Empress in Lingerie (Lingerie 5)

“Why didn’t you do it?” she whispered.

I knew what she was asking even though it was ambiguous. When she first became my prisoner, she expected me to rape her. I probably would have if my father had never done it to her mother. It seemed wrong to me, so that was a line I never crossed. I’d kill people and torture them, but forcing a woman against her will seemed wrong, even if it turned me on. My mother was a whore, and men used her for her body. Why would I want to be another asshole like that? I already was an asshole, but that was a different level. “I knew my father did that to your mother…so it felt wrong to do that to you. I have nothing because of what your parents did to my family, but I won’t pretend that my father’s actions were okay. I wanted to make up for his mistake by not doing it with you…so we’re even.”

She held her breath after I finished speaking, like she was replaying my words in her mind again. Her fingertips lightly dragged down my chest and stomach, and when she breathed again, she seemed to be back to normal. “Thank you…”

“I didn’t do it for you. I just want to right the wrong…that way I have every right to destroy your family.” I said the words as I held her, held this Barsetti in my arms. My fingers stroked her hair, and I lay in bed with her, our naked bodies intertwined together.

“So you won’t tie me up again?” She didn’t seem surprised that my vendetta was still as alive as ever. But that was probably because she intended to kill me with that gun she brought home.

If she fired that gun, I wasn’t sure what I would do in retaliation. I may have to beat her senseless to punish her. Or I may have to kill her. There would need to be some kind of punishment for her ill-advised decision.

I just wasn’t sure what it was yet.

“No.”

She gripped me harder and moved farther onto my chest. Now she was all over me, treating me like a lover rather than a master. “Promise?”

“I told you men like me don’t make promises.”

“But you make promises to me…”

I tilted her chin up to look at me, and I kissed her softly on the mouth. “Yes…I promise.”

10

Vanessa

I walked into the bathroom and found Bones standing at the sink with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was brushing his teeth.

With my toothbrush.

“That is so disgusting.”

He kept brushing his teeth, but he wore an arrogant expression in his eyes. He stared at me in the reflection, all the muscles of his body tightening and shifting as he moved around. The muscles in his forearms shifted like piano keys as he scrubbed his teeth. He finished what he was doing then spit in the sink. “I like disgusting.”

I slept like a rock last night. While I stayed with my parents, my sleep was just okay. And it wasn’t because I was up late at night with too much wine in my belly. I knew it was because I’d gotten used to sleeping on his warm and hard chest. I felt like a cat that loved to feel his owner’s heartbeat underneath his paws. I was scared of this man, but when I was with him, I knew nothing else could ever happen to me.

Knuckles could break into my apartment, but Bones would kill him instantly. He was like a guard dog, a fierce protector. But he could also become the attacker if the setting changed. So I felt safe with this man—but also afraid.

He rinsed off the toothbrush in the sink then dropped it in the cup. “Want me to make breakfast? Or do you want to go out?”

There were so many things wrong with that sentence. “First of all, there’s no food in this house. And two, you know how to cook?”

He pulled the towel from around his waist and set it on the hanger, displaying his naked self without any vanity. “I stocked your fridge yesterday. And yes, I know how to cook.”

I didn’t catch any of that because I was staring at his dick. Even when he was soft, he was big. I didn’t know they made men like that until I met him. Some were growers and some were showers…he was definitely a shower.

When I finally lifted my gaze to his face, I saw his cocky grin. “What?”

He walked out of the bathroom, his tight ass full of rock-hard muscle. “I’ll whip up something.”

I watched him go before I looked at my toothbrush in the cup. I deliberated whether I should take it or not. It was gross that he kept using it, but I needed to brush my teeth. Otherwise, it would drive me crazy all day. The fact that it wasn’t that disgusting to me was the most disturbing part.