MARGAUX PURRED when something soft and warm traced her spine. Her consciousness began to drift in and out of sleep. It was like that until those lips found the dimple on her back and bit.
"Mmm..." She unwittingly buried her face in her pillow when thousands of sensations peppered her skin."Do you want more?""Yes."As if that was the only cue the man behind her needed, his hand instantly found one of her breasts and squeezed. The heat that traveled from his palm to her flesh was heavenly. "Oh, yes!""More?""Please!""As you wished." With one swift move, the man grabbed her shoulder and pinned her down. The bed they were on was soft, but the man next to her... was lean.The brute unceremoniously dove for one of her sore breasts, just in time for her nakedness to be exposed to him. Forcing a sweet moan from her, he tenderly bit the underside of her breast, playfully leaving a mark. He wetly kissed the same skin to relieve the pain."You like it this way, huh?""Yes," she said, sounding like she was dying, but then she wasn’t. In truth, she had never felt so alive. She wasn’t even aware of how soft her bedsheet was until this man awakened all her nerves. Her back arched to its limit when his mouth traveled over her skin.He was leaving hot, wet trails on everything he kissed, working his way slowly from under her breast to her wanton peak. And then, as if the long wait were over, he finally put her nipple in his mouth and sucked her.She delightfully writhed under him. Her fingers found their way to his soft hair, and she tugged on it. One of his strong hands decided to join in, sweetly torturing her and caressing her other breast. As if that were not enough, he let go of her peak and made his lips crawl slowly to her navel. His hot assault stopped there for a while as he planted one heavy kiss on her skin. Then he continued tasting her inch by inch, licking, kissing, and gently biting as if he were memorizing all her crooks and crannies with his mouth.Margaux moaned sweetly. She loved how he worshiped her. She couldn’t help but anticipate where his lips would land next to hers, and she craved it."Oh, God. Yes!" Her voice went high-pitched when his head moved lower, and his mouth landed between her open legs. Sudden boldness took over her sanity, and her hand clasped hard against the sheet. She wasn’t able to control herself when her hips started bucking, grinding her soft and sweet flesh on his face, deliberately rubbing with need. "Eat me, please. Oh..."His obedience made her throw her head backward. She could feel his lips and tongue tasting her folds and sucking her every time. His warm breath was on her clitoral area, and her body couldn’t stop screaming for him. The pressure building in her womb was starting to get unbearable. Her nerves were getting chaotic, and she knew exactly what she wanted. "Oh, you need to fuck me now."
"Not yet," the man murmured against her sensitive flesh, teasing her while holding both of her legs firmly open.
"Fuck you!""I will..." he chuckled, then added, "Hard."She was still burning with need when her ear-tearing voice echoed in that room. He slapped her thigh!The attack was unprecedented, and she almost cried at how her skin immediately burned. It stung! However, the stinging didn’t last long and was instantly followed by gentle kisses on her sweet mound, this time more hungrily.He was an expert lady-worshiper, sensual, with animal instinct, and very accurate. Margaux felt herself close to bursting, so she clenched her muscles and held on. However, the sound of her flesh slapping his palm echoed through the walls again. It mixed with her wails and moans.
"Do you like this?"
"Yes..." she gargled, crying and moaning at the same time. She could feel her pleasure combining with her pain, and it was strangely turning her on even more.
She glanced at the man between her sprawled legs and saw him unbuckling his belt. His chin was glistening from her juice. Nonetheless, he looked proud while showing off where in this goddamn world his thin lips had just been a while ago. There was even triumph on his face when he gazed at her sore womanhood. Then, slowly, his gaze crept up to her flushed face.She shivered when he smiled at her— his eyes were burning and yet ironically cold."Are you sure you want this?" He dangerously hissed as he pulled his belt completely off his jeans. He was staring firmly at her, but she couldn’t tell what was precisely inside his mind. He looked casual, even evil.He began wrapping his belt around one of his knuckles. She knew that he was up to no good. The red mark on her thigh was still stinging, and she could just imagine where this scene would lead.
"I’m going to ask again before this buckle kisses you. Are you sure you want this, Margaux?".
.
.
"NO!" MARGAUX’S VOICE tore through the dead silence of that place. She woke up so stunned and scared that she almost slipped from her chair. Her face was wet with beaded sweat, and she was panting. Everything felt so real earlier that she could still remember how her thighs stung.
