Buttons and Lace (Buttons 1)

Bones thrust inside me but not in the violent way he’d done before. If anything, his strokes were gentle. He rocked into me like waves hitting the shore of a lake. He pressed his chest into my back and rested his face in the crook of my neck. He breathed in my scent and moaned as he buried his dick in me.

It was the tamest sex we’d ever had.

I still didn’t want it. That was clear by how dry I was. I couldn’t mask my repulsion of being taken against my will. His long dick was inside me, and I hated every second of the intrusion. But it was different, somehow.

It was bearable.

I wasn’t slapped with a belt or punched in the face. I wasn’t fucked in the ass or the mouth. I was taken gently, with fragility. I was a warm body to get off to, but I wasn’t a punching bag.

He’d never treated me this well.

Did I succeed? Did I make him look at me in a different way? Would I be shoved around less? Would my existence be more tolerable? If I waited long enough, could I convince him to let me go?

The thoughts swirling in my head distracted me from my current position. I didn’t focus on the way he grunted every time he shoved himself inside me. I didn’t pay attention to the sweat of his chest as it rubbed against my back. All I thought about was freedom—and how close it was.

Chapter Nine

Crow

I left the path through the olive trees and turned to the dirt road leading up to the house. My chest heaved with the exertion, and the muscles in my legs twitched from the flow of blood.

My morning run was always exactly the same. I waited until the sun barely crested over the hill, blanketing the valley with intermittent sunlight. The grapes on the vines glinted with juice, and the dew on the leaves sparkled. The air had a hint of morning frost, which burned every time it entered my lungs.

I pulled my hood down as I slowed to a walk. The three-story house made of cobblestones looked glorious under the Tuscan sun. The ancient windows hinted at a different time, and the ivy stretching from the ground to the roof on the eastern side made it a masterpiece in the middle of nowhere.

The only time I left my home was for work. There was simply nowhere else I wanted to be.

I came around to the front entrance then ascended the steps leading to the double doors. One of my guards emerged out of nowhere and handed me a cold bottle of water. I took it with a quick nod then walked inside.

“How was your run, sir?” Lars, my butler, greeted me by the door.

“Good.” I took a large drink of water before I stretched my legs.

“Master Cane is here to see you. He’s in the tea room.”

Irritation sprang out of me instantly. “What does he want?”

“He said it’s private.”

That’s what he always said. “I’ll see him after I shower.”

“Of course, sir. What would you like for breakfast?” He followed me to the staircase and took the empty bottle of water from my hand.

“Black coffee. Egg whites.” It was the same thing I ordered every day, but he still insisted on asking.

“It’ll be ready when you return.” He drifted away, the plastic bottle still held in his hand.

“Thank you, Lars.”

“My pleasure, sir.”

***

I took my time getting ready just to avoid him. My rage had been worse this week than ever before. The nightmares came for me every time I closed my eyes, and Vanessa’s dead face was always the main star.

Lars told me to stay active, to exhaust myself out of my dreams entirely. But it didn’t matter how much running, boxing, or swimming I did. My dreams always turned out the same—my sister dead in my arms.

I entertained myself with thoughts of the way I would kill Bones. It had to be executed perfectly. Men like us were difficult to break, but I would find a way to make him crack like all the others. Perhaps I would skin him alive. Maybe I would insert needles into his eyes until he was completely blind. Maybe I would chop off his dick and make him watch a pack of hounds eat it—if there was enough to go around.

None of my actions took place without being carefully plotted. I wasn’t impulsive or impatient. I needed to wait until I was absolutely certain of my tenth move before I made my first.

I was a bit controlling.

I entered the tea room and saw my brother sitting in the armchair near the fire. Right on cue, Lars brought breakfast and coffee for both of us, silently setting up the table with both grace and speed. He walked out a moment later, shutting the doors behind him.