My stomach pitched. I didn’t like what she was saying. “Knights?”
“The ranking members of House Salvatici. Luc’s father is the Grand Duke and the leader of the House. The Knights advise him. The Knights are known as the Council of Thirteen. And you’ll have to be careful of the Grande Cavaliere. He’s the highest-ranking member of the Thirteen, elected amongst them, a spiritual advisor of sorts to the Grand Duke. He’s a dangerous man, Natalie. And he does not like Luc.”
A vision of that depraved ritual I’d witnessed in the woods flashed in my mind, along with the figure draped in a red cape wearing a gold bauta mask. I swallowed hard, suddenly wondering what the hell I was walking back into.
“Stay with Luc or his friend Marco at all times. I’m assuming you’ll be staying at Marco’s estate. I can’t imagine Luc would risk taking you back to his parents’ villa after everything that’s happened. You can trust Marco, and you’re safe behind his walls. There are rules within the House.”
“Yeah, I know. Luc said as much.”
“Each Knight considers his estate sacred ground. The second you step off Marco’s property without Luc, though, you’re fair game.”
My stomach tightened. “You’re making his family sound like a cult instead of just a dynasty.”
“In a lot of ways they are a cult. But they don’t bow to any higher power. Unless you consider greed a higher power.”
Her features softened before I could think of a response to that comment, and she smiled again, only this smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You’ll be okay. You’ve got Luc. And he’s right. The fact you two are married will keep you protected from the worst they can do to you.”
That didn’t exactly ease my fear.
Sela closed her hand over my forearm and squeezed gently. “They need Luc. He’s the key to their future, and they know it. You’re a threat to that future, which is why they’re scared of you. Don’t let them scare you. You have more power than you think. More than they want you to know. Keep Luc centered, and they can’t win. Luc won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me. There’s no way he’d take you back there if he thought he couldn’t protect you.”
I swallowed hard, trying to process her words. The only thing that registered was the fact Luc wasn’t willingly taking me. I was forcing my way into this trip. And with things still so unsettled between us, I had no idea how he’d treat me once we landed in Italy or even if I could get close to enough to keep him centered the way both Sela and I knew he needed.
My gaze skipped over Sela’s features. “He’s really mad at me for not believing in him.”
“He’s not mad, he’s hurt. There’s a big difference. He’ll get over it.”
I wasn’t sure. He’d barely been able to look at me earlier. Before we reached Italy, I had to find a way to bridge the divide between us so if nothing else, we looked like friends instead of enemies. Thankfully, I had a long flight ahead to do just that.
I drew a breath for courage. “Wish me luck.”
She laughed and wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug. “You don’t need it. Something tells me you’re a survivor.” She drew back and met my gaze. “Luc, on the other hand... He’s not as tough as he wants people to believe.”
I knew that. My throat grew thick. It was the very reason I couldn’t let him do this alone.
I worked up a smile I didn’t feel as Sela crossed with me toward the back door and pulled it open. “I’ll be waiting here for you both to return.”
My footsteps faltered as I moved out onto the deck. Would I be coming back here? I hadn’t thought much past making it to Italy with Luc. But by going with him, I was basically choosing him over my freedom, a realization that caused my stomach to flop like a fish out of water. As much as I loved the man, I still wasn’t at peace with my forced imprisonment, and I wasn’t sure how that was going to impact me or us down the line.
“One thing at a time,” I muttered as I moved down the steps and headed across the warm sand toward the dock.
Luc was already at the end of the long flat boards that stretched out of the turquoise water, tossing his bag on board the shiny white yacht while talking to the captain. My gaze skipped over both men in the morning sunlight and zeroed in on the boat. It was gorgeous, probably sixty feet long, with a fly bridge and wide front deck. And while it was definitely bigger than the tiny water taxi we’d taken in Venice, the sight of the yacht didn’t do a thing to settle my frazzled nerves. Suddenly, all I could think about was how small the rooms probably were inside and how long I’d be trapped, surrounded by water that could seep in at any moment.
