Sold To Mr. Milano (Evil Empires Book 1)

by Daniella Wright

  9

  Alberto

  I intended to choke the life out of Alicia, or at least convince her that was what I was about to do. She had lied to me, manipulated me like a little child. I had never let anyone get by with treating me this way. The level of disrespect and lack of fear...not knowing her place. It was insulting and dangerous. If one little woman could go around acting this way towards me, everyone would get it in their heads that they could do the same.

  She needed to be taught a lesson. And yet, when I charged towards her body and gripped her throat in my hand, I found myself getting sucked into her big brown eyes. Something changed about them. She was no more afraid than she had been before and worse - they were softening. Something in her was inviting me, luring me in.

  I lost all control. I couldn’t even give it enough thought to stop myself. This pressure built up inside of me, threatening to explode, and the only thing to relieve it was to crash my lips into hers. I broke in...and that’s exactly what I did. I gripped her jaw tight and forced her to stay still...to accept my mouth crashing against hers.

  Her lips were stiff and tight, refusing to part for me. She breathed heavily through her nostrils and tried to whip her face out of my hand. When all else failed, she sank her teeth hard into my bottom lip - hard enough to draw blood. I growled and ripped away, touching my finger to the dripping redness.

  The pressure started building in me again from the moment we separated. What could I do to relieve it this time? While I could see what she wanted shining out through her eyes, no matter how much she tried to hide it, she wouldn’t let herself give into it. I may have done many bad things in my life. I may have even let some people believe I had done worse than I ever actually would...for the sake of my reputation. Sometimes what people believed you did was more powerful than what you would actually do. But I was never a man who would force himself on a woman in that way.

  Yet when I stared back at Alicia, rolling the blood of my lip between my finger and thumb, there was still something in her eyes daring me to come back to her. More than that...she was begging me to come back. I stepped forward more slowly this time and gently ran the back of my hand along her hair down to her cheek. She furrowed her brows and stared up at me with anger, but she did not start thrashing and trying to pull away like before. She seemed confused and frightened, but not by me. She was bothered by her own intrigue...her own inability to keep refusing me.

  I watched as her eyes closed and her lips parted. She was giving into her secret urges, or at least giving me a chance to convince her why she should. Deep down, I wasn’t surprised. This was a moment we had been dancing around since she came storming up to me that day eight years ago. The moment our eyes met, a flame started roaring between us and we had been dancing around it ever since.

  I pressed my lips against hers more gently this time, letting her adjust to the feeling...to the idea of me. I knew she had always wondered what this would be like, no matter how much she hated herself for it. She didn’t kiss me back, but she let her lips soften a little. She wouldn’t participate, but she let me have my way for a moment. She waited to see what I would do and how it would make her feel.

  Each brush of her lips against mine felt like a tiny little spark that was threatening to send us both up in flames. The heat and longing for more surged through me, and I could see it boiling up inside of her too. But rather than dare to let herself kiss me back, she pulled away again and spit in my face.

  I wiped it away and snarled at her, but the anger in her face had vanished. She looked tired...like it had taken everything in her to fight her desires, and now she was finally wearing down. A coy smile curled on the corners of her lips. She was testing me...seeing how far she could push me. She was toying with me all over again.

  “I do not wish to play games with you, Alicia Martino,” I stated firmly. The tone of my voice implied that there were many other things I did wish to do with her.

  “Then perhaps you shouldn’t have me chained up like your little toy.”

  I laughed, wondering how stupid she really thought I was. My feet moved forward to close the gap between us once again, putting my face mere inches away from hers. “Is that what this is all about?” I asked in a deep rasp. “You think I am so stupid to let you seduce me just so I will set you free?”

  “I did nothing to seduce you. You acted on your own accord.”

  “What if I told you that by existing, you seduce me…” I cringed inside, hating that I would blurt out something that gave her so much power over me. But it was true. And everything inside of me was dying to take her. If one small admission would grant me that...well, I had made bigger sacrifices in my life.

  She seemed conflicted - surprised and not all at once. Maybe because she understood my feelings too well. Maybe she felt the duality of her desires just as strongly for me.

  “If I let you down, you will fight me, try to run away.”

  Her eyes sparkled with a devilish, mischievous glare. That devastating coy smile of hers returned. “Then perhaps you will have to ensure that you are giving me reason enough to stay in here with you.”

  The seduction dripping in her voice was enough to slay me. I didn’t care anymore if it was all a trick. I was certain it was, but I wanted the chance to take her. It didn’t feel like a choice anymore. I had to. I crashed my lips back to hers, and finally, she gave in to me. Only a little at first, but soon she was melting and losing herself in the kiss. We ravaged each other’s mouths with a fury. We had been sparring with each other through our words, and it wasn’t until that moment that I realized this was the only thing that could satisfy our hatred for each other.

