The whispers were there, talking about fucking the girl until she broke. Poor girl, whoever she was.
Domenico’s expression hardened and he disappeared deep into the darkness.
A minute later a growl erupted from deep in the shadows, and Domenico burst into the low light.
Finally.
With each heavily placed footfall the need for him grew. I leaned back, my eyes never leaving him, pinching my nipple over my shirt between two fingers.
Yes.
There was a cacophony of sounds around me—men talking, some cheering—but all I could hear was the beat of my heart and the clang of the lock turning. I could feel everything and wanted only one thing.
Of all the men who came and went, only one had me in his clutches. Hypnotized by his eyes, humbled by his command, and left craving the warmth of his touch.
But the man before me was la Bestia in all his furious glory. Fear pumped through me, and I pulled away when he reached for me.
There was no avoiding him, and I was yanked to my feet and pulled through the door. The concussive wave that pulsed through me upon contact with his chest left my knees weak. I couldn’t make sense of where my limbs were.
He spun me in his arms, back to chest, and my head fell against his shoulder. One arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me up, and the other gripped my jaw so that I was looking straight at ten men.
They all had the look in their eyes, the one I’d seen so many times from the stage, the one I’d seen in the eyes of my father’s guards, the one that wanted to tear me apart for their own sexual gratification.
“Ella seems to want to give you a show.”
His hands. His hands.
A moan slipped from my lips when Domenico’s fingers slipped between my jeans and my flesh, not stopping until he was cupping my pussy. I shuddered in his arms.
I could hear everything but make nothing of it. Every neuron was focused on his touch.
A loud moan left me when he pinched my clit before sliding down my slit and roughly shoving his fingers inside. My whole body convulsed at the overwhelming sensation. I was so wet for him, so ready to be filled by him.
“This is for your own good,” he whispered in my ear. A shudder rolled through me at his gruff voice so close, every nerve lighting up.
My mind whirled, trying to understand. Not just him, but my response. How could this be good for me?
But I wanted it. I wanted him.
To take me, to fuck me with all the power that flowed through him.
“If I don’t, they will.” If he doesn’t, they will what?
He seemed to answer my unspoken question.
I chanced a glance over to our audience, at their hungry eyes devouring me. They all wished they were him. I knew the world, the way those men thought. They were bottom-feeders, and they destroyed everything thrown at them.
They wanted me, but la Bestia had me.
He walked us over to the table, and each step ignited me further. My eyes threatened to roll back as my breath came out in pants.
A groan of displeasure left me when his fingers retreated.
“No,” I whimpered. I needed his touch, his hands, to help with the fire that was spreading through me. Only he could put it out—I just knew it.
He spun me around and picked me up before dumping me on the table. His fingers worked my button and zipper, then yanked my jeans from me, throwing them on the ground.
I never stopped watching him. I heard the others, felt their eyes, but none of it could take me from him.
A growl left him as he fisted my panties and pulled. The force lifted me before the fabric tore. He grabbed my leg and dragged me to the end of the table. Each unintended swipe across my skin only charged me more, my mind completely consumed.
I barely noticed him pressing in when my whole body exploded. My eyes were wide, back arched as he thrust into me without mercy. I was coming hard around him. The ruthlessness of his possession only drew it out into a never-ending spiral.
The situation was all wrong. The man above me was wrong, but every millimeter that our skin touched sent my whole body reeling with pleasure.
I choked on a sob, my body rocking with each thrust of his hips. He felt so good.
He bunched up my tank top and yanked it off. One hand gripped my breast hard.
The minions cheered him on in the background. I could hear them egging on their leader to hurt me more, to fuck me hard. To break me.
And I did break. If just for that moment, I did. Every touch was an explosion, every thrust setting off a bomb from the inside.
My mind was overwhelmed, consumed by the desire for him to never stop. I was coming again and again. There was nothing left of my mind. Just a sack of flesh and bones lost in a sea of never-ending lust.
His hand moved up and gripped my neck. Our eyes met, and I couldn’t look away, mesmerized by the fire that burned back at me.
He let out a roar, his teeth bared as his hips slammed against mine a final time. My skin still tingled, but I couldn’t move, completely spent.
After a moment or two he pulled out. A whimper left me, desperate to have him touch me again.
“She’s mine,” Domenico yelled out to the room. The sound reverberated off the blank walls, deep and sharp at the same time, and it made many of the men jump. “Nobody touches her but me. If you don’t understand or you forget, I will remind you.”
My head lolled to the side. There were smiles and cheers, but there were also frowns. In the back, bright-blue eyes I knew so well morphed into pure hatred, in total contrast to the rest of the group.
I blinked, slowly, then again.
Roman was gone.
The cold began to seep in, my skin slick with sweat as exhaustion blanketed me. My eyes drifted closed just before Domenico’s strong arms slipped under me and carried me away.
Fighting the sleep in my eyes was hard. My mind was foggy, weighed down. Something said it was better to sleep, but something else nagged at me.
As I surfaced, the nagging began to slowly become apparent. From the pounding that turned into a thumping in my head, to the nerves firing off around my body and the cold that was seeping into my skin, it all paled to the ache between my legs.
The putrid smell of decay filled my senses as I roused, ever the reminder that I was nothing more than a caged animal.
As my senses awakened, cold seeped down to the bone. Cracking an eye open, I found that I was lying naked atop the grimy mattress. The blanket was haphazardly lying across my body. It shielded little and warmed almost nothing.
When my eyes were able to focus, there was only one thing in my view. His silver eyes stared at me, and their shiny surface gave nothing away.
The memories were sluggish and fuzzy, but two things were obvious in the light of day: I’d been drugged at some point—just before my captor had had sex with me.
I’d used ecstasy once before and understood what I’d been given. Understood the sex that I’d had with Domenico had been chemically heightened. I could deny the truth all I wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that sex with him was the best I’d ever had—chemically induced or not.
Still, questions whirled through my mind, and I wondered if it was a mercy. Why had he drugged me? So that I wouldn’t remember? But then he should have just given me ketamine or one of the other multiple date-rape concoctions out there if he was going to drug me. Did he want my struggles as much as my surrender? He wanted me desperate for his touch, but why? To feed his own ego, to make what was happening easier on me, or simply to entertain the men watching?