Page 21 of His to Hold

“Leo comes in. He has a gun.” This is where the dream deviates from reality. When I look at the body, it isn’t Rico, but Antonio. “He shoots me and I wake up.”

“He shoots you?” Antonio muses. “Is that what you think he should have done?”

“No, of course not. It’s what I was afraid he’d do.”

“He wouldn’t have shot you.”

“I thought he would, but he was actually kind to me, gentle.”

Antonio’s eyebrows reach toward the ceiling. Kind and gentle aren’t words usually associated with his brother. “Leo was gentle with you?”

I can’t help grinning at the obvious surprise in his voice. “Yes, he could see the state I was in.”

“Yeah, you were pretty upset.”

My husband furrows his brow as if he can’t fathom why I was in distress after killing Rico. I shake my head in despair.

“I guess it’s easy for you to take a life.”

“No, Bella, it’s never easy, but it is often necessary.” He reaches over to stroke my cheek. “What else can I do when someone hurts my family?”

I shudder, knowing that he counts me among the people who’ve betrayed him. “Antonio.”

Before I can issue any plea for him to show me mercy, he places a finger on my lips.

“Don’t worry, Bella. I’m not going to kill you, but I do intend to get some answers from you.”

“Okay, untie me. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

He shakes his head and a wicked grin spreads across his lips. “Oh, Bella, where’s the fun in that?”

My stomach twists in a tight knot as Antonio reaches down the side of the bed and picks up a black leather gym bag. Fear spikes my pulse and I tug at my restraints. I can’t help feeling whatever he has in that bag won’t be fun for me.

“Are you planning to torture me?”

“Not in the way you think.”

Well, that’s reassuring—not. Antonio draws something out of the bag. Horror grips me when I realize it’s a ball gag. I open my mouth to protest, but Antonio isn’t interested in hearing my protests. Before I can utter a word, he shoves the hard silicone ball between my teeth and fastens the leather straps around the back of my head. He manages the task with insulting ease. I spit out a series of insults against his manhood, but all I do is create an unintelligible babbling sound. I grunt in annoyance. If Antonio wants answers, silencing me like this seems counterproductive.

The next things out of his bag of dirty tricks are a large silver butt plug and a bottle of lubricant. I guess I should be grateful he isn’t going to shove that thing inside me without anything to ease the way.

“Lift your legs,” Antonio instructs me. “Pull your knees up to your chest and keep them there.”

My stomach muscles grumble as I do as I’m told. Antonio unscrews the cap from the bottle of lubricant and massages some around my rear hole before spreading more over the plug.

“Relax,” he tells me. “Slow, deep breaths.”

I can’t help rolling my eyes. Does Antonio have any idea how hard it is to take steadying breaths with a gag in my mouth? I doubt he cares. The tip of the plug presses against my bottom and I try not to tense up. Staring at a fixed point on the ceiling, I focus on inhaling and exhaling slowly. As the plug pushes past the tight ring of muscle in my bottom, I can’t help squirming. Antonio makes soothing noises, calming me as he gets the plug all the way in.

“Does that feel good?” Antonio asks.

I shake my head. Though having that thing inside me isn’t painful, it’s not exactly pleasant either. It’s mainly psychological. It makes me feel like a deviant. My upbringing is to blame for that. My mother acted as if vanilla sex was depraved.

“Lower your legs. I want your feet flat on the bed.”

In no position to refuse his orders, I do as he asked, spreading my feet apart, because I’m sure that’s what he wants. Antonio’s approving nod confirms I’ve pleased him.

There’s no time to bask in the ridiculous satisfaction that gives me as Antonio reaches into the leather bag once more. This time, he takes out a vibrator. With a purple silicone shaft, it’s one of those with the rabbit ears for clit stimulation. I swallow hard around the gag as he switches it on and the air fills with a loud hum.

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