Page 16 of Ruthless Passion

I wince under the pain, but I can't stop the surge of desire coursing through my body. Josephine's into it, her pupils dilating from the high of commanding me. She yanks me by the hair to drag me onto my knees, putting me face-to-face with her crotch.

"Take my jeans off, Luca." I reach to undo them when she yanks me back, slapping me gently across the cheek, and saying, "Carefully."

I try not to show my amusement, staying in the moment. The soft scent of her arousal mixing with a delicate aroma of cherries and lavender greets me as I reveal her lace-clad pussy. My mouth waters being this close and wanting nothing more than to cover her mound with my lips.

"Stay." Josephine says with authority as she walks over to the bed, facing the view and sitting on the edge. "Crawl to me."

I do as she tells me, crawling on my hands and knees until I'm sitting in front of her like a dutiful sexual servant. Apprehension creeps into her expression. I take a moment to reassure her. "Anything you want, Josephine. I'll do anything you want."

7

JOSEPHINE

Who the fuck lets someone do whatever they want to them?

I'm not sure if this is honesty or manipulation.

"No one can know about this," I tell him as he kneels in front of me.

Luca lets out a gentle sigh, pushing himself to his feet to stand up, taking back control of the moment. He holds his hand out to me. I take it and move off the bed.

"No one will know about this except for us," he says. "I want you to take out some of your frustrations."

"Physically."

"You're a woman."

I scoff. "I can tell that you've noticed."

My eyes drop to his crotch where an erection is pending.

He hooks a finger under my chin, lifting it so his gaze latches onto mine when he says, "When's the last time you stood up for yourself or got angry with a man without fear of retaliation? I'm not talking about family or men you trust. I'm talking about a complete stranger. Or maybe someone who helped create a human with you that took nine years of your life and walked then away from you both."

That's a dagger to my pride and ego. I never stood up to Duke. I bent every time he wanted to change something. I'm ‘go with the flow, Jo’. The all too familiar sensation of tingling in the corners of my eyes show me tears are threatening to fall.

"Slap me, Jo. Don't hold back," he commands.

My eyes drop to my hand, and then shift to stare at his fingers. Every natural instinct tells me not to hit him because this ends badly in any other situation. However, courage pushes against my apprehension.

Luca nods and takes a step back. He drops to his knees once again and puts his hands under his shins.

"Fucking slap me, Jo," he commands, harsher than before. "Do you need me to get you out of your head? Do you want me to make you angry?"

"You might have to. I don't have the centuries of rage Cadence the Siren does."

"Remember the word, starlight," he says. "If this gets too intense, even after we start, tell me to stop by saying ‘starlight’ so there's no confusion. We can even stop now if you want."

"I don't want to stop," I tell him.

There's a whirlwind of emotions wrapping around me like a tornado. Fear over doing anything to a man like Luca who is clearly able to overpower me whenever he wants. Anticipation makes my mouth salivate at the trust he's handing to me. Lust has my nipples hardening at the idea of the possibility I might enjoy this.

"Then stop hesitating and fucking hit me, bitch!" he snarls.

The sudden shift in his demeanor, the impatience of his tone, the anger over nine years of dealing with a man who never wanted me or Jett, plows into me like a freight train. I pull my arm back and swing wide. The sound of my hand striking Luca's face echoes around the room.

He grunts as I knock him to my left a few inches, forcing his right hand to move from under his shin. Fear shoves away everything else, but quickly dissolves when his core tenses as he jams his hand back under his shin.

My pulse races as I drop to my knees to look at his face. Luca moves his jaw from side-to-side, pain rides his face before he smiles at me.

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