Still in a daze, she looked around the room anxiously and just stopped when her eyes landed on the dextrose stand nearby.
‘Another dream,’ she sighed in relief.Feeling worn out, she rested her back on her chair and wiped her sweaty face with her palm. She then gazed at the king-sized bed next to her and tiredly watched the amber-eyed man sleep.Fourteen days. That was how long it had been since they first met. He had already recovered a little and stopped needing an oxygen supply. However, she was still in the dark about who he was.Was that driving her crazy? Hell, yes. Especially when he appeared in her dreams each night, doing things to her that she wouldn’t even dare to do when she was awake.‘Oh, stop!’ Her righteous self screamed when his naked body appeared in her mind. She slowly stood from her chair and then, just like all the previous nights, crawled carefully above him, like a spy.
She liked how he looked now more than the neatly shaven face he had before. He was one of the few guys who could rock overgrown facial hair and still look clean and manly.
She let her eyes roam over his face from that distance until they settled on his lips. Her heartbeat doubled in a flash. She couldn’t tell what it was about this man that had stirred her interest so much. She had known a lot of good and bad men in the past. Those good men she befriended, and those bad ones, she made into her boyfriends Nonetheless, none of them could compare with how Amber Eyes made her wanton like a dried-up whore.‘Since when did necromancy appeal to you?' She laughed lowly at that thought. Then she closed her eyes and leaned slowly to give him a goodnight kiss.It was supposed to be a sweet and innocent one when a cold voice suddenly commanded, "Get off."Her eyes fluttered at once. She blinked multiple times and then turned to the door, thinking that someone had entered and caught her.
‘It’s two in the morning. Who do you think came here?' She shook her head with a laugh."Sorry for the interruption, Amber Eyes. Here’s your goodnight kiss—""Get off."‘Huh?’"I said, get the fuck off!"
"Oh my God—Argh!" What happened next was just too fast. One second, she saw the man under her open his eyes, and the next, she was already hitting the bed painfully with a grunt. She hadn’t recovered from the shock yet when the man suddenly pinned her shoulders down on the bed. She was about to scream, but he was faster than her and quickly covered her mouth."Where’s the Amati?" The culprit managed to grit his teeth in her face. It was apparent that he was still heavily dazed. His amber eyes couldn’t even focus on her as he winced almost every second.Margaux shook her head repeatedly, terrified at how he was strategically holding her jaw."I said, where’s the Amati?!"Her heart convulsed when his grip tightened on her jaw. Finally, finding the courage to fight back, she used her hands to forcefully loosen his hold on her face."I don’t know—ugh!" She wasn’t even done talking yet when the man’s hold on her jaw slipped. The next thing Margaux could remember was his perfectly toned body falling over her, crashing her down with his weight.She gulped a nervous breath. She wasn’t sure if she would be okay after realizing that he was back to being unconscious again.His eyes were closed, and his face lost all the fierceness it had a while before. Nonetheless, she could still hear him mumbling words under his breath."Amati... Where’s the Amati?"ROME GRUNTED LOW upon waking up. He forced himself to open his eyes, but doing so just made him feel worse. So he shut them again and gave himself another minute to rest.His head felt like it was cracking, and he was pretty sure that it wasn't because of a hangover. He owned a club. He would be ashamed if he died just because of Bacardi. Moreover, his whole body felt sore and stiff, as if he hadn't even moved for a month.'A month?' His body immediately sprung out of bed with that thought. However, a sharp pain surged from his side and made him groan. Shaking his head to dismiss the pain, he quickly moved to the side of the bed and tried to get out of it.He cussed between gritted teeth when his knees buckled under his weight. It was good that he could hold on to the bedside table just before his face hit the floor.Dizzily, he managed to drag his heavy feet to the nearest window. Then, with his body safely leaning on the wall next to it, he tugged hard on the curtain and ended up cu
THE DAYS DRAGGED SLOWLY for Margaux. Just like the other nights, she’d been twisting left and right for hours and still couldn’t sleep. Not knowing what to do anymore, she closed her eyes and stopped moving. But then, even pretending to sleep didn’t help—her mind remained restless and wide awake.Finally giving up, she grumpily sat on her bed and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. She checked the time and instantly frowned upon seeing what was on the LCD. It was past three in the morning. Although it was still dark outside, the sun would eventually show up in more or less two hours.‘Good job for another sleepless night, Margaux! Four in a row. What are you trying to do? Get a Guinness Record for not sleeping?’Annoyed, she rolled her eyes before sliding out of her bed. She marched towards the mini-living room with her phone in her hand, then made a free fall onto her luxurious cream-colored couch. Soon enough, she was already checking her emails on her phone as if she hadn’t d
