Page 15 of Pain and Pleasure

“Ricky, I have some designs stored here that I would love to have you look over with me. Come.” She stands and Ricky swallows the rest of his wine before eagerly following her out of the room. Dante and I are left in a silence that is anything but uncomfortable. His hand goes to my knee, resting over my stocking where my dress opens up.

“You look enchanting tonight, Emmie. Increíblemente divina.”Incredibly divine.

His hand moves from my knee up the length of my thigh, his rough fingers skimming the lace tops of my stockings and clips of my garters. His eyes widen slightly, lust filling them and bringing them back to their beautiful amber glow. It makes me catch my breath, my skin tingling where his fingers circle.

“Tell me, Esmeralda, did you dress up just for me? Or for my greedy brother and his business partners?” There’s a small tinge of jealousy in his voice and it confuses me, but not for long because my mind trails off again as his fingers travel further up my thigh. My head tilts back and his other hand goes to my neck, his thumb caressing up and down the length of my throat.

“For you,” I whisper. “Always for you.” I feel silly for saying that, but his sudden jealousy feels even more ridiculous than my admission.

He approves of it anyway, growling out his approval as leans forward, his head dipping down below the table, lips kissing up my stocking covered leg. His lips meet where his fingers rest on the tops of my thigh, his tongue tracing the lace of my stocking. He bites the garter with his teeth and it slaps back against my thigh as he releases it, causing a moan to escape from my throat.

His head pops back up, his nose meeting mine as the hand he has on my neck tightens around my delicate skin. I don’t feel scared, it doesn’t hurt or make me feel trapped. It excites me, making a fresh pool of wetness gather in between my thighs. He yanks my neck forward, his tongue creeping out of his mouth to slide hotly against my lips, tracing the outline of them. He tastes of wine and herbs, the combination heady and making me breathless.

“Why do you tease me, Esmeralda? Do you want me to treat you like a delicate, little bird? Because with the way you carry yourself, with the way that you just fucking exist, I want to be anything but gentle with you.”

His voice is so dark and low that it calls me to a place that I never thought I would want to go. It beckons me to the dark halls of his mind, where all of his unspoken desires lie. I find that I don’t just want to walk through those halls, but rather sink into them and let them carry me all the way through, learning and indulging in everything both dark and unspoken from him.

“I don’t want you to be gentle, Dante. I just want you to have me, in whatever way that you want to have me.”

His eyes snap to mine and hold me with amber fire, his voice pure charcoal as he speaks again.

“I don’t think you mean that, pequeña. Because if you meant that, you’d be running for the hills once you find out about what I want to do to you. When you find out about all of the beautiful ways that I want to destroy you.”

He bites my bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth and soothing the bite with his tongue. I want him to destroy me, in all the best possible ways. Because he’s already destroyed me in the worst ways, so why not get some pleasure from it?

“Show me, Dante. I want to know. I want to feel it, feel all of you.”

He tilts his head back away from my face, eyeing me carefully before he speaks again.

“My bedroom. Now.”

8

Esmeralda

The walkto his bedroom is both quick and quiet.

The nerves and butterflies mixed in my stomach like a cocktail. He opens his bedroom door and immediately pulls me inside, slamming his door shut behind us. He walks me to his bed, the backs of my thighs touching his velvet duvet. The color is a rich burgundy and his bed is almost twice the size of mine. The bedposts are tall and black, a black canopy stretched across the tops of them.

I notice there are red silk ties around the black posts. I was immediately tense. Not because of the prospect of using them, but because of the realization that they've probably been tied around multiple women's wrists.

"Something bothering you, princess?" he asked me. His fingers go to my throat, caressing the spot where my pulse thumps. I swallow and look him in the eyes, trying to appear confident.

"How many women have been here? Tied to the bed with those?" I don't miss the tremor in my voice and neither does he. His only reaction though is a short laugh.

"So quick to assume, pequeña. Though, I don't blame you. My track record isn't exactly that of a saint…"

He trails off, but my eyes blind at his comment. He notices my change in mood and pushes me back onto the bed, the warm velvet of the duvet caressing the exposed skin of my shoulders. It's like falling into a cloud. A dirty, used cloud. He sinks to his knees and begins to rub up and down my legs, pushing my dress further and further up with each movement.

"I've brought no woman here, Esmeralda, and I certainly have not tied them to this bed. I own a number of clubs and hotels, so I don't need to bring my personal matters into my own house."

He kisses up my legs, his hot mouth soaking the fabric of my stockings. My eyes roll into the back of my head and my hips rise in response.

"This is all for you, pequeña. To see how beautifully you'll break for me."

I can't respond, his fingers and mouth are too busy rendering me speechless. It makes my skin tighten and my body tremble. He picks up on every one of my movements, on each of my breaths. And he revels in it, growling in deep approval.

"Take my dress off," I whisper. He laughs at the sound of my neediness. It doesn't embarrass me, it makes me feel wanton.

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