“There’s blood in Tokyo, in Paris too. There’s blood everywhere.” He laughed, knowing and cocksure. It wasn’t just the blood. It was the world. The darkness. The inky black void I’d been sucked into. It was scary, but it was awakening too. Somehow I saw more in the darkness than I’d ever seen before. You never realize how numb you are until you started feeling. Now I was alive and I didn’t want to go back. I dreaded going back. The dark laugh vibrating along my flesh said Anteros knew that, and he wasn’t going to let me pretend otherwise.
He slid his fingers from inside me and I groaned at the emptiness. He stood and I opened my mouth to call after him but then just sank farther into the warm, comfy furs. What felt like seconds later, a warm, wet liquid was being rubbed into my ass and Anteros plunged deep, making scissor motions inside me. Just like that, I was awakened.
Fuck I need to stop. I’m going to crash and never get back up.
But Anteros felt so good. All I could do was moan and lift up what little I could up to meet his touch. He pulled away again and I groaned. Just a few seconds later he was at my back, silky wet cock pushing against my ass.
Oh God.
It was so tight, so painful. I couldn’t breathe. He was already so big inside my pussy, I couldn’t imagine fitting him in my ass. Even with the lube, it was too intense. My hands reached out, gripping the fur. My mouth opened in a silent scream. He gripped my hair, pulling my head back again so I could see into his eyes.
“Stay with me, mio cuore,” he said. “Relax.” I exhaled and just as the breath left my lips, he thrust into me, my breath transforming into a cry. He was in me, totally filling me up. I couldn’t think straight—it was too much.
But totally perfect.
“The darkness,” I breathed. “The power—that’s what I would miss.”
“Good girl.” He sucked my neck, speeding up the thrusts. I should have told him to stop. My body was screaming that I was too tired to do this, but I didn’t care. I would be his doll. A beautifully broken doll, willing to let him use the leftover pieces of me.
I groaned and rolled over, stretching my limbs. I was in a bed. I didn’t remember going to bed. The last thing I remembered was sex with Anteros on the floor downstairs. But damn, I felt refreshed.
“You slept for almost two days.”
I craned my neck at the voice. Anteros was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in entirely different clothes than before, refreshed and so tempting with his wavy black hair still kind of messy…but then, if I’d slept for two days, it made sense for him to be wearing something different. He studied me with concern and I wanted to tell him sleeping that long was normal for me, but the words got stuck in my throat like all the other words.
He caressed my head, and I turned into the surprisingly gentle touch. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Yes. “No.” His eyes narrowed at my response, but he didn’t anything. He stood up, and the bed lifted with the weight of him leaving. When he was at the door, he turned back.
“I bought you something while you were out,” he said and knocked lightly on the doorframe. “It’s in the bag.” Then he shut the door. Hanging on the back was a black dress bag. I sa
t up straight and stared at it for about two seconds before I ran over and ripped open the zipper.
It was gorgeous. It reminded me of my favorite dresses from the penthouse, first the one I’d worn to the dinner party and then the one at New Year’s. It was different, though. Where those dresses had transparently shown my naive hopefulness, this one was darker. Edgier.
I ran my finger along the silvery midnight blue fabric. Every single time I’d worn a dress like this, the fairytale had been torn away. I let out a sigh, bringing my hand back. That wasn’t going to happen again. Tonight the dress would stay on my body.
Gently I removed it from the hanger and walked it back to the bed. I wanted to put it on immediately but I had to shower. I’d been asleep for two days and I was gross. I quickly ran into the bathroom and rinsed off, not bothering to wash my hair as it wasn’t greasy and it would have ruined the curls.
While water ran down my skin, I couldn’t help but wonder why he’d bought the dress. Did he know what it meant to me? Back in the penthouse, any time a dress had been given to me it generally meant something was about to happen—most of the time, something not good. At Lucia’s, the same rule had applied.
I turned off the shower, getting out and dripping all over the floor. I glanced into the bedroom, getting a glimpse of the shimmery blue garment. I had no dread now, only excitement.
Quickly I dried off and walked back into the room. Just like the other dresses, no underwear was required—which was good, as I had none. Picking it up, I slid the material over my head, the softness surprising because it was so sparkly.
The dress was a deep sapphire blue that shimmered metallic silver. Three-dimensional blossoms crept up to my shoulder, forming a deep V on my chest. I lifted the skirt and put my chin to my shoulder, getting a good view of my back. It was almost entirely bare, the dress dipping to my ass as more flowers and leaves dotted my sides.
“The Pavoni colors have always been red and gold, but I think you are stunning in blue.” I dropped the dress, spinning around to see Anteros standing in the doorway. He had a small smile on his face, and I wondered how long he’d been watching me.
“I’ve thought that since the night you wore that infuriatingly tempting pale blue dress to dinner. Come.” He held out his hand for me. Lifting the skirt up with one hand, I walked to him and gripped his palm with the other. Wearing a black suit and silky black shirt, Anteros was unequivocally dangerous and sexy. He reminded me of the Beast I’d known in the beginning, except this time he wasn’t wearing a tie. His top buttons were undone, making him look untamed, vicious—deliriously sexy.
And this time he held his hand out to me.
I walked through the cabin with my hand tucked under his arm. There had been no shoes to go with the dress so I was barefoot, feet padding along the hardwood. At the end of the night my feet wouldn’t hurt from high heels, so actually, it was perfect.
I hadn’t explored the entire cabin yet, we’d been a little…busy. We walked down a hallway that opened up into a glass room that could have been an indoor garden, but there weren’t any plants, just more books and some seats.
It was still breathtaking.