by Kitty Thomas
He stepped back to admire his work and ran his hands over the hot, red marks. Leo pressed a finger inside her, unsurprised to find her wet and needy. Even with no warm-up or love and kittens, she could rise to the occasion, and so, it would appear, could he, if his hard-on were any indication.
It didn’t matter who was under his cane or whip. The effect on his body was the same every time—a fact which disturbed him.
Leo went back to the toy box and retrieved a vibrator with leather straps attached. He pushed the toy inside her, making sure the external nub pressed firmly against her clit, then he secured the straps around her thighs and waist and flipped the switch that brought it to life.
He didn’t bother with a tease. Instead, he went for the highest setting, intent on overwhelming her into a fast orgasm and then torturing her with the added unwanted stimulation until he had gotten his.
As her orgasm crested, he unsnapped the gag and pulled it from her mouth, replacing the rubber ball quickly with his cock, muffling the sound of her orgasm against his throbbing erection. No way in hell would he risk impregnating her.
“Suck like your life depends on it.”
She did. It was one thing she excelled at.
Leo gripped her shoulders, digging his nails into her skin as she fellated him. He bit his lip to stifle his own moan as he came. Caprice didn’t try to get out of swallowing: she accepted him wholly and completely, almost convincing him of her submissive act.
Perhaps he’d given up on her too soon. But, this wasn’t his life now. And one trip to the dungeon wouldn’t change her entire faulty personality.
He put his clothes back on and smoothed his hair before turning off the toy and releasing her from her bonds. “Get dressed,” he growled.
She practically slid off the spanking horse like an invertebrate without any bones to hold her together and crawled to her pile of clothing. Her gaze shifted to the large leaner mirror against the wall. She lingered, running her fingertips over the red welts, a small smile curving her lips before she reached for her clothes.
“I’m going upstairs to call you a cab and pay for a hotel. Go to your room and pack your things, then wait in the lobby for your ride.”
She nodded, not making eye contact as she struggled to make her legs work so she could use the stairs.
Leo checked his watch. Their entire encounter from the moment she’d pulled him down the hallway into the spare bedroom had lasted exactly twenty-five minutes. Not bad time.
Chapter Twelve
The family finished opening presents, then they turned to watch Faith. Gina’s Yorkie tilted his head to the side. Faith looked down at her hands. Leo had asked her to wait. So she waited.
“Where’s Leo?” Gina asked as if just noticing the host had gone missing.
The kids had been in such a hurry, ripping through paper and tossing clothing into a pile to cope with later, then going straight for the toys and electronics. The good stuff. It was hard to keep track of the location of all the adults in that bedlam.
“Caprice wanted to talk to him.” Even as Faith said it, she felt like the biggest fool in the world. She looked like a philanderer’s stupid girlfriend, too oblivious to know what her man was doing. From the looks of pity around the room, including ones who’d wanted her dead the night before, she knew they were thinking the same thing.
But Leo wasn’t her man, and he had every right to sleep with whoever he wanted. Still, the idea of it being Caprice scared her. Caprice would move in and then where would Faith go? Caprice would insist on Faith’s removal from the property. It wasn’t losing a nice house and being without a job now, it was losing her life—something she’d been reminded she still hoped to keep.
Would Leo sacrifice her life on the altar of his libido? He’d already been about to let Angelo kill her that morning. And he’d made a point of how much he’d sacrificed, so it was fresh on his mind.
Gina’s mouth turned down in disapproval. Leo’s mother disliked Caprice as much as Faith did, if that were possible. The woman’s eyes held a wisdom and knowledge that were probably the natural side effect of being a member of the Raspallo family for far too long.
Leo returned disheveled—confirming Faith’s suspicions. It wasn’t that his shirt was untucked or his hair unkempt. His hair looked fine, and his clothing was the way it was supposed to be, save for a few barely noticeable crinkles in the fabric. It was something in his facial expression and manner that made him seem disheveled and wild. He’d either just had sex or buried a body. Since it was Caprice, Faith hoped for the latter.
“What’s going on with Caprice?” Gina said, suspicion in her eyes.
“Really, Ma? You know how I feel about her.”
“How do you feel about my cousin?” Vinny asked, rising from his chair near the kids.
All adult eyes turned to him. The kids were too busy with their iPods and smart phones and fighting over whose video game equipment was getting hooked into the TV in this room and who would have to relocate, to care about the grown-up conversation happening feet away. When you had a new video game console, adult conversations were algebraic equations.
“I feel like we aren’t right for each other. Also, in case you forget, I am engaged.” Leo made a sweeping motion toward Faith to underscore his point, which made her feel more on display and humiliated by what was obvious to everyone. “Caprice has decided to leave. I’ve called her a cab and set her up in a hotel so she has some place to stay.”
“Why would she decide that? Why would she want to be by herself for the holidays!?” Vinny asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Don’t make a fuss. She’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to stay. She didn’t expect me to be serious about Faith.”
“She can’t be alone on Christmas day,” Gina said, twisting her hands in her lap.
