Stefano sat in the slightly open wardrobe in the far corner of her bedroom, watching her, she was the one thing he craved for most.

The room smelled like the body lotion that he sniffed in her bathroom last night, and he hung up her dressing gown on his way in. It was fluffy and soft. The open water bottle on her dresser twinkled in the darkness. It was half empty. 

 

That spot was perfect for watching her, the way she tossed and turned in restless sleep. She never woke, but she was not still for a moment, Stefano wondered if she sensed him, If she knew he was watching her. Did she feel it, his eyes roaming over her body? His pupils dilated when he got a glimpse of her breast

The sweat on his palms as he was imagining how it would feel to hold her while she slept. Would she lie still if there was someone beside her? 

 

Would she be warm, or cool against his body? Soft and cuddly, or stiff and unyielding? Her fingernails were painted light pink, and he liked it. Marlena moved in her sleep, this time she laid flat on her back, her arms spread wide and her messy hair covering her cheek. Her breasts fell flat on her chest, and her breathing sounded heavier now. 

 

Now she was sound asleep, stretched out on her bed, the covers kicked off due to the unusually warm bedroom. In his favorite chair inside her closet, he could watch as she curled into herself, finding comfort and rest. Her white nightgown has ridden up, exposing her thighs, milky white in the moonlight that was filtering in through the open blinds. Stefano admired the view, and his self-control. He contemplated how soundly she slept, wondering how close he could get? How exactly did the drugs affect her, would she wake up if he touched her face, just to move her hair?

 

He wanted to see her face, touch the soft skin of her cheek and kiss it. Downing the rest of his wine in one go, he put the glass down on the floor beside the chair and got up. His footsteps were a whisper on the floor as he walked over to the bed where she slept. 

 

“My queen of the night.” He whispered. Raking his gaze up and down her, he couldn’t help the way his body reacted. Standing over her, looking down at everything he has desired for so long, he lost the battle with himself and moved the hair from her face. She didn’t even move, not even a change in her breaths, her eyelids didn't flutter. She slept soundly, and he was lost. 

He couldn’t help it, he shrugged off his jacket and placed it on the chair. He loosened his belt and slid off his jeans. His shoes were already left by the wardrobe when he came in. Boxer shorts, socks, and his white dress- shirt made him feel light enough to lay beside her on the bed. The mattress dipped under his weight and still, she didn’t move.

 

The soft cotton bedding felt like liquid, it was cool against his skin. It smelled like fabric softener and her, the pillow was like a cloud as he turned to lie down beside her. To watch her sleep, to see her undisturbed, and to breathe in every breath she exhaled. Stefano wondered for a moment if he could sleep like this, but sleep wasn’t a luxury he could afford.

 

He moved one strand of hair from her face, he couldn’t help it, the need to touch her was overwhelming. “You are powerless to resist me.”Her cheek was softer than a mink fur under his fingers as he traced the line from her ear down her jaw, watching her, his pulse syncing with hers. “When you tried to save John’s life at Maison Blanche, your seductive behavior, awaken a desire in me, more than I have ever felt for another woman. But It was necessary for me to wait, for just the right time to come for you. Tonight, Marlena, you are going to be at my mercy.” Watching for any sign of her waking from her deep sleep, but she was lost to the world beyond wakefulness. Drowning in dreams and recharging her vibrant soul. 

 

Running his thumb over the plumpness of her bottom lip, his chest shook with strained, muted, suffocated moans. Finally, she was right beside him, like Snow White in her glass coffin, waiting to be woken by the kiss of her lover. This could be any of the wretched fairy tales they are told as children, only he was not a prince, he was a shadow in the darkness. The huntsman, not the prince. 

 

“Surrender Marlena” he whispered. He was going to steal the kiss and her heart. Marlena didn’t need a prince, she didn’t know it yet, but he knew what she needed. Adrenalin ran through his veins as he laid still, so close, but still too far. He licked his dry lips, the need to feel closer to her burning painfully inside him. He moved the spaghetti strap of her satin nightgown over her shoulder, shifting the glossy fabric so that he could see her unblemished skin. His finger traced her collarbone, his eyes watching her face to see if he was disrupting her sleep. 

His cock twitched in his pants just thinking about her sleeping so close to him. Imagining her eyes wide as she woke to him kissing her, the gasp of air as she realized it was him in her bed. He grabbed himself through his boxers and squeezed as she moved, her nightgown sliding off her shoulder and exposing her one breast to him. 

What must her skin taste like? 

 

The thought of taking that nipple in his mouth, making her arch her back and hiss as he bit down on it made his mouth water. 

God, he could easily slide his hand down the lace panties he saw peeking out from beneath her satin gown. He knew even in her sleep she’d be wet.

 

Laying next to her Stefano stroked himself, the temptation to reach out and touch her was too much, he couldn’t stop himself. He ran his hand slowly over her exposed breast. rolling her nipple in his fingers. The way it responded to his touch was enough to make him come. His release coated his hand and dripped onto the mattress beside her. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop the groan that was trapped in his throat. Pulling up his boxers, he wiped his wet finger along her bottom lip before he kissed her cheek. 

 

“I want you, Marlena. But, I like wanting you, so I’m going to take my time and just enjoy that until I can’t control it any longer.” He leaned over, tucking her hair behind her ear to whisper. “Then I am going to make you mine.” The smell of her skin stirred his insides, provoked thoughts that he couldn’t turn off, desperate for more.

 

She shifted slightly, rolling herself over towards him, her body dragging the small garment down, exposing her chest. Her perfect rounded breasts and nipples were right there in front of him, a temptation too hard to fight. 

 

He didn’t touch them again, he just looked at her. How stunning she was. He wanted to feel her, hold her as she slept, to watch her fade away each night, he wanted so many things from Marlena. 

She wanted them too. 

He believed. 

