Tommaso’s jaw tightens, as does his hand in my hair. He pulls on it, so my head is tilted further back. “You arenota nobody. You’reeverything,” he growls.
I nearly whimper at the switch in him from gentle and loving to almost angry and dominant.
“Did your memories include where I asked you if you’d prefer me to toss you over my shoulder and slap your ass?”
“No,” I squeak. My cheeks are blushing, but my core has started to pulse.
Then I yelp in shock when he does just that. I’m flipped over his shoulder, and his large hand comes down on my ass. I grip the back of his suit jacket, squirming. “Tommaso!”
One of his arms captures my legs, holding them against his body, and with his free hand, he slaps my ass again. He holds it there, gently rubbing over the sting as he carries me toward the house.
I’m trapped, but don’t hate it, even though my face is flaming, thinking that someone is going to see us. He walks up the steps to the back terrace, then along the house to the entrance closest to our room. His shoes echo across the floor as he walks through the house with me hung over his shoulder, not fighting to get away but still squirming as intense need rises within me.
I want to submit to his dominance. Not because I’m weak, but because nothing is more freeing than being the entire focus of this man and being the center of his world.
By the time we reach our bedroom, I’m trembling, and my core is already slick. He walks toward the bed, but instead of flipping me off his shoulder like I wish he would, he gently lays me down on the bed. His gentle action, not wanting to risk hurting me with my healing head injury, reminds me of what he said in my flash of memory: that he’d never break or harm me.
But I can’t wait until his concern and worry are gone, and he’ll manhandle me like I want him to.
His beautiful, crystal-blue eyes are locked on me, and his jaw is rigid. “You are never to refer to yourself as a nobody ever again. Do you understand?”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“You never were, nor will you ever be, a nobody, Gina.” He yanks at his tie, undoing it. His jacket is next.
He’s vibrating, close to losing control. I want nothing more than for him to shed that calmness and control and show me who he hides from the world.
He undoes his shirt, and it’s clear what his intention is. And I’m all onboard for this.
I lift my hands to undo my silk blouse, one of the beautiful but simply elegant pieces of clothing that Tommaso has filled the closet with. But he swats my hands away.
I’m about to protest, but the words die on my lips when he grips my wrists and ties them together with his tie, then pulls them over my head and secures me to one of the headboard’s wrought-iron spindles.
“Tommaso.” My voice is shaky.
He stares down at me, and I’ve never seen him look so serious. “I’ll never break you. I’ll never harm you. You have my word or my life.”
“I know.”
He runs his fingertips down my cheek, along the column of my neck, to my breasts under the silk blouse.
My nipples are taut and aching, and I arch into his touch.
“You like me controlling you.”
I nod without shame.
He pinches his fingers together, trapping my nipple between them. “But only in here. Because out there”—he inclines his chin to the bedroom door—“to the world, you’re my queen, meant to rule by my side. You’re the light that will temper my dark,il mio sole.”
I understand that better now, knowing what I do about what and who he is. And in our wedding renewal vows, he said we’d build an empire together; one that uses its power to bring some goodness and light. And that with me, he can be the man he’s dreamed of being.
I pull on my restraints, wanting to touch him. “I love you.”
“And I…” He leans down to kiss me gently. “I cannot express how fucking obsessed I am with you.” His kiss this time is rougher, and my head lifts, chasing his when he pulls away. “And, like I promised in the past, Iwillruin you…just in the best way possible.”
He slowly undoes the buttons of my blouse, keeping me trapped in his hungry gaze while he does. Pushing the material back, he flicks the front clasp of my bra to make my breasts spill free. Next are my slacks, panties, and heels. Once I’m exposed to him, he undresses slowly, his tall, broad body sculpted by the angels themselves.
His rigid cock stands just as proudly as he does. A king stands before me, and I pull on the tie that binds my wrists, needing to touch him, but it holds fast.