  I started ripping away the heavy wet gown from her body so that I could really see her and feel her. With her arms still chained on either side of her body, I helped myself to heaping handfuls of her curves...her breasts, her hips, down to her thighs. After kneading into every inch of her, I danced my fingers in between her legs.

  I taunted her with my lips, keeping them just out of her reach. I wanted to see the look on her face when I touched her. I wanted her mouth to be free to let out sounds of pleasure. But she kept pecking towards me, trying to hide behind another kiss. I wouldn’t let her.

  My fingers teased along her folds, barely touching her at all at first. But she knew it was coming, and just the quickest brushes of my touch were enough to make her breathe in sharply.

  “Let my arms down,” she pleaded, her voice cracking with longing.

  “Not yet.”

  I pressed harder against her and watched her roll her head back. I kissed up and down her long, exposed neck, and pressed harder still. She bit her lip and tried to hold in the sounds threatening to seep from her lips. She didn’t want me to know how much she was enjoying it.

  My pants strained from my pulsing erection. I moved closer to her, pressing it against her side for just a hint of relief. And with the teasing pressure, I slid my fingers inside of her. I didn’t waste any time to hook them into the place I knew she wanted them the most. I moved them quickly, causing her legs to shake and buckle.

  Any lingering ounce of restraint was quickly fading. She was almost where I wanted her. I listened to her deep rolling moans turn into pleading whimpers. Her hands and arms pulled and strained, aching to wrap around me. She kept her eyes closed, unable to look at me. I pushed her further until I knew she was nothing more than puddy in my hands.

  Finally, when I could see all of her resolve had been eaten away by longing and the need for more, I released the chains on her arms. I did not let her weight drop to the ground. I didn’t even give her a chance to stand again. With my pants dropped from around my waist, I caught her from the moment she fell, wrapping her legs around me. I ripped the rest of her gown away, taking in the sight of her luscious breasts. With her back pushed up against the wall, I took each one into my hand and rolled her nipples in my mouth.

  Our bodies naturally aligned so that my hardened cock was ready and wa
iting to slide into her wet and gaping lips. I could feel the need dripping off of her, just begging me to lower her onto me. I let her suffer for a minute, relishing in the way her nails dug across the skin of my back hard enough to draw blood. She was not afraid to play rough with me. Maybe that is what made her so irresistible. She was not afraid of me.

  I angled upward, sliding into her slick, pulsing muscles that tightened and wrapped around me. Every ridge of her dragged along my shaft, stirring warm and tingling sensations. The feeling of being inside of her only made me want more...and more and more. I lost control of myself and ravaged her like a beast. I pumped myself into her harder and deeper, but she didn’t resist me. She writhed over me, indulging in her own guilty pleasure.

  My hand found its way back around her neck more gently this time as I thrust in and out of her. I ran my palm up and down the back of her neck, watching her red, flushed cheeks and plump red lips as she threw her head back and drowned in the satisfaction. I wanted to push her over the edge...to really break her in. I wanted her to let go and surrender to me.

  But the more she trashed over my body with all of her flawless, glowing brown curves, she was getting the best of me. I couldn’t contain the swelling intensity that kept building with each second, and she seemed to be erupting in her own fit of overwhelming pleasure. We both let ourselves get closer and closer to the edge, clinging to the final moments before it all faded away.

  As her cries grew louder and her body tensed, every muscle in my body seized up as I pressed into the paralyzing pleasure. We both seemed to slip into a brief pocket of time where there was no clear sight or sound or even time. There were only our two sweat-drenched bodies moving together and the waves crashing over us.

  Our lips somehow found their way together again. I expected her to be furious with me. I expected her to be furious with herself and immediately start punching and kicking and screaming, commanding that I get far away from her. I thought she’d be angry at herself for giving in. But instead, she kissed me gently. Her body felt limp, draped in my arms, and she kept her eyes closed. She seemed completely drained and was melting into me, purring like a kitten.

  Maybe she wanted to just sink into the blissful feelings without admitting to herself how they came to be. I didn’t care. I liked her curling up against me like my little pet. I carried her in my arms while carefully gathering blankets and clothes to throw together a makeshift bed. As I put it together, I felt the heaviness in my eyes and realized I was just as drained as she was.

  With a soft pad formed on the floor, I laid her out across it. I couldn’t resist running my hands along her body one final time. She was already fast asleep. I wanted to be next to her. I wanted to roll her over across my chest and feel her heart beating against me.

  But there was a reason I did not have a woman in my life. One could argue that it was because I had never met another woman like Alicia. But that wasn’t the only reason. Whoever you loved could be used against you. They could be used as leverage, bait, and as a means to torture you. They could also distract you...throw you off your game and make you sloppy. That’s how people got caught.

  I didn’t take risks like that. Maybe just by taking her, I had already crossed a line. I was breaking my own rules. I couldn’t stay there with her no matter how much I wanted to. I made sure she was covered and warm, and snuck out of the chamber, locking her inside.

