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)
"You are a beautiful woman, Vivia. Your family has disowned you. My job with you right now is to keep you safe and protected until the time comes where we can prove your innocence. If you were in good standing with your family, what would be the rules your brothers would have for me?"
I start blinking rapidly, chewing my lips. I force my hands onto my lap to study the fire. My breath comes in short, rapid gasps. "You wouldn't be allowed to touch me. If they thought that you did, they would hurt you." Vivid memories of bloodstained sand fill my mind. It wouldn't be the first time. I swallow. "He… They would…" I'm having a hard time forming a complete sentence because of the nerves that shatter my body.
I know exactly what he's insinuating. We're alone. My brothers have disowned me and think I’m dead. Anything he does now is off the record. We both know that only he could hear the words, and he probably will. I don't know what that will mean…
He plays with the braid on my shoulder. "My job is to bring you to them safely. My job is to find the people who tried to kill us, and more importantly, Marialena. But there isn't much I can do about that here in the woods, so I'll leave that part to Orlando. Tell me this. If I were to bring you to your brothers and we were to prove your innocence, how would that change things?"
"I will be reinstated as a Montavio sister."
"And when they find out you gave your virginity to the man that betrayed your family?"
I break out in a cold sweat. I can't speak. I grip my knees so that my knuckles turn white. "I don't know what they would do," I say in a trembling voice. The truth is, I don't know exactly what they would do. But it wouldn't end well for me.
"So your only chance at survival is easy. Your only chance is here with me."
I'm not mentally sure of what to do. I swallow hard, fruitlessly trying to calm my frayed nerves. I feel a little dizzy to have a choice before me. Or more accurately at the lack of choices before me. I want to flee and hide to escape this dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach, but before I can do anything else, he brushes his fingers over my temple in soothing circles. My eyes flutter closed. Wordlessly, he bends and kisses the bare skin at my neck.
And I know exactly what he's doing. Excitement, and fear, and lust flood me.
I know what he's going to do, but I don't know how I am going to react. I've never been here before, and I can't forget who he is, or who I am. But there is one thing I know for a fact. If he shows up in front of my brothers, proves my innocence, and then proves that I belong to him, it will be a radically different situation than if he brings me before them guilty and no longer a virgin.
Dario has the choice to own me. And if he does, it will change the course of both of our lives forever.
I try to mentally sort through the options, try to think what will happen. I try to anticipate what could happen next, but I can't. Because the next thing I know, his mouth is on my neck, his tongue is drawing circles on the sensitive skin there, and the moan he draws out of me makes me wet between my thighs.
I don't know what his plan is, but right now I don't care. All I want is for him to touch me again. For him to claim me, to lose myself in this moment and forget who I am. I need this. Maybe he does, too.
His voice moves over my body like foreplay, the ring of command making my nipples stand hard at attention and a growing need throb between my legs.
"You're such a pretty girl," he whispers in a silky voice. "That's a girl. Close your eyes now. I love the way you look when you're at rest."
When he begins to praise me, my body sings as if he's playing me like an instrument. "You're such a beautiful girl. Lie still so I can keep drinking you in with my eyes. I hated having to take you as my prisoner." He stops talking. His voice sounds amused. I keep my eyes closed obediently, as he smooths over the apple of my cheek. "No, that's a lie. I loved being in close proximity to you. What I didn't like was that you were with another man."
His voice has changed, no longer soothing but now more corrective. "I should punish you for that. Shouldn’t I?"