❧ Darian ☙I wake up with a tingling in my arm, which lets me know that the limb is stiff and blood flow is low. Looking down at the sleeping form curled up next to me, I find Fiorella.For an instant I remember those first days as newlyweds, when I enjoyed her scent on my pillow and her soft skin close to me. Her soft lips are half-open and her angelic features are softened by the morning light. At this moment, she is not afraid, she is not tense or trying to fight me. She is an angel, and what mockery is it that I am the devil...?A darkness covers me as a dull ache spreads through my chest with a glare. My heart thuds against my ribs, amplifying the pain, and I can't remember a time when it has beat so loudly before.So soft, fragile and trusting. This is how she appears, like a lamb asleep in the pasture while the big bad wolf stalks the edge of the forest. If only he were a better man, a man who wasn't so intent on revenge. Maybe things could be different? I have to squash the t
❧ Darian ☙ "I guess I should have made things more clear with you yesterday. What we did was fucking and it was more of a punishment to get you back in line than anything else, if you thought that would make anything between us change, I'm so sorry Fiorella, my feelings haven't changed towards you, but neither will my anger and contempt." Her eyes narrow and she steps forward."And me waking up in your bed, was that part of the punishment too?" I get up from the chair immediately.Something more than anger, more than my need to master my emotions flows inside me. When I meet her anger with my own, she staggers backwards until I press her against the wall. "Listen to me well Fiorella, that was a stupid mistake on my part I admit it, you mean nothing more to me than revenge an end to my plans, you are nothing in my life anymore. Yesterday was satisfying and nothing more. It felt good, but don't think a little sex is going to divert me from my goals. Nothing on this planet has that pow
❧ Fiorella ☙He's a fucking animal , monster, idiot I loathe him so much, I look at the clothes they brought me and I can't believe , if you can call them clothes, he wants me in ribbons. A stylist shows up at noon and while I endure her attentions as she tousles my hair , waxes me to near disappearance and masterfully does my makeup so I don't even look made up , I hate every second of it.Once she leaves, I slip back into my shirt and wait for the costume Darian has prepared for me. A few moments later, a maid enters the room with a bag for the dress. She places it on my closet door."Thank you," I tell her, even though the dress and this place leave a bitter taste in my mouth. As soon as he leaves the room, I get off the bed and head to the closet, unzipping the bag to inspect its contents. I'm not surprised to see that it's a deep red color, almost wine, and barely what I would call a dress.The front of the dress has a panel that is little more than lace, and the back is open exc
❧ Fiorella ☙"Let no one touch her until she is bought and paid for," he says, in a voice that echoes through the room. A few groans and protests are heard, but they die down and then silence reigns.I am lifted onto a low stage or platform and left in an elevated position to be inspected. I plead with every god I can think of that no one go against their order to touch me. At any moment, I fear the vomit will spiral out of some hidden depth.Of course, it doesn't. I shouldn't like how protective he sounds or the tight grip he keeps on my neck. It's almost comforting to feel possessed by him, I can't afford to be disappointed.He escorts me through a warehouse full of people wanting to buy from me. As far as I'm concerned, this place could burn to the ground with everyone in it. He leans in and whispers, "Behave yourself." I put on my worst fake smile and, not bothering to lower my voice, tell him, "Fuck off."His hand tightens on my neck for a moment, and then he pushes me away, rele
❧ Lorenzo ☙It's been a month, in which I've had to stay under the radar, waiting with the anxieties and worry of what might happen to my principessa, but today the wait has been worth it.For weeks I have been planning this, to enter this auction as an Italian tycoon, nobody knows my name and I have characterized myself very well, even my men cannot be recognized, I owe that to my great friend Alexei Ivanov, who did not hesitate to help me to get Fiorella back.I enter this store that looks normal on the outside, but inside it comes to life as a place of perdition and pleasure, everywhere I turn I can see men with almost half-naked women, sitting on their laps, some of them are already enjoying their carnal favors.It sickens me to think that my wife is in this place and will be sold like a piece of meat to the highest bidder, she who is the purest thing I have ever had in my life, my wife, the love of my life, that I did not know how to protect when I had her in my hands.And boy ar
❧ Fiorella ☙I'm half expecting Darian to walk through the door, but I know better than to expect such a thing. Instead, a familiar face enters the room. I'm not foolish enough to relax, not around this stranger."Who are you, you didn't get your turn, so now you're here to take advantage of it before you miss your chance while I'm alone?"He approaches me, slowly, like a wolf hunting for its prey, but I stand my ground despite the fear roaring in my blood and the trembling in my hands. When he remains silent, the knot of fear in my gut tightens will be that this man is the one who bought me. "What do you want? Surely you didn't come here just to look at me." Even though the words come out whole, they betray my defeat. "Please leave me alone, I am nobody's property, if you bought me let me go I beg you." Again, he says nothing, doesn't even look at me, keeping his gaze firmly on my shoulder.These are my last moments of freedom, who knows what will come next. I don't want these last
❧ Fiorella ☙My head hurts. It's the kind of pain you get from staying up all night making indecent decisions. The pain radiates from the back of my skull forward like a macabre crown. It engulfs my senses.I open my eyes and stare at a high, white ceiling with delicate crown molding around the edges. It is dark, but there is a light filtering in from my left, like a lamp left on in another room. I let my eyes close and sink into an in-between space, a dreamy place where the pain ebbs and flows instead of being in a constant state.When I open my eyes again, I roll onto my side and press my face into a soft white pillow. I lift my head and look at the sheets underneath me, they are white, and the blanket at my feet is navy blue.I sit up and look around the room, trying to make out what little I can through the dim light filtering in. There is a bedside table, a minimalist piece, with a stainless steel lamp. Next to it, an alarm clock is giving me back red numbers. Four o'clock in the
❧ Fiorella ☙ I brace myself for whatever he's going to do to me, but I'm not ready for him to rip my shirt down the center. The cold air comes in contact with my heated skin and hardens my nipples. I immediately look around in panic.The driver who is taking us is parking the car, the windows are dark, but there is no separation between the front and back seat, which means the guy behind the wheel can hear us perfectly. "Take off your pants and underwear or I'll rip them off too." Before I can repeat myself, I pull the torn edges of the T-shirt off my arms and head for the waistband of my leggings. "What am I going to wear then, do you want everyone to see me naked?". I glance toward the front seat, where her driver has his eyes fixed on the road. "Don't worry about him." He unbuttons his shirt, takes it off and leaves it on the back of the seat next to me."For later," he explains."After what?" I can't control my agitated breathing as I lift my hips and shed my pants and underwe