The adults migrated to the large family room with the Christmas tree and the mountain of presents. Michael and Nico had taken it upon themselves to divvy up the loot, creating a careful pile for each person, while the other kids tore into presents.
“So much for me playing Santa this year,” Leo’s cousin Dino grumbled.
The kids had made a pile for Leo and Faith next to a black leather couch along the back wall. He watched Faith’s eyes widen at the large pile of presents with her name on them. Most were from him, but several were from other family members who’d heard through the grapevine, a. k. a. Gina, that he had a lady friend.
“Leo, can I talk to you for a minute in private?” Caprice said.
He rolled his eyes. He wanted to watch Faith open her presents. Though he also didn’t want to contemplate why he cared so much to see her reactions to everything. “What about?”
“That would be the private part,” she said coyly. Her nipples were erect through her thick sweater.
Unbelievable. She was making a play for him with Faith standing right there. He wanted to kill Vinny for bringing her to the family holiday. While he thought of Vinny as family, that sentiment didn’t extend to his cousin. “Faith, don’t open anything until I get back.”
“Okay.”
He could see the uncertainty in her eyes and could practically read the thoughts right out of her head. Suddenly, the protective instincts that had caused him to rescue her in the first place came flooding back. He squeezed her hand and caught her gaze. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded and sat on the couch, staring at the pile in front of her.
Leo followed Caprice down the twisting hallways until they were clear on the other end of the house. She opened a door into an empty bedroom and slithered inside, her intention not subtle. She crooked a finger at him, and he followed. He may as well not berate her out in the hallway.
The door had barely shut and already she was pulling her bright Christmas-red sweater over her head. She hadn’t bothered with a bra, but then Leo had suspected as much.
For the briefest moment, he allowed her to press her body against him, allowed her to press her small hand into the front of his pants as she strained to find his cock. Her hot, searching mouth trailed kisses over his throat.
“Please,” she whimpered. “You know Faith will never be enough for you. She’s too young for you. She’s too sweet and innocent. Not like us. Tiny woodland creatures probably follow her wherever she goes. You don’t love her.”
Leo took a step out of her reach. “How do you know that?”
“I pay attention. She doesn’t light you up like I once did. You think such a sweet, virginal type will ever be what you need?” She dropped to her knees at his feet and looked up, all demure temptation. “Please, Sir, take me to the dungeon. You have to let it out, Leo. Let it out with me.”
“I’m getting married, Caprice.” But his resolve was melting, and she knew it. Whether she knew the marriage was a sham or not he couldn’t guess. It wouldn’t make a difference to Caprice. She would hunt what she wanted, when she wanted, with no regard for the sanctity of anyone else’s sexual unions but her own.
“I don’t care. And I’ll give you what you need after you’re married if you want. Please, let me please you.”
“It doesn’t work with us. You’re too deceitful. None of this is real.”
She rolled her eyes. “What difference does it make? No, you don’t own me. I’m not submissive. But I like the things you do to me, and you like doing them. So let’s do them. I’m not asking to be your soul mate. I’m just asking you to use me. You use me. I’ll use you. We’ll both scratch our itches, and then I’ll go away. I promise.”
“That won’t be how it happens.” It had taken an act of God to detach her the last time. Though, she’d been living in New York back then.
“When was the last time you let it out?”
“Months.”
She smiled. “That’s what I thought. I can always tell when you aren’t getting your needs met.”
“I’ll take you to the dungeon on one condition.”
Her eyes sparked. “Name it.”
“As soon as we are done, you will leave this house. You will not stay for the rest of the holidays.”
“But I came with Vinny,” she pouted, already trying to sway him with her useless ploys.
“I’ll call you a cab and I’ll put you up in a nice hotel until Vinny can come get you and take you back to Vegas.” He wasn’t going to have her in the house with Faith if they were going to do this.
He let out a hiss when she laid her cheek against his crotch. It really had been too long. He’d been living like a priest.
“And… will you come visit me there?”
What harm would it do? He wasn’t in a real relationship with Faith. God knew how long it would be before he got any of his itches scratched again. Then Caprice would be back in Vegas, too far away to be drama.
“On the understanding that this is a short-term fling. We will not have a relationship. I will not be dumping Faith. And you will quietly go away when I tell you to.”
“Done,” she said, her eyes lighting with victory.
“Oh, and one more thing. You will address me as Master and you will not try to control anything. If you seek control or try any bullshit with me, you are out on your ass and I’ll never touch you again.” The last part wounded her pride, but she swallowed hard and nodded. No, she wasn’t submissive. But if she could pretend, then so could he.
“Yes, Master, whatever you want.”
Leo wasn’t stupid enough to think she meant it. Oh, she’d do things his way for the next week, but afterward she would make her play for more. At which point he’d put her ass on a plane and send her back to the other side of the country.
“Put your sweater on and let’s go.”
Caprice got her sweater back on three times faster than she’d gotten it off. Then Leo took her hand and poked his head out the door to check the hallway. It was clear, so he led her to the back stairs that went to the dungeon and locked the door behind them.
The dungeon was the equivalent of two stories down, with stone walls and ceiling that would filter out the loudest screams. Even so, he was gagging her. He didn’t want to hear her smart mouth. He only wanted to see her tears and hear muted, desperate mewls.
