“Good girl. Now, kiss it,” he ordered. I forced away the confusion and kissed the end of his cock before lapping my tongue across his slit again, ready to take him all the way down again. I needed it. Desperately. My fingers moved between my legs, under my sundress to my throbbing clit.
His hand fisted in my hair, pulling me back, not harshly but firmly. “Enough,” he groaned.
I frowned up at him as he shoved his dick back in his trousers and did up his fly.
“You don’t get to finish what you started. Not when you forgot who this mouth belongs to. And you don’t get me in it again until you remember. But at least now the last thing you kissed was my dick and not him.”
He buckled his belt over his raging erection while I stared up at him in complete shock. That was my punishment for kissing Callum? I thought he was going tofuck my throat senseless, use me mercilessly until I was bruised, but this was so much worse. He was giving me a taste and leaving me craving more.
He smirked down at me, his anger dissolving into something far more dangerous. “And you lied to me,Bella Ribelle. You'll be punished for that, too. No woman who hates sucking dick makes sounds like that. Or does it that well.”
Despite myself, my lips twitched with amusement. I was totally busted, and I wasn't mad about it.
“Cazzo,” he groaned, half-laughing as he dragged his hand down his face. “So all this attitude, all this madness—” He leaned closer, his voice low. “You just want me to punish you again.”
“That’s not true,” I argued, but even as I said the words, I doubted them.
“Don’t you see what this is yet,Ribelle? You’re not trying to push me away,” he said softly against my lips. “You’re begging for me.”
And then he walked away, leaving me foaming at the mouth and knowing I was well and truly corrupted.
Serendipity
By the evening, I was still reeling from Santino’s ‘punishment’ of denying me his dick, and furious that my clit hadn’t stopped aching since. But I refused to let him win. I spent the day acting as if nothing had happened, ignoring Santino’s attempts to flirt and seduce me with his nakedness, filthy innuendos, and infuriatingly charismatic presence, and did everything in my power to drive him up the wall instead.
Iaccidentallyput all his expensive white shirts in the wash with my red lingerie, so he now owns seven salmon-coloured shirts. His reaction? Tugging one on for the day and telling me I’m right, that pink really is his colour. Fail.
Knowing how much he liked things neat and in order, I left the lights on, left drawers cracked open, moved chairs at the wrong angle, swapped his sock drawer with his underwear drawer, and swapped his underwear drawer with his watch drawer. That’s when he started tallying on a piece of paper he kept in his pocket, refusing to tell me what he was doing. That put me on edge, but it also made me more determined to make him crack.
I’d even interrupted his meeting with two scary-looking men by constantly popping my head around the door to ask inappropriate questions and embarrass him in front of them. But the only reaction that granted me wasa few more tally marks on the paper as he said, “You’d best start behaving, Ribellina,or I’ll collect on every single one of these marks later.”
I licked my lips, holding his gaze while my insides trembled with the thrill of his threat. There was teasing him… and then there wasteasinghim. Both were equally dangerous. I’ve avoided him ever since.
Running my hands down the curves of my baby pink dress, I pushed the nerves away at the prospect of tonight’s dinner with mypapi.Honestly, I’d rather not be going at all. No good could come of this.
I thought it would put my mind at ease that it was a public meeting, seeing as they couldn’t kill each other, but it only made the whole thing a hundred times more nerve-wracking. People would recognise them. Everyone’s eyes would be onour table.
My phone started vibrating on the velvet stool beside me, and I stared at the caller ID, feeling those pesky nerves flare even more. Callum. I had avoided his calls so far by replying to his texts asking if I was okay. But I couldn’t ignore him forever. I knew I had to explain myself, but I had no clue what to say.
“Callum, hi.”
“You answered.”
“Sí.”I stared at my reflection in the full-length mirror of Santino’s dressing room and played with a few waves of my hair, combing them over my shoulder. “Sorry, I missed your calls.”
“That must mean you’re alone? He’s not around?”
I glanced around the corner into the empty bedroom. “He’s around. Just not with me right now. I’m sorry. I should have spoken to you sooner. I know I owe you a huge apology for what happened, and I—”
“You don’t, Aria. I’m not a fool. He blackmailed you into marrying him. He probably threatened the lives of Piero, Allegra, and me. Am I right?”
I bit down on my bottom lip, glancing back at the door.
“Your silence is answer enough. Has he hurt you?”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I promise. He’s been…” Irresistible. Honest. Funny. Sexy as hell. “…surprisingly nice to me.”
Callum sighed, but it didn’t sound like relief. “Don’t fall for it, Aria. He’s acting. He’s buttering you up so you’ll turn on your father. He needs you by his side to control Piero. Once you’re no longer of use to him, what do you think will happen to you?”
