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Was there a part that bored or that you didn't really like in the book? *

Even a character, a scene, or anything. You could say no if nothing bothered you.

Which was the part you liked most in the book? *

Even a character, a scene, or anything that you enjoyed.

Do you like stories where the main female character, during intimate moments... *

• is totally new to those experiences?
• has little/some knowledge about them?
• is experienced?

Would you feel triggered by a plot in which the male main character sexually assaults the virgin female main character? *

• Yes, I would stop reading immediately.
• Yes, and I would want a trigger warning for it, but I would keep reading.
• No, I'm okay with this kind of content in dark romance.

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Romano

“Ladies and gentlemen let us welcome to the dance floor for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Monti!”

There is thunderous applause as I take Giada’s hand and lead her to the dance floor. John Legend’s dulcet tones declaring how all of me wants all of you fills the hall as I sweep my wife around the floor. She’s looking into my eyes, just smiling at me, and I have eyes for no one else. It’s as if we’re in a bubble of our own making and everyone else just ceases to matter.

Way too soon, other couples join us on the dance floor, and soon people are tapping our shoulders wanting their turn with the bride and groom.

After we do a sweep of the room greeting our guests. I sent Tommy an invite not expecting him to show up, but there he is in a blonde wig sitting at a table with Caleb and his wife Myra. I go over to say hello, really glad to see them.

“I’m so happy you made it.”

“Yeah, yeah. After all that drama, this wasn’t the wedding to be missed. Things are changing huh?” Tommy nods, looking impressed.

Yeah, big things are happening. I clap him on the shoulder companionably, as I turn to Caleb. “Good to see you again, man. I still got your bike in my garage if you want to collect it.”

He waves a dismissive hand. “You paid for that thing. It’s yours.”

“Yes, but I know I didn’t pay anywhere near market rates.”

Caleb smiles, then shrugs his shoulders. “Let’s just say you owe me a favor. Keep the bike.”

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s owing favors, but I take it in the spirit of friendship with which it was intended. Suddenly I catch sight of Rose. She’s on her own after clinging to Benedetto all day like a limpet.

“Excuse me guys. I gotta talk to someone.” I get to my feet and hurry towards her, snagging her arm and dragging her out of the ballroom. We walk a little further down the corridor before I round on her, arms crossed.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demand.

She looks shaken, which is rich coming from her. “I don’t know what-”

“Cut the bullshit. What are you doing with Benedetto?”

She kind of rears back a bit. “Ben helped me after…” she sniffs, getting teary eyed, “After Tizzy died. He was there for me, he kept me safe.”

I sneer. “Oh, so you are showing him how grateful you are?”

She looks up at me and sighs. “I get why you’re suspicious of my motives Romano, but everyone says you’ve known Giada for two years. That you’ve been in love with her the whole time. So why be angry at me for seeking solace elsewhere?”

I snort derisively. “Seeking solace? You humiliated me in public.”

“I didn’t know they were taking pictures. I would never have-”

I put up a hand to stop her. “Save it for someone who cares.” I wag a finger in her face, “and that someone isn’t Benedetto. Stay away from him. He’s way too good for you.”

She just sighs.

“You have some nerve coming to my wedding, by the way.”

She has the grace to blush at least. “Benedetto invited me. I didn’t want to let him down.” She mumbles.

“Do him a favor and disappoint him early, Rose. Ain’t nobody got time for your games.”

She pales, looking away from me. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t want to fight with you, Rose, and I’m not holding any grudges, but I don’t trust you. So please find someone else to glom onto that isn’t Benedetto. He does not deserve someone like you.”

She meets my eyes, her own blazing. “Like Giada deserves you? Don’t forget you were also engaged.”

“Yeah, I was, and you didn’t see pictures of me and her splashed all over the news, did you?”

She just glares at me, bosom heaving.

I quirk my eyebrows. “What? Nothing to say?”

To my surprise, she just turns and walks away. I watch her go, nonplussed before shrugging and going back to the ballroom. It’s almost time to cut the cake and throw the bouquet and then my wife and I can blow this joint.

Giada

We drive to the cabin where our honeymoon had been interrupted. I’m still on a high from the wedding. It’s one thing to be married and know, but having a large wedding with all the attention and adulation is something else.

The most satisfying bit was being able to share our love with the world – claiming each other in front of God and everyone. Before we left the reception, my aunt Ludovica took me aside, and hugged me tight.

“I am so happy for you, my dear.” She whispered, “And I have a present just for you.”

She handed me a box and when I opened it, there was an exquisite dagger with a hilt inlaid with emeralds. I reached to touch it.

“Careful!” she warned, “it’s very sharp.”

“It’s beautiful madrina, but why…?”

She squeezed my hand. “This life we lead is dangerous. It is good to always have a weapon to defend yourself and your home. You and Romano are happy now, but should that change, and if you need to get away…” she gave me a significant look.

I just stared at her with wide eyes. Aunt Ludovica really had killed her husband. “Thanks zia,” I said faintly.

