POV: KATHERINA
I ended up walking for a long time. I didn’t know where I was going, but I was looking for a place to hide from Cruz and get through this night alive so that I could head back before Luca returned.
After a while, the streets became empty, and I was no longer worried about being far enough from the hotel. I just didn’t want to be anywhere near Cruz.
Rick was right. I did enjoy Luca’s attention to my body, and it was sick.
The fight I was able to put up with Cruz never surfaced even once with Luca. Not that Luca wasn’t capable of defeating me, but I never even tried. That part of me never came out to fight him.
The fight I put up with Luca was for my family and Chris, not for me. But with Cruz, I fought for myself. I was about to jump off the balcony too.
Luca was fucking with my head.
As the streets grew quiet and the night became eerie. I stood lost in the middle of the road. My eyes were heavy with sleep, and my body was aching. I was barefoot, and my feet burned with every step.
I ended up in a derelict park with overgrown trees and bushes. I settled down at the corner, where no one could see me from the outside, and relaxed, massaging my sore feet.
I listened to the crickets and the street dogs howling under the full moon until sleep overtook me.
***
I woke up to the slanting rays of the sun falling on my face.
Blinking my eyes several times, I took in my surroundings. I could hear the sounds of people and vehicles outside the park, and I was glad that no one was there inside.
Last night was chilly, London’s night chill making me curl into a ball and sleep away my problems.
I got up on my feet and walked out of the park, pushing away the thought that I spent a whole night alone like a homeless person.
I tried to ask a few people for directions to the hotel, but they gave me weird looks and moved away like I was a beggar.
Finally, a kind lady approached me and pointed at my bruised feet, asking if she would like her to escort me to the nearby hospital.
I shook my head and asked her for directions to the hotel, which she gladly explained before walking away.
I ran madly along the busy roads, pushing and stumbling by people. I couldn’t get a taxi. Every second was ticking, and I prayed Luca was late.
I was breathless and in pain, but nothing mattered but the fact that he had my family.
If he thought that I’d escaped yet again in spite of him teaching me a lesson for doing it before, I couldn’t imagine what he would do to them.
When I reached the hotel, I sprinted toward the elevator, and the staff caught me, thinking I didn’t belong there. I showed him the key card, and he reluctantly let me go.
The elevator stopped at the tenth floor, and I ran into the long hallway, searching for the room before slipping the key card inside and opening the door.
My eyes fell upon the man with parted legs, standing in the living room with his hands in his jean pockets, looking out at the city through the open doors.
I’m late. Too late.
My body started to tremble, and I closed my mouth, trying to stop the sob which threatened to come out.
Rick gave my shoulder a soft squeeze before walking out of the room.
“Lock the door, Katherina.”
I nearly jumped, though his voice sounded patient. I quietly locked the door and turned to see him facing me.
“Luca… I didn’t try to escape—"
“What did I say before I left?” His voice was soft.
“Luca, I didn’t do it—”
“What did I say before I left?” He repeated.
I licked my dry lips. It was difficult to find my voice due to his intimate stare at me.
“T-That I should not go out,” I choked out the words, my throat dry as sandpaper from all the running.
“And what part of that didn’t you understand?”
“I didn’t try to escape.” My voice was soft yet desperate, and I looked down at the floor, not able to meet his eyes.
“Look at me,” he said.
Slowly lifting up my head, I gazed into his hooded eyes. They were emotionless, just like his face. He started to walk toward me, his step menacing. My heartbeat quickened.
“Luca—”
“Shh, quiet, Katherina. I’ve heard enough.”
His hand clutched my hair at the back and gave a tug, making me oblige and follow him.
“Strip,” he said once we entered the bedroom.
I obeyed him without arguing. When all my clothes were on the floor, his eyes roamed all over my body thoroughly. His eyebrows were strained in concentration as he inspected me like I was a specimen.
“Lie down,” he ordered. I obeyed again.
He went to the closet and came back with ropes in his hands. My stomach churned in discomfort when he tied my hands and feet to the bedposts.
He went back into the main room. I tried to wiggle my hands and legs free, but they were tightly bound. I stared at the ceiling, trying to calm down.
My body was tired and aching, but as long as he punished me and not my family, I was fine.
A lot of scenarios ran wildly in my brain, and I prepared myself to face anything. But when he entered the room, nothing in the world could’ve prepared me for what he had in his hands.
He pulled a chair to my chair and sat down. “Why did you go out, Katherina?” he asked softly, staring at the wall
My eyes were literally bugging out, not able to look away from the containers he had in his hands.
“L-Luca, I didn’t do it on purpose. Cruz came in and tried to—”
“Fuck you against your will,” he said slowly.
“Yes…,” I whispered. Tears rolled down my face and onto the pillow.
“So?” He turned his gaze to me.
“Luca, I ran away because of him, but I swear I was going to come back. Believe me!” I begged, trying to find any mercy in his icy cold eyes, but there was none.
“Do you know how many times I’ve fucked Emm, Katherina?” His voice was dangerously calm. “Several fucking times.”
He opened one of the containers and took out the crab. Its mottled brownish carapace looked hard, and there were no red highlights on the tips of its pincers. It was a male crab.
“Did I tell you that crabs are my favorite seafood?” he asked.
“No,” I replied softly.
The crab moved sideways as he turned his arm, watching it.
“L-Luca, what are you doing? Luca! Luca! No!” I started to move my body vigorously.
He placed the crab on my stomach, and I screamed loudly, asking him to take it away.
He ignored my yelling and took out the cobra that was squeezed into the other container. It swiftly came out hissing and settled on his arm.
