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“Yes. You’re mine.” As if to highlight the point, he thrusts inside me, the power of it causing me to cry out and gasp.“Elena.” His voice is tortured as he pulls my hands over my head, his fingers entwining with mine. “Mine.” Then his lips are on mine, and sensations and emotions sweep through me. I’ve never kissed a man before, so I don’t know what I should have expected, but this isn’t it. His kiss is hard, rough, demanding. Not soft and sweet like I see on TV. Not that it’s bad, it’s just not what I’d expected.
He starts moving, his lips drawing down my neck, sucking my nipple. All thought leaves, replaced by sensation over sensation. My body feels like it’s lighting up from the inside out. Warmth. Electricity. Pleasure. All swirling together, coalescing in my center.
He pushes back to his knees, his large hands gripping my hips, lifting them as he drives into me, again and again. My fingers grip the sheets, holding on tightly as I near destruction.
“Say it,” he demands.
I can’t think, much less understand what he means.
“Say it, dammit, Elena. Tell me you’re mine.” He releases me, lies over me again, his face just inches from mine as he continues to move in and out of me. “Say it.”
“I’m yours.”
His head rears back, and he thrusts hard, grinding against me. The movement shoots me to the stars. The most delicious flood of pleasure slides through me. He continues to move, drawing out the pleasure. Finally, he stops, rolling off me.
We lie side by side, our breaths coming in heaving gasps. When his breath has turned to normal, he turns toward me.
“From now on, you stay here. With me, do you understand? I’ll provide for all your needs. All your enjoyments. You’ll be happy here,cara mia.”
I finally understand what he’s saying. He’s claiming me. At first, I want to grab on to him and tell him that I’m his. Theproblem is that he’s taking me whether I want him to or not. It’s still not my choice.
“What if I don’t want that?”
His eyes darken, and he jerks away, leaving the bed. Naked, he stalks over to the bottle, taking another long drink.
“You’d rather have Romeo? Used as a debt payment by your father.”
“You know I don’t. I want freedom to make my own decisions.”
“Freedom,” he sneers. “You know what freedom will get you, Elena? A grave. Do you really think you could walk out of here and live without a care in the world? There is no place, not even with your sister, that you’ll be safe. Not without my protection. I’ve given you more than any man would, and you toss it away. I’m not good enough for you, is that it?”
“No. It’s not about you?—”
“No. I guess not.”
“Niko.” I get out of bed, wrapping the sheet around me. “Do you really just want to take me, not caring what I want? Against my will? Wouldn’t you rather be with someone who chooses you?”
His jaw tightens. “You won’t choose me. You don’t want this life.”
He’s right. All the moments I’ve been vacillating, considering changing my mind, have been because I do care for him, but I could never give myself over as his property. I’d lose respect for myself.
“I want to make my own choices.”
“What will it take for you to choose me?”
His words make my heart ache. He turns away, and I’m sure he’s wishing he didn’t reveal so much.
“I don’t know,” I say.
He goes to the bathroom. I consider following him but then decide he needs time. When he returns, he gets dressed.
“What are you doing?”
He says nothing, so I wait. When he’s finally dressed, he looks at me sitting on the bed. “Fine. You’re free. For right now, of course, you need to stay here. If you leave here, your father or the Abates or some other family will take you, and I promise you, Elena, they won’t be as good to you as I’ve been. But when this is done, your father and Tiberius are dead, and Romeo too, then you can go to Italy with your sister. I’ll offer whatever support the Contis need to keep you safe.”
My heart is thundering in my chest. I want to leap into his arms. Again, I want to tell him I’m going to stay, but I can’t.
“Just know that even there, you’ll be guarded. You won’t be able to move about the real people as you hope. The truth is, you can’t live without the threat of other Families.”
