The Deception series boxset: FaCade, Cadence, Beneath Innocence (34 page)

HE SMIRKED AT ME, A cruel smug smile making me want to plunge my knife into his rancid heart. I’d managed to avoid him since yesterday. His appetite had obviously been sated by Delia and her rancid mouth so he’d left me alone, but now hunger and necessity had me sharing dinner with him.

“You know what I find amusing?” I popped a morsel of meat into my mouth, struggling to push it down my throat as fury constricted every muscle.

“What’s that,
darling?
” he mocked, as if we were a couple sharing dinner together after a hard day at the office. His amusement and the way his jaw moved with each chew on his steak, even the way he picked up his glass of wine and sipped at it, caused every single hair on my body to vibrate in anger.

“How you actually believe your own lies.” I gave him an ultra-sweet smile when his eye twitched. “I mean, you told me you weren’t
poking
Delia, yet there you were, willing to dip your dick into garbage. Oh dear, how low you’ve stooped!”

I braced myself, sliding my fork between my lips and clasping the meat with my teeth so he wouldn’t notice my face clench with worry over my boldness.

I was in a phase where I didn’t care, though. If Dante wanted to reign me with violence, whether I gave him any verbal abuse or not, he would still give it me. I had nothing to lose anymore. I’d rather have died than miss Cade with the passion I missed him with right then. The pain was too intense, too agonizing. His face was constantly in my mind, his whispered words on repeat in my head, and as much as I loved him and needed him, the constant reminder of him made my heart ache more.

“You sound jealous,
dear.
”

The hilarity of the scene wasn’t lost. It was like watching a movie play out, a comedy.

“Not at all,
honey.
But I’m rather worried you may have passed something on. After all, we all know how easy she is. She’s not exactly a good notch on your bedpost. Even I have standards.” I slapped the table with my palm and rolled my eyes, a manic laugh escaping from me. “Oh, apparently not. I fucked you when I could have had the better half all along.”

My whole body clenched when he flew across the table, his fingers clawing at my throat. I knew I had pushed him too far, but as he delved inside me with a piercing glare, he saw it—the indifference and the contempt. Gone was the timid girl; she’d died when the real Faye came back and I wouldn’t allow her to control either of us again.

I knew I was up for the biggest fight of my life, but a man I had once loved so purely was strangling the life out of me and I didn’t care, not one bit.

He pulled back, his glare not slipping but his grip on me disappearing. I smiled at him and then winked. “What’s the matter, Dante? Can’t find the woman I was before? The meek one who used to be scared of you?”

The anger he radiated was almost physical, drowning me in the thickness of his wrath, yet I held myself together, hoping my thoughts were backed up by reality; once he lost my fear he wouldn’t get the same excitement anymore.

Reality was fucking beautiful. I couldn’t help but smile wider when he backed up, his narrow eyes full of hatred. I had taken something from him this time; his enjoyment of hurting me.

“Pudding?” I asked as I pushed my chair back and stood up.

He didn’t move. I don’t think he had the ability as my disregard had stunned him but he managed to speak. “Sit down, Star. Dinner isn’t over yet. We’re expecting visitors.”

“Oh, really, and who would that be?” I lifted his plate from the table and placed it on top of mine.

I rolled my eyes and sighed inwardly when Delia walked through the door with a huge smile on her face and a smug glint in her eye, her hips swaying over-dramatically as she sauntered across the room.

“Oh, how lovely!” I beamed at her, pulling out a chair that was set at the table between Dante and me. “Please, sit down, doctor. I was just getting dessert.”

My footing stuttered when I heard the lock click. I turned to look and Dante grinned when he slid the key from the door and pocketed it.

“I’m sure cake can wait,
darling.
”

“Well, hurry,
snookums,
my sweet tooth is demanding some attention.” I pulled my chair back out and settled myself into it, crossing my legs and brushing at some imaginary lint as I blew out a bored breath.

