Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Aurora
When I wake back up, I find that I’m in my bed. For a moment, I think that I’m back home with my dad, safe and sound. But then it all comes crashing back into me. I’m in the bedroom that Gabriel chose for me… because I’m still his prisoner.
And I saw him torturing a man. Gabriel’s hands were covered in blood. The savage look on his face made him not even human. The screams of the man he was cutting into ring in my ears.
“You’re awake.” Gabriel’s voice makes me gasp. Looking to the side, I see him seated in the chair by the bed. There’s no emotion in his voice. No emotion on his face. It’s just pure, plain… stoicism.
“Stay away from me.” I hold the blanket over my body as if that will somehow protect me from him.
“You saw me torture that man, didn’t you? It’s why you passed out.”
“I did. How could you do that to another human being?”
“I told you. I’m not a good man.”
“No one deserves to be treated like that.”
A look of pure fury crosses his face as he shoots to his feet. “You don’t know what that man has done. Who he works for. You don’t know anything so I suggest you stop speaking on things you know nothing about.”
“Who is that man then? Who does he work for?”
“You wouldn’t know. You didn’t grow up in the mafia. You don’t know anything. Like a lost, little lamb.”
“So then tell me.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Are you making demands of me now?” He stands up and approaches the bed. I hold still as he leans over me, placing his hands on the mattress, trapping me between. “I don’t have to tell you anything. You’re here to pay off your father’s debt. Nothing more.”
“Stop trying to scare me,” I whisper.
“Is it working?”
Yes. “No,” I lie.
He smirks as his eyes flit down to my lips. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Aurora. You must have a boyfriend. Do I need to worry about a man trying to find you?”
“My father.”
“Your father will know better than to come back here. He’ll die otherwise. You didn’t answer my question.”
“No man. No… boyfriend.”
“Why not? A pretty girl like you – one would expect you have a boyfriend.”
“Not everything is about looks,” I snap. “I’m single. Is that a problem?”
“No. It’s not a problem. In fact, it’s a good thing. I like knowing another man doesn’t have a claim on you.”
I frown. “Why? It’s not like I belong to you.”
“Haven’t you been listening? You belong to me, Aurora. You’ll find that I’m a little… possessive.”
“What do you mean?”
In one quick motion, he grabs my waist and rolls me onto my stomach. And before I even know what’s happening, his hand collides with my backside. Spanking me.
I gasp as he does it again and again in quick succession.
“What are you doing?” I cry out.
He stills his hand but keeps it on my backside. His hand is so large. So… powerful. I don’t move a muscle.
“I am making sure you know that you’re mine. No one else’s. I’m glad you don’t have a boyfriend. One less person I have to worry about killing.”
I swallow hard. “You’re a monster.”
“I am.” There’s no shame in his voice. Gabriel is proud to be this way. “Tell me, Aurora, has any man spanked you before?” He still doesn’t remove his hand from my backside. My skin grows warmer the longer he touches it.
“Of course not.”
“Good. Has any man touched you like this before?” He moves his hand lower to cup the underside of my butt. I startle when I feel a jolt of energy pass through me. It’s almost like… arousal. But that’s crazy. I don’t have any desire for Gabriel to touch me and yet… I’m not moving.
I tell myself because I’m scared he might hurt me but the truth is: I don’t mind how his touch feels. What is wrong with me?
“No,” I whisper.
“Has any man touched you here?” He moves his hand even lower to cup me between my legs. My hips buck into his hand on instinct.
“What are you doing?” I whisper into the pillow, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Answer my question.” He doesn’t press down with his hand. Only keeps it right there between my legs. “Has any man touched you here?”
“No.” I’m not sure why I tell Gabriel the truth. He doesn’t deserve it. But there’s no point in lying. It won’t get me anywhere.
“Are you a virgin, Aurora?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters.” His voice is low and gruff. What does any of it mean? “Are you a virgin?”
“Yes.”
He removes his hand from between my legs and steps away from the bed, finally allowing me to breathe in deeply.
I roll onto my back and stare up at him. His eyes rake over my body. It’s then that I realize my nightgown has ridden up around my waist, exposing my underwear. I go to lower it down when Gabriel speaks.
“Don’t.”
I still my hands. My white underwear is on full display for him to see. I can’t get any words past my lips. It’s like I’m frozen in space.