My palms grew damp, my breaths fast and shallow. A familiar hot tingle spread across my nape, telling me I was on the verge of a panic attack I wouldn’t be able to stop in a minute.
“Shit.”
My steps slowed at the end of the dock, and I stared down at my shoes in the sand, focusing on breathing to keep the panic from pulling me under. I could do this. After everything else I’d been through, this was a piece of cake. All I had to do was step up on this stupid dock and keep walking.
Long minutes passed where the only sound was the blood roaring in my ears. I breathed in and out. Tried to pep talk myself into stepping up onto the dock. I lifted my foot from the sand, touched the toe of my shoe to the boards, then jerked it back.
Footsteps sounded close, infiltrating the drumbeat in my ears. I wanted to look up, but I was afraid if I broke my focus, I might buckle. So I kept on breathing, kept on staring at my feet, kept on telling myself this was stupid and that I could do it.
Luc’s fancy leather shoes came into view at the end of the dock. He didn’t speak. Just stood still and watched me, which only made me feel like a bigger idiot. And the heady scent of him—jasmine and cedar and rum—drifted over me, distracting me from my focus.
Shit. Just give me a minute, would you?
He tugged the bag from my shoulder. Before I could ask what he was doing, he tossed it behind him on the dock and called, “I’ll be right back.”
He stepped off the end of the dock, grabbed me by the hand, and pulled me behind him back toward the house.
Stumbling in the sand, my focus completely broken, I sputtered, “Wh-what are you doing?”
“Something I probably shouldn’t.”
I tugged back on his arm, realizing he meant to leave me here. “I told you I’m going, and I meant it.”
He moved so quickly, I barely saw him. One second, he was in front of me, pulling me toward the house. The next, he whipped back to face me, lowered his torso to wrap his arms around my legs, then straightened and tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
The island spun around me as he turned and continued back for the house. And his back rumbled against my chest when he said, “Then stop fucking fighting me and just give in for once.”
My spine stiffened at those words—give in. I struggled against his hold, but he was too strong, his arms locked around the backs of my knees holding me firmly in place as I hung upside down over his shoulder.
“Luc, put me down.” I pressed my hands against his lower back and tried to wriggle free to no avail. “Dammit. I said—”
Sela’s chuckle echoed through the hallway as we moved into the house. “Looks like you two forgot something.”
My face flamed. Curling my hand into a fist, I slammed it against his lower spine. “I said put me do—”
The word whooshed out of my mouth as he dropped me to my feet.
“Wait here,” he said with one hard look before turning away.
We were in his bedroom. My gaze shot to the door I hadn’t realized he’d closed because I’d been too busy beating against his back, then shifted to the bed behind me—the bed we’d had dirty rough sex in only a handful of nights ago.
My instinct told me to run—not walk—out to that boat so he couldn’t lock me in this room and leave me here, but the rustling sound coming from the closet kept me from leaving. I didn’t know what he was doing in there.
I only knew that I’d possibly pushed him too far and if I ran now, it would only exacerbate a situation I was trying to take control of.
He moved back into the bedroom and stopped in front of me with a blue-checked silk tie in his hand.
Shit. I totally should have run. My whole body stiffened. “If you even think of tying me up so I can’t go with you—”
“Why would I do that? You’ve already made it more than clear you won’t listen to reason and will just find a way off this island as soon as I’m gone. Seems to me the smartest thing I can do is keep you with me so you don’t cause any more trouble for either one of us.”
My gaze lifted from the tie to his face. His eyes were swirling gray hurricanes, familiar and challenging, reminding me of all the times he’d challenged me in Rome and how much he enjoyed when I stood up to him. But the tension in his jaw and around his eyes belied the look and made me think weeks of stress were taking their toll on him, and that he really was desperate for me to give in and do what he needed—just once.