Careful not to move too much, he lifted his head from the pillow and moved so he was just a breath away from her lips. Her eyes fluttered, but didn't open, she could feel him in her dreams. Like he could feel her dreams inside him. He kissed her lips softly, with his eyes wide open, so he could see her. His tongue touched the seam of her lips wanting just a small taste of her, and she opened for him. Welcoming him in, kissing him back with a soft whimper that shot desire through him. 

Pulling her closer so that her chest was up against his, he whispered in her ear, “Give up, Marlena.” Need overcame reason and he kissed her as if his life depended on it like it was the first and last kiss he would ever share. 

 

In her slumber, her hand moved and rested on his chest, softness and warmth filled him up with that tender touch. A stolen kiss, not one given, but one taken. Marlena kissed him back, but still, she didn't wake. When she pulled away to catch her breath he slipped from her bed, took his belongings, and left for her bathroom.

 

He closed the door behind him, holding his breath, standing dead still, listening for a sign that she was not asleep. The taste of her was burned into his memory, the silky sensation of her skin etched into his fingertips. 

Once his own breathing evened out and his pounding pulse had slowed down to a thrum, he came back into the darkened bedroom. 

 

He used the face cloth from her bathroom to clean the mess on the mattress and buried it under her clothes in the laundry basket. She was restless now, tossing and turning. Stefano froze for a few moments before he retreated to stand next to her bed and wait very still. His eyes were glued to her while she mumbled and rolled fitfully from side to side.

He will take her away.

tonight.

 

 

********

 

As she climbed the steps into the private jet, Marlena swallowed hard, but the bitter taste on her tongue remained. She half fell into the sumptuous leather seat on the far side of the plane, her trembling becoming a full-blown quake. By the time the tanned man with the close-cropped blond hair stepped out of the cockpit, she was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. Her eyes flew wide as her gaze connected with the man’s paler, bluer one, but before she could think of what to say—or fully experience her relief at discovering that her capture was not Stefano—he crossed to stand in front of her seat. 

“Who are you?! Where are you taking me?” she stood again, determined.

“My boss asked that I help you tie this over your eyes.” He held out a thick strip of heavy black cloth. 

“I’ve got another for your mouth.” 

“Your boss?” Marlena’s breath sped. “Why do I need to be blindfolded?” she asked, not wanting to think about the gagging part. The thought of not being able to speak, or even swallow her own saliva, was ridiculously terrifying, almost as scary as losing John and her family. 

 

God, what was going on? 

Who the hell was responsible for her pain? 

 

“So many questions…I don’t ask questions, beautiful” the man said, his voice humorless and his black eyes remaining flat. “My boss doesn’t enjoy questions. He prefers efficiency.” 

“Please let me go…I’ll pay you, I will make it worth your while, please” she smiled through the fear, only her stammering gave away the dread she felt inside.

“He will kill my family, lady. No amount of money can save them. Now, blindfold. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“All…all right.” Marlena’s heart raced as she reached for the blindfold, figuring it was better if she was the one to tie it on. She wrapped the soft fabric across her eyes and tied it behind her head, tight enough to be sure it wouldn’t accidentally fall off, but not so tight that it pressed against her closed lids. When she was finished, she held out her hand, willing her voice not to shake as she said, “I can tie the gag, too. If that’s okay.” 

“Just make sure it stays put,” the man said. 

 

Marlena couldn’t help flinching as the man dropped the cloth into her outstretched hand. Not being able to see was already heightening her other senses, making the sensation of soft fabric brushing against her skin ricochet through her nervous system in a way it normally wouldn’t. She tied the gag as loosely as she dared, but when she was finished her tongue still felt cramped, forced to coil at the back of her throat like a snake denied the right to strike. 

 

The combination of the stressful day, lack of sleep and having half her face covered, her eyesight stolen away, and her mouth filled with fabric combined to trigger the worst case of claustrophobia she’d experienced two years ago when Stella had locked her in the dark pit. She’d sat in the cramped portion of the hole, building materials, rats, and metal around her, for days, sweating and crying in the summer heat until she’d almost passed out. Fearing no one will come to rescue her. 

 

Marlena struggled to swallow, fighting to slow her racing, panicked heartbeat. But it was an exercise in futility. Her heart was beyond her control, like the rest of her life, and the best she could hope for was that she would pass out before his boss joined her on the plane. The thought made her throat feel even tighter and sweat bead around her hairline and above her parted lips. By the time she heard the door to the plane open a few minutes later, she was sweating profusely, panting through her flared nostrils, and so dizzy she didn’t know how much longer she would remain conscious. She whimpered and pointed frantically to the gag, praying the blond man would understand that she was having trouble breathing and grant her permission to remove it. But instead of the first man’s firm monotone, she was answered by a low grumble, “The gag stays in. You need to relax. You’re breathing too fast.” Marlena tried to relax, she really did, but this man’s voice wasn’t one that inspired relaxation. It was familiar. 

 

He sounded hard, cold, and enormous. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized that a voice could project size, but this man sounded ten feet tall and bulletproof. He sounded like someone capable of strangling the life out of her with one hand and mean enough to enjoy it. As the thought passed through her head, her traitorous breath sped even faster and her chest began to shake. 

 

“You’re going to hyperventilate if you keep that up,” the man grumbled again, his voice so deep she could feel it vibrating through her bones, touching her in places a voice shouldn’t be able to touch. “Marlena stop. Right now.” 

 

A whimper escaped her cramped throat and her breath came so fast it felt like she was being spun in circles by one of those terrible carnival rides she’d hated when she was a child. 

“Stop it,” the man repeated, his voice closer and dropped to a soothing whisper. “I’m not going to hurt you on this plane, Marlena. I give you my word.” 

 

On this plane. 

 

He hadn’t said he wouldn’t hurt her at all, just not on the plane, and she sensed that she wasn’t reading more into the remark than he’d intended. This was a man who knew what he wanted and was willing to pay to have her at his mercy. He had deliberately left the door open for pain. Marlena clutched the arms of her chair until her fingers ached, fighting to keep from ripping the gag and blindfold off and making a break for freedom. 