"OH..." MARGAUX’S MOAN SOUNDED THROATY upon waking up. Her head felt like it was breaking, and she surely knew why. Getting hangovers wasn’t foreign to her since she studied in New York City. In fact, there had been numerous times when she came home crawling from wild college nights.‘Argh! Did I really drink that much?’ she asked before yawning and pulling her quilt up. The soft mattress under her was heavenly against her aching back. Furthermore, it had this delightful scent, urging her to bury her face in the sheets more. It smelled like menthol shampoo — fresh.Wanting to sleep some more, Margaux tried to curl her body into her favorite fetal position. However, her back and chest immediately ached as soon as she rolled to her side. Thinking that the pain was just due to an upcoming monthly period, one of her hands unconsciously groped at her swollen breast."Good morning, cara mia.""Good morning too, caro— Shit!" Margaux’s back sprung abruptly out of bed. Her view immediately spu
WHAT DID SHE JUST CALL ME?’ Rome froze while staring at the door. He wasn’t the type to be easily surprised by anything. But then, Margaux has been proving herself exceptional at it since last night.Smirking, he shook his head bemusedly and laughed. ‘Crazy woman.’ He didn’t lie to her when he said that she was still a virgin. The truth is, she was still technically a virgin until now.Thinking about what happened between them, he rested his back on the couch and closed his eyes. Then he cursed her name over and over inside his head after everything came rushing back to him like a tidal wave.At thirty, Rome had already seen and bedded more than enough beautiful women. None of them ever made him as hungry for sex as Margaux did, though.Women were nothing but cheap, disposable items to him. He used them once, and then he trashed them. But Margaux was like an expensive wine that not many people could afford. She was the perfect mix of innocence and wildness.Her lips tasted divine. T
IT WAS ALREADY PAST EIGHT IN THE EVENING when Margaux stepped out of their villa. She had been grumpy the whole day. Her phone was missing, and she couldn't find it no matter how hard she looked.To be honest, losing the phone was nothing. She could always ask Alberta or any of their guards to get her a replacement whenever she wanted.However, she was waiting for a critical phone call. What if Alejandro suddenly remembered that he had a daughter who was waiting for him to explain everything he was up to?'Dream on!' She rolled her eyes.Soon enough, she reached the hilltop where her treehouse was. She was still frowning when she dropped her bag on the ground and gave the whole place a slow once-over. She wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be anyone present when she vented her frustrations.She then knelt in front of her bag and pulled out a bottle of chardonnay. She opened it and drank straight from the bottle, like a superb drunkard.Getting her fill, she slipped the wine back
MARGAUX'S BACK BOUNCED against her bed after she made a free fall. She remained to stare at the ceiling for a while, as if waiting for something to appear there. Letting out a breath, she then pursed her lips while thinking, ‘Who the hell are you?’She had wasted her whole day surfing all the social sites she knew about: Facebook, WeChat, Instagram, etc.Her curiosity about Rome was ticking inside her like a time bomb. Still, she didn’t have the guts to ask him questions directly either. Instead, she opted to stalk him online, hoping that there was any information about him readily available. Her efforts ended up being useless. Finding anything about Rome was like finding a needle in a stack of hay— it was like the man didn’t exist at all.Rolling to her belly, Margaux reached for her laptop and started typing again. She badly wanted to know him. Moreover, find out about his connection to her father.She typed his name on the search engine for the nth time and waited for a few seconds
A FEW MINUTES AFTER she argued with Rome, Margaux found herself sitting in their living room. Her mind was a mess. She thought that both Rome’s and Alberta’s reactions were weird. However, she didn’t want to deal with them now that Greg was here."What are you doing here?" She spat, giving the man before her a disdained look.She had always known Greg to be a neat-to-the-dot type of guy. Thus, she almost didn’t recognize him when she came into their living room. He was outright messy today— a wrinkled shirt, a tired face, and unruly hair. No wonder Rome called him garbage."I came for you." Greg’s voice was low when he answered. He then pushed the box of roses across the coffee table toward her.Following the box with her eyes, Margaux faked a laugh and then turned back at him. "Aren’t you supposed to save those for my burial?""What the hell are you saying?! You’re my girlfriend, Margaux!" Greg’s fist banged on the table between them. Then he stood up and started pacing back and fort