A few minutes later, Caprice rolled her large suitcase past the family room. The whole family, minus the kids, got up and followed her into the hallway, all protesting loudly about her leaving.
Faith was sure the majority of them hated Caprice, and yet everyone was trying to wrap up food for her, insisting she just stay or at least stay to open her presents, but Caprice refused.
“I’m going, and there’s nothing any of you can say to stop me,” Caprice said, her face flaming.
Gina seemed relieved, though she continued to protest the departure. By this point Caprice’s gifts had been put into bags, and she’d been loaded down with Tupperware filled with Christmas Eve leftovers—enough food to last her a week if she got caught out in a snowstorm.
Faith felt oddly uncomfortable with Caprice leaving. Maybe nothing had happened between her and Leo. If it had, why would she be leaving like this?
When the cab arrived and took Caprice away, Faith and Leo drifted back into the family room to open their abandoned presents.
When he’d been gone with Caprice, she’d stared at the pile with her name on it, unable to believe anybody had gotten her anything or that Leo had gotten her so many things. She’d reminded herself he was keeping up appearances and doing what the family would expect him to do if he were engaged.
Gifts from other members of the family included an imported Italian leather journal, a nice fountain pen with her full name engraved in a classy script: Miss Faith Jacobson, sweaters, a few wool scarves, and boots. Someone had spoken with Leo to get her sizes. Aside from midnight Mass the previous night, she hadn’t been allowed out of the house. She wasn’t sure any of that would change, but she thanked everyone and tried to look happy.
Then came the Leo gifts. There was some jewelry in Tiffany blue boxes, wrapped with white satin ribbons, as well as a couple of sexy—though still classy—dresses. Where did he expect her to wear these? Was he going to take her out? Was this for show? She looked up with a question in her eyes, but he turned away and went back to opening his things.
“Hey, Angelo, this is nice, thank you,” Leo said, holding up a clearly expensive black leather jacket.
&nbs
p; “It fell off a truck,” his brother retorted, the sarcasm thick in his voice.
Uncle Sal punched Angelo in the arm.
“Owww. What?”
Uncle Sal shook his head.
When Faith got through all her gifts, she turned to Leo and kissed him. It was awkward at first because she’d never initiated anything intimate with him before, even as part of the ruse.
After an initial shocked tension, Leo relaxed under her kiss, his fingers threading through her hair. She couldn’t tell if he was acting or if he wanted her, but soon the family started making kissy and oooooh noises. Mostly the kids who had been distracted from their video game. All human beings under the age of fourteen had a special mental alarm that went off whenever someone was making out in their vicinity.
Faith broke the kiss and looked down, unable to bring herself to look into his eyes to see what might be there. Desire. Pity. Indifference.
“I got you one other thing.”
“You already got me too much,” she whispered, too aware of all the eyes on them.
“Just wait a second.”
He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a big, wrapped box that had large holes in it and was making sounds. First thumps, as whatever it was ran and slammed itself into the side, then scratching noises, and plaintive, irritated mewls. Somebody wasn’t happy about their accommodations.
That made two of them.
“You got me a kitten?”
He grinned. “Damn, the surprise is spoiled. Open it. You don’t know what color or what kind, yet.”
Faith wasn’t sure what it was about the kitten that undid her when nothing else did. The rest could be part of keeping the lie going, but getting her another pet was personal and considerate, a gift no one in the family would expect. It was him making an effort to co-exist with her or maybe something deeper.
She tore through the wrapping and lifted the lid to find a white Persian ball of fluff staring up at her with too-innocent blue eyes. The kitten squeaked.
“Oh my gosh. It’s so cute!”
“So you like her?”
“I love her! Thank you!”
Leo looked taken aback by the sheer joy, and it occurred to her, he’d never seen her truly happy before now.
***
Later that evening, as Leo savored his coffee and cannoli, his mind flashed to the dungeon. He’d wanted to take more time, make more welts. He’d wanted to make his willing victim stay displayed for him while he sipped a glass of wine and admired the marks he’d left. He wanted to enjoy it at his leisure, with the gag firmly in her mouth so she wouldn’t speak and destroy the moment. He wanted to pretend it was Faith. Why couldn’t he have Caprice’s masochism and Faith’s sweet spirit combined into one woman?
By now it was clear Faith was submissive, but she wasn’t kinky. Caprice was kinky, but she wasn’t submissive. The universe was playing a cruel joke on him.
After dinner, the family retired to the game room, where there was a larger flat screen, as well as a poker table and a pool table, and a couple of free-standing arcade games: Pac Man and Donkey Kong—the only two Leo had ever gotten into. Yes, he was that old school.
The kids fought over the TV and who got to hook up their video game equipment, which game they would play, and who got to play. One faction: the girls, claimed that the boys had gotten to hook up their game system in the family room that morning, and so it was their turn. The boys claimed this was a bigger screen and they had a racing game that would look awesome on such a large screen and the girls had a stupid game that would play fine on any stupid screen.
Leo stepped in the middle. “How about we watch a Christmas movie, something you all can enjoy?” He wasn’t keen on hearing either group yell at the screen all evening.
“No, that’s lame,” Michael said. “Can we go swim? We brought our suits.”