“Then why are we in this room instead of out on the boat?” I asked cautiously.
“Because you’re not in any mental shape to get on that boat. And I don’t have time to wait for you to convince yourself you can do it.”
My spine stiffened. I could do it, though. He just had to give me a freakin’ minute to psych myself up. “So what? You brought me in here so you could tie me up and drug me to get me on that boat?”
He tipped his head and frowned. “Pretty sure I learned my lesson about drugging you.”
My cheeks flamed because I knew he wouldn’t do that again. “Then what’s the tie for?”
“To cover your eyes. You said you do better when you can’t see the water.”
“Oh.” I had said that in Venice, when I’d been struggling to get in that water taxi from the dock to our hotel. But without my vision, my brain would still imagine all kinds of worst-case watery scenarios. “That’s...true, but—”
“You were also able to get on that boat in Venice because I distracted you.”
My gaze lifted to his. And the moment our eyes met, tingles rushed through my whole body.
I’d barely noticed that boat ride not just because Luc had been shielding my view of the water, but because he’d distracted me with his touch, his sensual words, and his very wicked mouth.
That had been a ten-minute trip through the Grand Canal, though. This would be much longer, on the open ocean. Heat whooshed through every cell in my body. Was he suggesting...?
“We can’t miss this flight,” he said, staring down at me not just with stormy, swirling eyes but with a heat I didn’t miss. “If you don’t want me to distract you, I can find a sedative that won’t make you pass out, just take the edge off long enough t—”
“I want you to distract me.”
“Are you sure?”
Yes, I was sure. It was the only thing I was absolutely sure of. He thought I didn’t want him anymore. He thought I hated him. This was my chance to prove him wrong and hopefully set our relationship back on even ground.
I nodded. “I don’t want a sedative, Luc. I want you.”
Chapter Twelve
Luc
My whole body came to life with those words—I want you—but I reminded myself this wasn’t about me. This was about Natalie getting on that damn boat so we could get the hell off this island.
I still didn’t know her end game. I didn’t know if she’d try to run as soon as we docked in Tahiti or if she really did plan to go all the way to Italy. I only knew keeping her with me meant I had a better chance at heading off anything catastrophic. At least where her life and safety were concerned.
Man, you are so fucked, it isn’t even funny.
I ignored the little voice in the back of my head. Ignored the instinct screaming in my gut that nothing good could come from taking her back to Italy. Lifting the tie in my hands, I held it up to her eyes, then secured the silk ends together at the back of her head, careful not to catch any strands of her hair. “How’s that? Can you see?”
“No. It’s fine. I-I can’t see anything.”
Blood rushed straight into my groin, stiffening my cock, and a thousand different dirty images of what I could do to her when she was blindfolded fired in my brain.
Stay in control. This isn’t about sex. It’s about distraction.
And it was. When she looked at me, I knew she didn’t see me, she saw a monster. And hell if I could blame her for that, because every single thing she’d written about me on that list had been true.
The pep talk cooled the fire growing in my veins, easing the tightness in my pants. I let my hands fall to her shoulders, ignoring how soft her skin was where the ballet collar of her shirt fell open, and focused on the reason I was doing this. “We don’t have a lot of time, so I need you to work with me.”
“O-okay.” She swallowed, her throat working in a way that made me remember what it felt like when she swallowed like that while pleasuring me with her sinful mouth.
My dick swelled all over again. And fuck. Thoughts like that were not going to help the situation.
I swiped at the perspiration suddenly dotting my forehead. “Sit on the bed.”
She reached back with her hands to find the mattress, then slowly lowered herself to the edge. The second her warm breath permeated my shirt at my waist, my cock grew even harder, and I realized my mistake.
I quickly dropped to my knees and pushed her legs apart, making room for me between her thighs. “Are you sure you can’t see?”
She nodded.