 

“We’re ready for takeoff.” The first man’s voice sounded too far away to still be in the plane, but maybe that was because Marlena was so focused on the new voice, her capture’s voice whispering in her ear again. 

“Sit back. I’ll put your seatbelt on.” She leaned back in the plush seat. A moment later, she felt fingers brushing her hips as the man found both halves of the seatbelt and brought them together across her waist. His touch was calm, impersonal. He touched her only as much as he needed to in order to get the seatbelt snug across her lap, but for some reason, she still shivered. 

There was something about this man, something in the spicy, salty smell of him that drifted to her nose as he settled into the seat across from hers that made her skin prickle and the hair at the back of her neck stand on end. She felt more than watched; she felt hunted and suddenly didn’t know what she feared more—knowing who he was or not knowing. It wasn’t until they were lifting off that Marlena realized the two might be one and the same.

 

******

 

The plane was still gaining altitude when Marlena started trembling again, shaking so hard he would have thought she was having a seizure if he didn’t know better. But according to everything he knew, she was in perfect health. 

So either she was truly scared out of her mind or she was faking it to elicit sympathy from him.

That would be like her. 

​

Her golden hair had turned auburn in the sun and freckles covered her tanned face, making her eyes look even more strikingly hazel than they had before. And her body…there were curves for miles and miles. She’d been beautiful before, but now she was…a goddess. She was exactly the kind of woman he’d always preferred, with abundant breasts that would overflow even his large hands, generous hips, and a curvy ass he couldn’t wait to get turned over his knee. 

As soon as they reached his island, he was going to give her that spanking she’d deserved. But he wouldn’t stop before pleasure pain turned to suffering. He would keep reddening her ass until her flesh glowed and she squirmed on his lap, begging him to release her. But he wouldn’t, not until he’d bruised her sensitive skin, making sure that every time she sat down for the next week she’d be reminded that she was his property, to do with as he saw fit. 

 

The thought was dizzying.

 

He couldn’t let down himself or allow compassion to creep into his heart. He had to be on his toes and ready to beat Marlena at her own game. And he had a good idea how to start. He leaned in, placing a gentle hand on her knee. She tensed and made a startled sound behind her gag, but after a moment, she settled beneath his touch. Her muscles remained tight, but she stopped shaking and held very still, clearly waiting for him to make the next move. With a hard smile, he reached behind her, into her blonde, soft hair, and untied her gag. He set it on the seat beside her before returning his hand to her knee, allowing his fingers to curl around the shapely muscle of her calf. 

“Is that better?” 

She swallowed and swiped the back of one hand across her mouth before nodding a little too fast. 

“Y-yes. Thank you.” She sounded so scared, so vulnerable. Like a woman who had never walked a dark street at midnight, let alone become one of the evil things lurking in the shadows. She’d been so beautiful in her bed every night he watched her. So beautiful and broken that he’d understood why all men wanted her. 

But her suffering was a lie, like everything else about Marlena. 

She burnt down the church, set the Christmas tree on fire, all those decorations, burnt down in flames. She was a monster hiding behind a pretty face and he knew better than to let her play him so easily. He will get to the bottom of this.

 

“You’re welcome,” he said, gentling his voice, letting her think she was getting through to him while still keeping his pitch lower than usual. He expected her to recognize his voice eventually, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for her, and he didn’t want recognition to come too soon. That would spoil the fun and he intended to enjoy every stage of Marlena’s undoing. 

“I don’t want you to be scared.” He traced a path back and forth across the soft skin above her knee with his thumb. “Is there anything I can do to put your mind at ease?” 

Her tongue slipped out. The sight of her pink tongue caressing her full lips was sexy as hell, a fact he was certain she was aware of, no matter how unpracticed the movement seemed. “T-Tell me who are you and where are you taking me.” She took a deep breath, her full breasts rising and falling inside her shiny white nightgown. He glanced down at the tempting cleavage visible above the tight bodice of her gown and tried not to think about how much he wanted her gorgeous breasts heavy in his hands. 

“I um…” She swallowed. “Please, I’m scared.”

“I know.” He allowed his thumb to slide higher on her bare thigh. Her legs remained close together, not tightening to bar his passage, but not parting to invite him in, the perfect balance of coy and seductive, proving Marlena was still at the top of her game. “But you will know soon. All in due course.”

“Tell me,” she whispered. 

“I can’t,” he lied, his eyes roaming her face. “You are so beautiful and so sexy.” She took a breath, holding it for a moment before she said in a husky voice, “It would help if I could see your face.” 

“Not yet,” he said. “Soon, but first I want you to help me live out a fantasy I’ve had for a long time.” 

She tensed again but nodded, slowly. “What do you mean?” 

“I’ve always wanted to be the stranger on the train,” he said, stroking a little higher on her thigh as his other hand reached up to release her seatbelt. “I’ve always wanted to make a woman come before we’ve even kissed. Before she’s so much as seen my face.” 

 

“I’m not yours to play games with,” she said, her shoulders tensed slightly, uncomforted by the confession. “Stop fighting me…,” his soft tone, a contrast to his words. “And why I’m going to ask you to spread your legs for me.” 

“Now?” Her throat worked. 

“Now,” he said. “There aren’t any midnight trains on the Tahitian islands, so we’re going to have to settle for a private plane. Now spread your legs, Marlena, show me that beautiful pussy.” 

 

Marlena’s fingers tightened on the arms of her chair and her jaw locked. Even with her eyes covered, he could tell her expression was that of someone who’d taken a bite of something rotten and was too mannerly to spit it out. He expected her to deny him, to force him to ask again—maybe even threaten his life—but after a moment she slowly spread her legs, parting her thighs for him, granting him his first glimpse of her pussy. 

But a glimpse wasn’t enough. 