  10

  Alicia

  I felt warm and safe, like I had been tucked away in some secret nest. But as my eyes slowly opened the memories started coming back to me rapidly. I was not safe. I was not free. I was still trapped in this dark, cold dungeon. I wanted to throw the covers off of me and race to find some escape, but I was naked underneath and it was freezing without the blankets covering me. My old gown was in soaked shreds off in the corner. And yet, there was still some warm sense of security inside of me. How could that be?

  I tried to remember what happened beyond the relentless buckets of freezing cold water that Alberto flung at me. I hadn’t told him anything. I remembered that well and felt pleased with myself. But...there was more. I shuddered as it all came flooding back to me. The taste of his lips. They were cold and stiff at first, surging with his anger. But somehow we both started giving in. There was so much more racing through my head after that...the smell of his hair and the feeling of his rippling muscles. The sensations he aroused from deep within.

  I felt around in the darkness for him. He had made me want to forget everything else enough to lose myself in the comfort of his arms once. I wanted to feel that again because that was easier than facing what I had allowed to happen. But as I tore through the pile of blankets on the floor, I knew that he was gone.

  He coerced me into surrendering to him and then left me here like a pile of garbage on the ground. I ignored my desperate longing to feel his chest against my face with his arms wrapped around me tight and focused instead on my disgust for him. That was all that mattered. I hated myself for giving into him. How could I let him in? And how would I ever face my father again after what we did?

  I was no virgin, and if my father knew or not didn’t matter. Men were not the enemy to him, but Alberto Milano certainly was. I felt like I had betrayed him and went against everything he ever taught me. I had lied to Alberto, claiming that I was ashamed to face my father. And now here I was...I had made that very thing come true. Maybe that was his plan all along. It was his revenge.

  I sank back into the darkness, pulling my legs close to my chest as I gently rocked back and forth. Would it have been different if Alberto had been here when I woke up? If I could have kept burying my hatred for him beneath the feeling of his skin against mine? I guess it didn’t matter. He wasn’t there. He didn’t even have the decency to put me back in a room. He took what he wanted and then left me here, still a prisoner.

  I didn’t want to know what would have come out of it if he had stayed with me through the night, or been kind enough to offer to let me go in the morning. This was the reminder I needed of who he really was. He was not decent or kind or loving, no matter how well he faked it while he was bringing me pleasure. He was a monster, and while I may have been fooled by him for a moment, I would not let it happen again.

  I finally let the harsh cold cut into my body as I yanked away the sheets. My old gown was unsalvageable, so I would have to figure out something else. I grabbed one of the sheets and began ripping and tying until I had formed a slip to put on. I didn’t leave it at that. I needed something sturdy with trousers. I was not dressing to keep laying around in this hole. I had to get out of here, and I needed clothes worthy of an escape mission.

  I kept shredded, tying, and braiding the fabric until I had formed an undersuit with shorts that at least went down to my knees. Then I fashioned a sort of jacket and wrapped up the soles of my feet with several layers of cushion. It was not the most protective outfit, but it would have to do.

  With my makeshift clothing on, I grabbed one of the empty buckets, hating the memory of how the ice water felt as it splashed over me. It was flimsy enough that I could flatten and warp it into a tin shield. I had formed the best weapon I could with what was available to me, so I rushed over to the door and started screaming bloody murder.

  I screamed over and over again until finally, I heard footsteps running down the hall. There were muffled sounds of them asking something, or maybe yelling at me, from the other side of the door, but I didn’t stop screaming long enough to make out their words. They had no choice but to open the door, and the moment the guard did, I slammed the metal shield across his head as hard as I could.

  It wasn’t enough to knock him out, but it was enough to send him flying into the stonewall of the hallway. He slammed his head against the rock behind him and slid down to the floor. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before other guards probably came to see what happened. There was no time to hesitate.

  I dashed past his half-unconscious body and ran as fast as I could, paus
ing around each corner to make sure I wasn’t running straight into the arms of another guard. I ran towards the first glint of blue light from outside that I could find. The first beam of light led to a window that was too high to climb to, and too small to get out of anyway. That’s when a group of guards went running past, and I had to duck behind a rack of uniforms to hide.

  When the halls grew mostly silent again, I raced for the next sign of light. This time it was a door that I was able to quietly sneak through. Finally, I was outside. It felt like I was free again, and the refreshing relief only fueled me to run faster. I hadn’t felt the grass beneath my feet since the night I was thrown from the horse and my secret was revealed.

  And now here I was running right back to the same stables. I may not have been an experienced horseback rider, but traveling by horse was the only way to navigate the woods on the property well enough to stand any chance of escaping. I picked a horse that was smaller than before, and he seemed a little bit calmer. I worried he might not be fast enough, but speed didn’t matter if I was only going to get thrown off again.

  I saddled him up and checked to see if the coast was clear. Lights were flickering on throughout the manor, as I imagined my escape had already been discovered. I didn’t have much time. While some of the guards would immediately report to Alberto, the rest of them would spread across the entire estate to hunt me down.