“I did.”He turns to me, face distraught with grief.“But she died, like my parents, even though she promised not to.”
He scoffs and turns his face away from me to hide his anguish.“The Italian Mafia took me in and taught me how to survive and be a man—one who’s feared and respected.One who embraces pain and isn’t scared of death.I wasn’t lying when I said I understand your pain.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, frozen to one spot.
“I’m over it.”
I can tell that’s a lie.He only learned to live with the pain.Can I do the same?Learn to live again without all the guilt that tears at me.
“I’ll help you overcome your pain.”
I wonder how he always figures out my thoughts and gives the right answers.Amid all the melancholy, it’s refreshing to know he’s human too and not just a killing machine.My gaze falls on another frame.“OMG!You have a cat?”
“She died three days ago.”
“The men at the party really weren’t joking when they said—”
“That everyone close to me dies?”
Immediately, I wish I could take back my words.I really didn’t think it through.A man just lost his beloved cat, and all I can do is make a terrible joke.“I didn’t mean that.”
“I’d never let any harm befall you, though.”
His words make my heart rate spike.Along with the spike comes the realization that he had said he lost his cat three days ago—the same time he came to my place for the second time.Had he come to seek solace?Suddenly, I no longer know whether to feel bad that he lost his cat or feel good that I was the first person he thought to see.
“Want something to drink?”he asks, standing to get a drink from the bar.
“I think I had enough at the party.”
“Hmm...”He changes his mind about the drink and says, “Follow me.”
The softness in his voice from a few moments ago has disappeared, and I can tell what’s coming next.He’s no longer the boy who lost his grandma.He’s my master.My toes curl in anticipation as I follow him to his bedroom.I feel his hand hold mine as he leads me to sit on the bed.He picks a piece of cloth and blindfolds me.
“Strip,” he says.I can hear him get out of his clothes, but I can’t see a damn thing.I quickly take off my clothes.
“Am I just another one of the girls you bring to your—”
His lips crash on mine, silencing me.I didn’t see it coming—literally—which makes it even more satisfying.His tongue explores my mouth, as if to map every inch and nerve.I grab a fistful of his hair, but he pulls my hand away, holding it behind my back, and finally breaks the kiss.“I never bring anyone home, and before you ask, I’m not lying.”
His words go straight from his lips to my clit.It seems to have heard him saying,You’re the only one I want to fuck in my dark room.The sound of that makes it ache with want.“I want you, Master.Inside me.”
He lets go of my hand, and I suddenly can’t feel his warmth anymore.I stretch my leg to feel around for him.Nothing.I hear a small sound in another part of the room, but I can’t tell what’s happening.A few moments later, I smell him right before his warmth bathes me.He suddenly pushes me onto the bed, spreads my legs and hands like a starfish, and ties each to the bedpost.The way he handles me makes me feel helpless, yet safe.Again, he disappears into the dark, leaving me gazing into the cloud of darkness that hovers over me.
I hear him rummaging through some things, followed by a wave of silence, and then soft music begins to play.Soothing music.I ready myself for his return.
A sudden pain sparks through me as something clamps on my nipple.I let out a yelp.
“Shh...”he hisses, as he pegs the other nipple.My body stiffens, trying to accept the pain.I feel what I assume to be a multi-tailed flogger trail a path from my thighs to my feet—almost ticklish—tempting me to relax, but I know what to expect.
Like a prophecy, it comes as a whip on my thigh.Pain spirals through me.Another lash connects with my other thigh, and I buckle upward, half trying to break loose from my captivity.
“Do I need to remind you of how to behave?”
“No, Master,” I grit out.
“Am I treating you badly?”
“No, Master.I love how you hurt me,” I cry between my uneven breaths.
