Katerina De Luca
My body was waking up on its own but I didn't want it to. Silently, I begged it to remain asleep but my pleads fell on deaf ears. I am too scared to face his wrath all alone. This time I didn't have Elijah or any of his other family members to use as my shield.
I felt my heavy eyelids begin to flutter open as my body launched forward, inhaling a much needed breath of air. The last thing I remembered was passing out from Arosio's aggressive kiss. I was about to jump off the bed that I was laying on but ended up wincing in pain when I was held back by handcuffs. The sound of water closing from within a door in the bedroom, that I expect to be the bathroom, fell into my ears along with the shuffling of a pair of feet.
With wide, frightened eyes I stared at the handcuffs that kept one of my hands attached to the headboard of the bed, effectively trapping me in this bedroom. Looking at the clock on the nightstand, I could see that it was close to midnight. By now, I could have been snuggled up to my two best friends in their safe villa but instead I was handcuffed to this devil's bed.
My mouth fell open in pure horror and my breathing began to come out in short pants. My eyes frantically wandered around the luxurious bedroom I had been left in. It was almost as grand as Arosio's master bedroom in his personal mansion but this one was decorated in neutral colors, opposed to the usual black and grey that Arosio seemed to prefer. The bed that I sat on was even bigger than a King size bed which reminded me of Elijah's bed. A frown instantly appeared on my lips as I thought of Elijah and how much I hurt him by leaving so suddenly.
"I miss you..." I whispered through tears and hugged my knees close to my chest. By now my whole body was shaking as my tears continued to pour down my chest.
Suddenly, the air seemed to stiffen as I heard a door being thrown open and my eyes instantly snapped up to meet Arosio's dark gaze. He was dressed in nothing but a pair of black joggers that seemed to compliment his dark hair and eyes. I cursed myself in my head, knowing that if I wasn't in so much fear, I would be drooling over this insanely handsome yet wicked man standing there with droplets of water dripping down his toned abs.
Almost all the color drained from my face as Arosio silently stalked towards me like a predator would its prey. This has happened to me twice tonight, both times by different men but when Rylan did this, it was playful and now with Arosio, it felt so real and terrifying. I leaned back into the headboard as he suddenly leaned forward with his hot breath fanning my face and held my chin tightly.
"You miss who? That Kensington bastard? Don't make me regret sparing his life, tesoro," Arosio stated with a sadistic smirk and I cried out in pain when his grip on my face tightened. He instantly released me and took a step back with his eyes caste down as if he regretted using too much force.
"No...I was talking about Elijah...wait, did you hurt my friends? Arosio, I swear, if you did--" my words were cut off as he let out a sigh and raised his hand to my head before rubbing my hair down.
"Hmm, good. And, no I did not hurt them," Arosio added after a moment of silence and I gave him a small smile of gratitude. At least he wasn't as much of a monster as I thought him to be.
Arosio leaned forward again but this time, it was to unlock the handcuffs. As soon as my hand was released, I brought it up to my face and stared at the red marks on it with tears. I began to rub it and winced in pain before sending him an accusatory glare. He almost looked guilty for a second before he seemed to remember something and a murderous rage flashed across his now cold, dark gaze.
"Here, take these clothes and shower. That bastard's scent is all over you," Arosio stated in anger before handing me one of his folded black dress shirts with a white towel. Looking down, I realized that I was still dressed in Ethan's hoodie and almost felt guilty for wearing another man's clothes in front of my husband.
'But...he's not your husband. He tricked you, he's a murderer, the head of a criminal syndicate' my subconscious whispered to me as my eyes lingered on the door of the bedroom.
Nodding my head silently, I took the clothes out of his hands and slowly approached the bathroom door. He must have seen my gaze remaining on the bedroom door though and his next words made a shiver of terror shoot up my spine.
"And, Katerina, don't even think about escaping. Your punishment is severe enough, add one more thing to the list and I guarantee, you won't be able to walk tomorrow," I could almost feel Arosio's amused smirk from behind me as I paled at his words and ran the remaining distance to the bathroom. Without turning around, I shut the door tightly and locked it before sinking to the floor while holding back my sobs.
'God, please save me from this heartless monster,' I whispered through tears before slowly entering the bath with rose petals that Arosio had already prepared for me.
***
Two knocks hit the bathroom door while I stared at it in silence with my whole body frozen in terror. I had finished my bath a few minutes ago and was dressed in the clothing Arosio gave me. I expected to find shorts or sweatpants with under garments folded into the bundle that he gave me but there was only the white towel and the black dress shirt. I secured each button all the way up to the collar and it reached just above my knees but I still felt too exposed without any under wear or sweatpants covering my lower half.
"Just...a...second please," I stuttered out before turning around and picking up Ethan's sweatpants. Before I could throw those on, the door opened up, revealing a smirking Arosio who held a key to the bathroom lock in his hand.
My hands instantly flew down to pull the ends of the shirt down and just when I was about to wear the sweatpants, Arosio tore it out of my hands and threw it into the garbage can. My frightened gaze snapped to his as I recognized the lust and rage in his darkened gaze. He took a step towards me, making me shriek in surprise before squeezing past him and heading for the bedroom door. Before I could reach the door, his strong arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me up.
"Let me go! Let go of me right now!" I began to scream in protest as he carried me over to his bed and threw me onto it. Using the blanket, I instantly covered my bare legs and glared up at the man standing tall in front of me.
"You forgot to give me pants..." I trailed off after several moments of silence passed with him staring down at me with his intense gaze. He released a dark chuckle that instantly sent shivers down my spine before sitting down beside me and reaching his tattooed arm towards my hands.