“Good.” I pulled the small, purple, figure-eight-shaped toy from my pocket and held the button down to turn it on. The low buzz immediately put her on alert, tensing every muscle in her body. “Relax,” I said, placing my palm on the skirt covering her thighs to calm her. “You’re going to like this.”
With one hand still on her leg, I held the toy sideways and lifted it to her throat, letting her feel the vibration against her bare skin. The toy wasn’t big—as long as my palm and at its widest, as thick as the circumference of a quarter. But the vibrations were nice and strong, and its hidden talent was the way the smaller circle rotated in a clockwise direction.
“Oh my,” she said as I rolled the toy down her throat and over her collarbone, slowly making my way across her left breast. “What is that?”
“Hula Beads.” I rolled the toy over her left nipple, letting the vibration tease the tip into a hard bud beneath the cup of her bra.
“Oh... That’s nice.” She braced her hands on the mattress and leaned back slightly, pushing her chest out for more. “I don’t even want to know why you have them or who they were for.”
I frowned as I trailed the beads to her other breast, teasing the tip in the same way until it was a stiff peak. They were for her. One of several toys I’d ordered and had flown in along with those hiking boots when I’d stupidly thought I could woo her back to me.
“I don’t reuse sex toys. They’re new. I just opened the box in the closet if you want to see the packaging.”
“No, that’s okay. I...I believe you.” She arched her back even more, telling me the toy was definitely doing the trick in distracting her. “Wow, that feels good.”
I should have been relieved by that statement, but I wasn’t. If anything, I grew agitated. I didn’t want to be a distraction for her. I wanted to be the very thing she couldn’t live without. And I didn’t like the fact she thought I just up and brought women here to fuck. “And for your information, I don’t bring guests to this island. Ever.”
Desperate to get on with this so we could get the hell to Tahiti and I could get away from her, I rolled the toy down her belly and pulled it away only long enough to slide my hand beneath her skirt.
“Oh, I thou—” She sucked in a breath when I pressed the toy against her panties.
“Oh my God,” she gasped. Her legs fell open wide, and reflexively, she rocked her hips against the toy. “Oh yes...” r />
My dick swelled to nearly bursting. Beneath my hand, I could feel her heat. And I could smell her scent...that tangy, sweet, hypnotic scent drifted around me, making me absolutely mad.
I fought for control, for the strength to get through this. Reminding myself this was just for distraction, I slid the rotating head up and down her slit. She groaned and let her upper body fall against the mattress. Pushing her skirt up to her waist, I stared down at the spot where I was teasing her, unable to look away from the wetness growing between her thighs and dampening her pink lace panties.
“Luc...” Her hand landed over mine still resting on her thigh. Her fingers squeezed until pain shot up my arm.
Bloody hell, I wanted to lick her there. Wanted to taste her. Wanted to make her fly apart with my mouth. I slid the rotating head lower, to the apex of her pussy. “Like that?”
“Oh my, yes.” She flexed her hips. “More.”
I ached to give her more. Wanted to give her my tongue and then my cock. Was desperate to hear her scream my name when she came.
“Mm... That toy feels good.”
That toy. Not you.
The reality of her words dampened my arousal, just enough so I didn’t rip open my pants and slam myself inside her.
My erection softened, solidifying my purpose. As she writhed against the toy and fisted the comforter beneath her hands, I knew it was as good a time as any to get on with that purpose.
Lifting my hand from her thigh, I tugged the damp lace aside and slowly pushed the toy inside her. She groaned as it filled her, circling her hips against the sensation. And when her slick channel had swallowed the toy so only the thin nylon loop remained, I slid her panties back into place and pressed my thumb against the lace covering her clit. “How does it feel now?”
“Oooh...” Her whole body trembled. “It feels so good.”
She continued to press her tantalizing pussy against my hand, and as I looked up her body at her flushed cheeks and straining muscles, I knew I’d achieved exactly what I’d wanted.
I’d made her forget every one of her fears. I’d even made her forget me.