Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74035 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Somewhere in my state of half-consciousness, he loops the belt gently around my neck. I should be afraid that he's going to strangle me, or at least threaten to. He definitely could. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility.
But no. It's only another one of the tricks up his sleeve.
He tightens it so that my pulse races, a delicate play between fear and sensuality as he touches my nipples and fondles my breasts with such languid, skilled strokes, it’s as if he holds a magic wand.
"Did you know," he whispers, punctuating every word with a salacious swipe of his fingers, “that Gray was on someone else’s payroll? That was the question, Vivia.” His fingers freeze right above the place I want him to touch. “That was the question I asked you.”
I whimper and squirm, but I can’t reach his fingers on my own.
"Of course," I tell him. "Of course I did. I assumed he worked for my brother at one point, and I knew he wasn't poor. He never told me what he did, and I didn't ask questions."
"Why not?"
That’s an easy one. I answer in one breath.
"Because when you grow up the way I did, you realize that sometimes it's better not to know."
He rewards me with another brush of his fingers, driving my need up even more. I wantonly writhe against his hand, unable to stop myself from wanting more, harder, faster.
"Answer this next question honestly," he says, a latent threat in his tone. He pauses all movement, his voice tight and commanding. “Did you give your virginity to Gray?"
Slowly, wordlessly, he removes the belt and fists it. I clench in anticipation.
I throw up a shield to my mind so fast my body tenses. What does that have to do with anything? No, God, no, anything but that. I hate that he’s asking me.
I don't want to tell him the answer to this. Again, knowing full well that I'm going to be punished, I clamp my mouth shut and close my eyes. He shifts me on his lap, my only warning to prepare for more punishment.
The belt falls so hard I lose my breath. I feel as if I'm being split in two. I scream until I lose my voice, garble words in a hoarse cry as he lashes me with barely a pause between strikes. I lose count of the strokes. I'm submerged in pain. I want it to stop, and I don't know how to make him.
I'm crying freely now, tears falling onto the wooden floor. The tiny wooden cabinet absorbs my screams as if it were meant to. This is why I am here. No one will hear me scream or come to my aid. If Dario decided this was my last day on Earth and it was his duty to take my life, no one's coming to my rescue here.
He finally stops. He’s panting from the effort, no longer whipping me, but poised as if he’s ready to strike again.
Why? Why does he care?
Why this time of all times is my punishment so much worse than it was before? Why does questioning my virginity make him so harsh? I would've expected fury from Sergio, or Mama. Or any of my brothers, to be honest.
Why does Dario care?
"You know I did," I say, my voice choked with tears. “You know I gave it to him. So why do you need me to tell you? What’s it to you?” My voice sounds small and accusatory, and I don’t care.
“You know why,” he says, his voice so harsh it feels physically painful to hear. "What happens to you next is fully contingent on how honest you are.”
Maybe he's also experimenting with the best way to get the truth from me. Sensual caresses, and the need to climax? Or harsh punishment?
I'm fully aware of his hard length pressed into my belly, and it suffuses me with a sense of power. I like that he’s affected by me.
He feels what I do, every inch of my body pressed against his. This is more than his job.
Dario wants me. And is there any such thing on this earth as a woman who doesn’t want to be wanted?
I admit the truth, even though it’s embarrassing. "I didn't like that my virginity wasn't mine to handle or control," I tell him truthfully. At this point I don't know why I would hold anything back from him. Every time I have, he's only punished me and known that I had something to tell him.
My reward comes as he spreads my legs with his strong, capable fingers, teasing and possessing every inch of me until I'm on the very cusp of climax again.
"Vivia," he says, “tell me everything now. I want to hear it. Don’t make me extract it in pieces.”
And then his voice dips to a lower register, molten and seductive. "You took your punishment like a very good girl, and I'm so very proud of you. Do you know how proud of you I am?"