Twisted Emotions (The Camorra Chronicles Book 2)

by Cora Reilly

  “Would you like to go to our bedroom and explore?” he asked calmly.

  Despite the heat in my cheeks, I nodded. Nino straightened and held out his hand for me to take, and I did as always. His fingers curled lightly around me but in a way that suggested I could pull away any time. With a deep breath, I got up from the bench, startling slightly as his thumb pressed against my wrist. Why did he always do that?

  My eyes trailed over his muscular, inked forearm as I followed him upstairs. The moment we stepped into our bedroom and my eyes landed on our bed, my pulse began racing in my veins.

  Nino peered down at me. “Fear or arousal … or both?”

  “What?” I asked confused.

  He pressed his thumb against my wrist. “Your pulse picked up.”

  “That’s why you always touch me there?”

  “It’s a good indicator of your mood and helps me figure out your emotions combined with your expression and breathing.”

  I laughed then quieted when he led me closer to the bed. Nino raised one eyebrow.

  “Both,” I admitted.

  He sank down on the bed, tugging me along so I’d stand before him. “It would be good if we could manage to reduce one and increase the other.”

  “Which one would you like to increase?” I said in the same scientific tone as he had used.

  His mouth twitched. “Well,” he began in a low voice. “Fear would be easier to increase than arousal with you being you and me being me, but I prefer difficult tasks. Which do you prefer?” He raised my hand to his lips very slowly, his eyes never leaving my face, and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to my pulse-point then trailed his tongue over it.

  A small shiver passed down my spine. How was it possible I could feel that all the way between my legs?

  He regarded me intently. “Fear?”

  I shook my head, my tongue heavy.

  “Both?”

  I considered that and gave a hesitant shake of my head.

  Nino’s eyes became even more intent. “Are you sure?”

  I wasn’t because he evoked sensations in my body I’d never felt, but the tingling between my legs had increased, and I felt hot and wet down there. “No.”

  Nino nodded. “Let’s try to change that. Okay?”

  Good Lord, he sounded so sure of himself, as if he just knew he would make it good for me.

  NINO

  Kiara’s pulse rate spiked again. “Okay.”

  Releasing her hand, I reached for the top drawer of my nightstand and pulled out the handcuffs I’d stored there.

  Kiara released a choked laugh. A quick scan of her face told me she was nervous.

  “I don’t usually have cuffs in my drawer,” I said before she could draw conclusions that would unsettle her. I’d never seen the appeal to restrain myself like that and preferred to dominate in bed, so I never allowed a woman to do it, and the other way around would have made as little sense because I didn’t need cuffs to restrain anyone. “I put them there after we talked this morning.”

  Kiara bit her lip, but she didn’t react in any other way.

  “I can cuff one of my hands to the headboard. What do you say? That would give you a sense of safety, don’t you think?”

  “I think so,” she said hesitantly.

  “Would you like me to undress?”

  She shook her head quickly. “No.”

  I regarded her closely. “Kiara. We don’t have to do this.”

  “I want to. I’m just a bit overwhelmed by the situation that’s all.”

  I nodded and moved back on the bed until my back rested against the headboard and then cuffed my left hand to it.

  Kiara hadn’t moved from her spot.

  “What would you like to do first?”

  She flushed, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know. What would you suggest?”

  She was sending out mixed signals. On one hand she was scared of losing control, but on the other hand she needed me to take control. “How about we start with kissing?”

  Her eyes darted to my lips, the blush on her cheeks darkening as she nodded. She climbed on the bed. I tried to sit as relaxed as possible, my legs crossed at the ankles and my unrestrained arm lying in my lap while I watched her. Her eyes on my face, she moved closer until she was kneeling beside me, her knees pressing up against my hip.

  I didn’t move.

  She exhaled softly. “I’ve never kissed before.”

  “It’s not difficult, Kiara, trust me.”

  She gave me a look I couldn’t place. “Easy for you to say. How many women have you kissed?”