Gabriel looks over my entire body, his gaze darkening. I’m terrified and yet there’s the smallest tingling sensation in my body. I can’t make sense of it. It’s not fear, I know that. It’s something else.
“Why haven’t you been with a man before?” His voice is so low, it’s hard to hear him.
“I just… haven’t. I was busy helping to take care of my dad. I was busy working to put food on the table. I never met anyone I wanted to date. Anyone that was worth choosing over helping my dad.”
“You really are a selfless woman, aren’t you? How can you be so…”
“So?”
“Fucking perfect.” He spits the words out like there’s something wrong with them. “It makes everything more complicated.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re so innocent and you don’t even know it. You’re too innocent to be afraid of me.”
“I am afraid of you. I’m terrified.”
“So then why haven’t you covered yourself up yet?”
I still don’t move. “Will you hurt me if I do? You just spanked me.” The words make my face turn to fire.
“I spanked you because you weren’t supposed to be down there. You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“I didn’t know. You were torturing a man.” It’s then that everything comes crashing back down. What Gabriel did to that man. How I held still and let him touch me between my legs. What is wrong with me?
I shove my nightgown down and wrap the covers around me, hiding my body from Gabriel’s view.
He huffs. “That’s what I expected. An innocent woman like you. A monster like me. These are the roles we play.”
“I am not playing a role. I am just being myself.” A memory returns to me. “When you were hurting that man, you asked him about Giovanni. Who is he exactly? And why were you torturing that man?”
“I do not have to explain myself to you. You will never go down into that room again.”
“Or what?”
“Or I will spank you again and that time, I will make it hurt.”
I shiver. “You’re evil.”
“Curiosity killed the cat, Aurora. Don’t be na?ve. You can go anywhere in this house except back there. My bedroom is also off limits.”
“What’s in your bedroom? Another prisoner?”
“For one so innocent, you do have a tongue on you. I’d love to feel it around my cock.”
I flush and look away from him.
“I take it you’ve never put your mouth on a man. I’ll be the first man to put my mouth on you.”
“I would never let you touch me like that.”
He leans back over me until we’re so close that for a moment, I think he might kiss me.
It sends a jolt through my heart. “You will. One day. I know it. One day you will be begging for me to touch every inch of you. Now, be a good girl and stay put. I don’t need you fainting again.
” He leaves without another word and I don’t follow him.
The only thing I can do is fall back onto the bed and get rid of the shame burning its way into my heart.
It didn’t bother me as much as it should have when Gabriel touched my backside and between my legs. And that shame is going to eat away at me.
Maria brings me breakfast in the morning as well as a garment bag.
“What’s that for?” I ask her as she opens the bag to reveal a beautiful, stunning red dress.
“Mr. Romano bought it for you. To wear tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“He’s hosting a party. You are to attend.”
A party. “So… other people will be here?”
“Yes.”
Then maybe one of those people would try to help me. “How many people?”
“Twenty. It’s a small get together for some of Mr. Romano’s allies.”
“But I am not his ally. I am his prisoner.”
“I do not make the rules, Aurora. He wants you to wear this dress and attend with a smile on your face. His exact words. And don’t try to escape tonight. He’ll only hurt your father.” She shakes her head. “Child, you are never getting out of here. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s obvious to me that Mr. Romano has laid claim to you and he’s not the kind of man to let things go easily. So just be careful. Please. I would hate to see you get hurt.”
“I’ve already been hurt. When Gabriel kidnapped my dad and locked me away in here.”
“Still. Just be safe.” She lays the dress down on the bed. “I’ll be back later to help you change.”
I look at the red dress long after Maria leaves. Red, the color of blood. Why do I get the feeling that my life is going to change forever tonight?
Maria helps me into the dress. It hugs my body and flows around my feet in soft waves.
The sleeves are off the shouldered and go down to my wrists.
My neck and upper chest are exposed. Even though those areas are not inappropriate for others to see, it still makes me feel like anyone could see into my heart, my most intimate area.
She also lifts my hair into an elegant updo and paints makeup onto my face. “There. You look even more beautiful.”
Gabriel wants me pretty, like a doll he can dress up and control. I despise him with everything inside of me and yet, I still can’t forget the way he touched me. The way he spanked me. It’s not haunting me like I thought. It’s more of an exciting memory and that’s the horrifying part.