6. Melting under his touch

"I am claiming my wife."

He roared in my face.

"Isn't that what you wanted"

His red, wrathful eyes moved between mine. He was completely out of his senses.

First, because I won him over, and second, because another man touched me, I remember how possessive he used to be, and that hasn't changed a bit.

His eyes slowly moved down my lips, bringing his face incredibly close to mine. I closed my eyes, assuming he was going to plant his lips over mine. My heart started hammering in my chest with anticipation.

It's been ages since I felt his full mouth against mine.

But my eyes shot open, and a loud gasp escaped my mouth when suddenly his hand holding my jaw moved up to my lips.

"These beautiful petals," he said bitterly, looking down at them. "How much I used to adore them." The pad of his thumb ran over my lower lip. "And they became the reason for my sufferings"

"Ahhh," I gasped out in pain when suddenly he crushed my lips between his fingers.

"Tell me... Tell me, Senorita, why did you lie?"

I gulped down the saliva when I saw moisture in his tear line.

But then the night flashed in front of my eyes. The night I lost my father because of him, the night my brother and I became orphans.

"You got what you deserved," I said through my teeth.

Suddenly his jaw tightened, and once again the softness in his eyes was replaced by pure wrath.

Abruptly lifted his body on one of his elbows, grabbed my wrists in one of his large palms, and flipped me onto my stomach. His weight crushed my lower body under him. The dagger dug into my thigh painfully. I curled my palm into a tight fist not to make any sound.

He pushed my hair aside and traced his fingertips along my bare back as his other hand rested on my lower back.

Electricity sparked down my nerves, making my entire body shiver against the sheets as his fingers moved agonizingly softly across my skin. I suppressed my moan as I didn't want him to know the effect his fingers still have on my body.

My back relaxed slightly as I let out a deep breath when his finger moved down my spine effortlessly.

Then suddenly the sweetness vanished. He tangled his fingers into my hair, wrapped a strand of my hair around his wrist, and pulled my head back harshly.

A sharp gasp tore from my throat as my back arched off the bed. It was painful. I had to bite down on my lower lip not to make any sound.

I didn't realise when Dante's hand reached down to my thigh, and he pulled the small dagger hidden under my dress.

"Little traitor," he chuckled to himself as the dagger shone under the room light.

He then placed it against my bare skin, sending a chill straight through the heat in my veins.

"You were flaunting this back all night," he spat.

"Dante!" He held my jaw with one of his hands, and with the other hand held the dagger firmly over my skin.

Angry Dante, not in his own control, is a very dangerous combination. He might do something tonight and regret it in the morning.

"You want the world to know whom you belong to. Right?"

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. My heart thumped in my chest in anticipation.

I let out a shaky breath when he pressed the sharp tip into my skin and dragged it slowly across my upper back.

"Ahhh!" A painful gasp escaped my throat no matter how much I tried to stop it. My fists curled into tight fists, but he didn't stop.

"Now you will wear my mark," Dante growled into my ear. His voice was laced with possessiveness and madness.

A shiver ran down my spine as I realised what he was doing.

He was carving his initials on my bare skin!

The blade wasn't deep. He was just marking my skin, but it was stinging like hell, and I didn't want to give him a single cry of pain.

"Now every time you step out, you will wear a backless dress, and every man who looks at you will know exactly whom you belong to"

He then released my hair, tossed the dagger aside, and flipped me onto my back. A hiss passed my lips as my back scraped against the sheets.

His broad frame hovered above me as he leaned down with his dark eyes locked into mine.

"You may have made it to this bed, Clara," he spat, "but you will never get me."

I looked back into his eyes with equal intensity.

"This time I will not let you fool me. You will never get what you want"

My lips curved up in a smile.

"We'll see about that, Mafia King."

His nostrils flared, jaw clenched, and eyes turned darker. He was about to snap when suddenly a loud knock echoed in the room.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Dante stood up when the bangs became continuous and loud. He threw a sheet over me before opening the doors.

"What?" Dante roared at the man on the door.

"Forgive me, boss, but it's urgent! Our main server at the east docks has been completely breached!"

The news acted like a balm on my wounds. A small smile crept up to my lips.

The game has begun!