Page 34 of Beautiful Torment (Empire of Kings #1)

“You’re soaked for me, cara .” His fingers glide through my arousal, increasing the pace until the obscenely wet sound is all I can hear.

I draw in sips of air as pressure coils deep inside me. I’m swinging on a pendulum between surrender and restraint. I want the high, but I don’t want it to end.

A warm palm settles on my back, blazing a trail up the valley of my spine before sweeping around to my breast. The rough scrape of his fingers against my sensitive flesh sends a shockwave through my body.

“Angelo,” I blurt out his name, uncertain what I’m even asking for.

“What?” He torments me. “You want to come?”

“Yes,” I beg.

“Ask me nicely.”

“Please!”

“In Italian,” he corrects.

“ Per favore .” I lean into his touch, desperately inching closer. “ Oh Dio sì. Ti prego .”

I keep rambling in Italian, breathless and indecipherable as he takes me right to the edge.

“ Brava ragazza .” The raw hunger in his praise sends me reeling.

Stars explode behind my eyelids as shocks ripple through me, racing all the way down to my toes. He draws it out for as long as possible, wringing every ounce of pleasure from my body. A helpless whimper spills from my lips as my legs give out, and he catches me around the waist.

A rush of air fills my lungs as he spins me around and seats me on his lap. Planted firmly on his thigh, my legs dangle between his as he cradles me against his chest. I feel so small in his arms, and I like the way he can pick me up and do what he likes with me a little too much.

The strong, steady beat of his heart lulls me with its soothing rhythm, calming the chaos in mine. His palm comes to rest on my hip, and I soak in the warmth of his skin as my breathing slowly returns to normal. After a few minutes, his words press against my ear.

“Ready for more?”

The dark promise in his voice has me nodding along before my nerves can get the best of me.

Angelo lifts and carries me to what must be the table. He holds me up with one arm and makes a sweeping motion with his other. Items shift along the surface as he clears out a space and props my ass against the edge.

He spreads my legs apart and eases his body between them. He’s so much bigger than me, I have to stretch my thighs wide to accommodate him, and I know I’ll be feeling that tomorrow. When he settles into that space, the weight of his cock falls against my belly, hard velvet against my bare skin.

He grabs the length of my hair and tilts my head back, taking my mouth in a possessive kiss.

My lips part, and he sweeps his tongue inside, drinking me in like he’s waited an entire lifetime to taste me.

My restraint burns to ash as I fist his shirt, matching the kiss with a desperate, aching urgency I’ve kept caged for so long.

It ties me up in knots, every suppressed emotion bubbling to the surface. Then, before I can stop myself, the words tumble out and crash against his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

He nips at my lip and tightens his grip on my hair, a silent warning.

“Angelo, I’m sorry.” My vision blurs, a tidal wave of regret rising in my chest.

I know he doesn’t want to hear it, but I have to say it. It won’t change anything. It doesn’t fix what happened, and I don’t expect it to. But I need him to know that I mean it.

He releases my mouth and burrows into the curve of my neck, inhaling me.

“You’ve carried it this long, little liar,” he growls. “Don’t start repenting now.”

He soothes the sting of those words with the glide of his hands as they travel down my sides and settle on my hips. The warmth of his touch is almost tender, but I can’t swallow the feeling that forgiveness isn’t on the table.

Then again, maybe it’s better he doesn’t forgive me.

“Angelo—”

“Where are your loyalties now?” he asks. “Tell me, Abella—life or death, who would it be?”

Those ominous words send a cold chill up my spine. It doesn’t feel like a theoretical question. Not coming from him.

“That’s not fair,” I whisper.

A quiet hum of menace stirs from his throat. “No? Tell me what part isn’t fair.”

When I fail to answer, he flattens a palm against the center of my chest and presses me back until I drop onto my elbows. I feel like I’m on display, legs spread, breasts exposed, all of my body laid bare for him.