I started to cry, looking at it so close to me. The crab on my stomach started to move sideways, and I tried my best to lie still and ignore the sensation of fear.
He rubbed the scales of the cobra, its brown skin with white crossbands shining under the dim light of the bedroom. He let the creature dart out its long, forked tongue and lick his fingers. Its lower part was wrapped around his tattooed arm as he watched the snake.
“It hasn’t eaten its breakfast,” he whispered.
His hand came closer to my stomach, and I screamed out loud, not knowing what this psychopath intended to do. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I tugged my arms and legs, trying to get out of the ropes, but I couldn’t.
“Luca, stop, please!”
All my pleas went unheard as he placed the snake on my stomach. My cries became louder as I watched it slither off his arm and slide onto my bare skin. The sensation was weird and pure torture.
The crab started to crawl upwards toward the valley of my breasts, and the snake had turned its head in that direction.
“King cobras are hungry, lethal creatures that are always ready to hunt.” He spoke softly, watching the snake with his elbows on his knees and his face scrunched in concentration.
“They never miss their target,” he whispered.
The cobra’s tongue darted out as it saw the crab. The crab started to move further up. The snake followed, hissing. My tears flowed furiously as I muffled my cries and begged Luca to take them off me.
“Please, Luca.”
He didn’t even glance my way. His whole concentration was on the creatures.
The snake moved to my right breast and settled itself, its body coiling around my breast. I looked at Luca pleadingly.
“Luca, please, I’ll do anything.”
His eyes snapped up and caught mine. They were hooded with lust and raw hunger.
“Cobras are very hungry and lethal creatures, Katherina. They never back down from a fight, and that’s what I love about them.”
The snake continued to hiss, lifting its head slowly and menacingly. Just as the crab moved toward my left breast, the snake struck. The creature caught the crab in its mouth and lifted its head high.
The pincers were digging into its scales, but it kept going on swallowing its prey hungrily. My stomach churned in discomfort and fear as I cried my lungs out.
The crab disappeared from sight as I watched the snake swallow it. Its scaly body bulged as the poor crab moved in.
He picked up the snake and put it back in the container, placing it on the nightstand. My cries didn’t stop, and Luca didn’t care.
Removing the ties from my hands and legs, his body crashed onto mine. His lips found mine for a hard and bruising kiss before peppering kisses all the way down to my throat.
Latching onto my skin, he sucked one spot on my neck hard, making me scream. His hands roamed all around, squeezing and pinching my skin harshly.
His lips came lower and latched onto my right breast. His tongue played as he licked, sucked, and bit my nipple. His hand moved between my legs and pinched my clit hard, earning a cry from me.
He went to my other breast, giving it the same treatment before going down and down, settling between my legs.
Pulling my legs wide apart, he removed his jeans and boxers. His penis sprang to life immediately.
Not wasting a second, he thrust inside me full force, hitting my cervix. I cried in pain, my hands clenching into the sheets and my back arching.
His eyes staring down at me were lethal.
“How fucking dare you disobey me,” he hissed slowly before clutching my throat firmly.
He squeezed my throat slowly at first, then tighter. His thrusts never once slowed down as I tried to take in as much oxygen as I could.
I started to choke, my hands scratching his hand around my throat and my eyes pleading with him to let go. He loosened his grip, and I took in as much air as possible.
His other hand dug into my waist as his every thrust hit my cervix. I bit my lip hard, controlling my moans.
My legs parted automatically, my eyes rolling into the back of my head as he fucked me roughly.
His thrusts didn’t falter as he gazed into my eyes. His eyes are cold and menacing, and my heart clenched to see myself in this situation, so weak, so powerless.
His hand moved down from my throat and pinched my erect bud.
“Fuck, Katherina!”
My thighs clenched around his hips as I trembled underneath him. His mouth found mine as he kissed me harder.
“He tried to fuck you, and all did is bang his head with a lamp? How can you let another male touch you when it’s my fucking job?” he hissed in anger, thrusts becoming wilder.
“Luca he—”
“You should have wounded him badly, baby. He’s my best bud, but I wouldn’t have said a word if you broke his arms and legs.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Is he even for real?
“You’re mine, Katherina. I would’ve killed Cruz if he had fucked you,” he hissed.
His muscles stiffened. I knew he was close too.
“Katherina!” he growled.
My back arched, and I came hard, coating him as he released inside me. His mouth came lower and latched onto my neck, sucking the same spot as before.
He relaxed, making sure not to put his weight on me. I closed my tired eyes. We stayed like this for a minute before Luca slid off me and went to the washroom.
I was too tired to move a muscle, so I relaxed and tried to go back to sleep, but my eyes snapped open when Luca took my foot in his hand.
I looked at him wide-eyed but didn’t say anything. He had a bowl beside my feet, and he dipped the towel and squeezed the water out before placing it gently on my bruised sole.
The cloth was soft and warm, and it felt good. He wiped the soles of my feet with the warm cloth and started massaging them gently yet carefully.
I stayed on my elbows, unable to look away from him, but he didn’t even lift his head to me.
“Luca… you don’t have to—”
He cut me off with his soft voice. “Go to sleep, Katherina.”
“Will you…will you punish me for leaving you?” I asked.
Luca looked up at me with a smirk. “I thought I just punished you. What happened to I will never want you ? I should cut the rough sex as your punishment.”
“Luca I—”
“So, have you finally accepted that you want me to claim you?” he mocked.
I shook my head.
“Sure.” He shrugged. “Keep lying to me while I fulfill the promise I made to your boyfriend that you will submit all of you to me willingly.”