ROME WAS ALREADY ON HIS WAY BACK when his body stopped pacing in the air vent. He then shook his head a couple of times when Margaux's name started ringing in his head... again.He was still annoyed with the woman, and he was trying to minimize his contact with her. However, how could he do that if he couldn't even think of anything else but her?Just a glimpse of Margaux shouldn't be that bad, right? He has no plan to do anything more than just look at her anyway. He should be okay— he better be. 'Darn.’ Rome was still frowning when he turned to his cara's room. He had no words to describe the need taking over him, but it was more than enough to keep him moving through that tunnel.He was eerily quiet when he stopped by the mesh-covered opening just above Margaux’s room. It had been forty minutes since he last checked on her. Trying to sense what she was doing, he closed his eyes and focused all his attention on what was going on inside her room.'Holy fuck?’ Rome’s eyes fluttered i
The sun was soft as it shone over Reiti, Paso, Italy. Just like all the good days inside that villa, the gentle waves hitting the shore could be seen from where the Don sat. The mild breeze was playing with his hair as he silently sipped his wine. Soft white curtains were swaying on every open window too, making them look as if they were dancing peacefully with the mild tune he was humming. Alla mia Amata, of course."Papa?"Alejandro pretended not to see the tiny boy climbing on his lap. Instead, he covered his face harder with the newspaper in his hands, as if he were busy reading it. Nonetheless, his senses were at full alert, and he discreetly lowered one of his legs down to make sure that the child would have something to grab on to and wouldn't fall. Only God could describe how the child's mother turned into a monster whenever the child got hurt."Papa...""I'm reading, Romano," he said, dragging the child's name, copying how the baby dragged his. "Lots of news lately that could
It was the worst battle he had fought. A war where he couldn't tell who was with him and who wasn't. A battle where he had to keep firing his gun while holding his cara and staring death in the face simultaneously.He lost count of the number of bullets his body took for her. His whole body was numbing, but then he just couldn't let go.His mind was empty, unable to recognize who his enemies were. Alejandro's soldiers were fighting like a group of hungry beasts. The group that broke through the gate minutes ago, which he had recognized as Marco's, was just as ferocious.He noticed one of the groups protecting him when he rushed to the parking lot. Some of its soldiers caught bullets for him, willingly giving their lives to assure that he would get where he needed to.He was in so much pain. But it wasn't because of the random bullets digging into his flesh. He knew that pain so well. It wasn't for him, but for Margaux. It was for the child barely holding on inside her.The whole world
"MARGAUX..."Alberta's voice didn't reach her ears when the now-familiar stab crushed her nerves again. Automatically, her hand found the back of her hips, trying to keep them from splitting in two. The drop of sweat that fell on her fist, resting on her lap, looked blurry. Her tummy was in pain—so much pain that she had to burst out of breath to stop herself from groaning."Are you alright?""Are you done talking?" She tightly closed her eyes. She saw double, and it was the last thing she needed."I said, I'm sorry."She didn't reply. She understood what the old woman, kneeling and crying before her, was saying, but then it just wouldn't entirely register with her. More so when everything in her mind was Rome and him alone. All she remembered was that Alberta mentioned something like 'the Don's son and mother.' Or was it mother that she said?Whatever it was, she felt her heart crunch painfully hearing it, but not half as much as the one she was trying to tolerate while sitting there
THE VILLA WAS BUZZING at five in the morning. The scent of food combined with flowers was lingering in the air. The tables—hundreds of them—were carefully wrapped in meticulous white linens. The maids were like bees running back and forth, carrying plates and silverware. Violinists, called out at the most unholy time of the day, were cramming to learn the best and most beautiful music they would ever play: the Alla Mia Amata."You missed the timing; it would mean something different." The Don was in the middle of the crowd, looking down at the poor violinist."S-señor?""It's for my son. Perfect it," he ordered in a cold voice. His amber eyes were piercing, silently warning the musician to get the proper tempo or else it would be the last piece he would play. "You have to perfect it," he gritted, making the musician's knee shake at once with the terror that engulfed him."Y-Yes, señor." The musician barely opened his mouth, reaching for the paper before him to read the complicated n