“Wider,” he whispered, exerting the slightest pressure on the knee he cupped in his hand. “And move to the edge of the seat.” With a shaky breath, she obeyed, shifting her hips and spreading her legs wide enough for her skirt to bunch up around her waist, revealing her pink outer lips and the entrance to the pussy that had haunted his dreams. 

 

She was fucking beautiful, delicate, and deadly, like a flower infused with poison. Hers was a pussy men would kill for, one he might have died for if she’d decided to frame him for murder instead of rape.

 

Her lips were fuller than he remembered and her sex was quiet and shuttered against him, but soon he’d have her swollen and wet. Soon he’d have her panting and begging for him to bring her over. And then he would, again and again, until his hand was sticky with her desire. He wanted her thighs dripping and her body hungry for more when he removed the blindfold. He wanted her to know she’d already lost the first battle the moment he declared war. “Lovely,” he murmured as he worked his hands up the insides of her thighs, kneading her muscled flesh as he drew closer to her apex, his cock thickening from a potent combination of lust and this first heady taste of revenge. 

“You have a beautiful body.” 

She breathed in a strained voice, her fingers curling tighter around her armrests. She looked like she was bracing herself for a beating. 

“Relax, beautiful, I know what I’m doing. This is going to feel good.” She nodded slightly. “Marlena?” He hesitated, urging her legs still wider, but not moving his fingers to her delicate flesh. 

“I want to see your face,” she said softly. “Just your eyes, just for a second.” 

“And why’s that?” He traced a fingertip down the seam of her thigh, inches from where her leg became something more intimate. She tensed but didn’t try to close her thighs. “You can read so much about someone from their eyes, don’t you think?” 

“Not as much as you can read from a touch,” he said, bringing his thumb to her clit and circling gently, making her gulp for her next breath. “Don’t worry about my eyes. Concentrate on my touch. Let me bring you pleasure.” 

She didn’t respond, but she didn’t need to, her body assured him she was obeying his command. Slowly, but surely, she writhed beneath his touch. Her clit hardened against his thumb, her sex flushed a deeper pink, and within minutes telltale slickness glistened at the entrance to her center. 

 

Stefano wanted to bend down and lick her wetness away, to burrow his tongue into her pussy so deep he would be able to feel her muscles contract when she came, but oral sex was too intimate. Oral sex was an offering, a humbling of yourself in the name of pleasuring your lover. Marlena would take his cock down her throat when he was ready, but he wouldn’t put his mouth on her while they were together. 

She would get her hands or his cock. 

He didn’t intend to kiss her on the lips, he wanted to savor it. After everything he knew, any pleasure he gave her would be in the name of breaking her down. Her desire would be his weapon and her orgasms instruments of her own destruction. 

 

“I love seeing you wet. But I want you even wetter.” He brought his free hand to her entrance, teasing the edges of her slick cleft before sliding one finger into her heat, all the way up to the knuckle. She gasped one of deep wonderful gasps and her head fell back as he fucked her with his hand, all while maintaining his patient torture of her clit, applying enough pressure to drive her higher, but not enough to take her over the edge. He added a second finger, looked up to see her breasts rising and falling faster, and suddenly couldn’t tolerate that part of her being hidden from his gaze again. 

 

He grasped the top of her nightgown and pulled it down with a sharp tug. Her heavy breasts fell free, bobbing gently as she cried out. 

 

His cock was testing the integrity of his zipper. It fell down to puddle around her ankles, taking Stefano’s breath away. From her stunning breasts with the dark pink nipples to the gentle curve of her belly to her smooth mound, she was perfect. Stefano’s throat tightened and a wave of lust swept through him, making his skin feverishly hot. 

He wanted her. 

Now. 

He wanted to abandon his stand, and show her how much more scared she should be. He wanted to see her face when she realized who had come to claim her and then he wanted to bend her over that mosquito-netted bed in the corner and fuck her, hard and deep, until he lost himself inside of her, marking his new pet with his cum. Instead, he forced himself to relax, to exert control. Revenge wasn’t something to be taken fast and hot. As the saying went, revenge was a dish best served cold. When Marlena would lay eyes on him for the first time, he would be cold, glacial. He would give her no power, no hope of using his emotions to manipulate him.

 

She moved instinctively to cover herself, but he captured her wrist in a firm grip. 

“Hands at your sides,” he ordered, his voice thick and his pulse speeding as she obeyed him. 

Yes, this is what he needed. 

He needed her breasts in his hands, her wetness coating his fingers, but most of all he needed her submission. He needed her stripped bare and vulnerable by the time they landed and the flight wasn’t a long one. “These are mine and I’ll touch them when I choose.” He shifted his angle of penetration, bringing his left thumb to her clit as his left fingers continued to drive in and out of her pussy, leaving his right hand free to play. 

He cupped her breast in his hand, capturing her already puckered nipple between his fingertips. He pinched her flesh hard enough to make her gasp, then pinched it even harder before rolling the bud in a fierce circle between his finger and thumb. He was rewarded with a moan wrenched from the back of Marlena’s throat and a rush of heat between her legs. “Your breasts are mine and your pussy is mine,” he said, slipping a third finger into her pussy until he could feel her desire-plumped flesh stretching to accommodate the thickness between her legs. 

 

“From now on, you will belong to me. Your body will be my playground and your pleasure my property. You will not touch yourself while you’re with me and you will come only when you’re allowed to come. Do you understand me, Marlena?” 

“God, let me go,” she mewled, her hips lifting into his thrusts. 

“You meant to say - Yes, sir,” he corrected, transferring his attention to her other breast, plucking at her erect nipple. “You will show me respect, especially in the bedroom.” 

“Yes, sir,” she said, lips parting as her breath came faster. “Yes, sir, please, sir.” 

“Please what?” he asked, his cock so hard it throbbed painfully, aching to be buried in the pussy gushing slick honey onto his hand. 

“Please, I-I can’t stop,” she panted. “I’m going to come.” her nervous system betrayed her.

