. I try to pull my thighs together, but the damn spreader bar won’t allow it.
“I’d apologize for tying you up, but I don’t like liars, and I am not the least bit sorry.” I feel him smile against my skin. “I quite like you bound and at my mercy, baby. It will make my job that much easier.”
“You always bind your victims?” I inquire.
“You’re hardly a victim, Althea.” He nips my earlobe. “And that’s not the job I was referring to. I told you I wouldn’t kill you.”
“ Yet .” I reiterate. He chuckles. His breath tickles my skin. “Then what job are you referring to?” His hand slips down my torso. Two fingers circle my clit with just the right amount of pressure, and then they’re gone.
“Interrogation, of course.” I feel Enzo smile against my neck.
“No thank you. I don’t want to play that game tonight.” I sass. “But you could untie me and let me borrow some clothes so I can go home to my bed. I don’t mind getting myself off.”
Enzo chuckles, but there’s no humor in it.
He leans up, his eyes intensely focused on mine.
“This isn’t a game, Althea. Your answers will determine what happens to you when we’re done here.
” His hand clamps down on my pussy, his palm pressing firmly against my clit.
“There are so many possible outcomes, and they all depend on you.”
Ominous much.
“What exactly are my options?”
“Your options.” He growls. I swallow my groan when he pulls his hand and places it beside my head. He pushes himself up to glare down on me, caging me in again as he hovers above. His eyes rove over my face, down my neck, stopping at my breasts.
Enzo takes my left breast in his hand, kneading it, eliciting a moan. He leans down close to my ear and whispers, “Your only option is to tell me everything .” He pinches my nipple hard, giving it a sharp twist. I scream, arching my back up off the bed and into his hard body.
Enzo moves off the bed. My body shivers with the loss of his warmth. Or maybe it’s in anticipation. I’m not really sure, and I don’t know that I care.
I watch as he disappears inside his closet, listening to the sounds of zippers and bags being opened and closed, wondering what he’s going to bring back with him.
Part of me is excited for the possibilities since I assume, like his walls, that closet holds a plethora of sex toys and instruments.
The other part of me, the rational part, worries about what other kinds of instruments Enzo may have in there.
He’s a delicious brute with a crop. But he wasn’t angry when we played last time, which leaves me to wonder if he has something more wicked hidden in the closet.
I never considered the fact that he knows all my kinks and fetishes since he vetted me for membership to The Mansion. We’ve never discussed his interests or hard limits. A sudden sense of foreboding racks my body.
How depraved is he? Would he cut me?
I’ve already seen two of his knives. It’s his preferred method. He likes to leave his hand-carved message in the flesh of his prey.
When Enzo returns, he’s no longer wearing a shirt or shoes, carrying a black duffle bag. He sets the open bag on the floor near the wall, far enough away so I can’t see what's inside.
“What are you going to do?”
Enzo ignores my question as he prowls over to the bed, his legs spread, and his arms crossed.
“I’m going to teach you a lesson in keeping secrets.” He grips the spreader bar with both hands and flips me over onto my stomach without warning. The sudden movement catches me off guard, and I scream.
“I don’t know what you think I’m hiding or why my business is suddenly any of yours.
” My defiant rant is cut off by his big hand cracking down on my ass.
One. Two. Three times in rapid succession.
I’m immediately lifted and flipped back onto my back again.
It takes seconds for his body to pin mine down, straddling my hips.
“Wrong answer.” He leans down, taking my nipple in his mouth, licking, sucking, teasing. A moan of both pleasure and frustration escapes me. Pleasure begins to build. Then reality comes crashing back with the stinging pain of his teeth biting me. Hard.
“Aggh!” I yell.
Enzo lavishes my nipple again with his tongue, licking away the pain.
He sits up, crosses his arms and says, “You still haven’t learned.
I told you this,” he gestures between us, “wasn’t a one and done.
Which means everything about you is my business.
Even the shit you think I don’t need to know. You’ll tell me.”
“You’re insane.” The words are out but die on a moan when his mouth returns to my other nipple, lavishing it as he kneads the other. “You don’t fight fair.” Moving one of his hands down between us, rubbing me just right. Another gush of wetness coats my center, and Enzo chuckles.
Enzo releases my nipple with a pop , smiling. “You’re soaked,” he teases. “I could help you with that. But you’ll have to give me something I want first.”
I wrestle with myself. What could it hurt to give a little? I don’t have to give him anything too specific. Enough to calm his anger and get me the release I so desperately need.
“I can hear you thinking.” Enzo’s voice carries a hint of humor, pulling me out of my self-deliberations.
“What do you want to know, Enzo? There are some things I can’t tell you. I won’t betray my father.” The humor flees from his face.
“Let’s try this again,” he says in a firm voice, backing himself up off me and onto the floor at the end of the bed, his arms crossed. He has the sexy-dominant thing down pat.
It's really not fair.
“What business do you have with The Bishop?” The edge in his voice brings me back to the seriousness of the situation. His anger is palpable. He may have started this conversation intending to give us both a pleasurable ending, but all hints of playfulness and arousal have left his features.
I decide to go with the simplest of truths. “I was there to ask him a few questions. Nothing more.”
“Questions about what?”
I avert my eyes and remain silent. I don’t want to tell him about my brother.
Or about the information I learned to indicate his family is involved.
Enzo was a child when Annanias was kidnapped and used as a pawn in some asshole’s plot to climb the ranks.
But does that mean he would listen? I doubt it.
I wouldn’t if I were him. I’d protect my family. It’s what we are taught to do.
Trained to do.
“It had nothing to do with the Venatti businesses. It was a personal matter.”
Apparently, that was the wrong answer because Enzo’s face has contorted to what I can only describe as murderous rage.
“How personal , exactly?” Both his hands encircle my ankles, his fingers digging into my skin.
The small bite of pain is enough to spike my pulse.
This time I know it’s not fear that has my heart rate up.
It’s him . The possessive way he’s looking at me now.
Like he’s the predator and I’m his cornered prey.
I like it. Too much.
“This is the part that doesn’t concern you, Enzo,” I reply. I can’t help it. I want to push him. See if he breaks. “Our conversation was between the two of us. I promise you. It had nothing to do with what’s been going on between your family and him.”
His grip tightens. He climbs onto the bed, his hands traveling up my legs, my thighs, stopping an inch away from where my body aches for him.
“Tell me,” he demands.
“No.” I grit my teeth, refusing to give in to what he’s offering.
Knowing it’s only a tease. A means to an end.
Like everything else in our world. “You may as well kill me, Enzo. Your sexual games, as delicious as they are, are not going to work.” His eyes flash with something I can’t quite define, but it sets off warning bells in my head, so I change tactics, and plead sweetly, softening my voice a bit.
“I wasn’t discussing your business with anyone.
Why won’t you just believe me and tell Nazario?
Otherwise, do your job and cut me loose.
There’s no point in dragging this out and torturing us both when I’ve already told you the truth.
I was there for information for my own family, and nothing more. ”