MICE PLAY IN THE ABSENCE OF CATS. Same as how the envious smaller gods play in the absence of bigger gods. This part happened somewhere between sacred nights and mornings."The Montenegro child has already shown up." A young man gently pushed a pawn across the chessboard. Then, stopping his move right next to the White Queen, he settled the piece and looked up at his competitor."Oh, she did?" His playmate, an older man in his seventies, countered that move by moving the White Queen to eliminate the pawn.That made the young man chuckle. Languidly, he pressed his back against the leather seat he was sitting on. "Yes, Papa. The soldiers found her.""Molto bien..." Satisfaction flooded the old man's voice. He mirrored what his son did. He stretched his back and relaxed, grabbing the wine glass on the table. One sip, and he then asked, "How about God? Did he already show up?""Not yet, papa," the younger man answered, giving his father a brief look before gazing back at the chessboard. "
It was hard to tell if hell was actually a burning place. At three in the morning, hell looked nothing like what the Bible said. It was just pitch black with phone rings and voices.[Hello? She's on her way, God.]"Good."[Should I send the soldiers to meet her?]"Don't. Wait for her to enter our territory."[God?]"He will run after her. Wait for it."...'DRIVING TO THE VILLA. Will talk to Dad. Be back tonight. Love, Margaux'A three-sentence note on the mirror, a little heart smiley, and her name written using her red lipstick were all it took for Rome's mind to melt into broken letters.He was tired, and her arms were warm, so he slept. He should not have.Who would have thought that it would take only a short while for her to slip between his fingers? Like sand seeping down and falling where she shouldn't be?'You lured her...' He blinked his eyes, trying to balance himself as he reached for her name. His fingers were trembling when they touched the cold mirror, hoping that it
DARKNESS.Not a single drop of light illuminated the heavens that night—not the moon or even a single star. There was nothing except for silent voices talking in pitch-black."He saw us watching him, didn't he?"[He is smarter than I expect, God.]"Of course, he is!" Pride dripped from that unknown voice as the speaker chuckled. "He is the one and only Romano, after all."[Okay... So what's your next order?]"Drag them back." The god yawned, sounding a bit bored, before adding, "Make sure that the Amati is there once I come..."...ALBERTA WAS CALLING...No, it was better to say that she was bombarding Margaux with her calls. Hundreds of them in the past twelve hours. Nonstop.'Should I tell Rome?' Lifting her eyes from the vibrating phone on her hand, she looked up and scanned the unfamiliar room before her—unpainted walls, grey, and way less colorful than the skin of its late owner, Tat."Why are you just staying there? Why don't you come here?"She jerked upon hearing the man sit
GOD WAS MOVING. He was moving his chess pieces so accurately, and no one could tell what was next."Burn it," he ordered before sipping wine from his glass. His voice was calm, just like the wide ocean before him. Santorini mornings had always been perfect anyway, more so, his mansion there. Whitewashed houses line the most beautiful mountain in the world, meeting the blue Aegean waters as they calmly hit the shore.It was heaven with a demon living in it."Burn it down and..." the God chuckled while letting the sweet breeze mess with his graying hair. "... break his other leg. Make sure that he wouldn't have anywhere else to go."...'Cazzata!'Rome's cuss remained unspoken as he watched his headquarters, 'The Romans', burn through nine different TV screens. Thick, dark smoke was rising from the same building he had worked so hard for. From the aerial shot taken by the news channel, he could see the showcase of his bar getting licked by fire. His people were screaming and getting t
"I want to see you both in that dress, Cara."Rome felt his chest tighten just by calling her. Could he tell her what was pressing him down on that bed? Or could he at least tell her what was choking him while begging her to wear that dress again? He hoped he could. "Please...""I-I don't have that dress anymore."'This is horrible...' He closed his eyes. Finally finding the energy to move his head. He opened his eyes again and looked at her. He saw Margaux looking back at him over her beautiful shoulder. His gaze then glided down her back, mingling a bit longer on the hollow of her spine, before settling on her hips.Involuntarily, the corner of his lips lifted, although that smile didn't reach his sad amber eyes. 'My baby's growing fast.'"Stop smiling like that while staring at my butt, Caro."Margaux's irritated voice aired, forcing him to look up at her face. The same beautiful face he would love to kiss the rest of his life if he were lucky enough to have some more time left.'L