His to Master and Enjoy [The Billionaires and Their Playgrounds 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic)

by Jan Bowles

  Something clicked in his brain as the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle slotted into place. “Paige, remove your blouse for me, please.”

  Still keeping her steely gaze focused solely on him, he watched her curl immaculately manicured fingers around the edges of her blouse. “Okay.”

  As she started the achingly slow reveal, he shouted, “No, stop.”

  He watched her close her eyes, then slowly nod her head, and he saw undiluted disgust distort her beautiful features.

  “Huh, you’ve twigged, haven’t you, Leon? The penny has finally dropped, and now just like any other man, you’re not so keen to see what’s hiding inside the exquisitely wrapped package.”

  He walked toward her, halting only when mere millimeters separated their bodies. The atmosphere between them fizzed and sparked like an electromagnetic storm, and he was acutely aware that his breathing was fast and shallow. “Don’t ever make the mistake of underestimating yourself, Paige. And don’t ever make the mistake of underestimating me.” His words failed to conceal his irritation. “I’ll take your blouse off.”

  As he peeled the cream silk material from her shoulders, leaving her with just a bra, a deep sadness welled up inside, and he took a long slow breath to help quell the emotions that threatened to rise to the surface and burst from him.

  When he lifted his gaze to her beautiful face, Paige’s eyes were scrunched tightly shut, but even so, teardrops managed to squeeze from the gaps and run silently down her cheeks. She covered her upper body with her arms, wrapping them around herself like a protective shield.

  Oh dear God, what has happened to this girl?

  “Let me see,” he whispered. Leon had never felt such overwhelming compassion before, and he felt like a total shit for forcing Paige to put herself on show like this.

  He heard the frightened breath hitch in her throat, and he knew she didn’t want to comply.

  “Please, Paige.”

  With her eyes still scrunched tightly shut, she removed her bra and then slowly revealed herself by spreading her arms wide. Her hands shook, and his heart went out to her. On the inside of her right forearm an angry looking scar ran all the way from her wrist to just below the crook of her elbow. By the width of the ugly-looking gash, he guessed a large amount of skin had been removed. The horrific looking scar had a knobbly, raised appearance that was anything but beautiful.

  Tattoo removal?

  But that was the least of Paige’s worries, because a second, far more unsightly and ragged scar ran diagonally across her chest, dropping down over her breast where he saw its destructive effect had destroyed half of her right nipple. He was no plastic surgeon, but putting two and two together, he figured the missing skin from her forearm had been used to repair the far more severe damage afflicting her chest and breast.

  The severity of her injuries was unsettling, and finding it hard to take it all in, he took two steps back and cupped his hands over his nose and mouth, breathing deeply.

  She opened her eyes. “Not pretty, is it? You couldn’t get much further from perfect. What’s your opinion of your perfect Paige now, Mr. Caparelli?”

  “Do you really want the truth, Paige?”

  She nodded. “Absolutely. The time for anything less has passed.”

  The sheer sadness reflected in her beautiful green eyes touched his soul, making him want to rush across and take her in his arms. Her normally proud upright stance now sagged before him, defeated and despairing.

  “Okay, the truth is that you disappoint me, Paige.”

  “Huh.” She let out a little laugh, but it wasn’t one of joy or happiness. It was anything but. “I disappoint you? Well, there’s a surprise,” she added bitterly. “Still, when all is said and done, you’re a man, and therefore no different to any other. How could any human being with a cock and balls swinging between their legs fail to be disappointed with my appearance.” Clearly emotional, she waved her hands about in irritation. “No, no, no, let’s not give in to political correctness for once. How could any man with red blood coursing through his veins fail to be disappointed by my disfigurement?” She uttered the word disfigurement with such distaste and venom, he was left in no doubt the sheer distress her appearance caused her. “Well, now you know what the real Paige Palmer looks like, and because you were so intent on knowing the truth, her fairytale relationship with the handsome prince is now over. I only feel like half a woman anyway, so it wouldn’t be fair to expect you to find me attractive again.”