  I couldn’t see how that was of any relevance. “One hundred and twelve. I don’t kiss every woman I fuck.”

  She choked. “You’ve slept with more than one hundred women?”

  “Yes. I was a late bloomer in comparison to Remo and Savio. Had my first woman at almost fifteen.”

  “Then I had my first time before you,” she said bitterly, swallowing hard and staring down at the bed.

  I lifted my hand and nudged her chin up to see her expression. “You haven’t had your first time yet. What you had doesn’t count. What we are going to do has absolutely nothing to do with what you experienced.”

  Her eyes watered, and I dropped my hand, unsure if my words had upset her, but she scooted closer and hesitantly brought one hand up to my shoulder. “How can you say things that make me feel better when you don’t even understand what I feel?”

  “I’m stating facts. That’s all.”

  She laughed. “Facts.” Then her eyes lowered to my mouth, and she licked her lips. I doubted she noticed, but the sight had an immediate effect on my cock.

  “Are you going to kiss me?” I asked her.

  She nodded but didn’t move.

  “Kiara, if you want to be in control, you actually have to take control.” She was a woman I’d have pegged as the submissive type in bed, and under normal circumstances I’d have naturally taken the lead, but as long as she was caught in the memories of her rape that would have ended badly.

  She finally leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine, eyes closing. I would have preferred for her to keep them open so I had a chance of reading her, yet as it was I had no choice but to trust she’d pull back if something unsettled her.

  Her lips were very soft and the pressure was light, almost nonexistent like our kiss on our wedding day. Resisting the urge to pull her closer and show her how good kissing could feel, I let her be in control. After a moment, she pulled back with a frown, her skin reddening. “This feels odd because you aren’t moving.”

  “I wanted to let you be in control.”

  “It’s okay if you take the initiative and lead because you know what to do and I don’t, and it’s making me nervous.”

  I regarded her, not exactly sure what she needed me to do. “We had me restrained so you’d feel in control.”

  “Yes, and that’s okay, but I want you to kiss me as you normally would.”

  “Normally, I lead.”

  She bit her lip again. Nerves. I reached for her wrist and pressed my thumb against it. She huffed out laughter. “You can lead … I mean, you can lead without being all dominant and rough.”

  “I won’t be rough with you, Kiara. And if you ever feel like I’m being too dominant, you tell me and I will adapt my behavior, all right?”

  She smiled slightly, but her pulse spiked up anyway. She was very difficult to read. “Can we try again?”

  “Of course. I’m going to touch your back.”

  Again a spike in her pulse rate. I released her wrist and put my hand on her lower back and began rubbing it lightly with my thumb. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was soft under my touch. She leaned slightly forward until her lips almost touched mine.

  Deciding to see if me taking lead would work, I caught her lips with mine, applying more pressure than she had and nudged her lips with my tongue. She parted them without hesitation and I dove in. Her taste and the soft warm
th of her mouth went straight to my cock. She submitted to the kiss without hesitation, following my lead.

  She yielded so easily to my demands, so readily, I knew she would continue to do so if we moved further, and it made me want to do just that, but I reined myself in.

  I widened my strokes on her back, brushing over her spine. She made a small sound in the back of her throat, tightening her hold on my shoulder. Her other hand pressed up against my chest, grazing my nipple, and I kissed her a bit harder.

  Moving my free hand up her back, I wanted to cup her head, but the moment I touched her neck and my fingers slid into her dark waves, she jerked back. “No,” she whispered quickly.

  I pulled my hand away, seeing the remnants of panic on her face. It wasn’t a touch I’d considered problematic, so her reaction surprised me.

  “Your hair?”

  She gave a quick nod. “And my neck.” She swallowed. “My uncle … he held me there … He held me down when he forced me to …” She looked at me with despair. I had no trouble reading it on her face, and I didn’t have to touch her wrist to know her pulse was racing because she remembered how her bastard of an uncle had forced her to suck his cock when she was only a child. And once again, I wished I had prolonged his torture. He had suffered thoroughly under mine and Remo’s hands, and yet it didn’t seem enough.