Leo smiled and shook his head. “Of course you did. Go, then.” In truth, he was happy to have some of the noise dispersed to another part of the house and the kids out of his hair for a while.
Vinny, Uncle Sal, Uncle Bernie, and a couple of the other men sat around the poker table divvying up chips. The women were still in the kitchen, cleaning.
Leo had asked Faith to join him so she wouldn’t be left with the women. After the Caprice incident and the drama the night before with Gemma, he didn’t want to leave Faith to the wolves who would poke around in her head for as many dirty details as they could.
He joined her on the sofa, and she snuggled against him for a long time, not speaking. He wanted to take her somewhere private and find out what she suspected or knew about what had happened that afternoon leading to Caprice’s departure, but he waited until it was time for bed.
His mother gave him a conflicted look as he led Faith to his room. He suspected she knew something had happened with Caprice. If she’d known the details, it would have sent her into a Christmas Day heart attack. It was bad enough she thought something normal and vanilla had happened.
In her head, her son sleeping in the same room with Faith might keep his interest off Caprice, but at the price of living in sin. Such a conundrum. Leo was glad he didn’t have to live in his mother’s mental cottage.
He shut the door and locked it. Faith was beside the bed with the kitten who they’d decided to leave in the box with the top off when they weren’t playing with her until she was fully litter trained. The box was far too tall for the little cotton ball to climb out of, though she made quite an angry and repeated effort.
“Did you decide what you’re going to call her?” Leo asked as he stripped down.
Faith looked away from him when he got down to his boxers and turned her attention back to the box. “Snowball. I know, stupid name.”
“It’s not stupid. She’s too warm for a snowball, but she looks the part.”
His nudity made her uncomfortable, but it was his room and his bed and he didn’t wear clothes to bed. And Faith shouldn’t either. It was unnatural. She should be grateful he wasn’t pushing the issue. After his family was gone, she could go back to her room and feel safe behind her own locked door.
“Get your pajamas on and let’s go to bed,” he said.
She looked relieved that he wasn’t going to insist on her nudity and scurried into the bathroom to change. Even with his liaison with Caprice, he was aroused again, so he couldn’t blame her for the fear. So sweet and defenseless. She always looked as if she’d stepped out of a professional soft-focus portrait.
Caprice was probably right about the woodland creatures. He had a red-haired Snow White in his castle. But weren’t redheads supposed to be more fiery? More opinionated and strong-willed? He’d waited endlessly for that part of her personality to assert itself, but if it existed at all, it came out in small, ineffective protests. He didn’t mind her reserved nature, but it meant he had to be more careful with her. He was never confused on where Caprice was mentally, but Faith held back more of herself. Too much.
She came out of the bathroom in pajamas with images of various chocolate candies on them and slid into bed. He turned out the light and joined her. Squish kneaded the pillow between them and curled against the soft fabric. Max knew better than to get on the master’s bed. The dog briefly raised his head from the chair he’d squeezed himself into, his tongue hanging out happily, as if he knew what was coming for the entitled kitty.
Leo picked the cat up and set her down on the floor. Squish gave him a dirty reply halfway between a growl and a meow, then went to the kitten’s box to lay next to it. Snowball settled with the close presence of the other cat.
It was quiet for a blissful five minutes, until Faith’s previously silent tears got loud enough for Leo to notice.
He turned on the lamp. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m scared.”
“Of?”
Faith’s body was curled away from him, shaking. Even if he hadn’t heard her, the strength of her crying was becoming enough to vibrate the bed.
“It did.”
“What if it gets serious? What happens then? Will you let me go? Will Angelo kill me?”
How could he convince her he and Caprice would never be serious? That train had long ago left the station. He pulled her against him and held her, stroking her hair.
“Shhhh. Stop your crying. I won’t let Angelo kill you.”
“But this morning…”
“This morning I needed you to understand I don’t appreciate ingratitude after I saved your life. If you wanted to die, then yes, I would have let Angelo kill you. What would be the point of keeping you alive against your will and shrinking my options in the process? But if you want to live, I’ll never kill you or let anyone else hurt you. Are we on the same page?”
“Yes,” she whispered, but it didn’t sound like she was convinced. A moment later, he knew why. “I just… you’re going to resent me or take what you want, anyway. This isn’t realistic. It can’t go on forever like this. You have to know that.” She huddled in on herself after she’d forced the words out as if he might hurt her for saying them.
“Are you jealous of Caprice?” It might be easier to deal with this from another angle. She’d sent him multiple mixed signals about her desires since the previous day when the family had arrived.
“I don’t know. I know you don’t want me, but this lie… it hurts.”
He lifted her chin. “Faith, look at me.”
Reluctantly, her gaze met his.
“I want you. But I’m not a rapist, and I’m not going to terrorize you with my kinks when they would alarm and upset you. Between Caprice and you, I’d rather have you any day. If only you were wired like me.”
“I can’t do those things you want… in the dungeon… but I could do the more normal stuff. I am attracted, and with you mostly leaving me alone these past few weeks, I feel safer with you than I did when I first came here.”