“No, you’re not. Wait until I give you permission,” he commanded even as he picked up his pace, fucking her hard and deep with his fingers. “Wait or you’ll be punished.” 

“Yes, sir,” she said, features twisting as she spread her legs even wider, welcoming his rough use. “Oh God, sir. Please. Oh my God!” Stefano’s lips twisted. 

He was her God, and soon she’d be prostrate on the ground before him, begging him for mercy. The irony was so perfect he decided to let her off easy. There would be time to delay her pleasure and drag out her suffering later. Now, he wanted to watch her come and know he was only minutes away from the revelations that would leave her trembling with terror and ashamed of how easily she’d become his whore. 

 

*****

 

“Come, Marlena,” her capture ordered in that insane voice of his, the one that was familiar and foreign, terrifying. “Come hard for me.” 

She obeyed with a rough cry, her pussy locking down around his fingers, coating him in her juices. She was so wet it would be embarrassing if she had any room left in her mind for worry or shame. But there was only pleasure, white hot and electric, and bliss overloading her nervous system until she felt she might die from it. She squirmed and moaned beneath his fingers as he continued to drive in and out of her heated flesh. She spun through a dizzy world of pleasure for what felt like hours—her muscles pulsing and her nipples burning beneath his wicked, teasing fingers. 

But she still hadn’t made it all the way back to earth when he moved his hand from her breast to her clit, pinching the erect nub between his fingers, dragging her back into the overwhelming spin of bliss. This time, she reached for him. Her fingers found his upper arms and dug into the muscles there, not surprised to find he was as huge as she’d guessed. 

 

His biceps were rock hard. Based on the feel of those arms alone, he was easily twice her size. Twice her size and terrifyingly strong, but she couldn’t bring herself to be afraid. Logically she knew she should be wary that he had claimed her body and pleasure as his property and demanded her compliance without any assurances to keep her safe while she was in his keeping. 

In her deepest, most private fantasies, she didn’t dream of candlelit dinners and gentle kisses. She dreamed of strong hands, a commanding voice, and a lover who would demand her submission and reward her obedience- just like she had with John, years ago. Maybe that’s why it hadn’t been so hard submitting?

She was a self-respecting woman. 

A psychiatrist.

She wasn't going to be a man’s whore, but in her secret heart, she did yearn to be owned by John again. And now she was, by a man who gently set her hands back on her armrests before pulling her clothes back into place—top of her gown tugged up and her skirt eased down over her still trembling thighs just as the air pressure in the cabin began to shift. 

 

“We’re nearly there,” he said as he buckled her seatbelt across her waist once more. “Are you ready for a surprise?”

“What kind of surprise?” she asked softly, suddenly shy. It was so strange, to have been pleasured by a man whom she knew only by touch and sound. It made her feel exposed and off-center, but mostly she didn’t want his surprise unless it was taking her back home. 

She could tell that she’d pleased him. 

She’d heard it in his grunt of approval when she came, and in the rich timbre of his voice when he’d ordered her to come. It gave her hope that maybe he’d let her go. 

The hope made her heart lighter, but it also made her vulnerable. She was unprepared for the sudden shift in her mystery man’s tone, her thoughts too muddled by pleasure to make sense of his words when he said— “An unpleasant surprise. At least for you.” She frowned beneath her blindfold, her pulse picking up again. 

 

“Why?” 

“You pleased me very much. Today.” He spoke louder to be heard over the dull roar of the landing gear descending from beneath the plane, sounding less gruff than he had before. “But this isn’t about today, beautiful,” he continued. “It’s about penance for the sins of the past.” A sour taste filled her mouth as she cursed herself for being so ridiculously naive. 

“What do you mean?” she asked, clutching her armrests tighter as the plane dipped toward the ground. “What sins?”

“Do you really need me to tell you?” he asked, his voice closer than it had been before, making her think he was leaning across the small space that separated their seats. “Can’t you think of a thing or two you should atone for, Marlena? Haven’t you done something on this earth that you regret?” 

She swallowed. “I’ve done lots of things I regret. But I’ve never intentionally hurt someone and I’ve apologized for my mistakes whenever I could. In my mind, a person can’t do much more than that when it comes to atonement.” 

He chuckled softly, but she couldn’t tell if he was amused or angry. For the hundredth time, she wished she could see his face. 

Just for a moment. 

But she knew better than to reach for her blindfold before he’d given her the order. Her capture had proven he could give her great pleasure, but she sensed he wouldn’t hesitate to deliver punishment, as well. “You really have no shame, do you?” he asked, but before she could answer the wheels connected with the ground and the roar of the plane’s brakes fighting their forward momentum made speech impossible. 

 

Eventually, the plane slowed and the pilot’s voice came over the intercom. “The car is already waiting, Boss. Would you like me to have Jean Philipp meet us at the end of the runway, or do you have business you need to conclude?” 

“If you’re asking if we’re making love, the answer is no, Adam,” her capture said, his irritation clear. “Have JP bring the car around. I’m ready to get Doctor Evans settled in her new home.” 

 

New home?

Oh, my god.

 

Marlena brought her hands to her lap, unbuckling her belt then fighting the urge to fidget with the straps. She sensed she should keep her mouth shut, but she couldn’t help asking, “Let me take the blindfold off now.” 

“Not yet,” he said briskly. “But soon. The house is only a fifteen-minute drive from the airstrip. I want us to be alone when you see my face. I don’t want to share that moment with anyone, beautiful. That’s just for you and me.” 

Marlena nodded and tried to smile, but her lips refused to cooperate. His words were kind enough, but there was something in his tone that brought all her misgivings rising to the surface again.

 

She heard the door to the plane opened and a moment later smelled sea air, damp earth, and lush vegetation. But aside from the soft voices of two men conferring outside the door and the distant screeches and warbles of birds, there wasn’t another sound to be heard. The fact that she was on a private island hit home in a new way, making her shiver despite the steamy humidity creeping in to muddy the plane’s conditioned air. She was going to be completely alone here with this man, surrounded by people paid to do his servants. Adam had made it clear he honored his employer’s wishes without question and she had no doubt the other people in his employ would be the same. 