He inhaled heavily with a smile as he walked over to Delia and settled both of his hands on her shoulders. “Delia is hungry for her main course, aren’t you?”

She leaned her head back and smiled up at him. I had to hold onto my laughter when she actually fluttered her eyelids.

I knew what was coming, and I readied myself, my mind going into overdrive to find something to fight back with.

Dante pulled Delia’s chair back a couple of inches then slid in front of her, parking his backside on the edge of the table as he brushed an escaped tendril of hair from her face. I’d want to escape too if I was attached to
that.

“Show Star what you want to eat, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart?
It was getting harder to hold the laughter in.

Her tongue swept across her bottom lip. I’m sure she thought it was sultry, but it looked a bit leery, if I was honest. She unbuckled his belt, sliding his zip down eagerly before she wrapped her talons around his shaft and pulled his already hard cock out.

Dante flicked his gaze to me, an arrogant glint lighting his eyes when Delia leaned in and ran the tip of her tongue over the slit that pooled with cum.

“You know,” I said, “I’m amazed now I remember how different you taste to Cade.” I pursed my lips and held a thoughtful expression.

Delia shot her puzzled eyes from Dante to me as Dante’s body clenched.

“Sorry.” I gave her an apologetic smile and nodded. “Carry on.”

I read the confusion in both of them. Yeah, bring—it—fucking—on!

She looked up at Dante hesitantly. I hid my giggle with a cough when he gripped her hair way too tightly and directed her face back to his dick. Oh dear, he was furious. I watched how her usual puffy lips thinned when she slid him into her mouth and took his length down her throat.

“Ooh, you do it differently to me, doc. I tend to suck more. You should try it. Dante likes it that way.”

I squirmed in my seat as though I was trying to get a better angle to watch her. My stomach hurt and I couldn’t understand why. I hated him. He was a bastard. My throat constricted and an ache-filled lump appeared when I tried to swallow. I blinked, fighting back the feeling. I had nothing to be jealous of. Maybe I was picturing her with Cade. That was it; the ache for Cade was getting deeper and the reality that this man I once gave everything to was like a stranger. A fucked up, totally delusional stranger.

“I’m warning you, Star,” Dante hissed.

I quirked a brow at him. “I’m sorry,
darling.
I thought I was helping. You must always tell her when you like something done a certain way. I mean, what was it you said about the doc?
‘She reminds me of a horse’?
It’s no good if those teeth get in the way, so just tell her, she can handle it.”

Dante let out a growl at the same time as the lights dipped then flashed back to normal.

Delia looked up at Dante, her eyes wide and watery. He disregarded her, and dragged her back.

“I know what you’re doing, Star.”

I nodded and held up my hands. “I’m sorry, I’ll shush now.”

I straightened my back, making sure to keep my eyes fixed on Delia no matter how much it hurt me, even though I refused to accept it hurt me.

It sickened me the way she made slurping noises. Dante watched her as he guided his cock in and out of her mouth, then every now and again turned his eyes to mine. I made sure to smile encouragingly every time. I noticed she had to work hard to keep him hard. Perhaps the good doc needed the tips.

“You know, Cade has my name tattooed on his cock. That is some sexy shit. His cock always belongs to me now. And come to think of it, it’s a bit thicker than yours.” I held up my fingers, holding my thumb and forefinger a couple of inches apart, not stopping when he pushed Delia away and shoved his dick back into his pants. “Not much, but definitely a little bigger, although it makes all the difference . . .”

His fist in my hair yanked thousands of follicles out of my head. Dragging me across the room until I faced the end of the couch, he bent me over the arm and palmed the back of my head, driving my face into a cushion.

I struggled beneath him, regretting my stupidity. I didn’t allow him to see that, though, it would have excited him even further.

“I fucking warned you. You really should listen.”

