“I’m…I’m not protecting him.”

“Is that why you refuse to tell me who he is?”

“It’s because he’s dangerous …I…I don’t want you hurt.”

He laughs, the sound harsh, humorless, and tugs on my heartstrings. “You’ve already done that plenty, Lenochka.”

“You hurt me, too…” I whimper between my sniffles. “You crushed me when I learned you only married me to use me against my father.”

His belt pauses at the valley of my legs. “Did I ever use you?”

“You could have. I was living in damn anxiety expecting you to do it at any time.”

“Answer the question. Did I fucking use you, Lia?”

“No…”

“No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t. If I’d planned to, I wouldn’t have married you. In fact, I got rid of every fucking member of the Rozettis who knew about your existence and then hid you from your father. Including the bastard you saw me kill that first day in your apartment’s parking garage. He was following you and I finished him.”

My jaw falls open and even though it’s hard to focus on his words with the amount of pain and constant arousal plaguing my body, I let them filter into my conscious.

“You…you were following me?”

“For a few months before I met you, yes. So if I’d wanted to use you to get close to Lazlo, I would’ve done so around that time.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because you became fucking mine.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that when I first confronted you? Why did you have to hurt me until I had to hurt you back?”

“Someone from the outside helped you and you said he was your lover.”

“He’s not…”

His belt comes down on my pussy and I gasp, my mouth remaining open.

“Don’t lie to me, Lia.”

“He’s not!”

Slap!

“Ahhh…please…I believe what you said just now. I trust that you didn’t intend to use me, I really do. Now you have to believe me…please…please…”

Because if he doesn’t, we’ll be caught in a vicious, toxic cycle that will destroy us both.

“Why should I? You insisted on cheating, remember?”

“Adrian…take it as if I’m begging you. Don’t do this to us.”

“Do what?”

“Kill us again.”

Hard lines etch his features and I can tell he’s on the edge of something—what, I don’t know.

He glides the belt between my legs, across the sensitive flesh of my thigh, but he doesn’t whip me. If anything, his touch is soothing, taking away the pain and replacing it with carnal bliss. One that beats beneath my skin and connects with my bones.

I pull on the bindings at my wrists and ankles, but that only tightens them around my tender flesh.

“Give me something, Lia.”

“S-something about what?”

“About him. If he’s not your lover, then you shouldn’t be protecting him.”

I suck in a sharp breath as his belt glides up and down the wetness of my pussy. Luca has never helped me since I got involved with Adrian. In fact, he used me and I turned a blind eye to it because he reminded me of Grandma and my childhood.

If it were up to me, I would’ve kept him and Adrian as far away from each other as possible. But knowing my husband’s closed off nature, he’ll continue to torture me and himself until he gets the answers he needs.

Since he’s going to get them, anyway, why should I deny him?

“Luca,” I whisper. “His name is Luca and he was my childhood friend. We lived in the same neighborhood when Grandma was alive and went to the same school.”

If he appreciates the information, he doesn’t show it. His expression is as blank as his demeanor. “Why did you have to meet him in secret?”

“Because he runs with the wrong crowd.”

“What crowd?”

“I don’t know. I kept away from his life because it’s dangerous.”

“But you ended up in mine.” There’s a softer edge in his tone and I nearly cry with gratefulness.

“You said it yourself. I didn’t have a choice.”

“And if you did have a choice?”

A sob of relief leaves me. “I’d choose this, Adrian. I would choose you.”

He closes his eyes for a brief second, grunting. When he opens them again, he rasps, “Fuck, Lenochka.”

“Yes, please.”

“Yes, please, what? Fuck you? Whip you? Own you?”

“Any… All…” I struggle against my bindings to no avail. “Please.”

He throws the belt away and undoes his trousers as he settles between my spread legs. I’m so wet that I feel it dripping between my thighs and onto the mattress.

“You want me to fuck that tight cunt of yours until you scream, Lenochka?”

“Yes…”

He grabs me by my hips and I arch into his touch. The stimulation from his belt has left me turned on to the point of oblivion so that even the slightest blissful flicker of touch will be enough to detonate me.

“You’ll scream for me, Lia.”

“I will…ohhh…” my word ends on a moan as he plunges inside me with the delicious ruthlessness that I’m used to from him.

My body bucks off the bed as he thrusts inside me with increasing intensity. His rough handling leaves me gasping, sobbing, and bawling.

It leaves me feeling alive.

The welts from his belt spark bursts of pain into my nipples and stomach. It mixes with the pleasure, coalescing in my belly and core.

His punishments have a curious overpowering effect that make me delirious and beg for more.

I will always want more with Adrian, even more than he can give me.

Like his heart.

His soul.

It’s only fair after he confiscated mine. He’s holding them in the palm of his hand, whether he’ll squash them or revive them, no one knows.

But I continue holding onto the hope that the six years we’ve spent together mean something.

They have to.

Adrian drives all the way into me, hitting my sweet spot before he pulls out, then powers in again.

I fall apart with no safety line.

And at this moment, I don’t want one.

I’m tied down, completely and utterly helpless, and yet I haven’t felt this free in such a long time.

The orgasm comes with a sudden blast that I don’t feel until it hits me. There’s no warning, no hazard sign.

Just…freedom.

“Adrian… Oh, yes…yes…”

“Fuck, Lia,” he grunts as his movements turn harder and longer. “Say my name again.”

“Adrian…”

“Say that you’re mine.”

“I’m yours…yours…”

He grunts and comes inside me then, his hot cum filling me.

My husband collapses on top of me and I expect him to take a moment to catch his breath, but instead, his lips find mine.

Adrian is kissing me.

I know he did it when I thought I was Winter, but this one is different. This one is meant for me. His tongue meets mine, and I kiss him with abandon, letting him devour me whole.