She nodded and smiled. “Now go and say goodbye to your mother. I think it’s just hitting her that you’re a married woman.”

I peered over my aunt’s shoulder to see my mom waiting, wringing her hands. I went up to her and hugged her tightly. She held onto me like I was a lifeline.

“Are you alright, mamma?”

She nodded, moving away, but she kept her head down so I could not see her eyes. “I wanted to say… I haven’t always been there for you, but I want you to know that I’m here. And if you need anything… help or just to talk, I’m here for you.”

I squeezed her shoulders, “Thank you, mom. I hear you.”

I looked from my aunt to my mom, two women who are experienced in the ins and outs of marriage; they were both offering me a way out if I needed it.

As I sit next to Romano in his Range Rover, I pray that I don’t ever need the help they’re offering. I turn my head to look at him. His profile is ridiculous. Smooth silky hair, curling every which way, strong jaw, lush, plump lips… he makes me wish I was an artist just so I can draw him.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing. Hoping for a happy marriage for us.”

He glances at me and then back at the road. “That’s not something you hope for; it’s something you work towards.”

“And you’re willing to do that? Work towards the happiest of marriages?”

“Definitely. It’s you and me babe, till the cows come home.”

His words warm me in a way I didn’t expect to need.

He grins at me. “Color?” he asks.

I smile, “Verdant, emerald, viridian, jade green.”

He chuckles. “Good.”

He accelerates. It takes us an hour and a half to arrive at the cottage and I’m feeling a little tired, much to my disappointment. But I did wake up before the crack of dawn for my hair, make up, dress. Not to mention the entire day of being the center of attention. Honestly, I just want to curl up and sleep.

What a way to start a marriage!

We step into the house, and Romano takes our bags into the bedroom. I sigh, taking a seat, waiting for him to return but he doesn’t. I hear water running and conclude that he must have decided to take a bath. As I sit there, my eyes drift closed.

“…Gi?”

I startle awake, blinking a few times as I look around trying to reorient myself. Romano is bending over me and smiling. “Hi there,” he says gently.

“Wh… wha…?”

He reaches out and snags my hand, pulling me to my feet. “C’mon, I drew you a bath.” He leads me slowly to the bedroom, where he unzips my gown letting it fall to the ground. I make an inarticulate protesting noise as I step away from it, not wanting to leave it there but am too damn tired to argue. He picks it up and slings it over the chair before propelling me by my waist towards the bathroom.

I come to a startled stop at the doorway because the bathroom is softly lit with scented candlelight, there’s light jazz music playing from somewhere and the bath is filled to the brim with bubbles. There’s a bottle of wine and two glasses on the side of the bath.

It’s basically heaven.

I turn to look at Romano, at a loss for words and then I just hug him really tightly.

“This is perfect.” I whisper.

He bends down, breathing into my ear. “Color?”

I laugh out loud. “Definitely green.”

He takes off my panties, my stockings and my jewelry and then leads me to the bath. He picks me up and lowers me gently into the warm water.

I sigh in contentment, leaning back against the edge of the bathtub and just allow myself to sink as deep into the water as I please. I can hear him, clothes shuffling somewhere close, but I am content to just keep my eyes closed and breath. Maybe take a little nap.

I hear a splash and I feel him in the tub with me. He takes hold of my shoulders and pushes me gently forward so he can fit himself behind me. I groan as he pulls me back into his chest.

“That’s perfect.” I whisper, still not opening my eyes. We lie there a while; he puts a glass of wine in my hand, and I take a sip before handing it back. We don’t talk. We don’t do anything except just be. At some point, the water begins to bubble and I realize this isn’t just a bath. It’s a jacuzzi.

Oh, what decadence.

His arms are around me, holding me tightly, making me feel anchored the way being tied up does. Eventually, my skin starts to prune, and I know it’s time to get out. I sit up and turn to face him. “Let’s move this to the bed.”

He nods, getting to his feet, his dick dangling in my face before he pulls me up as well. We step out of the jacuzzi, and he wraps me up in a white terry cloth bathrobe before leading me to the bedroom. He lays me down on the bed, on my back. I feel loose and pliable, ready to put myself absolutely in his hands.

He opens the drawer, taking out not rope, as I’d expected, but silk scarves. He ties my hands to the bedposts, and I close my eyes. Whatever he wants to do to me, I’m game.

He kisses down my belly, until he reaches my belly button which he licks for a while. He’s straddling me the whole time but now he gets off me and goes to the drawer again. This time he emerges with some sort of yellow oil in a bottle. He pours it on his hands and rubs briskly. Next thing I know he’s lathering my skin with it.

He massages the oil into my skin, and I realize that the more he rubs at me, the hotter the oil gets. It’s not uncomfortable. Just the opposite. It’s like a continuation of the jacuzzi – relaxing to the point of somnolence.

I don’t want to go to sleep. I want to satisfy my husband. But if he goes on like this, I’m gonna pass out.

