Chapter 16 #2
The hits stopped, and his body heat caressed my side. His warm breath fanned my neck, drawing a shiver to the surface of my skin. His calloused palm skimmed down my back, stroking me with a lover’s comforting touch.
“Tell me you’re mine, Nora,” he murmured in my ear, his voice threading into my muddled mind with insidious intent. “Tell me you’re my wife.”
It didn’t matter what I said. I wouldn’t mean it. Saying the words didn’t make them real.
“I’m your wife, Dante.” The lie rasped from my abused throat.
His vibrant eyes filled my world, peering straight into me. He cupped my cheek in his big hand, his fingers threading through my hair. Mindlessly, I leaned into the caress, welcoming the soothing contact after the overload of pain.
“You don’t mean that, darling.”
My gut twisted. I licked my dry lips. “I do,” I lied again, an echo of the false vow he’d forced me to make during our sham wedding.
He frowned and shook his head almost sadly. “Don’t lie to your master.”
“You’re not my master,” I shot back before I could think. My mind rejected it on a soul-deep level.
He hummed and studied me for long, agonizing seconds, until I started to squirm with apprehension.
“No,” he said slowly. “You don’t believe that you’re mine. Not yet. But I can be very patient, little bird. For today, I’ll settle for unquestioning obedience.”
Perverse relief flooded me, making my knees weak. I could obey. It wouldn’t mean anything. I’d spent my entire life yielding to cruel men in order to protect myself.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” I said, a pleading edge to my tone. “Just don’t hurt me again.”
He massaged my scalp, and I almost groaned at the decadent sensation. “I won’t damage you, Nora. But I will have your true submission. This doesn’t end until you give in.”
His fingers trailed down my neck, tracing the line of my artery. A pleasurable shudder rolled through me, my body welcoming the tender contact. His touch lowered, until he circled my nipples. Callouses rasped over delicate skin, and my breasts grew strangely heavy.
“No,” I moaned. “Please…”
The pain was bad enough, but the forced pleasure was worse.
I didn’t want to enjoy any aspect of what he was doing to me.
If he made me come, he’d chip away at another piece of my soul.
He’d devastated me when he’d bound me in the woods.
Looking into his beautiful face, his sharp features firm with determination, I knew that this time would be worse.
He wanted to break me down, to make me malleable.
I could promise to obey him over and over again, but he wouldn’t relent until the words were reality.
The whipping had weakened my defenses, as had my acceptance of his tender touches. I’d let myself be swept away by sensation, and now I was vulnerable to the pleasure as well.
He gently pinched my nipples, tugging at the tight buds and lighting up my body with warm sparks. They danced down to my sex, making my clit tingle.
My head dropped back on a despairing groan, and I closed my eyes to try to shut out the nightmare.
He cupped my nape, directing my eyes back to his steady emerald stare. “Ah-ah, pet,” he chided. “Stay here with me.”
He tweaked my nipple hard, and my eyes flew wide, locking on his.
“You like pain with your pleasure, don’t you, my pretty wife?” He released me from the pinch and stroked the abused peak. I shuddered and sighed. “You’re so perfect, Nora.”
The praise left me cold. I let it frost my skin, helping me start to go numb.
He slapped my sex, making my clit sting. I cried out and tried to edge away from him, but the restraints held me wide open. He spanked me again, punishing my most vulnerable area. My core contracted, ready to be filled.
“Stop,” I begged.
He shushed me and continued, until my clit throbbed in time with the rapid beat of my heart. My eyes stung with shame, and a hot tear scored my cheek. I blinked hard, but another tear fell.
A strangled growl of pure hatred slipped through my bared teeth. He kissed my lower lip and smiled at me, thrilled with my predicament.
He brushed his lips over my wet cheek, tasting my tears. He released a growl of his own, a sound of primal male satisfaction.
He relented spanking me, rubbing my clit in firm circles. All my muscles tensed as I tried to deny the bliss that coursed through me. My inner walls fluttered, and my thighs grew slick with arousal. He forced me higher, spiraling up and up, until my entire body was wound tight.
He withdrew his hand, and I cried out at the loss. I immediately bit my lip, and more mortified tears spilled.
