Chapter 7 All Broken, Battered Edges

• Giovanni
• "Stop calling me that. I am not your sweetheart."
• "You'll be whatever I want you to be. You're bought and paid for, remember? Now get on your knees before you piss me off."
• Her face goes red and rage rolls off her.
• I open my mouth to say something, but I don't expect what she does next.
• I don't expect her to slap me, not after my warning.
• Her gasp comes an instant after her hand collides with my face.
• I force a long, deep breath, feeling the sting of the slap. Feeling the rage bubble inside me. I tighten the muscles of my gut to tamp it down, to control it.
• I'm bigger than her. Stronger. I can hurt her in a way she can't hurt me. I have to be careful.
• When I shift my gaze back to hers, she has her hands to her mouth and her eyes are huge. She's staring at me like she can't fucking believe what she just fucking did.
• It takes me a long time before I speak.
• "You want to play rough, Sienna?" The words are a low, almost whispered threat.
• She swallows, shaking her head. Streaks of black line her cheeks, a trail of mascara and tears.
• "Because I can do rough."
• She gives a scream when I lift her off the floor, throw her over my shoulder. I feel like a caveman as I stalk down the hall, slapping her ass once as her fists pound against my back.
• My bedroom is the last one, it takes up the whole of the back of the penthouse. I walk in, flip the light switch so the lamps on either side of the bed go on. They cast a warm, yellow light, as the clear glass of the windows turns smoky, darkening.
• Windows for walls here too. The city lights beyond. Quiet but for the sounds she makes as she struggles.
• I toss her on her back onto the bed.
• She bounces on the mattress.
• I stare down at her, at her pretty, naked body, small and soft and supple. I unbutton the top buttons of my shirt, undo the cuffs, taking my time as I watch her lying there watching me. Once it's half-unbuttoned, I pull it over my head.
• She looks at me, takes in my chest, my arms.
• On the outside, I look like a businessman. Underneath the thousand-dollar suits, I could be mistaken for the enforcer.
• Her eyes zero in on the tattoo she can see.
• "Respect all. Fear none," I tell her.
• At least until they prove you wrong.
• Her gaze shifts to my eyes.
• I strip off my pants, and they move south to the dragon along my thigh and hip, and it's like she can't stop looking and doesn't know where to look, especially when I take off my briefs and she sees my hard cock. I watch her for a moment as she takes it in and when she meets my eyes again, I see a slight panic inside them.
• I put one knee on the bed. "You want me to be rough with you?"
• She's up on her elbows, then her hands, and inching backwards away from me.
• I grab her ankle, tug her back down and lay my weight on her. With one hand, I grip the hair at the back of her head, force her to look at me and all the while, I feel her wetness against my belly, my cock.
• "Some women need it. Do you need it, Sienna? You need me to be rough so you come?"
• She shakes her head as much as she can, watching me, her breathing short and audible.
• She looks different than I expect. Panicked.
• And mute.
• I have to remember she's not the usual sort of woman I bring up here. Any fear those women show is an act.
• This one, I get the feeling she's not acting.
• I shake off the thought.
• I just paid a quarter-of-a-million-dollars for her. I'm fucking her. And for that price, she'd better be one hell of a fuck.
• Without taking my eyes off her, I open the nightstand drawer, take out a condom. What I want most is to sink my cock into her bare, but I don't need complications.
• "Cat got your tongue?" I ask, kneeling up over her to roll the condom on.
• She swallows, huge eyes locked on my dick.
• "Please tell me you're not a fucking virgin," I ask, realizing this could be the panic I see.
• She blinks, drags her gaze to mine. She's still mute.
• I raise my eyebrows and she shakes her head.
• Good.
• I smile, lean down over her, cupping the back of her head, twining my fingers in her thick hair and holding her when she tries to turn away. I slide my other hand between her legs and bring my face to hers, inhaling deeply, turning her a little to take the lobe of her ear between my teeth.
• "Think you can take it all?" I whisper when she whimpers as I rub her swollen, wet clit.
• Drawing my hand away, I lay my weight on her, grip one thigh, bend her leg at the knee and open her up. She's so tight when I push into her that for a moment, I wonder if she lied. If she is a virgin.
• I watch her face as her warmth envelops me, and I think yes, I want to tear into her. I want to feel her heat.
• Her face tenses as she stretches to take me. She makes a sound, a whimper, and her hands are on my shoulders, nails digging into my back.
• "It hurts," she says.
• "You're tight." I move inside her, feel her juices lubricating the passage, pull out, thrust. "That one's for slapping me."
• "It hurts," she repeats, and there's that panicked expression again, her eyes almost child-like when they meet mine.
• I slow, draw back.
• Her nails dig into my biceps, my chest. I'm sure she's drawing blood now.
• "Easy, Sienna," I say, taking one of her wrists and drawing it to the side. "Relax."
• She looks over at it, at my hand on her wrist. She makes a sound, and I can hear and feel her breathing coming shorter as she tugs at her wrist.
• My grip isn't hard, but I keep hold of her.
• Realizing she's not a match for me, she turns those big eyes back to mine and the skin around them is wet. A tear slides down the side of her face.
• "Let me go."
• "You need to relax. It won't hurt if you relax."
• "Please let me go."
• Watching her face, it's strange, like it's taking all she has not to break out into a full panic.
• I pull out of her, take her other wrist and drag her arms over her head.
• She arches her back, twisting to see what I'm doing, and when she feels the leather of the first cuff wrap around her wrist, the sound that comes from her is like that of an animal.
• Not a fighting one.
• A wounded one.
• Once both wrists are secured, I take my weight off her and slide down her slender body between her legs. With my hands on her thighs, I open them wider.
• "Let me loose. Please."
• Her pussy's wet, dripping. She's ready. Even as tight as she is, she's ready. But I'll give her this first.