Page 16 of Doll's Eye
He sighs heavily, then gives my upper arm a firm grip. “Last chance to come with me willingly,” he growls, and I heed his warning. The last thing we need is my brothers coming to the rescue and an all-out brawl to begin.
“Fine,” I say through gritted teeth. “Lead the way,sweetheart.”
His grip on my arm doesn’t let up in the slightest as he steers us out of the room, and he tells the guys to hang back as we disappear into a darkened hallway. There, he pins me against the wall and hovers over me as I glower up at him. His arms caging me in and trying to use his massive size to make me yield. I could knee him in the balls or head butt him, but something makes me want to stay.
“I gave you my word on something, and I need you to understand that when I give it to you, it’s as good as me signing a contract in blood.”
“Then why the fuck was there lipstick on your collar? Please explain that to me,” I sneer. I am dying to know what kind of bullshit he’ll try to feed me.
“I do not need to explain anything. If I tell you that nothing happened, then nothing happened,” he snarls in my face, his patience waning.
“You didn’t say that nothing happened.”
“Fine. Nothing happened. Happy?”
“Oh, I am over the moon,” I say acerbically. He stays right there in my personal space, and I find myself studying his lips. Remembering what they felt like on my cheek and wondering if he had to scrub red lipstick off them before rejoining me, causing the anger to revive. “Are we done here?” My voice isn’t as strong as I intended it to be, and I catch him glancing down at my mouth. “We should get back, Massimo,” I rasp.
His nostrils twitch. “We can go back whenever we damn well please. It is our party. They’ll just think I had to steal a moment with my fiancée because I can’t keep my hands off her.” My breath hitches, and I find myself breathing harder. My body is craving something indescribable and something almost too overwhelming to handle. “Have I told you how stunning you are, Alessia?” His warm breath fans out over my face, and when he gently uses one rough finger to make a path down my jawline,I completely melt against the wall, now holding me up. “The most stunning thing in the room. I really can’t keep my hands off you, and you’re getting harder and harder to resist.” A lump forms in my suddenly tight throat, making it impossible to say a word. How did this conversation abruptly make a complete one-eighty? How did he just win the upper hand? “Knowing that you are now mine, no other woman can steal my attention from you for even a moment. Even when we are not in the same room. You may be inclined to wait until our wedding night, but know I want you and only you. The wait will be more than worth it, so I can wait, Alessia. I can and I will. Do not question my faithfulness again, or I’ll have to put you over my knee and remind you of your place.”
The rage is back with a vengeance, coiling tight and ready to snap. “My place?” I blurt in a shrill voice.
“Your place is with me, and as your man, I need you to trust me and my word, or I’ll have to mark your pretty little ass with the hands that belong to you.”
What the...My man?The hands that belong to me?Can you actually own any part of Massimo? Wait…over his knee?!
I should be appalled, but I’m so fucking turned on and dumbfounded.
“Do not question me again, Alessia,” he reprimands.
“Do not threaten me,” I hiss, and he has the audacity to find it humorous.
“It’s not a threat,cara mia. You will soon learn that I make no threats.” He leans back some but still has me trapped. “Now, do you think you can rein in your temper some and let this thing go? Or do you need to get the rest of your tantrum out of the way? I could help you with that, you know.” His lips are still slightly curled up at the corners, and his eyes have a playful gleam.
“I think I can handle myself, thank you.”
“Shame,” he muses and stands up straight, dropping his hands from the wall, and I take a deep breath. “Shall we?” He holds a hand out, and I ignore it as I walk past him. Just as one of my feet steps over the threshold, my hand is gripped tightly in his as he leans into my ear. “You’re trying my patience,piccolina. Do you actually want that spanking, or are you truly incapable of controlling that beautiful temper of yours?” My skin bristles with goosebumps.
“You have no idea what my temper actually looks like, Massimo. If you did, you would see that I am most definitely in control of myself right now. That out there was tame compared to my tantrums,” I say lowly.
When he lets out a chuckle, he tries to hide it behind a fist, disguising it with a cough. My head whips around to get a look, and wouldn’t you know? The madman is capable of smiling. His white teeth are perfectly straight, and there are crinkles around his eyes. He’s absolutely magnetizing.
“You’ll definitely keep me entertained, won’t you, Alessia?” He glances down at me with a slight smile.
I can’t help myself as I try to fight back my own smile and totally fail. Putting a damper on my inner turmoil. “Seems like you will keep me entertained as well, Massimo.” And certainly a challenge.
The fact that he was able to use my hormones against me to prevaricate the situation and turn me on instead, he already has some hold on me that I need to take back. I will not be his submissive in any way.
I will be his equal, or I will be his worst nightmare.
Chapter nine
Alessia
“Calm yourself,piccolina. You go relax until your fiancé gets here,” my mom says, still trying to shoo me out of the kitchen.
Massimo is coming over for dinner tonight, and I don’t understand why I am so nervous. This ismyterritory.
The party was four nights ago, and I haven’t seen him since we said goodbye at night's end. But his presence isn’t needed to continue to mess with my head and, most certainly, my body.