He reached down and picked up the whip where he’d dropped it at my side.
“Don’t,” I choked out. I didn’t want him to hit me again.
Instead of flogging me, he touched the polished wooden handle between my legs, coating it in the wetness on my thighs. My mind blanked, unable to process what I knew was coming.
His thumb returned to my clit, and the hard, slick handle pressed at my entrance.
“Relax,” he urged, rubbing my pleasure point and wringing more bliss from me.
Against my will, my body softened. The whip slid in an inch. I clamped down tight, refusing to accept what he was doing to me.
His lips touched mine in a coaxing kiss. I was too distracted by the unyielding penetration to think about biting him.
“You’re mine,” he murmured, relentlessly stimulating my clit as the handle slid deeper inside me. “Tell me.”
“I’m yours,” I lied, squirming to get away. The whip went in another inch. My inner walls contracted around it, and my attempt at resistance further stimulated me.
“Again,” he crooned.
“I’m yours.” I was panting, sweat mingling with the tears on my cheeks.
“Tell me you’re my wife.”
“I’m your wife.” The whip hit my g-spot, and I released a ragged cry of ecstasy and despair.
He turned the handle, smiling with dark satisfaction as bliss sang through me. “Very good, pet. So obedient.”
He didn’t care that I didn’t mean it. All that mattered to him was my complete devastation.
“Come for me,” he commanded, another order that I had no choice but to obey.
He pressed down on my clit and nudged the handle against my g-spot.
I shattered on a wail, my head tossing as ecstasy wracked my body.
I shuddered and writhed, and he wrapped a strong arm around my waist to steady me, releasing my overly sensitive clit.
He left the whip inside me for a minute as aftershocks pinged through my core in little lighting strikes.
All my muscles gave out, my body going limp in the wake of my intense, cruel release.
He caught me, reaching above my head to free the cuffs from the chain that held me aloft.
He carried me the short distance to the massive bed and laid me out on the mattress.
His fingers rubbed over the goosebumps on my arms before he found the catch at the sides of the cuffs, freeing me with a soft click.
As I rubbed my aching wrists, he unbuckled the cuffs around my ankles and pulled the spreader bar away.
He sat on the bed beside me, leaning against the headboard.
His hands bracketed my waist, and he guided me onto his lap.
I felt his erection pressing into my bottom, but he made no move to have sex with me.
He’d fucked me with his whip instead, forcing me to feel pleasure from the cruel implement that’d caused me pain. It was more perverse than anything I ever could’ve imagined.
My cheeks were hot beneath my tears, shame burning me up inside.
I had no fight left in me when he began to pet me, stroking my hair while he cuddled me close. He kissed my wet cheeks, savoring the taste of my tears.
“It’s okay to cry,” he said, comforting. “You’re so pretty when you do. I’ll always take care of you, Nora.”
Luca had told me the same thing, but he wasn’t here to save me. My longing for my husband was tinged with resentment. I shouldn’t have any soft feelings toward him. He’d kidnapped me and forced me into marriage, just like Dante had done.
My heart twisted. I was so tired of being treated like an object, a pawn.
Or worse, Dante’s pet.
Something vibrated beneath me, and Dante pulled his phone from his pocket.
“What?” The irritation that pinched his features morphed into a maniacal grin. “I’m on my way.”
He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “I have to go.”
My stomach lurched. Luca must’ve come for me at last. And Dante looked delighted.
He thought he would beat my husband. He was certain of it.
All I could do was pray that he was wrong. Dante was arrogant and cruel; he could’ve miscalculated.
He lifted me up in his arms, and I tensed when he carried me to the large, domed cage in the corner.
“Please don’t put me in there.” I didn’t like tight spaces.
He shushed me. “You’ll be safest in here, little bird.”
He placed me in the cage and slammed the bars in my face, securing them with a padlock. My fingers wrapped around the cool metal, as though I could pry it apart.
“Don’t leave me in here,” I begged.
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll be back soon.”
He turned and walked out of the awful room, leaving me caged and cold. Ice encased my bones, and I drew my knees up to my chest, hugging them tight.
I didn’t want Dante to come back. The only man I wanted to come for me was Luca, my real husband.