“No, I…”
Just like last night, her resolve wavers. She’s not accustomed to taking lives, nor does she want to. She’s a good girl, familiar with guilt. Very useful. I could disarm her before she could end me, but I might hurt her in doing so. Perhaps I should want to hurt her. She’s Nico’s sister, and she’s got a fucking knife to my throat. Yet, I don’t want to hurt her.
“Will you kill me like Nico killed my brother? Has that always been your plan?”
“No!”
“Where will you go once you do? You’re in my territory. Do you think my father or his men will simply let you walk away?”
“I don’t want to hurt… Where have you been?” she asks, her hand trembling so badly the knife presses dangerously against my throat.
Ah.Under the hissing cat, there’s a wounded girl. The goddamn Seconda. Of all of our traditions, it’s the one Armando's father warned me to think twice about before my wedding.“Why antagonize the person who could so easily slip poison into your morning coffee right from the start, Sio?”he’d asked.
But we’re men and we’re well known for thinking with the brain between our legs rather than the one above our necks at times.
“You want to know where I was?” I ask, intent on keeping her talking.
“It’s nearly morning.”
“Not yet and I often keep late hours.”
“You were at the Seconda.”
“For a while. Then, I was taking care of business for my father. I am still his Enforcer, and there were men who owed us. Money or pain, the choice is theirs.”
“Since when doesbusinesssmell like Chanel Number 5?” Fuck me, she’s cute when she’s jealous.
“Is that what it is? It stinks.”
Her eyes turn glassy, and her chin quivers. She’s far more hurt believing I cheated than I would’ve expected considering things. “You asshole. It does not stink.”
I inhale deeply, growing more confident she’s not going to kill me tonight. Whether or not things stay that way is still a toss-up.“There were plenty of whores around me tonight at the Seconda and at the place I went to find tonight’s unlucky debtor. But, that doesn’t mean I slept with any of them. Whores and the mafia go hand in hand, but not every man takes his pleasure where our business interests lie, kitten.”
Shewantsto believe me but isn’t sure she can. Nevertheless, her body starts to soften while mine grows harder. I place my hands on her hips, tugging her down slightly. I smirk in the darkness at her breathy panting. “You’re trying to distract me.”
For certain.“You’re the one who’s distracting, Caterina.” I reach for the bedside lamp like I haven’t a care in the world, flicking it on. She shifts her hips with my movement, a soft sigh escaping. “I’d rather smell like you,” I tell her. “I like your fragrance far better, that intoxicating vanilla and clove scent.”
She melts a bit more, her body rubbing almost imperceptibly over my cock again. I can feel her heat even through the pad she’s wearing for her period, and I know she can feel mine. Her brother is my enemy, but my body is fully willing to ignore that fact when it comes to her. My hands find her hips once more, and I start to move her slowly back and forth. She doesn’t acknowledge what I’m doing, and she keeps the knife at my throat, but she doesn’t tell me to stop either.
“This pretty little nightgown you’re wearing, is it for me?” It covers her from neck to knees, but the white gossamer fabric shimmers under the lamplight, and I can see the silhouette of her nipples. Pebbled, dark pink buds, I’d love to suck on them and drive her out of her mind with desire.
“I don’t…”
“Did Armando see you in this? I’ll have to kill him if he did.”
She blushes. “No, I changed after I left him outside.”
“That was very wise of you, wife.”
She bites her bottom lip and shimmies her hips without my help this time, seeking more friction, warming up with mypraise. So trusting and needful. She’s probably foolish enough to entertain daydreams of romance in a marriage like ours. What happy ending does she expect to find with a beast like me?
But an advantage is an advantage.
“I liked your taste earlier even more, Caterina, your sweet, musky arousal mixed with your blood. It turned me on.”
Her whole face glows red. “You shouldn’t talk that way.”
I thrust against her, enjoying her gasp and the way she hurries to mimic my movements. “I don’t mind the taste of blood. I’d spread your thighs and lick your pussy, blood or no blood. I’d love to eat you out tonight if I didn’t know you’d refuse me.”
