Page 81 of Sin & Sapphire

“Crawl,” I commanded her, striding off to the room I’d ordered prepared for her.

She dropped to her hands and knees, and I fought the urge to turn and watch her as she followed me, the expanse of her creamy skin screaming for the flick of my whip, her gorgeous hips swaying and waiting for the strap of my belt. She already wore my marks, and she’d wear more.

She’d scream for me.

She’d beg for the pain.

And then she’d beg for both of our cocks.

I was done with coddling this brat. The room I’d requested be prepared for her was empty. No furniture, nothing but tile floors and a light fixture on the ceiling. There was no bathroom, no toilet, nothing but four walls covered in forest-green paint and a bucket if she needed to relieve herself.

“In,” I snapped. She’d been so fucking good, so docile for the last several hours, and as much as I wanted to reward her for her repudiation of the Russo puppy, her training had to begin.

Ana crawled past me, her shoulders stiffening as she looked around the room. She rose to her knees and looked at me, her eyes wide and confused.

“Stay.”

I shut the door and slumped against the wall where she couldn’t see me. The little siren didn’t need to know her body called to me, how I ached to cover her in welts and bruises, claiming her for myself as much as for Angelo.

No, it was better for everyone this way. We’d take away her free will, slowly stripping away her sense of self, until she was a perfect toy for Angelo and me. She wouldn’t want to misbehave. She wouldn’t need to, because she’d learn to crave the attention that good behavior got her.

And then we’d figure out what the fuck to do with her in the long term.

Ash and bloodcovered Angelo when he returned, but he waved off my concern. “It’s not mine,” he snapped. “I need her.”

“She won’t be ready for a few more days, at least,” I told him. Deprivation first, the cruelest punishment. No company. No one to talk to. No intellectual stimulation. Until she begged for mercy. We should have been firmer about that in the first place.

“We discussed this,” Angelo reminded me with a frown.

We had, while she slept on the plane, a shadow of the vibrant woman we’d known, so worried that we’d drug her that she’d submitted without question. I’d take her training in hand while Angelo let off some steam chasing down the assholes Tchérnov sent to attack him here in Yorkfield, and then we’d bring her out to play.

Together.

“The compound is a wreck.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “The safes were cracked open and the weapons cache empty.”

“And Gio’s records?”

“Gone, along with my mother’s piano,” he said softly, pulling out his phone and showing me a photo of the charred wreckage.

“Merde. I’m sorry.”

“I need a shower.”

I followed him, the vacant look in his eyes worrying me as much as the blood he was covered in.

“Who’d you murder?”

“Russian dogs,” he sneered as he dropped his clothes to the floor. I admired the hard cut of his body, the lines of the black tattoos that covered his chest and arms.

“Are they going to show up knocking on our door for revenge tonight?”

He turned to look at me, arms crossed over his chest, emphasizing the size of his biceps and shoulders. “Do you think I’m an idiot?” His face softened as he looked at me. “You’re worried.”

“We should marry her off and be done with it,” I said, surprised at the regret pushing at my chest as I said it.

“No,” Angelo snapped. “I—” He stopped and looked at me, before turning on the shower. “I’m more centered when she’s here.”

That Angelo had a need for her outside of his decade long obsession was something I hadn’t considered prior to now. He’d grown increasingly unhinged as time went on, and if Ana could bring him back?Merde.

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