Between everything else and the vanilla nightmare he was living out upstairs, he needed this, no matter how much angst he knew it would cause or how much he couldn’t stand this woman. She was a willing victim, so he’d take it.
“Undress. Don’t seduce me. We don’t have time for that. And no eye contact. You look me in the eyes once, and I’ll stop.”
She quickly shifted her gaze to the ground and whispered, “Yes, Master.”
Impotent rage burned beneath the surface, but her determination to win the game she was playing and get her own needs met silenced any protest she may have made as she quickly disrobed.
Leo followed suit. The whole thing was so… perfunctory. There was no passion here, no feelings. It was as cold and sterile as his operating table.
It was a quick wank in the shower while random images floated through his mind. Masturbatory.
When her clothing was on the floor, Leo grabbed her wrist none too gently and pushed her down on the spanking horse.
“Hey! Ow!” she protested.
“Shut your mouth.”
She did, and he tied her down. Caprice was ready to protest again when he took the ball gag from the toy box.
“What did I say about trying to control things?” he said, before she could open her mouth again.
“But… I…” For the first time in all the time he’d known her, she had a moment of true fear and indecision. Indecision looked strange on Caprice.
“Don’t you trust me?” he asked. “Why would you want to play with me if you didn’t trust me?”
“I trust you, I just…” She looked up into his eyes then, the pleading visible.
“What did I say about eye contact? Right now, your body belongs to me. You agreed to this. Whether we do this or not, when we leave this room you are leaving my house. Don’t you want to feel like you won a round?”
She looked down quickly-back to the old Caprice-and said, “Yes, Master.” Playing on her sense of competition was too easy. For all her conniving and borderline insanity, she was easy to read and manipulate. She was unable to step back from a situation and judge cost versus benefit once she’d settled on a course of action. Perhaps he’d beat some sense into her today.
“Good girl. I imagine you never hear that phrase. Must be such a novelty, and perhaps demeaning, all things considered.” He pushed the black rubber ball past her lips and snapped the gag into place before she could utter the comeback that had surely begun to weave itself together in her mind.
With the family upstairs opening gifts and wondering where the hell he was, all he wanted was to get his fix, to get his sadistic urges out on a live and somewhat willing human being. He went straight for the cane. It was maximum impact for limited time allotment.
One by one, he laid the welts across her ass and thighs in sharp, practiced strokes. The anger in those welts mirrored his own. His anger at the situation he was in, at Caprice’s machinations, and at his own carnal weakness in falling for her scheme. But oh, he would make her pay for it. She had to know that.
She screamed around the gag so loudly that he was glad for the obstruction. As soundproofed as the dungeon was, you could never be too careful with your mother and a pack of small children upstairs. “Why did it sound like you were murdering someone?” wasn’t the question he wanted to entertain on Christmas morning.
There was something vulgar in this display on such a holy day. They’d been out of Mass for a short eight hours and he had one woman tied down, beating her, while the woman he was marrying sat upstairs, abandoned to his criminal family.
He stepped back to admire his work and ran his hands over the hot, red marks. Leo pressed a finger inside her, unsurprised to find her wet and needy. Even with no warm-up or love and kittens, she could rise to the occasion, and so, it would appear, could he, if his hard-on were any indication.
It didn’t matter who was under his cane or whip. The effect on his body was the same every time-a fact which disturbed him.
Leo went back to the toy box and retrieved a vibrator with leather straps attached. He pushed the toy inside her, making sure the external nub pressed firmly against her clit, then he secured the straps around her thighs and waist and flipped the switch that brought it to life.
He didn’t bother with a tease. Instead, he went for the highest setting, intent on overwhelming her into a fast orgasm and then torturing her with the added unwanted stimulation until he had gotten his.
As her orgasm crested, he unsnapped the gag and pulled it from her mouth, replacing the rubber ball quickly with his cock, muffling the sound of her orgasm against his throbbing erection. No way in hell would he risk impregnating her.
“Suck like your life depends on it.” She did. It was one thing she excelled at.
Leo gripped her shoulders, digging his nails into her skin as she fellated him. He bit his lip to stifle his own moan as he came. Caprice didn’t try to get out of swallowing: she accepted him wholly and completely, almost convincing him of her submissive act.
Perhaps he’d given up on her too soon. But, this wasn’t his life now.
And one trip to the dungeon wouldn’t change her entire faulty personality.
He put his clothes back on and smoothed his hair before turning off the toy and releasing her from her bonds. “Get dressed,” he growled.
She practically slid off the spanking horse like an invertebrate without any bones to hold her together and crawled to her pile of clothing. Her gaze shifted to the large leaner mirror against the wall. She lingered, running her fingertips over the red welts, a small smile curving her lips before she reached for her clothes.
“I’m going upstairs to call you a cab and pay for a hotel. Go to your room and pack your things, then wait in the lobby for your ride.”
She nodded, not making eye contact as she struggled to make her legs work so she could use the stairs.
Leo checked his watch. Their entire encounter from the moment she’d pulled him down the hallway into the spare bedroom had lasted exactly twenty-five minutes. Not bad time.