  “I understand,” I said.

  She shivered helplessly, and then she just fell forward, catching me by surprise as she pressed her face into the crook of my neck and began shaking. I touched her back and her shaking got worse. Then something wet hit my skin. She was crying.

  “Kiara?”

  She clung to my shoulders and I wrapped my free arm around her. She pressed even harder into me. I let her cry herself out. Maybe it would help her. Pulling back, she kissed me softly, her eyes probing as if she was searching for something. I returned the kiss, tasting her tears.

  “I’m sorry,” she said after a moment.

  “For what?”

  “For becoming emotional.” She sighed and closed her eyes briefly. Then she opened them again and nodded toward the cuff. “Where’s the key?”

  “Drawer.”

  She leaned over me and gave me a look at her round, firm butt. My body definitely reacted strongly to her assets. She unlocked the handcuff. “I think I’m going to take a bath.” I didn’t stop her as she retreated into the bathroom.

  Instead, I walked out and headed for our gaming room. Remo was there, sprawled out on the sofa, watching the latest cage fights in Roger’s Arena.

  He glanced toward me as I sank down on the armchair, reached for the bottle of bourbon on the table, and poured a glass.

  Remo nodded toward my wrist, which had red marks from the metal cuffs. “What happened there? Already getting kinky with your wife?”

  “Kiara’s scared of my physical strength, so I cuffed myself to the bed.”

  Remo leaned back, eyebrows raised. “As if that would stop you.”

  “It wouldn’t, but she feels safer, and that’s what this is about. She needs to feel comfortable around me.”

  Remo narrowed his eyes. “So you still haven’t fucked her?”

  I took a sip of the bourbon. “We didn’t progress beyond kissing, so no.”

  Remo was quiet for a moment, and that was usually never a good sign. “You have the patience of a saint. Do you want me to call some entertainment over?”

  “I agreed to not seek out other women anymore.”

  Remo laughed. “Right.” And then sobered. “You are being serious?”

  “I am.”

  “Are you trying to become a straight-laced citizen?”

  “I have no ambitions in that regard, no.”

  Remo shook his head. “First Fabiano, now you. Why’s everyone becoming pussy-whipped?”

  “Since I’m not getting any pussy, your term is misleading.”

  “Oh, fuck you, Nino. Don’t be a fucking smartass. Do you really think you can make a marriage work? Even if you don’t fuck other women, you won’t be a caring husband and you know it.”

  I shrugged. “I know, but for now I’m going to give this a try and see where it takes me.”

  “So this is some kind of scientific experiment for you?”

  “Maybe.” It was something new, something I had no experience with and couldn’t say how I’d deal with it long-term, but I was curious and Kiara wanted this marriage to be real.

  CHAPTER 16

  KIARA

  I couldn’t sleep after the kiss. My mind replayed it. Nino’s mouth had been so warm and gentle. It was nothing like I’d imagined, nothing like I’d feared. He managed to surprise me every day and had done so since our wedding night.

  The door creaked open and someone stepped in. Opening my eyes, I peered through the gap in the blankets. I had them pulled up to my ears because it made me feel safer that way. I left on the light in the bathroom because the dark still held power over me. I could see Nino’s tall form in the warm glow.

  My cheeks heated when his eyes settled on me. I’d fled into the bathroom after our kiss, not because of it, though. I had been embarrassed about breaking down and crying in Nino’s arms. I needed time to get a grip on myself. For a man as controlled and emotionless as Nino, being married to me must be a particular difficult task for him. In the beginning, I was sure my marriage to Nino was punishment for my father’s actions, but now I was fairly sure he was the one that could have made a better deal.

  “It’s late,” he murmured.

  “I can’t sleep.”

  He nodded before he moved into the bathroom and closed the door. Barely any light spilled into the bedroom through the narrow gap beneath the door, but I focused my eyes on it and listened to the sound of running water.

