“Are we talking like regular sex or—?”
Angelo chuckled, and the warm sound seemed to move over my body. “There’s no regular sex when you’re with me. I like it kinky, but you probably guessed that. I like men who obey, and when they don’t, I like to punish them. But I will never damage you. I don’t beat the men and women I’m with.”
“And if you go too far? If you push past my limits?”
“I won’t.”
“How can I be sure?”
He traced a finger down my neck and over my collarbone as he held my gaze. “Because you have my word.”
“The word of a criminal, of the kind of man who would make me do this—”
Angelo’s eye’s hardened, and the line of his jaw tensed. “I was going to start with pleasure, but I can start with punishment instead.”
“You like this, don’t you? You’re getting off on how humiliating this is for me.”
That brought back his smile. “I like that I’m the one in control now.”
“Three months. No physical damage. No sharing. And you always use condoms.”
“Agreed. As long as you pledge complete and total obedience when we’re together.”
“I don’t think—”
“It’s not your job to think. It’s your job to serve me.”
“Fuck you, Angelo. You can have my body, but I’m not your fucking servant.”
He pressed against me, pinning me with his lower half. Feeling his hard, muscled body made it even more clear how powerless I was against him, and when he held my gaze, his dark eyes full of heat, my fucking cock betrayed me, swelling and letting him know I wasn’t indifferent to him.
He grinned before leaning in even closer to speak right by my ear. “That’s the deal, Cam. I don’t just want a nice fuck from you. I want everything.”
My heart pounded so hard against my chest I wondered if he could feel it. I shouldn’t agree to this. Not because it was humiliating. Not because it was beneath me. But because I was in danger of falling under Angelo’s spell, of liking something I had no business liking. If I let myself enjoy this, not only would I hate myself for it, but when it was over, I’d be more fucked up than I was right now.
“I’m willing to launder money for you.” I hated that those words came out of my mouth, but I was desperate. I’d thought keeping the business clean was the most important thing to me, but now that I felt the hard ridge of his cock pressed against my abdomen, I decided I’d misjudged. The business could be legitimate when I was done paying off what I owed. If I lost my sanity giving myself to Angelo, I’d never be able to run it.
He ground his hips against mine, and I felt the urge to respond. His cock felt so fucking good, even through the layers of cloth.
“Will you recon—”
He laid a finger over my lips and shook his head. “You want this. I can feel it. I never said it wouldn’t be good for you.”
“You told me it was all about you, about you getting what you wanted, about you owning me.”
“I don’t enjoy fucking men or women who aren’t responsive. I’ll be in control, but that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it. You know what you wouldn’t enjoy? Giving me the bakery or having my brother tell you what work he needed you to do.”
“How would that be any different?”
He reached between us and cupped my erection, pressing the heel of his hand against me. I bit my lip to hold in a moan.
“Because it wouldn’t make you feel like this. So fucking hot, so needy.”
“You expect me to obey everything you say. That’s not—”
“As long as you do, you’ll be rewarded. You called me here because you were ready to give into this, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t think…” He slid his hand up and down my cock. “Angelo, please don’t do this.”
“Do you have any idea how many times I fantasized about having you at my mercy?”
“Why didn’t you just take what you wanted back then?”
“Because you would never have given it to me.”
He was so wrong. If he’d touched me, if he’d given me any sign he wanted me back then, I would’ve melted. I would’ve given him whatever he wanted far more easily. I had a real reason to hate him now, but I also wanted him. He was toying with me, manipulating me. He was the worst of what I imagined him to be back then. I should just let the bakery go and walk away. “I still have another day.”
Angelo stepped back but placed his hands on the counter, keeping me hemmed in but thankfully not touching me anymore. “You’re the one who called me.”
I’d thought I was ready until he took away my options, until he was right there touching me, reminding me how easily I might give in. I didn’t want to give in. He was manipulating me, enjoying having me trapped. I hated him. Why did I want a man I hated? “I called you because I had questions.”