Page 9 of Our Darling Isabelle

“He’s such a sweet boy.” She whispers. She is a picture-perfect old lady, cooing about one leader of the Barone mafia.

“You’ve got to be fucking with me.” I mumble and she waves the feather duster in my face.

“Don’t try to be fresh with me. Those boys are my life and I do anything I can to ensure they get whatever they want.” She sounds like a protective grandmother, and I almost feel guilty for thinking of asking her to help me escape.

“I don’t think Markus has ever been told the word no,” I mumble. She bursts out laughing and nods. “Their Mama, God rest her soul, spoiled them rotten before I came along. I certainly added to it. But they’re good boys, in their own way.” She just said two murderous kidnappers leaders were good boys. I give her the side eye and she swats my backside with the duster.

“Don’t give me that look. Now let’s stop wasting time and get to workin’.” She says before picking up a bucket full of cleaning supplies and nodding at a similar one for me.

Five hours later, I am soaked in sweat and panting as I struggle to pull a fitted sheet over a California king sized bed. Miranda patiently taught me the cleaning process when we started. It helps that I grew up taking care of myself and home because my mother rarely ever did. While we worked, she avoided most conversation other than to point out any bit of dust I may have missed, until she deemed me ready and sent me off to clean Markus’ room.

His room is comfortable, the walls are a dark forest green with gray trim. Both of his dressers are gray and the bed I’m currently fighting with is a black iron four-poster bed. They live like kings; no wonder he thinks he can have whatever he wants. Spoiled brats.

Giving up on the sheet, I throw a plush gray blanket over the bed and straighten it out. Smiling to myself, I stack pillows up at the headboard and blow out my exhausted breath. Before I turn to leave, the nightstand catches my eye. Thrown on top are a handful of thick men’s rings, a huge silver watch and a very worn jewelry box. Glancing back at the door, I decide to take a peek around the dark room. Careful not to make any noise, I pick the jewelry box up and swing it open, my eyebrows shooting up at the ring that sits in the plush red velvet. It’s a beautiful piece of jewelry, with a modest ruby set in the middle of twisting metal that looks like delicate vines wrapping a rose.

Somebody reaches around me to snatch the box from my hand while their hand clamps over my mouth before I can scream. I try to jump away, my startled shriek muffled against the calloused palm, but I’m pinned to a solid chest.

“Snooping through our belongings?” Alec’s deep voice cuts through me. I stop squirming as his breath fans my cheek when he leans around me to drop the box back on the nightstand. His hand grips my neck and twists my head sideways, just enough to cause a small twinge of pain before he stops. Alec releases me, but I’m too scared to tilt my head back up and look at him.

“I don’t want you here. You don’t want to be here. So just try your best to not piss me off. Got it, sweetheart?” His voice is low, dangerous and sends goosebumps across my skin for all the wrong reasons. Alec takes a deep breath and pulls me tighter to his chest. Slowly lowering his hand, he brushes my hair back and drags his finger across the scar on my face. It spans from just in front of my left ear and down the curve of my jaw. I grip his arm tightly in my hands as I try to push my feelings back, along with his touch.

“What happened here?” His voice is lighter as he lets me go, and I almost whine at the loss of contact. Alec’s large body was warm and inviting. Apparently, I’m all kinds of screwed up.

“Don’t worry about it.” My voice is hoarse and I’m staring at the floor, waiting for it to open up and swallow me. His hand snakes out and grips my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

“I asked a question, so answer me.” He snaps, stepping closer and pressing my legs against the bed.

“Some guy my mom was dating. He was a mean drunk and pulled a knife on me when I tried to protect her,” I bit out, wishing I could just leave his pitying look and my shame behind. Alec’s forehead creases slightly before he drops my face and storms out of the room. When your kidnapper is disgusted with you, then you’ve really made it in life. I suck in a deep breath, realizing I was nearly panting. Markus is standing in the doorway, watching me curiously. Embarrassment heats my cheeks as I look away.

“That was our mother’s, kitten. I thought he was going to break your neck just for touching it. You should be more careful.” He tsks before walking in and leaning on the bedpost.

“You thought he was going to kill me and didn’t think to step in?” I snap at him. He steps up in a flash and shoves me backwards onto the bed, keeping his hand flat on my chest as he leans over me.

“Make no mistake, I will protect you. I plan to keep you in one piece. But that is my brother, and no one will ever come between us.” His eyes trail down my body and he sucks in a deep breath. My face turns red when I see my skirt has ridden up and my panties are out in full view. As I try to cover myself, Markus seizes my hands and kneels between my feet, looking up at me through his thick lashes.

“What are you doing?” I squeak out as he bites my thigh. A dark chuckle comes from him before he pulls his belt off and uses it to secure my hands together. A small voice inside is whispering that I should stop this. But the flutter between my thighs is calling the shots right now.

“Don’t move until I tell you to,” He commands, and my mouth drops open as he drags his knuckles over the sheer fabric covering me a few times before pressing harder. A conflict stirs within my mind and I breathe in deeply. How can it feel so good and be so wrong?

Pain jolts me from my thoughts, drawing a startled hiss from my lips as I look down to see him pinching my clit through the fabric with no warning. He shakes his head at me and puts a finger to his lips to warn me to stay quiet. I drop my head back and bite my lip as he pulls my panties to the side and groans. My body is frozen, my mind screaming to stop him, but fear has locked my muscles. Would he even stop if I begged, I wonder?

“This is so wrong.” I say under my breath and he smirks at me.

“Is it? Look at how wet you get for me.” His voice is so low I almost don’t hear him before he drags his fingers through the slickness between my folds and blows out a breath that sends an ache through my core.

“You aren’t going to make a sound while I taste how sweet you are. If you interrupt me, I’ll make this agony for both of us.” He warns just before his tongue strokes me, and I hiss a breath in. A small whimper slips from between my clenched teeth as he sucks on my clit. He lifts my leg up to rest on his shoulder, then delivers a hard slap to my ass that makes me cry out.

“I’m barely holding myself back, so unless you want me to bend you over and fuck you until you scream, you better close those pretty lips.” His voice carries a dark note within it, one full of promise. I lift my head up to watch as he slowly lowers his mouth and drags his tongue down the soft skin on the inside of my thigh before turning his head to do the same on the other one. His eyes hold mine as he carefully places a kiss between my legs before suddenly plunging his tongue inside of me. My head falls back onto the plush bed as his soft chuckle brushes across my body.

This is making the best of the worst situation, right? I try to reason with myself, even as a small part of me screams at how dangerous this is. His tongue circles my clit slowly, silencing my thoughts as pleasure builds. Markus slides a finger inside of me, curling it and bringing me closer to the edge while sparks dance behind my eyes.

“That’s right, purr for me.” He hums. I bring my hands up, biting into the stiff leather to help silence my panted moans, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

Markus switches between soft gentle bites to swirling his tongue along the sensitive spot and adds another finger inside me. He picks up the pace and adds more pressure, chasing my ecstasy for me. Unable to stop myself, I raise my hips to ride his fingers. My legs begin shaking as it builds to an almost painful tilt before he lifts his head and uses his thumb to stroke my clit.

“There isn’t a sight in this world more beautiful than watching you fuck yourself on my fingers.” He whispers before biting into my thigh, hard. The pain and pleasure combined with his words are nearly too much to bear as tears sting my eyes.

“Be a good girl and come for me,” He growls, curling his fingers harder inside of me. That single command is the last thing it takes to drag me over the edge. Pleasure ripples through my body as I clench around his fingers. My moans are barely muffled by the belt in my mouth that is holding my hands so tightly my fingers are tingling.

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