Page 25 of The Red Queen

He didn’t answer, but she could tell from the slight tightening of his muscles that she’d hit a nerve.

“What is it you’re hoping to gain from this conversation?” His tone held a hint of anger, which told her to tread carefully. This was her time for negotiation, and she didn’t want to lose the opportunity by sparking his anger.

“Freedom,” she said bluntly, and when he made a move to deny her, slashing his hand in the air, she stopped him. “Only slightly more than I have now. I wish to live upstairs, without the confines of my current situation. Freedom to walk outside for some fresh air, eat when I want to eat and seek entertainment beyond the four walls I currently have.”

He laughed, a sharp bark of sound again. “For these small boons, you’re willing to become my wife? Come willingly to my bed? This is difficult to believe, Desiree.”

The word ‘wife’ stole her voice for a few seconds. She’d acted as second-in-command and lover to Nico Garza, but never wife. He’d kept that position open for the woman who would eventually bear his children. But not for Desi. She wasn’t a virgin, though he’d been the one to take her virginity. She wasn’t pure enough for him. Her family life too dirty. She was good enough to fuck, but never to marry.

She shook away the grim memory. It tarnished her love for Nico, and now that he was gone, she wanted to remember him with the love she’d once felt.

“Yes, I’m willing,” she announced.

“Then you will prove your compliance,” Giovanni said, a dark note in his voice. “Right now.”

Chapter Eleven

Desi glanced toward the driver, who was studiously ignoring them as he kept his eyes on the road. There was no barrier between the front and back seats like there might have been in a limo. He would see and hear everything.

She didn’t know why she was embarrassed. Nico had done much worse to her. He’d fucked her in front of his men on multiple occasions and sometimes allowed them to join. The experience had been painful and humiliating, but not her fault. She’d been young. She’d had no choice.

This was different. She suspected she had a choice because this was some kind of test. At least right now. Later was a different matter. She didn’t know Giovanni well enough to know if he would force her compliance.

“What do you want me to do?” Desi asked in a low voice.

Giovanni reached for her, sliding his hands across her shoulders, beneath her leather jacket. She held her breath at the skin-on-skin contact. It was the first time he’d touched her deliberately that wasn’t in the heat of the moment. As if allowing her an escape if she wanted to take it.

She was tempted to bolt, to jerk away from him and deny whatever he was about to do, but she reminded herself it would be worse later. He could do whatever terrible things he wanted in the confines of her dungeon room, then decide she wasn’t worth keeping alive.

A shimmer of freedom was better than no hope.

He pushed the leather jacket off her shoulders and down her back. When she would have dragged her arms out of the sleeves, he stopped her, banding his hands over her wrists, and trapping her arms behind her back.

Desi’s heart picked up speed. She hated being confined. The feeling was claustrophobic. It inhibited her ability to fight her way out of a situation.

She focused on him and forced herself to breathe through the discomfort. There was worse yet to come, she was sure of it.

He released her wrists and reached up to grip the straps of her red dress, dragging them roughly down her arms and baring her breasts. The tearing of seams echoed through the car as a strap gave way.

Giovanni studied her breasts in the dim interior of the car, his gaze cool and uninterested.

Desi lifted her chin and stared past him. She had gorgeous tits and she knew it, D cups with dark brown aureoles and darker nipples.

Without a word, Giovanni gripped her by the arms and forced her onto the floor. There wasn’t much room and she had to wiggle on her knees until she found space, wincing as a rock dug into her skin.

The zip of Giovanni’s trousers was audible, and fire raced beneath the skin of Desi’s cheeks as she imagined what the driver must be thinking. Then she reminded herself that he wasn’t paid to think.

Giovanni gripped Desi by the hair and dragged her between his legs, pulling her off-balance. Rather than giving her time to right herself, he held her up by the hair and forced her face-first into his groin.

She gasped as pain tore through her scalp, giving him the opportunity to thrust himself into her mouth. He forced his entire penis into her throat, holding her still with a hand at the back of her head.

Desi choked and gagged at the unexpected attack.

He ignored her struggle and gripped her head in both hands, dragging her off his cock. He looked down at her, his eyes glittering with lust and triumph. Knowing what was coming, she took a deep breath before he hammered back into her, his helmet slamming ruthlessly into the back of her throat.

The savagery of his actions surprised her. The genteel Italian was gone, replaced with a ruthless man who was willing to force her compliance. He was testing the resolve of her agreement. He was seeing how far she would go to please him, become a perfect slave. He didn’t know her well enough if he thought she would back down from a challenge.

Desi tried her best to control her gag reflex, but it was impossible. He used her head to drive himself in and out of her mouth, over and over, and there was nothing she could do. Her arms were bound behind her back, loosely, but she couldn’t free them. Not only did she suspect he would take any fight from her as a denial of this sex act, but the space between the seats was too tight for her to maneuver.

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