  Total silence ensued for a good thirty seconds, before Paige took a couple of long deep breaths to compose herself. He watched some of her sparky pride return as she lifted her head and said, “Okay, the freak show is over.” She then bent down to pick up her bra, which lay on the floor by her feet.

  “Aren’t you interested in the reason why you disappoint me, Paige?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. How much humiliation can a girl take in one day?”

  He grabbed hold of the bra and yanked it from her grasp. “Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway, and you’re gonna goddamn listen if it’s the last thing you do. Your memory seems to be real bad for a woman who hasn’t yet reached thirty.”

  “What are you talking about, Leon, and give me back my bra.”

  He threw the lacy garment over his shoulder. “No, you’ll wait until I’ve had my say.”

  “If you must.” She huffed out an irritated get on with it breath.

  “I told you, never make the mistake of underestimating me or yourself.”

  “And your point is?”

  “You’ve done both. Firstly, you’ve done yourself a disservice by thinking I could never find you attractive the way you are now.”

  “But—”

  “Be quiet and listen. And secondly, and perhaps more importantly, you’ve disrespected me by naturally assuming my personality is so shallow, self-centered, and egotistical that a few scars would make me run for the hills to find a more perfect woman to replace you with.”

  Paige finally seemed to grasp what he was saying, because her arms now lay limp at her sides, and the combative attitude she’d shown had disappeared. “You mean—”

  “Yes, Paige, yes.” Irritated, he shrugged and gesticulated wildly with his hands. “The good Lord may be a clever guy, but he made one big mistake when he left out the logic center from the female brain.” He cupped her face in his hands and stared deep into her sad, confused eyes. “You’re still perfect to me, baby, and you always will be. Even if you had twice as many imperfections as you have now, you’d still be perfect in my eyes, and I’d still be proud to say, ‘You’re my woman.’ Get it?”

  He thought she finally did, because she put a trembling hand to her mouth, causing her tears to flow again. “Really?” she sniffled.

  “Yes, really. Oh come here.” He opened his arms wide, and she immediately ran into his embrace. “Crazy lady. Don’t you know I love you?”

  “And I love you, too, Leon, but I was so scared to tell you in case you, in case you—”

  “Shhh, but now I know, and I love you more than ever.”

  “Do you? But the scars are so ugly.”

  “Let me show you how much I love you, baby.”

  Inside, Leon was desperate to know what had happened to Paige. Scars like the ones she displayed didn’t look like the result of an accident. He still had more questions than answers, but he figured that now was not the right time to push her. He needed to bathe her in his love and respect. Maybe then she would open up to him and explain.

  Feeling a deep love for her wash over him, he took hold of her right arm and held it out. “The scaring is not so bad. It’s nothing.” The wound was still red and raised, and he guessed it was pretty recent. He longed to ask, How did this happen, baby? but figuring that it may have been the result of something traumatic, he’d hold fire, for now. She would tell him when she was good and ready.

  Leon dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around her, and buried his head against her
beautiful naked flesh. “You never need to hide these marks from me. Understand.”

  “Yes,” she replied in barely a whisper.

  He traced the outline of the scar on her forearm with his lips, paying particular attention to the raised lumpy parts. “This will fade in time.”

  Paige combed her fingers through his hair. “I hope so, I really do.”

  “It will never disappear completely, but that’s fine. These marks show that you came through a crisis in your life and survived.” He bit his lip, stopping himself from blurting out, Tell me how it happened, Paige. I want to know. He hoped his acceptance of her imperfections would encourage her to tell him, but she gave no indication that she was ready to talk.

  He then turned his attention to her breasts, tenderly kissing the succulent underside of each one in turn. “Perfect.”

  She tried to pull away. “They’re not. I’m not.”

  Leon refused to let her go, and tightened his grip. “When I say perfect, I mean perfect. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, thank you. Thank you for everything, Leon. You make me feel so special.”

  “That’s my job.”

  Running his hands down her flawless back, he savored the feminine curve of her shoulder blades as he traced their sexy outline with his fingertips. He then raised his head and looked up into her bewildered eyes, and said, “I adore your angel wings, baby, they’re perfect, too.”