“Romano…”

“Shhh. Don’t say a word. Let me do this for you.”

I relax. Perhaps doing this is satisfying for him. He continues to massage me, running his hands all over my body until I’m a mindless thing with no more awareness than a gnat.

“I’m going to turn you around now,” he says.

I nod, which is honestly a huge effort. He picks me up and turns me around, so I’m lying on my stomach. He ties my hands to the bedpost again, and I lie there, ass naked, legs spread, waiting for whatever comes next.

The first thwack of the flogger on my ass has me opening my eyes wide. The next one has all the somnolence fleeing from my body. I turn my head, trying to see what he’s doing.

“Ah, ah, no peeking. Color?”

“Uh… green?”

“Is it a question or a statement? Safe word?”

I keep my mouth shut.

“Color?”

“Green.”

He immediately thwacks me on the ass again. “Five more should do it.” He says.

Every hit of the flogger is precisely placed so that no place feels the sting of the flogger twice. I can feel myself growing wet and spread my legs a little, wanting to feel the sting on the flogger against the sensitive inner flesh of my pussy.

As if reading my mind, the next hit goes exactly between my legs. The rest of the flogging is carried out amid my moans and groans. I am not only wide awake when he stops but I’m disappointed. Only eight hits.

“More please, sir.” I beg.

“No. This is enough.” He says and then widens my legs. He picks up a candle and I tense, waiting. Slowly, he pours hot wax onto my inner thighs. They’re already hot from the oil. The wax is searing.

I make a punched sound, struggling not to squirm. He holds onto my knees, keeping my legs flat on the bed as the wax cools. He flicks the hardened wax off my skin before adding more.

My legs are straining, eager to squirm about and hump the bed in my arousal. I can’t believe how fast I’ve gone from tired and sleepy to alert and horny. While the wax is still cooling on my thighs, Romano sets my hands free and flicks me over. Once again, he ties my hands before taking nipple clamps to my breasts. I cry out, arching off the bed, not knowing which sensation to focus on.

He runs a hand down my sides, from shoulder to waist, creating a soothing counterpoint to the stinging, throbbing hurt. I’m panting like a dog, waiting to see what he’ll do next. He picks up the candle again and pours a drop right in the middle of my outer vagina, singing the few hairs that have grown out.

I cry out from the shock of it and tense. As the pain slowly ebbs away, I become more aware of my throbbing nipples. That is immediately superseded as he slips a vibrator into me, just shoving it right in with no preamble. It vibrates pretty fast and I close my eyes, the better to take in all the sensations I’m being subjected to.

I feel as if I’m floating free on a cloud of pleasure and pain so intense that I can’t tell the difference between one and the other.

He unclamps my breasts and the sudden expansion of my flesh is its own kind of pain. He closes his lips over my left nipple, suckling hard, his hot wet tongue on me. He uses his hand to massage my right nipple as he does it, the vibrator still causing chaos inside of me.

I don’t know what sounds I’m making – lots of incoherent pleading and moaning, groaning and crying. I know I could never be this uninhibited with anyone else.

Finally, he eases the vibrator out and replaces it with his dick. He’s so hard and hot, invading my inner most person, possessing me like a precious artefact.

Tears fall from my eyes as we are joined.

He begins slow and languid, just hitting all my sensitive walls with his hard cock before he speeds up, his breath against my ear as he pants and moans. I can feel his heartbeat against my chest, racing mine to some climactic finish.

I wrap my legs around his waist and let myself go completely as he rams into me like a machine, over and over, tirelessly. I should not have worried about our wedding night. He meant what he said about working towards our happiness.

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.

I give myself over to him as my body arches, pleasure washing over and through me, carrying me away in a fugue of ecstasy. I feel him empty himself into me and that causes another orgasm to come bearing down on me. I tighten my legs around his waist and arch my back, wanting to take it all.

All of him and more.

We both collapsed onto the bed, panting, sweating and replete. He reaches up immediately and undoes my bonds, freeing my hands. He massages my wrists, as the blood flows back into them, murmuring soothing words to me as he does.

Once my wrists are done, he gets up and goes to the bathroom, coming back with a warm wet cloth and carefully wiping me down. He frees my hair from its untidy bun and gathers it into a single plait as I lay there and let him take care of me.

Once he’s done, he folds himself around me, holding me securely in his arms.

“Thank you,” I murmur, “for everything.”

He kisses my cheek. “Thank you. Now go to sleep my love. I’m here. I’ll always take care of you.”

The words are a lullaby, soothing me off to sleep.

If you want to know what lies ahead in our story, you may want to get the sequel…

Escaping the scandal that ruined my life, I’m taken to Boston by Benedetto Corte. He claims he is protecting me, yet I feel very uneasy about his intentions. I know his knight-in-shining armor act hides ulterior motives. Now I’m trapped in his home, haunted by blood and the ghosts of the past, and fear begins to mix with my feelings for him. I question his every move because, despite his charm, he scares me.

Twisted Minds of Sin