"I didn't forget, tesoro," Arosio whispered huskily before taking me by surprise and pulling my body forward with much force. Within seconds, I was sprawled across his lap with my stomach resting on his thighs and the blanket no longer covering my legs. My hands instantly attempted to push myself up and away from Arosio but he quickly overpowered me and used just one arm to keep two of my hands down.
"Twenty spanks for disobeying me by putting yourself in danger and trying to run away. You will count after each spank, if you miscount or forget to count for even one, I will restart," my body that was protesting against his tight hold just moments ago, froze in complete terror as my wide eyes blinked several times up at the ceiling.
What...did...he...just...say? Surely, I must have misheard him...
I was brought out of my thoughts when Arosio's warm hand trailed down my back as my body betrayed me and leaned into his electrifying touch. I jolted in surprise as the cold air in the room hit my exposed butt when Arosio lifted my shirt up.
"No...wait..you can't! I swear, if you dare spank me Arosio, I will-" my words were cut short by a loud whimper escaping my lips as his hand firmly landed the first spank. He used almost as much force as he did when he threw me over his shoulder back at Ethan's villa and I felt tears begin to prick at my eyes.
"Count." Arosio's stated huskily and I could feel his darkened gaze boring holes into the back of my skull as I began to protest again and tried to get out of his hold. Within seconds, he used his strength to overpower me again and I could do nothing but cry out when he spanked me the second time.
"Tesoro, count. I can do this all night long," Arosio threatened as I buried my face into the bed with more tears.
I have never felt so humiliated in all twenty-four years of my life. No one has ever spanked me, not even my grandparents while I was growing up in the countryside. I was always a good girl who listened to their every wish, there was never a need to discipline me.
"Fuck. You" I gritted out in anger but instantly regretted it when Arosio's warm hand came down with even more force for the third spank. A scream escaped my trembling lips as my hands reached out from Arosio's tight hold and clenched onto the bedsheets.
"I will not tolerate such defiance from my wife. You belong to me and the sooner you accept that, the better, Katerina," Arosio stated darkly as I shivered from his rare use of my first name. I could feel every bit of sincerity in his voice but that only fueled my own anger even more. Lifting my head from the sheets, I tried to get away from his tight grasp once again.
"I am not your wife and will never be the wife of such a monster," I screamed through tears but shut my mouth tightly when he spanked me a fourth time, making me instantly cry out and grip onto the bedsheets again.
"Say that one more time, and I will show you just how much of a monster I can be. Now, count," Arosio leaned down and whispered those words into my ear as I sobbed into the bedsheet and shook in fear. The next one came down with much less force and he waited a few moments for me to count but I refused to do so.
I refuse to give up my dignity for the sake of this evil man.
"No. I will not count, I have done nothing wrong," the defiant words slipped past my trembling lips before I could stop them and I felt the next spank land even harder on my butt like the first few had been. I could tell it would be red in the morning and the pain was almost making it unbearable to think properly.
"Count or else, tesoro," Arosio let his final words linger in the air for a few moments as my body continued to shake with fear. My heart was in direct conflict with my mind, the former was telling me to never give up and the latter was telling me to count so that the pain would stop.
"Do your worst, Mr. De Luca," I spat out and didn't bother hiding the hatred in my voice. I felt him stiffen when I addressed him as Mr. De Luca opposed to his first name but in this moment, I felt he didn't deserve to be called intimately by me on a first name basis.
"Stubbornness is the strength of the weak, and will eventually lead to your own suffering," Arosio's voice came out coldly before he spanked me again, as I silently cried into the bedsheet and prayed to wake up in a better place, without the presence of this monster.
***
My eyes slowly opened and the first thing I felt was pain and the emptiness of the bed. I searched around and the first thing I was met with in the dark bedroom was the alarm clock on the night side table. It was a little past midnight now and I was no longer sprawled across Arosio's lap. Instead, I was laying sideways inside the covers of the bed and I felt the bed dip down before Arosio's familiar addicting scent filled my every sense. Within seconds, the covers were lifted off me and I whimpered out in protest.
"Please...it hurts...please no more," the weak words left my lips once I felt his warm hand on my sore butt again but I froze when a cooling sensation spread through my skin.
"Shh. Go back to bed, tesoro. This cream will get rid of the pain by the time you awake in the morning," Arosio leaned into the side of my face as he whispered those reassuring words and kissed the back of my head.
I sighed in relief and allowed him to continue rubbing the soothing cream into my skin and onto my wrist that had been handcuffed previously. Part of me wanted to jump out of the bed and runaway from this monster but I had little to no strength left after what he just did to me. Instead, I opted for the option of killing him with my words.
"Pain? Why do you even care when you are the one who caused it? No one has ever spanked me in my whole life. I hate you, Mr. De Luca. You are nothing but a cold, monster and I will always hate you," I meant every word that I whispered in the darkness and scooted away from him before burying my face into the pillow.
I half-expected Arosio to lash out at me and punish me again. That would be expected of the monster he is. Which is why his next actions shocked me even more and for some reason, caused me even more pain than his spankings.
"I...I am sorry...tesoro..." Arosio's deep voice held regret and sadness as I fought the urge to turn around and embrace him. The words felt foreign coming from his lips and I could tell that the almighty Mafia boss probably never apologized to anyone else in his life.
Tightening my hold around the blanket, I kept my back facing him and willed my mind to allow me to sleep. Arosio seemed to have understood that I didn't want to talk to him since I felt the bed dip before the bedroom door opened and his footsteps faded away.
'Do cold monsters apologize?' was the last thought that crossed my mind as I welcomed the abyss to take over it.
****
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