 

Mr. X didn’t seem like the type of man who brooked opposition from anyone, let alone the people who worked for him. She would find no allies among the residents of this island, no one to aid her if she reached out a hand, no one who would care if she cried out for help. Her fate was truly in the hands of the man who gently, but firmly, took her elbow, helping her rise from her chair before leading her toward the door. 

 

“Bend your head a bit,” he said. “Now take the first step down with your left foot. There are four steps down to the ground.” She minded quickly, without question, which was a good thing considering Mr. X didn’t slow his pace or make any other concessions for her lack of sight aside from the hand on her arm. Thanks to her swift obedience she made it safely out of the plane, across the pavement, and into the expensive smelling car waiting for them not far away without tripping or falling flat on her face. As her capture settled beside her and the car pulled away down a gravel road, she prayed that her obedience would be enough to keep her safe as she started this month-long odyssey with a man who owned her body.

 

*******

 

Stefano He had planned to remove the blindfold on the plane, but that was before Marlena made the mistake of pretending to be a decent human being. Before she professed in that sweet and sexy voice of hers that she’d never intentionally hurt another person and always apologized for her mistakes. As if an apology would have been enough to right the wrongs she’d perpetrated. 

Which she hadn’t. 

And now she was going to pay for it.

Her game was over. 

It was time for his game to begin and he was going to be sure she realized that in a very visceral way. As soon as they pulled up at the house, he practically dragged her out of the car and up the wide wooden steps leading to the spacious front lanai, where succulent tropical plants in massive planters lent stateliness to the entryway. He pushed through the heavy wooden front door and hurried toward the master bedroom without taking time to appreciate that the home was even more stunning in person than it had been in pictures. He didn’t pause to admire the beautiful central room with the atrium that let in natural light, the gently whirring bamboo fans, or the peaceful indoor pool at the center of the space. He didn’t stop to greet the small, aging housekeeper with the steel-streaked bun who stood silently in one corner of the expansive kitchen as he charged through, tugging a blindfolded woman behind him. The housekeeper had known what she was getting into when she took this job. All of the staff had.

And they knew the rules. 

No help will come from them

​

The thought made his hand tighten around Marlena’s as he strode down a wide hallway with dark wooden walls to the master suite at the end. She deserved to die for what she’d done, but that wasn’t in his game plan. He was going to break her down, force her to acknowledge the darkness inside of her, and then feed her soul, piece by piece, through the shredder, until she was too shattered to face her reflection in the mirror. 

He would make her suffer, make her sorry. But most importantly, he would make her repent for what she’d done or drive them both out of their minds trying.

 

As soon as he reached the bedroom, he stepped through the door and closed it firmly behind him before recapturing Marlena’s hand and leading her deeper into the space. When they reached the center of the generous suite, near two small couches and a glass coffee table arranged in front of floor-to-ceiling windows that showcased a breathtaking view of the lush back lawn, he released Marlena’s hand. 

 

With his fingers digging firmly into her shoulders, he turned her to face him, his breath coming faster and his heart thudding heavily in his chest. “What are you going to do to me?” she asked, in that soft, submissive voice of hers, the one that was innocence and sex mixed into a potent cocktail that had kept his dick hard for most of the past hour. Even with her eyes covered, she had read him like an open book and adapted to meet his unique needs in less time than it took most people to eat a meal. She clearly had a gift for giving men what they wanted, but it was all an act. She was flawless. 

“Sir?” she asked again, her arms beginning to tremble at her sides. 

“Quiet,” he said, his voice hoarse and his breath still labored. This was more than a battle of bodies. It was a battle of wills, of souls, and it was time she realized that hers belonged to him. 

She wouldn’t set the tone of their ‘relationship’. 

She wouldn’t be the puppeteer pulling the strings. 

She was his property and she would show him her true colors or he’d beat them out of her. “Stop pretending,” he said. “Stop trying to manipulate me. That isn’t going to happen.” 

Her breath sped, her chest rising and falling faster, but her trembling ceased. 

“I don’t understand.” 

“That’s because your mind is filled with thoughts of him,” he said, enjoying her flinch in response to his hard words. “Now drop the act and show me the vindictive, psychotic bitch I know is hiding inside you. She’s the one I want right now.” 

She shook her head ever so slightly and a sob escaped her parted lips. “I don’t understand.” “You said that already,” he snapped. “Stop playing dumb and don’t you dare cry.” 

Her bottom lip quivered as she shook her head again. “I’m not playing, who are you? What do you want from me?!” She paused, lips pressing together and her throat working as she fought to keep her tears at bay. “What do you want from me...” 

“Want from you.” He laughed softly, an ugly laugh ripe with his barely suppressed rage. He reached out, driving his fingers into her hair and fisting his hand at the nape of her neck, drawing a mewl of surprise from her full lips. 

“I want all of you. Always. But right now, I want answers,” he said, pressing his cheek tightly to hers and whispering his words into her ear. “You will never have power over me and the sooner you realize that, the better. Now, you will show me the woman I want to see, show me the monster beneath your pretty face, or you will suffer the consequences.” 

She whimpered. “Who do you want to see? Whom do you want me to be?” 

“Yourself!” he shouted, triggering a full-body cringe from the treacherous woman in his arms. “Be yourself! Stop denying who you are!” 

“I am myself!” she shouted back, heat creeping into her tone. “I can’t be something I’m not. I’m Marlena. I’m a good person.I—” With a growl of rage, Stefano tightened his grip on her hair and jerked down, forcing her to her knees in front of him. 

 

She landed with a cry he barely heard over the blood rushing in his ears. “You are not a good person. You were a good person. But not anymore” he seethed. “I know who you are and I will hear your truth from your own lips. Right now.” 

She went very still and he could practically hear the wheels turning in her clever head. “Who are you? Why have you brought me here?” 

