Page 166 of Corrupted By You

I plucked the cigar dangling from his mouth and flicked on the flame, rotating the stick until the cherry lit. Zeno undid the sash of my robe so he could peek at my provocative lingerie. He grunted in approval. I blew on his cigar before placing it back in his mouth. “There’s your smoke.”

Dropping my robe, I gave him a personal peepshow by bending over his desk and grabbing the decanter of whiskey.

He leaned forward and blew a cloud of smoke all over my ass, biting a chunk into his mouth like a ruffian. “Graziemille, mon trésor.”

I suppressed a sigh and poured whiskey in a crystal tumbler. Enough to take the edge off so he could start talking. “There’s your whiskey.”

He spun me by the waist and tugged me into his lap.

I fell astride, drink in my hand.

“And here’s my wife,” he rasped.

“Here she is.” Taking a sip of the whiskey, I fused our lips together in a languid kiss. The liquid trickled into his parted mouth when our tongues tangled.

Zeno kissed me breathless within moments, grinding me against him like a blueblood demanding servicing from his courtesan. “You’re going to take care of me tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I won’t fuck you until you tell me where you really went.”

“You like taking care of me?” He ignored my statement and kissed my jaw.

“I do.”

“You wear a lot more colour now,” he said unexpectedly, tracing the blue lace near my hip bone. “It makes me happy.”

You make mehappy.

“I like that you notice.” I no longer hid behind an array of demure colours. I was alive and vibrant after years of shunning my true self to appease others. “You notice everything about me.”

“I always have and I always will.”

“You promise?” I stole the cigar from him and brought it to my lips with a mischievous grin.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

I grasped his jaw and shotgunned my smoke into his awaiting mouth. We watched each other as he inhaled my essence, collecting my soul for his keeping.

My punisher and protector.

My day and night.

My darkest fantasy come to life.

Zeno tipped his head back and released a plume of white smoke into the air.

“Do you also notice how I’m tired of you evading my question?” I murmured when he downed the remainder of his drink and placed the glass on the desk.

The sound was like a judge’s gavel.

“I killed a man tonight.”

I expected it.

I saw it coming.

I tensed up regardless.

“Does that scare you?” A sardonic twist fluttered over his lips. “I’ve killed many men, and he won’t be my last. You always knew I was a bad man and I’ve sheltered you long enough. I don’t want to hide anything from you anymore, Darla. This is who I am. I kill, I maim, I punish.”