Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
It’s an angry circle burn. There is some kind of design inside of it, but the place is angry, swollen and more than a touch infected. It has to be painful. I’m so full of rage that I want to scream. This happened because I wasn’t there to protect her. There was so much going on here that I didn’t reach out and find her in time. Her skin is too perfect, too soft, and sweet to be marred like this. I’m going to kill someone for this.
“Let it go, Antonio. I’m okay.”
“Explain what I’m looking at? Did someone burn you? Did Kelly do this to you? That fucking—”
“It wasn’t him,” she says, tears shining in her eyes.
The sight of her tears nearly breaks me. I rein in my anger. She’s not the one I need to take it out on. I need to be gentle with her—or at least as gentle as I can. That’s not something I’m truly familiar with.
“Tell me who did this to you,” I rumble, doing all I can to keep the anger out of my voice completely.
“My father wasn’t amused that I ran away…” she replies, her voice hoarse and so quiet that I have to strain to hear it.
Son of a bitch.
“Dracos did this to you?”
“No one defies Dracos Stratakis, Antonio.”
“Not even his own child?”
“Especially his child. You’ve learned that by now, surely.”
I swallow down the words that I want to say. She’s been through enough. This anger is something I will hide from her. I can tell she’s ashamed and embarrassed and that’s the last thing she should be. I will bury the way I feel about it—at least in front of her, but one day I will watch her father die and only then will I let this rage go.
“Let’s get you in the shower and clean your wound. It looks infected.”
“I haven’t exactly been allowed freedom to treat it,” she mutters.
“I’m going to make them pay for this, il mio tesoro. I’m going to kill them for you.”
“That’s not what I want. Don’t you understand? If you go after them, you could die. That’s the last thing I want.”
I take the pad of my thumb and wipe away the one lone tear that escapes from her eyes. “One day, Lina, I’m going to teach you to have more faith in your husband,” I chastise as I stand up.
“You’re not my husband, Antonio.”
“But I will be,” I vow. I pick her up and she goes willingly in my arms, resting her head against my chest.
“Where are you taking me?”
“We’re going to get in the shower and then, I’m going to clean your wound and wash you from head to toe. I think you need some pampering.”
“We can’t risk a pregnancy. My father would… I just can’t even think about it.”
“Your father is not going to be an issue, but I heard you the first time. Tonight, let’s just concentrate on me and you.”
She relaxes in my arms. “I have missed you so much,” she says with a soft sigh as I carry her into the bathroom.
I kiss her forehead. She has no idea how much I want her. She is going to marry me. I’m not letting her go.
She’s mine. All fucking mine.
melina
Stepping out of the shower, I stand on the soft, black bathmat as droplets of water run down my naked body. I watch Antonio grab a fluffy towel, wrapping it around his waist, just at the dip in his hips. He grabs another one before kneeling in front of me. He takes his time, tenderly drying me off. He works his way up my body and when he pauses to pad my sore and kiss it gently, it’s all I can do to remain standing. No one has ever treated me so lovingly. He gives me a reassuring smile and then finds another towel, wrapping my hair up until it sits on my head. I don't miss the barely-there touch to the inside of my thighs or the skimming of his knuckles on the underside of my breast. My body jerks as I realize no one has ever handled me with so much care…
As if I was the most important thing in the world to them.
I shake my head, realizing that I’m just being fanciful.
“I can't believe you did that,” I breathe out. My whole body feels hot from his ministrations. He used his mouth over and over on me in the shower. At one point, I was sure I was going to pass out. Even now, my body still feels electrically charged at the way his eyes linger on my body as he grins down at me.
“Get used to it, sweetheart, because I'm going to do it again. First thing tomorrow, we will get you into the doctor to get your birth control started again, so you will stop worrying. I'm not going without coming deep inside of you again.”