“Right now I want to hear you say your name,” he said, ignoring her first question, knowing the truth would be revealed soon enough. “You will not think beyond what I demand of you in any given moment. Your will is mine. Now give me what I want or you will be punished.” 

With a deep breath, she lifted her chin, somehow managing to project defiance even while on her knees. “Then punish me. I’m not going to play this insane game of yours. I’m not going to pretend to be anyone but who I am. I am Marlena Evans, and I don’t deserve to be treated this way.” 

“Punishment it is then,” he said, reaching for his belt buckle. “Take your gown off. Now,” he added when she hesitated a beat too long. “You chose punishment, Marlena, and I’ll have you naked to take it. Unless you’re ready to give me what I want.” 

 

Her lips tight and her stubborn jaw set, she reached for the top of her gown and tugged it down her curves until it fell around her knees then reached down to guide it back down her calves. Stefano watched her bare her heart-stopping curves as he opened his fly and shoved his pants and boxers around his hips, freeing his aching length. His cock bobbed free, the swollen flesh pulsing and eager. His cock didn’t care that he needed answers from this woman. It was desperate to be buried between her legs, shoving into her hot mouth, sliding between her oil-slicked breasts, whatever would get him off the fastest. But this wasn’t about pleasure—though he fully intended to come—and he had to maintain control, to prove to both Marlena and himself that he was in charge. 

 

“Touch your nipples,” he said, bringing one hand to his cock and beginning to stroke his own engorged length. “Pinch them, make them tight for me.” Marlena slowly brought her hands to her breasts but when her fingers captured her nipples it was clear her heart wasn’t in it. She only lightly stroked the pink flesh and her skin remained flat and unresponsive. 

“Harder,” he said. “I want your pussy wet the way it was on the plane. I want you dripping down your thighs and your center hungry for something to fill it.” 

“I’m not going to have sex with you,” she said, voice trembling. “Never.” 

“We’re not going to have sex,” he said, kneeling in front of her. “When I finally fuck you, you will have been begging for it for days. You will be so desperate for my cock, you’ll lick the bathroom floor clean if that’s what it takes to get me to put it in you.” Her lips puckered, but she didn’t speak a word. 

She didn’t have to. 

 

“You think I’m lying,” he said, stroking his cock a little faster, aroused by the thought of her begging. “But I’m not. I will not take you by force. I won’t have to. Now pinch your nipples for me. That’s right. Like that. Now harder.” 

She obeyed and slowly a telltale flush spread across her chest and her breath came faster. He waited until she was biting her bottom lip and her thighs were clenching and releasing, causing her hips to shift slightly, before issuing his next order.

“Lie back and spread your legs.” 

She hesitated, but he pushed on before she could protest. “Right now, Marlena or I may rethink my promise not to fuck you on the floor.” Her flush spreading up her neck, she lay back on the floor and spread her legs barely two hand widths apart. 

 

“Wider, Marlena,” he said. She moved slowly, efficiently, clearly doing her best not to put on a show for him, but seeing her spread wide, revealing her most intimate places made his cock leap in his hand. 

Fuck, she was even hotter than she used to be, so curvy and plush and obedient. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow his rhythm, to ease his grip on his swollen shaft. He was going to have his release, but first, he needed her to beg him for it. And he knew exactly how to make her beg. 

Marlena had played him for the worst sort of fool in Maison Blanche, but the passion for her has always been real. She hated him, but that hadn’t cooled her lust any more than it cooled his own. And now he was going to use his intimate knowledge from his tapes, of how his queen liked it to begin bringing her under his thumb.

 

******

 

Don’t respond, Marlena. 

Stay cold, calm, above it all. 

Don’t let him get to you. 

 

Marlena squeezed her eyes closed and clenched her jaw, struggling to stay motionless and unaffected as the insane person who’d taken her explored her sex with his long, thick fingers, playing through her folds, dipping into her slickness before circling her clit with a not-quite-firm-enough pressure. She fought to shut down her nerve endings, but it was no use. This man was out of his damned mind, cruel, and probably dangerous, but he also knew how to play her like an instrument. He was a maestro and she was helpless to resist the erotic song he coaxed from her body. Soon, her pussy was dripping and her sex plump and swollen beneath his touch. She stayed still as long as she could, but eventually, she lost the battle against her own desire and lifted her hips, fighting to get closer to the fingers that stroked her clit hard enough to make her crazy, but not firmly enough to grant her relief. 

“You want more?” he asked. “More here?” He tapped her clit, making her breath catch. “Tell me, Marlena. Tell me what you want or you won’t get it.” 

“Never,” she said, the words transforming to a yelp of pleasure-pain as he smacked her between the legs. Pain flashed through her sensitive clit to spread through her belly, but it was followed by a rush of even more intense pleasure as his fingers returned to her clit and what felt like his thumb plunged into her pussy. 

“Say, Yes, sir,” he corrected as he worked her harder, building the need swelling inside her. “Or I’ll slap you again. Do you understand, Marlena?” Marlena bit her lip, fighting the desire washing through her like a hot, sticky flood, a wild thing that didn’t care if this man was crazy or dangerous. That part of her didn’t give a shit that this was degrading, it just wanted him to slap her again. “Or do you want more punishment?” he asked, proving she was hopelessly easy to read, even with a blindfold covering half her face. “You want more of this?” He slapped her again, twice in rapid succession and she cried out, but it wasn’t a cry of pain.

 

There was no mistaking the lust in the sound. She sounded like she was about to come and it suddenly wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine herself at his feet begging him to fuck her. If he teased her like this for too long, she would be so desperate for relief she had no idea what she would do. 

“You like me to hurt you a little don’t you?” he asked, his breath coming faster, making her think he was turned on, too. As messed up as he was, he seemed to get off on her pleasure, not her fear, which she could only hope meant he didn’t intend to rape her. It wouldn’t be rape. 

