Page 134 of Madness & Mercy

“But if you stay,” he says, dragging his hand down my chest like a threat and a vow all at once, “if yougiveyourself to me, no one will ever lay a fucking hand on you again.”

I nod. I don’t even know what I’m agreeing to anymore. The rules changed the second his lips touched mine.

“Say it,” he demands. “Tell me who you belong to.”

I gasp. “You. I belong toyou,Nico. Please—”

His body presses tighter to mine. His knee forces my legs open. I moan before I can stop myself.

“Piccolo puttano,”he breathes, dragging the words across my skin. “So fucking desperate. You don’t even know what you’ve done to me.”

I do now. I feel it.Allof it.

And god, I want more.

“More.”

It takes a second for me to register I said it out loud. My own voice, wrecked and needy, echoes in the space between us like a confession I can’t take back.

I’m grinding against his knee.

For fuck’s sake, I’mgrindingmy cock against his kneelike some shameless thing, panting like I’ve already come, like I’ve already given up every last ounce of pride I ever had. I can’t stop. I don’t want to.

I feel drunk, like I might black out from the pressure building in my gut, and we’ve barely even started.

Nico’s smile is slow and dangerous.

“Oh,cucciolo mio…You think you can beg for more and notpayfor it?”

He moves his thigh just slightly, the pressure hitting just right, and I bite back a sound so desperate it makeshimgroan.

“How shameless,” he mutters, leaning in to press his lips to the shell of my ear. “Rubbing off on me like you forgot who you’re dealing with.”

His hand fists in my hair and tugs my head back, exposing my throat.

“You want more?” he murmurs. “Then you’ll take it howIgive it. You don’t get toaskanymore,cucciolo. Youofferedyourselfto me. That means you’re mine to use. Mine to break. Mine to fuck.”

I whimper. I actuallywhimper. And his breath hitches, just once, like it turns him on just how far gone I already am.

“Look at you,” he says softly. “I haven’t even touched you properly yet and you’re already falling apart.”

“I—I can’t help it,” I manage to say, my chest heaving. “It’syou.I can’t think—I can’t—”

He kisses me again, rougher this time. Filthy. Like he’s trying to climb inside my mouth and ruin the air I breathe. His thigh grinds up against my cock, and I gasp into him.

“Good,” he growls, dragging his teeth down my neck. “I don’t want you thinking. I want youobedient.”

His hand slips beneath my shirt, hot skin against mine, palm splayed over my ribs, dragging slowly downward.

“You havenoidea what you’ve done to me, Julian. No idea what I’ve been holding back. Every night you slept under my roof. Every fucking time you looked at me like you hated me but kept your mouth just soft enough to kiss.”

“Nico—”

He cuts me off with a bite to my shoulder, and I gasp, back arching.

“Say it again,” he demands. “Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” I moan, my voice breaking. “I’m fuckingyours.”