Page 33

Ivy

Rolling to my side, a slight shimmer of day break peeked through the curtains. A sharp pain hit my shoulders as I stretched my arms above my head.

My arms are free. I'm not cuffed anymore.

Sitting up straight, I rubbed my arms and rocked them side to side. I was sore as shit, but at least I wasn't confined to the bed. I wasn't sure when Dante removed them, I must have been out cold.

Oh, thank God.Shaking my shoulders loose, I looked around.

The room was still shadowed, slowly coming to life as my eyes adjusted to the low lighting. I was alone. The door was shut, but Dante wasn't here.

It was strange to wake up and feel the way I did. I felt sad that what happened wasn't just a dream, and at the same time, I was happy to not wake up in Remo's bed. A part of me was wishing that Dante was beside me, holding me gently like he had last night.

I didn't expect that from him, but I welcomed it.

His arms had wrapped my waist, his chest was pressed firmly into my back, and the last thing I remembered was his soft-spoken words.

'Things can be different, Ivy, they can always be different. Sometimes things aren't as bad as they look, try and look deeper.'

Just thinking about that moment again sent shivers up my spine. He was gentle, soothing me to sleep. The man who had ravished my body with just his touch, had shown me a glint of his softer side.

I wasn't sure what he was trying to say. Did he meanhewas different? Was he talking about this entire hell that had blanketed my small town world?

And to make it all even harder to grasp, my insides were tearing up and fraying with raw emotion . . . Feelings, real true feelings.

It was all too confusing to process and understand.

How do you crave your captor and despise him all in the same breath?

Last night was the first time any man had made me come like that. He touched me in just the right way, he caressed me with a tender and strong hand. I might still be a virgin but I'd had a few experiences to know that he had done it perfectly.

What I didn't expect was how fucking turned on I got when he gripped my throat. That was a whole new level of sensations I never imagined.

My body had come to life, it was amazing. I felt the orgasm in my toes, my stomach, my head. Tingles had surged through every part of me, and the resonant tone of the music my body played was still sitting right there. I'd never felt anything like it.

And now the curiosity was dripping around my brain, making me wonder.

What more could he do to me?

There was a glint of hope in my eyes; I wasn't trapped to the headboard anymore, maybe I was able to make him feel something more for me than he expected.

Maybe he would let me go.

I couldn't ignore there was something between us, a raw emotion that surged like wild fire. I was still floating from the orgasm, my body was loose and relaxed.

Balling my fists, I dug them into my eyes and rubbed them hard. I had no clue what the hell I was feeling, but I felt different.

Flipping the blanket off my body, I let my feet slip to the cold wood floor. And that's when I felt it, the chain locked around my ankle.

Fuck.

Obviously what happened wasn't enough to gain any sort of trust from him. He didn't trust I wouldn't run, and for right now I was okay with that.

Could I tell you why? No.

But the urge to flee had subsided. There was a sense of safety with Dante that I couldn't explain. He had saved me.

Twice.