The thought made tears rise in her eyes and her face felt lava hot. What the hell was wrong with her? How could she be falling so easily under this man’s twisted spell? “Answer me, when I speak to you,” he demanded, swatting her two, three, four times between the legs until her clit burned and the delicate skin around her pussy grew hot from the repeated contact. 

 

“Yes, sir,” she panted, squirming her hips though she wasn’t sure if she was trying to get closer or farther away. The sensations he aroused in her were dizzying, making her feel outside herself and more in touch with her own desire all at the same time. 

“You like it when I slep you?” 

“S-Stop.” Marlena cried out again as his big hand slapped first her right breast and then her left, rippling her flesh and making her nipples pull so tight they ached. 

Ached for more. 

Ached for that heady sting and then his mouth hot on her puckered skin, taking the pain away.

“Answer me,” he spoke through clenched teeth.

“Yes, sir. Please, sir,” she said, her hunger peaking as his fingers set a faster pace between her legs, fucking her hard, but not hard enough. Shamelessly, she spread her legs wider, silently begging for what she wanted, but she should have known her tormentor wouldn’t be satisfied with silence. 

“Please, what?” he asked. “You want to come?” 

“Yes, please. Please, sir!” 

“You’ve already come twice in the plane,” he said, his voice husky with the same desire that was driving her crazy. “I think it’s my turn, first, don’t you?” 

“Yes,” she said. 

“Good. I want you to put your hands back on your nipples,” he said. “Then I want you to beg me to come on your breasts.” She moved her hands, but when she opened her mouth the words wouldn’t come. She was still trying to get her mouth to form the uncomfortable phrase when her tormentor suddenly pulled his hand away from her pussy, leaving her feeling bereft and abandoned. And so damned unsatisfied, she couldn’t stifle the groan of protest that escaped her lips. 

 

“If you want to come, you need to beg,” he said, his voice underscored by the faint sound of flesh sliding against flesh, making her think he was touching himself somewhere nearby. 

She wondered what he looked like, kneeling over her prone body, his cock in his hand, stroking himself while he watched her roll her nipples between her fingertips. Imagining it made her even hotter and her wild, primitive side ached to drop her hands between her legs and bring herself over at the same moment he did. 

But that wasn’t what he wanted. 

He wanted her to beg and suddenly she wanted it too. 

She wanted whatever it was he needed to get off, to lose some of that fierce control and come because she had made him come. “Come on my breasts, sir,” she said, her voice breathy and strained as she rolled her nipples in firmer circles. 

“Please.” 

​

The sounds of flesh against flesh grew more urgent and when he spoke his voice was an even sexier growl. “More. Beg me, Marlena. Make me feel how much you want me to cover you.” 

“Please, sir,” she begged, her thighs clenching and releasing as the tension building inside of her became almost unbearable. “Please come on my breasts. I want to feel your—” He cut her off with a groan and a second later she felt his hot stickiness splash across her chest, covering her hands and her breasts in his release, making her gasp and her clit throb.

If you’d asked her beforehand, she would have assumed having a stranger come on her chest would be distasteful at best and revolting at worst, but right now all she felt was turned on. 

 

Her nerve endings buzzed and hummed with longing and her sex was so swollen and heavy her longing was quickly approaching suffering. It felt like there was a burning stone weighing down her pelvis. 

“May I come now, sir?” she asked, teeth digging into her bottom lip as her thighs clenched together, seeking relief. “Please, sir?” 

“In a moment,” he said. “But first, I want you to see my face. Are you ready, Marlena?” 

“Yes.” Her tongue slipped out to dampen her lips and her pulse fluttered in her neck. She was nervous, but she was also excited, ready to see the face of this man who both enraged and seduced her. And scared her, she shouldn’t forget about that. 

 

She was thinking of him as her capture untied her blindfold. She was thinking of his sharply angled face. Of those eyes that were both hungry and predatory. She hoped it was John, she hoped he had decided to surprise her, profess his love to her. She was so lost in the memory that for a moment when her blurred vision cleared and she looked up into the face of her captor, she was certain she was hallucinating. 

It couldn’t be… 

There was no possible way… 

Her eyes widened and her heart raced, slamming against her ribs, excitement, and confusion making her feel like she was being pulled in two. It couldn’t be him, but still…there he was, standing over her, zipping up his gray suit pants and pulling his belt back into place. His eyes were harder, his face harsh, and his body even thicker and more powerful than she remembered, but he was her stranger, there was no doubt about it. He had come for her, taken her away, and now he wanted to punish her for her sins. 

 

******

 

Stefano waited, watching Marlena’s eyes widening in recognition, not wanting to miss the moment she realized she had been caught in an inescapable snare. Her hair was wild around her face and her eyes glittered in the sunset light streaming through the windows, making her look like a goddess coming down to earth. Even sprawled on the floor, covered in cum, and with lines on her forehead where the blindfold was tied too tightly, she was beautiful. Those signs of his use made her even more beautiful, and if she were one of the submissive lovers he’d enjoyed himself with during his travels, he would be proud of her for her obedience and the way she’d relished the feel of him marking her with his release. But she wasn’t his lover, she was his enemy and any moment her nimble mind would work its way around to the truth and she would shatter before him. She would quake and beg and know with a bone-deep certainty that all her worst nightmares had come true. 

 

He expected her cheeks to pale and her lips to tremble. At the very least, he expected denial and pointless explanations. 

He didn’t expect her to smile. 

But she did. 

She smiled. 

She smiled like the sun coming out from behind a rain cloud, she actually looked happy to see him. 

What the fuck. 

What. The unholy. Fuck.

Her eyes closed for a mere second, he thought she’d cry, yell, kick him and leave. But she didn't.

Her beautiful hazel eyes opened, their true color was gone.

He met with yellow glowing eyes, the air remained quiet, empty. A growl came from within her, “Stefano.” The sound shook him to his core when she laughed, and the sound reverberated the luxurious bedroom.

She tsk “You fool.”