I’d love nothing more than to punch his fucking face in, but his words cause my anxiety to spike. I rush out into the direction he pointed along a path that leads between some villas. My dress shoes splatter in puddles on the stone in my quest to find her. As minutes pass without finding her, I’m getting more and more pissed.
It’s like she forgets who she married sometimes.
I’m a monster.
She’s called me this many times. It’s not my fucking fault she has a hard time remembering it. I hear sobbing nearby, ratcheting up my nerves.
“Talia,” I call out. “Come here.”
“No,” she barks out.
I see a flash of white in the darkness and chase after it. A squeal erupts from her as she tries to outrun me, which is futile. I’ll always catch her. I’ll always find her.
She darts through some bushes into the backyard of someone’s villa. I push through the shrubs and catch her running around their small pool. I charge after her, nearly making it to her, when she slides out of the yard on the other side. Once outside of the yard, she runs up some stone steps, but she’s losing steam. I’m nearly to her when she slips and lands hard on her knee. A choked sob rattles from her, cutting me to the bone. Without a word, I scoop her soaked and trembling body into my arms. She’s lost the fight.
My fight still burns inside me.
I storm back to our villa. She whimpers when I push inside and then slam the door shut with my foot. My chest heaves with fury. I just want to strip her down, fuck her senseless, and remind her who she belongs to. I’ve barely set her on her feet when she takes off running again. This time, she makes it into the closet where she starts angrily ripping off her jewelry.
“Calm the fuck down,” I roar, stomping in after her.
Her blond hair is darker now that it’s wet and plastered to her head. Black makeup runs down her cheeks and she’s red-faced from crying. Lips that were once red are now looking kind of blue from the cold rain.
“Take that dress off,” I command.
She needs a hot shower and a good dicking to calm her down.
“F-Fuck you,” she chatters out.
I pounce on her and twist her around, bending her over the island in the closet. She screams when I unzip her dress. Forcefully, I rip the offending material off her body and it falls heavily to her feet. Her body trembles from the cold and adrenaline. I rip off her panties next and then her shoes, the entire time with her fighting me. When I’ve had enough, I yank her wrists back and gather them with one hand.
“Stop flipping the fuck out,” I demand.
She squirms and wriggles to no avail. I press my hard dick against the crack of her ass, letting her feel through my slacks what she does to me even when she’s pissing me the fuck off.
“I hate you,” she sobs.
“No, you don’t, goddammit.”
I unbuckle my slacks and send them to the floor before kicking out of them. My boxers get shoved down my thighs and then I grip my dick before pressing into her soft, warm, and inviting body. We both hiss as I slide into her.
“I’ll always be your little captive,” she whimpers.
“Damn right,” I growl, slamming into her.
“You’re a liar,” she accuses. “You lied right to my face to get your way.”
I punish her hard with a thrust of my hips that makes her scream. “You said it yourself. I’m a monster.”
She doesn’t say anything else. Simply cries. I reach around to touch her clit. At first she flinches, but then she starts to moan when I work her into a frenzy. As soon as she reaches climax, she screams out my name, whether she wanted to or not. A sense of male pride surges through me. I groan out her name too before coming deep inside her. Her body relaxes against the island. I pull her to her feet and then turn her around.
Hopeless. Sad. Broken.
Fuck.
Maybe I’m not a monster when it comes to her.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out, cradling her cold cheeks in my palms. “I’m fucking sorry, okay.”
She falls against my chest and I hug her tight. “I’m sorry too.”
“You can go to school,” I assure her. “I’m just a possessive asshole, is all.” I kiss the top of her head. “Please don’t ever run away from me again.”
Her head tilts up and she kisses my lips. “I promise. Although running from you is kind of hot.”
“Says the woman with blue lips and chattering teeth.” I pull away and frown when I see blood from her skinned knee. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up and warmed up and fed.”
I don’t let her walk to the bathroom, but instead scoop her into my arms. Her fingers push back my wet hair from my forehead as she studies me intently.
“I just didn’t want that sweet dessert,” she whispers, her bottom lip wobbling. “I wanted the pomegranate. I want you.”
Relief floods inside me at the double meaning in her words.
She may have run, but she wants to stay.
“I know,” I assure her. “I know.”
Settled by my response, she smiles. I spend the rest of the night taking care of everything I fucked up.
Lucky for me, Talia’s quick to forgive. She’s sweet like that.
The make-up sex is even sweeter.
Talia
Books. Check. Schedule. Check. Pens. Check. Notebooks. Check. I triple check I have everything I need for my first day of classes. I’m taking Theatre, Creative Writing, Art History, and Modern Greek Literature. I already know Theatre will be my favorite with Modern Greek Lit coming in second. I’ve read over the syllabi the professors have sent and I’m as prepared as I can be for my first day.
“Talia, I have a meeting at nine. Let’s go,” Kostas calls from the other room.
I roll my eyes as I gather my stuff and head out to meet him. He’s been cranky ever since he realized I was set on finishing my degree, but at least he’s now accepting it. That crazy man seriously thought he was going to keep me locked up here and I would be okay with it.
When I step into the living room, I find two beefed up men, both dressed to the nines in suits, with buzzed cuts, standing next to Kostas. Both share a similar scowl.
“Hello,” I say, greeting them. I wasn’t aware we had company. When neither of them says anything back, my gaze goes straight to Kostas.
“This is Michael.” He points to the man on the left. “And this is Tadd.” He points to the one on the right. “They’ll be escorting you whenever you leave the property, including to school.” Kostas raises a single brow, daring me to argue, but I’m not stupid. He’s looking for any excuse to forbid me from going, and I’m not about to give him one. “They’ll remain with you at all times. Anywhere you go, they go.”
“Including the bathroom?” I joke, not able to help myself.
Kostas’s jaw clenches. I guess he’s not in a joking mood. “Talia, if you don’t want to take this seriously, I can tie your ass to the bed to keep you at home and call it a day.”
My eyes dart over to Michael and Tadd. Neither of them even cracks a smile or flinches. Are they even human?
“I was only kidding,” I defend.
Kostas steps toward me. “Your safety is not a joking matter,” he says matter-of-factly. “I have a lot of enemies, zoí mou.” He fondles a strand of hair that’s fallen out of my ponytail. “Men who would do anything to get their hands on what’s mine.” His fingers travel down the side of my neck, and my body goes limp at his touch. “To use you as a bargaining chip. To torture you for the things I’ve done to them.”