Rafael wraps his fingers around the back of my head and yanks, putting our faces so close his nose brushes mine. I lie there, soaking in his words, too stunned to do anything else.
He killed Ugo.
Forme.
The relief that flows over me is like a cleansing spring rippling over my soul and washing away some of the darkness, pain, and fear that’s clung to me for the last two years. I feel lighter and freer in a way I never thought possible and it’s certainly from having closure, but not only that.
It’s knowing Ugo suffered greatly.
There’s a poetic justice in what Rafael’s done for me that I can’t articulate or begin to express. And now I never have to worry Ugo will find me and finish what he started, which has been one of my biggest fears of late.
“And I would kill your father for you,” Rafael continues, his voice so loud it’s echoing. “Without caring what it would mean to my family, because you were to be my priority, my fuckingwife! But you threw that all away when you betrayed me and left me standing there with my dick in my hands, surrounded by my enemy. Un-fucking-believable!”
Watching the fire burn in his dark eyes, igniting the flecks of copper buried deep, is mesmerizing. As is the passion in which he speaks about all the ways he has and would protect me. My anger melts away like the last snow of winter when spring’s warmth appears. My heart blooms with the seedlings of forgiveness and compassion into a full garden of understanding.
Rafael loves me.
It’s as clear as a newly developed roll of film after being in the dark room for a long time.
His actions, his pain, and his torment all stem from the root of his childhood wound: his mother abandoning him. And I’ve done the same, compounding his hurt and rage. Guilt twists in my chest. I need to make this right.
Somehow, some way, no matter what it takes.
I'll use the same focus and determination I did in planning to save my sister, in order to salvage my relationship with Rafael. I start by cupping his cheek. He knocks my hand away and pins it down with his own. I do the same with my other hand and he stares at me with bewilderment.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“I finally understand everything,” I say softly.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
My lips rise in a smile. “I love you, Rafael.”
He winces and seeing that firms my resolve to win him, to bring him back to me. “Don’t,” he grits out between clenched teeth. “Don’t fuck with me, not like that.”
“I’m not saying anything that’s not the truth. I love you, Rafael Silvestri, and nothing short of you killing me will stop me.”
His mouth thins and his eyes flash, right before he grips the neckline of my dress and rips it down the middle, leaving me in my undergarments. I lie completely still, offering myself to him and submitting in a way that I never thought possible. His need to dominate me is written in every sharp line of his face and every ragged breath he takes.
After freeing his cock, he tears through my panties and thrusts into me. I groan from discomfort and he groans from pleasure. My body isn’t prepared for him and the penetration has my sex spasming in pain. But I clench my teeth and bear it.
Whatever he needs from me, he’ll get.
“I promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I’d fuck you to death,” he snarls in my face.
My smile is gone, replaced with a calm, resolute expression. He pins my hands above my head and I fist them to keep from pushing him away when he begins to move. He drives into me and for a moment I think he might actually kill me because the pain increases, but it also sets me ablaze. My sex dampens and coats his cock so that his thrusts become pleasurable. I dig my nails into my palms to keep from moaning and closing my eyes in bliss.
He wants to punish me, to make me hurt like I hurt him.
I can’t stop the gasp that escapes when Rafael pulls out of me and flips me onto my stomach. He wraps an arm around my middle and lifts me so that my ass is in the air and my chest is pressed to the floor. When I try to rise he grabs the back of my neck to prevent me.
“Your cunt likes the way I fuck it,” he says. “But will your ass?” My body tenses and he laughs. “That’s what I thought. You think you get to be fucked and enjoy it? No, my dear. This isn’t for you, it’s for me.”
“It doesn’t matter how much you try to scare me or push me away, I’m not leaving.”
He squeezes my neck so hard I whimper. “Your lies are going to bring you more suffering.”
“So are yours,” I whisper.
