Vittoria's POV
"How are you?"
"I'm not okay. Did you tell Marcelle about what Juan did?"
The last few days have been strange. I caught Juan Carlos with a girl while I was shopping. They were about to kiss. I interrupted and I told him to tell Sherry but he didn't so I had to tell my best friend.
"The other woman?"
"Yes. Did you tell him?"
"Si." Marcelle told me to stay out of it but I couldn't. I had to tell Sherry.
"And what did he say?"
"He was confident it's nothing."
"So says the man who divorced his wife for a girl half his age." I narrowed my eyes at her. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."
Marcelle didn't divorce his wife for me. He was already divorced when we met. I didn't even know that it would turn out like this,that we would be together. It hurts that someone like Sherry, someone I feel close to would say something like this. I want to cry but I won't. I'll do what Vienna advised. I'll tell her what I think of her negative words.
"It hurts when people call me a social climber. Yes, I'm half his age but I did not end their marriage. When I met him he was divorced already. He showers me with attention, affection and material things. I genuinely love Marcelle. I'm not with him for his money. Let that be clear signorina if you want my friendship."
I left her in the car and slammed the door shut.
"I'm sorry Vee."
"Let's just look at the prisoners of this zoo." I led the way not paying attention to anything. I have a lot on my mind. I left Marcelle without even telling him I'm gone. It's becoming a bad habit.
"Do you want to do something exciting?" Sherry asked me.
"Like what?"
"Come." She took my hand and led me to a place where little black and white bears are kept. They are cute. "Climb over."
"I'm not climbing over. I'm wearing a dress." I refused.
"Fine. I'll grab one and you take it."
"Grab what signorina?" I asked her.
"We are saving a panda!" She climbed over and began luring one with some leaves. I looked around hoping that we will not be caught.
"There you go buddy. Almost there." She led it to the fence. "Vee, get ready."
"No! That is stealing!"
"Don't you want to save this poor thing from captivity?"
I looked at the cute animal. I cannot say no to that cute face. "Ay signorina! Why do you drag me into these things?" She passed the panda over. I received it and waited for Sherry to come over the fence. She covered it with the scarf around my neck.
"Carry it like you're carrying a baby! They will believe you." She instructed me.
"Why?"
"Because you look like a saint. Let's go. Next week we will steal another one!"
"It's a crime signorina!"
"No it's not." .
She is very casual about this. I sat with it in the car like a mother holding a fat baby. When we drove out of the zoo, I let go and it just sat on my lap eating the leaves. My heart is racing. We stole an animal from the zoo.
"Did you tell signor?"
I touched her neck. She's looking at my neck. "No. That's why I was wearing the scarf. I don't want trouble."
"I'm sorry."
"It's nothing. It will fade. Where are you taking it?" I asked her.
"I was thinking you could take it since Marcelle is barely around. Just hide it in the guest room." She suggested.
How can I keep it in the guest room when Marcelle won't even let me have a cat?
"Does it make noise?" I asked.
"Do pandas make sounds? I don't know." She laughed.
"Vergine Maria! Signor will blow his top!" I whispered. "But you are very cute. I keep you." I stroked the soft fur.
I wrapped the panda with the scarf before we got out of the car. If they stop me, I don't know what I'll say.
"Good evening Miss Vittoria." He greeted me as his eyes settled on the bundle in my arms.
Usually I stop to talk to him but not today. "Hello." I spoke quickly as I walked past him.
"Check if he is home."
She went ahead of me. I smiled at the little animal.
"He's not home."
I walked into the penthouse and took the panda to the guest room. I set it on the floor and closed the door. When Sherry and I looked at each other, I started laughing. "That was so bad! I must confess on Sunday. We will give the panda back, si?"
"No. We are not giving it back."
"Vittoria?" Dio! It's Marcelle. "Honey why is the door open?" I brushed myself clean and fixed my hair. "Why is the door open?"
"I forgot. I was the last one to walk in. I have a habit of leaving doors open." Sherry answered.
His attention is on my neck. Dio! I forgot the scarf. "What is this?" He tilted my neck. "What happened to you bambina?"
"I... It's nothing."
"No no, it's something. What happened?"
"Juan Carlos." I answered. His expression grew serious.
"Why?"
"Because I told Sherry about that day at the grocery store."
He looked at Sherry. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be okay."
"Do you want me to intervene on your behalf?"
"No. I'll fight my battles-"
Something broke from the guest room. My eyes grew wide with surprise. I rushed to the door and covered it. "Ay signor. Is nothing, just the wind."
"We don't open windows Vittoria. Is the wind spontaneously in the room?"
"Maybe."
"Bambina, move." I can't disobey him. I moved aside. I covered my face. We have been caught. "What is that in my house?"
"A teddy bear. The ones that move." I answered.
"Which ones?"
"These things children play with. Si. A teddy bear."
"Honey, that is a live panda. It's breathing and it has blood in it's veins. Please tell me that you did not steal that from the zoo."
"I steal. I'm bad I know." I looked down.
"We saved it from captivity." Sherry added.
"You stole it from the zoo!" He got his phone out. He mattered to himself and made a call. "Can you get your ass to my house ASAP? Five minutes tops bambino and I'm not playing."
"I'm sorry." I apologized.