Silence stretches between us, the weight of his gaze a hot caress against my skin. I can feel him mapping every inch of my body, even if I can’t see it. It burns with an intensity only rivaled by the sun.

He shifts, his body a delicious weight bearing down on me when he leans in, pressing a constellation of kisses along the column of my throat. It’s a slow, maddening spiral as each imprint grows rougher than the last.

He carves a path down to my breast, teeth scraping over the swell before he latches onto a nipple and sucks it into his mouth.

The shock of sensation wrenches a cry from my lips. I arch into him, sinking my fingers into his hair and palming the back of his head. He laps at my nipple, winding me up until I’m aching to fill the empty space between my thighs.

I roll my hips, and the feeling of his rigid heat sliding through my arousal lights up every nerve in my body. A deep sound of approval reverberates against me as he shifts his weight and nudges the head of his cock against my entrance.

That’s when a rush of panic unfurls. My hands fall to his biceps, clinging to him as I blurt the words from my mouth.

“What if you don’t fit?”

He releases my breast, pulling back slightly.

There’s a beat of silence as his fingers trace the curve of my face, the question hanging in the air.

I knew he didn’t believe me when I told him Matteo hadn’t ever touched me.

Not like this. But now I can feel the charge in the atmosphere, a primal claim etching itself into the marrow of his bones.

He wants it to be true. The savage need to own me sparks through him, the current arcing between us until it ignites us both.

“I promise I’ll fit.” He slides his palm around the back of my neck, gripping me there as his lips hover a breath from mine.

“I’ll fit you so well you’ll never stop begging for it.

You’ll be so thoroughly fucked, you’ll feel me every time you breathe.

And every day, you’ll spread your legs and ask me to do it all over again. ”

Strangled pleasure catches in my throat. He licks at my lip, then kisses me roughly, biting at me like he wants to devour me.

I want to be devoured. I want it so badly, I surrender to him as he starts to push inside.

It’s a slow-burning glide that stretches me apart.

The intensity of feeling so full is unlike anything I’ve ever imagined, and he’s barely just begun.

The pressure increases with every hard-won inch until a sharp sting makes me gasp.

“Fuck, Abella,” he groans against me, fingers branding my skin as a powerful tremor shudders through his body.

He definitely knows he’s my first now. His ring on my finger means he’ll be my last, too. There’s so much baggage that comes with that, but for now, I want to bask in the glow of his possession.

“This was always meant to be mine.” He cradles my face in his palm, and I nod against him.

“Say it,” he commands.

“It’s always been yours.”

Another low, deep groan fills the space between us as he pushes a little further.

I don’t even feel how much tension has crept back into my body until he coaxes it out of me with the steady pressure of his hands.

His large palms sweep over my shoulders and down my sides, cupping my ass as he takes another inch of me.

“Breathe.” He directs me.

“I am,” I choke out. God, he’s only halfway in. A quarter, maybe. I’m not sure.

“You can take all of it, cara . You will.”

He kisses me slow and deep, the taste of him soaking into my veins. Everything dissolves until all that exists is this moment. Soon, I feel him sliding back and forth. Inch by inch, he buries himself inside me, and a slow-burning flame of desire licks up my spine.

He fills my lungs with his exhalations and swallows every sound of pleasure from my mouth. When he finally gives me as much of him as I can take, all that’s left is bliss.

His palms squeeze against my ass, lifting me off the table and shifting me so I feel every throbbing inch of him.

I anchor my palms against his shoulders, holding on for dear life as he drags me down the length of his cock.

When he hits the perfect spot deep inside me, an explosive current of pleasure radiates through my entire body.

My head falls back and I cry out, choking on the sound as I remember the witnesses outside the castle wall.

“Don’t hide it,” he grits out. “I want to hear all of it.”

He thrusts into me, over and over, giving me no choice. Every sound rips from my throat on a ragged breath as the pressure in my body rises.

“Who does this belong to?” he demands.

“You.”

