Share
29
Related chapters
The Deal With The Devil 30
StefanWas it possible to hear a heart beating?Veronica's pounded at a frantic pace. She stood just inside my bedroom. Her gaze slid from mine, and I watched her take it in, seeing it anew from her eyes. It was the biggest bedroom of those not damaged by fire. The one I'd grown up in was all but destroyed. The furnishings here were few and brand-new: dark carpet, dark curtains to match, a king-size bed against the far wall, and a table holding a lamp on the side I slept, a chair and table in one corner on which I tossed my jacket. That was all.She turned her gaze back to mine.I loosened the tie at my neck and pulled it over my head, hanging it over the back of the chair, then undid the cuffs of my sleeves one by one. I set them on the table before rolling each sleeve up. All the while, Veronica and I watched each other."Who were those men?" she asked.Her question took me back. I turned away from her and took the lid off the bottle of whiskey on the small table, pouring us each a
The Deal With The Devil 31
Stefan"You are so beautiful," I said, tracing the curve of her spine, liking how her body reacted, how she tightened, aware of my every fleeting touch. I leaned my head closer and kissed her shoulder, at the soft bend at her neck. She made a sound, and I turned her around and took her face in my hands."Veronica. Innocent and wise and so fucking beautiful." I kissed her mouth, wanting to taste her, taste her sweetness before the fire, before the intensity, before the pure need would overtake me. I kissed her softly. She opened, and I slipped one hand to the base of her skull, cradling her head. Her hands rose to my chest. I took one wrist and dragged it down to my cock. When she gasped and tried to pull away, I tightened my hold on it and broke our kiss so I could watch her face.She opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came."I want you so fucking badly, you have no idea.""Stefan—" She tried again to pull away. "Not this way. Not because of some contract.""Fuck the contrac
The Deal With The Devil 32
StefanI woke at my usual time, three o'clock in the morning, and lay listening to Veronica sleep, her naked body pressed against mine. I opened my hand wide on her belly, holding as much of her as I could.Last night had been good. Better than I expected. The physical attraction between us was mutual, but there was more than that. I wanted to hold on to it, to that thing, whatever it was. I knew it was important.And impermanent.Because I couldn't have that, and the reason I'd done this in the first place. It was one or the other.The old man's test only strengthened my resolve.I couldn't forget why I was doing this. Why she was here.I wouldn't.Rolling over onto my back, I stared up at the sliver of moonlight that slipped between the split in the curtains and streaked the ceiling. Veronica made a sound, and for a moment I thought I'd woken her, but then she curled up against me, the top of her head burrowing into me, her body hugging into itself, little fists and knees close. Unm
The Deal With The Devil 33
VeronicaThe next morning when I woke, Stefan was gone. I wondered if he slept, how many hours he slept. Last night, after making love to me—and he had made love to me—he'd washed me so tenderly, so carefully, it surprised me. Although maybe it shouldn't have. Maybe duality was the norm with him. Maybe knowing he had a capacity to be tender would make a difference, would make tolerating him when he was terrible bearable. Because I also knew he would be terrible.Or maybe that knowledge would only make those moments that much harder.After the night in Civitella in Val di Chiana, I didn't know how I'd be able to go through with the wedding. The wedding night. But then he'd told me why. My grandfather had used Robyn like a pawn. He'd seen a window, my weakness, and had used it against Stefan.I needed to talk to my grandfather. I needed to confront him and hear from him his side of the story, about the stealing, about his agreement with Stefan. But I wasn't fool enough to think he'd tel
The Deal With The Devil 34
VeronicaI decided I'd be irritated about Eric instead. I could drive a car. But he didn't want Eric there as a driver. He wanted security. I thought back to the night before, to those men who'd come late, the ones he'd met with in his study. I shivered at the memory of how the one had looked at me."What is it?" Robyn asked."Nothing. Just that we have a driver," I said with resigned smile.Robyn studied me for a minute. She knew I was hiding something but thankfully, she didn't comment."You're not going to wear those sandals, are you?" I said, looking at her feet. "It's a lot of walking." She had on a pair of beautiful, brand-new sandals with a two-inch heel. I'd slipped on a pair of well-worn Toms."They're cute. I have to break them in somewhere.""Siena's probably not the place to break them in.""Beauty doesn't come free," she said, shrugging a shoulder."Nerd."She stuck her tongue out at me.After breakfast, we left Charlie behind. Eric drove us to Siena, where my grandfather
The Deal With The Devil 35
StefanBy the time I got home, it was well past midnight. I went directly to my room, not sure if she'd have done as she'd been told or not, but there she was, asleep in my bed. She was still dressed and on top of the sheets. Her arm hung over the side, and a book lay facedown on the floor.She must have been waiting up for me. Or trying to.I watched her for a few minutes. She wore white shorts and a yellow tank top, and long wisps of chestnut hair had fallen all over her back and arm. Her legs had tanned a little, and looking at her bare feet turned in a little at the toes, it made her look like a child. Like she needed protection.And she did.More than she knew.I touched her face. She made a sound and turned away, still asleep. I picked up her book. When Nietsche Wept. I raised my eyebrows."Interesting choice."After setting her bookmark in the page that was open, I placed it on the nightstand, then sat on the bed and pushed the hair off her face to look at her.She wore no make
The Deal With The Devil 36
StefanWhile my mind warred, she lay sleeping, oblivious and unconscious beside me. She held such a strange power over me.Why couldn't I hate her? I was supposed to fucking hate her.I got out of bed, angry and irritated and frustrated as fuck, and went downstairs, through the kitchen, taking old faithful—my favorite bottle of whiskey—with me. I didn't bother with a glass. Didn't need one. I knew where I was going. To that hated place.Still no fucking lock on the door. I couldn't do it. Couldn't chance not being able to get in there.I opened the cellar door, the smell already taking me back years and years.Was this a twisted sanctuary of sorts? A tangled, dark thing, one I couldn't escape, one I dreaded that drew me back time and time again?I drank gulps of whiskey as I made my way down the stairs. No lights tonight. I didn't need them. I knew every inch of the place, and the two small windows at the top of the one wall let in enough moonlight. It fucking highlighted the whipping
The Deal With The Devil 37
StefanVeronica reached out to take my hand, the one that held the whip, and walked behind me. When the fingers of her other hand traced the scars on my back, I flinched, tightening every muscle. She stopped moving but didn't pull away. With an exhale, I bowed my head, my hand turning into a fist on the post.She followed each line, her touch like a feather. She saw everything. She saw me. And I let her. I stood there, and I let her. And only after she'd acknowledged every scar did she pull away. It was only for a moment, and I remained as I was. When I felt her breath on me, her lips on my back, kissing me softly, kissing scar tissue, I shuddered.When I turned, she straightened. She stood naked. She'd stripped off the T-shirt. Her nipples tightened in the cool cellar air. I looked at them, at her. And when I took her and turned her so she stood with her back to the post, she let me. Even though her gaze warily skimmed the whip, she let me.Kissing her, I drew her wrists up over her
Latest chapter
