Page 87 of Tainted Obsession 1

“It’s perfect.” I accept the camera with reverent fingers. It feels familiar and comforting in my hands. “Thank you.”

He studies my pinched expression, trying to read the meaning behind my shining eyes.

“If the flowers don’t inspire you, tell me what does. Once we’re in Italy, we can go anywhere you want. Name a place, and I’ll take you there.”

“Italy?” I ask.

He nods, his jaw firming with determination—as though he anticipates an argument.

“I’m returning home to Naples soon, and you’re coming with me.”

My heart squeezes. I’d thought I wanted to go home to Albuquerque, but maybe that isn’t my home, after all. The house I grew up in with my uncaring family wasn’t a home. The apartment I shared with George seemed like home for a while, but now that I understand what he truly is, I can see the emotional abuse: the years of neglect and gaslighting.

He lured me in with a promise of love when I was young and vulnerable, and then he parsed it out like a miser. I twisted myself in knots to keep it, making myself small to try to earn crumbs of his affection.

Massimo offers me affection freely and often, doting on me almost more than I can bear. Deep in my heart, I still don’t feel worthy of such treatment, but it feels so good to be cherished.

Emotion swells, flooding my chest. I can’t find the words to respond to his intense declaration, so I simply lift the camera and frame the shot.

With the first click of the shutter, I capture his shining eyes. Then his lush, sensual lips; the masculine perfection of his stubble-shaded jaw; the way the sunlight plays over his black curls as the wind stirs them.

“What are you doing?” he asks, staring at me with confusion.

“Photographing what inspires me,” I reply, catching the moment his eyes flash with hunger.

He steps toward me and places his hand on the camera, gently urging me to lower it.

“Do you mind being photographed?”

“No. But I don’t want to damage your new camera. I could buy you another one, but I think it would upset you to see it destroyed.”

“Why would it be damaged?”

I allow him to pluck it from my hands and place it on a glass table that’s set up in the heart of the garden.

“Because I’m going to fuck you hard enough to make you scream, and I would probably smash the lens.”

“Oh,” I breathe.

His lips are still tilted in an arrogant smirk when his mouth lowers to mine. Massimo promised me that he would fuck me hard enough to make me scream, and he always keeps his promises.

Chapter 33

Massimo

Claiming Evelyn’s beautiful body yesterday was the best sex of my life. Unlike the casual encounters of my past, joining with her had meant something.

It’s not the long days of craving her that made it such a powerful experience. She gave herself to me without reservation or fear. My brave girl held nothing back. Her complete submission to my will was humbling and precious. She offered me everything, and I cherish the gift she gave me.

My hard cock presses into her belly, and my fingers find the delicate zipper at the back of her dress. I keep her captured in my deep kiss as I slowly ease it down the length of her spine.

She pulls back slightly, breaking the kiss but not putting an inch of space between our bodies—as though she isn’t capable of parting from me.

Her eyes sparkle with lust, but her delicate features are pinched with anxiety. Her gaze darts around the rooftop garden.

“What if someone sees?” she asks breathlessly.

I touch two fingers beneath her chin, keeping her locked in my hungry stare.