“Who has it always belonged to?”

“You.”

“ Così, brava ,” he praises me. “Now what else?”

My fingers bite into his shoulders as his earlier question comes back to haunt me. Somehow, I knew I wouldn’t get out of answering.

Life or death, who would it be?

Deep down, I already know who I’d choose, but I don’t want to give voice to it. It isn’t fair. But Angelo doesn’t play fair.

He fucks me harder, punishing me with his grip and edging me closer to insanity.

“Who, Abella?”

He thrusts so hard I scream, temperature rising as my pleasure swells. Every muscle in my body trembles. I’m so close to the most explosive orgasm of my life, and all that stands in my way is one little word.

I try to think, to find reason, to wonder what it all means. But I’m hovering at my breaking point, and he knows it.

“Give me a name.” The words hiss between his teeth.

“You!” I yell. “I’d choose you.”

He wrenches my head to the side, a visceral growl of satisfaction rumbling against my ear. “Such a good fucking girl. Now come all over my cock.”

He drops me onto the table and arches me back, his shirt rubbing my bare skin as he hammers into me. My heart pounds against my chest, and my body bows so hard it feels like I’m going to snap. At the same time, broken breaths fall from his lips as every muscle in his body draws tighter.

He needs this as much as I do.

The masculine sound he makes is what sends me spiraling out of control and straight into the abyss of oblivion. Violent spasms rack my body as electricity sparks through every nerve, sending waves of pleasure all the way down to my toes.

In the periphery of my mind, I feel myself clenching around Angelo. He lets out a low curse, burying himself deep inside me as pure, sweet agony unleashes from his throat.

His cock pulses, filling me with his warmth as he draws out his release in small, jerking thrusts. It sets off more aftershocks in my body, and I ride the wave until all that’s left is a haze of bliss.

I’m breathless, strung-out, and barely able to form a coherent thought when I feel him shift. He’s still inside me, but he leans away as if he’s reaching for something. Then he speaks.

“She doesn’t even remember your name. But I can promise you this—she’ll be screaming mine for the rest of her life.”

His body jerks hard, and a sharp, wet crack pierces the air—like a watermelon being blown wide open. Something warm splatters across my face and chest, and I let out a choked whimper.

The gurgling that follows is so close, dread prickles my skin. I rip off the blindfold, my stomach revolting at what I see.

Less than two feet away from where Angelo just fucked me, Matteo is bound to a chair, gasping out his final breath. A horrific silence settles over us as one final twitch wrenches from his body, and he falls limp.

His face is still twisted in a grimace, hollow eyes staring right through me.

I’m frozen and numb, my mind refusing to believe it.

But when I look up and see the chilling indifference in Angelo’s gaze, I know it’s real.

He pulls out of me and reaches for a napkin on the table.

Wiping my virgin blood off his dick, he stares at it for a long moment.

Then, as if to prove his final point, he tosses it onto Matteo’s body.

“You seem to have forgotten what forever means.” His eyes drift to the blade jutting out of Matteo’s heart. “Now you know.”

My attention lingers on the silver dagger gleaming under the moonlight. The meaning isn’t lost on me. I recognize the blade, and more importantly, the custom engraving on the hilt. Per Sempre. That’s the promise I made to Angelo when I gifted him this piece shortly after our engagement.

It meant forever.

That word ricochets through me, echoing through the chambers of my mind until the weight of it crushes me. I promised Angelo my forever, and now those words are lodged inside Matteo’s chest.

He’s dead… because of me.

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt him,” I choke out.

“And you promised loyalty.” His gaze drops to the cum trailing down my thighs. “Leave it inside you. I’ll give you some time to change, then we’ll discuss how this is going to work.”

The detachment in his voice makes me feel raw and too exposed. Like a switch, he’s turned off every emotion I thought I felt from him this past hour. In the span of a single moment, it all went up in smoke. And with one last fleeting glance, he leaves me standing there, broken and alone.