  After a few minutes, Nino came back out, dressed in briefs. I knew he preferred to sleep naked and now only wore clothes at night to set me at ease. Even in his own bed, he had to hold back on my account. He turned off the light in the bathroom and approached me in the dark.

  My pulse quickened when the mattress dipped under his weight—but for much different reasons than it had in the past. What would it be like if I just leaned over and kissed him? No warnings, no handcuffs. Only my lips touching his, my body pressed against him. How would it feel to be free and act on my desires? How would it be not to be shackled by the past?

  “Are you alright?” Nino drawled.

  How could he know? He hadn’t touched my wrist, so my pulse couldn’t have given me away. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because your breathing changed. That’s usually a sign that you’re unsettled by something. Is it because of our kiss?”

  I hesitated, wondering what to say, but opted for the truth. “Yes.”

  “You changed your mind about the physical aspects of our marriage?”

  I wished I knew what he was thinking. He said he wanted me, but maybe my kiss and the teary outburst afterward made him change his mind.

  “No, I enjoyed our kiss,” I admitted.

  “Good.”

  That wasn’t quite the answer I’d hoped for. Had he enjoyed it as well? Did he want to kiss me again?

  “Would you like to kiss again?”

  It was sometimes scary how easily he could read me, even in the dark, even without understanding my emotions. The inner workings of Nino’s brain were completely inexplicable to me. “What do you want?”

  He was quiet. “In terms of kissing or in general?”

  “In general,” I whispered, my stomach tightening with nerves.

  “Give me your wrist,” he said, and I complied. His thumb pressed against my pulse point, and I had to stifle laughter. It quickly died down when he started to speak in that low, deep voice.

  “I want you in every regard. I want to kiss you, of course. I want to show you pleasure, Kiara.” My pulse galloped with every word. “I want to give you an orgasm with my mouth and my fingers. I want to taste you everywhere, and I want to … sleep with you.”

/>   I could tell he had wanted to use a different term, but he chose to soften his words for my benefit. My chest warmed at his consideration. Despite who he was, Nino would always represent safety for me.

  “I know every spot on your body that will increase your arousal. If you let me, I’ll make you come again and again.”

  I swallowed audibly. My core seemed to liquefy, throbbing with a need I hardly understood.

  He tapped my wrist. “Fear?”

  I laughed nervously because right now fear was only a small flicker in the corners of my consciousness. “No,” I admitted in the softest whisper.

  Nino waited patiently for me to say more. As my eyes grew used to the dark, I could make out the outline of his strong shoulders. He was facing me, breathing calmly, relaxed. Those words … didn’t they affect him?

  “Arousal?”

  I gave a nod, not sure if he could see it.

  “Good,” came his low voice.

  I shivered. “And you?”

  “Are you asking if I’m aroused?”

  I nodded.

  “I am,” he said.

  My pulse really started racing. “Kiara?”

  “Both,” I said quickly, because I was equally scared and aroused by his admittance.

  “What can I do to banish your fear?”

  “Nothing,” I said, because deep down I knew it was a battle I had to fight on my own. “But I want to try something.”

  “Okay,” he said slowly.

  “Can we kiss without you being restrained?”

  “Of course. Now?”

  “Yeah,” I said quietly and scooted a bit closer to him until his warm breath fanned over my face and the sheer volume of heat radiating from his body told me how big he was, how much taller and stronger.

  I caught the hint of alcohol on his breath, something smoky and spicy. “You smell like … bourbon?”

  “I had a glass,” he said. “But you don’t have to be concerned. It’s not enough to lower my inhibitions. Not even close.”

  “I’m not concerned about that.” I leaned closer until his face hovered right in front of me, and then I bridged the remaining distance between us and pressed my lips to his. He waited a couple of seconds before he increased the pressure, and his tongue slipped between my lips, exploring my mouth. His fingertips moved up from my wrist, stroking the soft skin of my forearm, the crook of my elbow, then a little higher before trailing back down. Finally, his thumb pressed against my wrist again.