“Three?” She tripped up. I see the fact register on her face. “So when did my brother tell you that?”
“I meant two.”
I set the whiskey down, then take her water and put that aside too. I reach out to take the lapels of my coat and tug her close.
“You’re going to tell me the truth, sweetheart.”
She seals her lips and stares up at me. I walk her backward until we get to the worktable. I lift her off her feet and sit her on it. Her eyes grow wide as I study her.
After pushing the coat off her shoulders, I place my hands on her thighs and open them to stand between them.
She swallows.
I look at her mouth, then follow the jagged line of her scar down to her chest. I cup her breasts. Small but firm and round.
She puts her hands on my forearms but doesn’t try to push me away as I reach into each cup and lift out her breasts, pushing the lace of the bra beneath each. I bow my head to run the scruff of my jaw over one nipple and watch it harden. The other I take between my teeth, and the moment I do, she calls out my name.
All the while, her hands remain on my forearms while I plant my hands on either side of her.
I straighten and smile down at her, seeing how her pupils have dilated. “Your eyes turn a deep violet when you’re turned on.”
She licks her lips, panting.
I reach my hand to her belly and slide it into her panties.
She sucks her lower lip in, hand tightening on my forearm but still not pulling it away or trying to push me off.
“You like this,” I say.
Her breath comes ragged when I pinch her clit.
“You like me touching you.”
“I…”
Drawing my hand out, I lift her a little, drag her panties off and tuck them into my pocket before pushing her back onto her elbows. Spreading her legs wide, I bend down and lick her slit.
She gasps, hands coming to the back of my head.
“You taste so damn good,” I tell her as I circle my tongue around her clit and listen to her moan. And it takes everything I have to stop. “But you don’t deserve pleasure right now.”
She looks disappointed.
“No, you deserve the opposite of pleasure,” I add, lifting her to stand, then turning her so she’s facing away from me. I push her down over the table and drag her arms behind her to grip her wrists at her lower back.
“What are you doing?”
I slap her ass.
“Ow!”
I lean over her. “The knife. You ready to tell me?”
“Let it go, Damian. It doesn’t matter.”
I straighten. “Matters to me,” I say, spanking her ass a few more times.
“Stop!”
“Tell me the truth or I’ll use my belt.”
“Belt?”
“Did Michela give you the knife? Think hard. If you lie to me, then you’re betraying me, Cristina.”
“What about you lying to me?”
“I haven’t. Tell me.”
“Is this some sort of loyalty test?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I unbuckle my belt.
She looks back, eyes growing huge.
I watch her as I draw it out of its loops and double it over in my palm. I raise my eyebrows.
“Well?”
She looks from my face to my hand. I step backward and raise it.
“No. No. No. Wait!”
“Talk.” I lower my arm.
She looks up at me. “You have to promise not to hurt her if I tell you.”
I have to laugh at that. “Right now, right fucking now, you’re worried I’m going to hurt her?”
Her gaze slips to my belt hand, then back to me. “Just promise. I’ll tell you but please promise. She’s scared, Damian.”
At that I snort. “She’s not scared, sweetheart. She’s a manipulator.” I raise my arm again.
“Promise!”
“I fucking promise.” I don’t really want to hurt Cristina although I’d gladly wring my sister’s neck for this latest betrayal.
“She gave it to me on our wedding night. To protect myself.”
“Against me?”
She nods. “What you did to her…her back…”
“I’ve told you that I regret that. And if I could take it back, I would. I am not making an excuse, but you don’t know the circumstances.”
“You whipped her from the tops of her shoulder blades to her ankles. No circumstances would ever justify that, and you know it.”
I bite the inside of my cheek as I exhale. “Yeah, I do.”
“Let me up.”
“Tell me about my brother. When did he tell you, he was your ally?”
“I went downstairs to eat something. I was hungry, my head hurt, and I didn’t think anyone was there, but then he was in the kitchen, and he was…nice to me.”
“Right.”
“He sat down and ate a sandwich with me, and I don’t know, we were talking. I can’t remember.”
I lean over her, angry with my brother as I squeeze her butt cheek, run the leather of the belt over it. “Try harder.”