Sliding a hand under my stomach, he grappled with the button on my pants as he pushed my face harder into the sofa. I became faint with the lack of oxygen. My lungs burned, but Dante seemed unaware as he yanked at the waistband of my pants, pulling them and my panties to my thighs. The action allowed me to get a lungful of oxygen when the pressure on my head gave a little.

Once again, the lights dipped but came back on and I wondered if there was a storm brewing outside. The dining room drapes had been drawn by the staff earlier when night had descended. I would have loved nothing more than to concentrate on the storm; allow it to take me some other place.

“Dante, please don’t. I-”

He snatched at my hair and bent my neck back so severely it restricted the use of my voice box.

“You want this, Star. Don’t deny it. I saw the way you looked at Delia. I saw the need in you. Deny it all you want but you love nothing more than when my cock is in you, filling your wet cunt or ramming the tightness of your ass.”

I shook my head as much as I could, denying him the truth. I loved the connection because I had been starved of it but now he repulsed me. After the acts he committed to get me here I would never feel anything but hate for him.

“Let’s see, shall we?”

I cringed when he plunged a finger into me and he laughed when he was met with a slick heat. I hated the way my body reacted to him. I hated him with a passion but my pussy evidently didn’t feel the same way as it prepared for his crude entry.

Squeezing my eyes closed and fighting tears when he laughed cruelly and pushed his cock deep inside me, I prepared my mind and allowed it to take me elsewhere. My body relaxed when the memory that came to me was when Cade had taken me to the fairground . . .

“CADE!”

He laughed and, his glee at how the ride scared me shitless made me laugh too, despite the fear and my rampant heartbeat.

“Stop laughing at me!” I giggled, slapping his arm and burying my face into his chest.

“Aww, baby,” he whispered in my ear as he wrapped me in his secure arms and held me tight, saving me from the view hundreds of feet in the air.

Our cage swung in the wind as the wheel came to a stop, allowing some new riders on.

“Oh my God, I don’t like this,” I whimpered. I was shaking, my stomach clenched as tight as my eyes.

“I bet I can make you relax.” Just the way his gruff voice enveloped me eased my tight muscles.

“Oh yeah?” I murmured into his chest without opening my eyes.

“Oh yes!”

Tipping my head back with a finger under my chin, I sighed when his lips lightly brushed mine. I craved more of him. I needed him constantly; my body ached for him all the time.

He groaned when I reached for him, blindly slipping my fingers into his hair and demanding he kiss me. His mouth met mine with a sudden fury; his teeth grazing my lips as he hungrily parted them and twisted his tongue around mine, owning me and taking me. He tasted of the cotton candy and popcorn he’d wolfed down earlier, and bizarrely, it turned me on more.

He slid a hand to the nape of my neck in a tight hold as his other hand slipped under the hem of my sweater, his cold fingers splaying over my ribs and making me jump. The shock heightened my senses, turning my arousal into sheer lust. The chill on my skin reminded me of last night’s play, the way he had tortured my nipples and clit with a cube of ice, and I pulled at him harder, moving one hand from his hair and cupping his hard cock through his sweatpants.

“Shit, stop, Faye or I’ll tear your jeans off and take you right here, thousands of feet in the air.”

I gasped, the reality of what he’d said both turning me on and driving fear through me. The clash made me shudder with need. I opened my eyes when he whispered, “Fuck, my girl likes that thought.”

The heat and hunger in his eyes made me bite my lip. My pussy throbbed almost painfully. “Fear makes you hot?”

I shrugged, my cheeks blazing with embarrassment. Gripping my chin, he thrust my face to his. “Don’t you dare feel shame with me. There is nothing you could say or do that wouldn’t make me love you more. You wanna try bringing fear into our play, then we do that but we start gently.”

I nodded, giving him a timid, grateful smile.

“Fucking hell,” he whispered as he brought his mouth to mine again. “I love you.”

I showed him how much I loved him as I kissed him all the way down to the bottom, our tongues twisting hungrily as our hands feverishly touched each other until . . .