He scooped me up on his shoulders and carried me to the bedroom where he dropped me on the bed. "Stealing from the zoo? Why?"
"It was a prisoner."
"It belongs there! Have you ever seen a panda in an apartment?"
"No but... but it can stay."
"Dad? I'm here!"
Juan is knocking on the bedroom door.
He massaged his temples. "You stay here. I'll be right back."
Marcelle's POV
She's pacing around. She's nervous about what happens next after she served as Sherry's accomplice is stealing a panda from the zoo.
Honestly it's funny. It's really funny. I can't help but smile when I think if how they could have carried panda out of the zoo.
She's cute. She's a cute mess. Sometimes, a hot mess and she doesn't even know it.
I'm feeling ravenous today. It's one if those days I don't want to be a gentleman. It's one if those days I don't care for her rules. I want what I want today and that is to fuck her so hard that she won't be able to walk right when I'm done with her. My mind is at a dark point and I'm fighting every shred of urge to have her.
I rested against the wall, my palms pressed back in it. "Vittoria." She stopped pacing, quickly paying attention to me. "Take off your panties."
"Scusi?"
She has to learn that when I'm like this, I don't like being questioned. I demand absolute submission. I want her to adhere to my voice like it means her next breath. "Take off your panty." She looks confused. She lifted her dress and slowly took it off. "Bring it to me."
She made her way to me, very timidly and unsure of herself. She extended her hand to give me the red underwear. I dropped my arms to my side, reaching out to take it. It's a flimsy delicate thing that I could rip off her for the thrill of it. I tucked it away in the back pocket of my pants.
"Marcelle-"
"Signor. For the next couple of minutes, you call me Signor."
"Okay."
"Say si Signor."
"Si Signor." She answered. My thumb ran over her lower lip.
"Bambina, I like to play." I spoke in a low tone, almost a rough whisper. My thumb rubbed more firmly on her lip. "And you are my playmate. You see, I have been holding back. I have been appropriate. But today... today I dint want to be appropriate. Today, I want to play and this is how it's going to work. You will walk back to the dresser. You will face away and put your hands on it, palms down. Go."
She did just what I said.
I took off my shirt, casting it aside on the bed. I reached for the hem of the dress and raised it to expose the back of her legs, up her waist. I knotted the dress up to get it out of my way. I love her ass. I can never refrain from looking at her walking away.
I pressed myself up against her my palms beside hers. I breathed against her long beautiful neck, carefully watching her reflection in the mirror. "I'll spank you. I will spank you and you will count. If you miscount, I start over. You will not turn. You will not move your palms from this dresser. Do you understand?"
"Si Signor." She whispered. "I count what?"
"The number of times I smack your sexy ass." I whispered roughly into her ear. I moved away, freeing the belt from my waist. I'm tempted to use it but I have to distinguish between punishment and play. I'll use a flogger I bought earlier today.
It's important that she starts to learn what I'm like, what I want. With everything that is soon to happen, she has to get comfortable with my idea of intimacy.
"Don't move." I instructed her after getting it.
I can see her reflection, she's scared.
I'm excited.
I delivered the first one, quick and firm. She let out a scream. "Count bambina!"
"One!" She gasped.
I dragged my fingers through the hair at the back of her head and nestled a handful. "Count. I don't have to ask."
I did it again. "Two!"
"Good girl. Good girl. Palms down. You're doing great. Good girl." I whispered. "Do you know why you're getting flogged?"
"No Signor..."
"No?" I stepped back and gave her two more in quick progression.
"Due! Tre!"
"What about now?" I asked.
"I stole a panda! I stole from the zoo!"
I chuckled. "Hmmm... no. I wouldn't punish you for that." I set the flogger on the dresser next to her left palm. "It's the torture you've out me through for over a year Vittoria. It's the restless nights, the tossing and turning, the raging boners, the sexual frustration..." My palm slapped her soft bottom.
"...the endless torment of craving you... craving this beautiful body and getting denied... that is why you're being punished. Do you think you've earned this?"
"Si... Si Signor." She whimpered. I nestled her hair, pulling her head back enough to kiss her sweet mouth. My tongue thoroughly explored her addictive sweetness. She moaned into my mouth sending me over the edge.
I pushed her torso to lie over the dresser and repeatedly spanked her. She lost count and we started over and over and I drowned in her tender moans, her body quivering with need. When she suddenly came, I backed away swiftly.
I watched it trickle down her bare thighs, her legs arched up at the tips of her toes and her body jerking with release.
Fuck!
So this is what she will be like when we finally make love. I can't have her near me. Not like this. As though I suddenly fell from the clouds, I walked to the door and opened it.
She slowly set her heels on the floor. Her eyes are large, her body is still shaking. "Signor?"
"Good night Vittoria." I told her. "You will sleep in the guest room."
Without questioning me, she slowly made her way out and I gently closed the door.
This night could have gone differently. I could be inside her right now banging her brains out but I am not a brute to forget her lack of consent. If she stays with me, I'll be the kind of man my mother didn't raise. The one who doesn't ask for consent. She will be face down, my hand burying her face into a pillow and my dick ripping her apart.
I gazed down at it.
"Fuck." I cursed at how hard I am.
If it was possible to die from a boner, I would have died a repeated death since the first time I set eyes on her.
I guess it's me and a cold bath. This shit has to stop.
I want to have her and I know how.