  His heartfelt sincerity seemed to raise her spirits, and it was lovely to hear her girlish giggle and see her beautiful green eyes begin to show signs of life and vitality again. “Angel wings? I like that.”

  “Every girl has angel wings, but none of them are as beautiful and sexy as yours.”

  “Charmer. Flatterer.”

  Feeling her tremors slowly starting to recede, he peppered kisses along the underside of her left breast until he came to her nipple. He then closed his lips over the engorged peak and drew it into his mouth. “Mmm, mmm, sucking this perfect nipple makes my cock go hard.” He felt her tense as though she intended to pull away, but she didn’t. Had he given her enough confidence to allow him to do the same to her right nipple, which was badly damaged? He’d see.

  As he moved his head toward her other breast, her hands, which until that moment had been calmly combing through his locks, suddenly tightened their grip and yanked at his hair. “No. You don’t want to.”

  Such was the incredible force this petite lady summoned up, it felt like a thousand razor-sharp pins burrowing into his scalp. Jesus Christ it fucking hurt. However, his mission was to make this beautiful woman feel good about herself again, and nothing would deflect him from that goal. As he inexorably homed in on the damaged flesh, she pulled even harder, causing him to grimace and groan with the unrelenting pain.

  “No, no, no. You don’t want to. You know you don’t want to.”

  Leon wouldn’t be denied. He loved her with all his heart, scars and all. “Never make the mistake of telling a Caparelli man what to do. Pull my hair again, and I’ll put you over my knee and spank your bare ass until it’s red raw. I want to do it goddamn it, and I will.”

  She suddenly let go of his hair, her breathing fast and shallow, and he believed he’d finally made her see sense. He loved this woman, and her physical imperfections didn’t turn him off one iota.

  “Better. That’s better.” As he knelt on the floor with his arms wrapped around her waist, her damaged nipple lay almost at eye level. The top portion of the areola was badly scarred and partially missing. In appearance it was still red raw and puffy, although to quote a well-used and in this case appropriate phrase, time was a great healer, and six months from now he figured it wouldn’t look quite so angry.

  Her breathing started to slow, becoming more relaxed, and her arms now hung unthreateningly at her sides.

  “Shhh, that’s better. That’s a good girl,” he cooed. More than anything else in this crazy world, he longed to soothe away the emotional pain she must be feeling. Paige needed to understand that her imperfections simply didn’t matter, because he loved her unconditionally.

  Leon licked his lips before moving his head closer to the object of his desire—her beautiful damaged nipple. However, Paige thought differently, and before his lips finally closed around the impaired peak, he felt her hands fist into his hair again, and this time they possessed even more strength.

  “No, no, no,” she screamed. “You’re just doing it to make me feel better. You don’t want to, you don’t find me attractive anymore. No man could. You just feel pity for me.”

  He enjoyed an element of pain as much as the next man, but Paige had taken it to a whole new level, yanking and clawing at his hair like some demented bunny boiler.

  “Aghh, Jesus Christ. What the fuck are you doing, woman?”

  He’d thought he’d slowly been getting through to her, chasing her demons away with genuine kindness and consideration. Perhaps that had been his mistake. Maybe he’d been too benevolent. He grabbed hold of her hands, stilling them in his hair.

  “Release. Fucking release. I’m ordering you.” Still on his knees, he stared up into anxious green eyes.

  “No, no. I won’t because you’ll try to…”

  “I won’t try, I’ll succeed.”

  Prising her fingers apart, he pulled her hands from his hair. Her sheer strength surprised him. With mission accomplished, he rose from his knees, raising himself to his full height before towering over her.

  Slowly, he shook his head. “Mistake. Big mistake.”

  He took hold of her arm and unceremoniously dragged her across to the bed, before sitting down and pulling her naked body with such force that she stumbled across his knees.

  “Right then, lady. No more Mr. Nice Guy.” With his left hand restraining her right arm, which he’d pinned behind her back, he slapped her beautiful bare ass three times in quick succession. Hard. Very hard. She cried out with the pain, and her legs thrashed helplessly about as she writhed and wriggled on his lap.

  “Leon, that hurts. Really hurts.”

  “That’s the idea. It’s meant to.” He understood how distressed she was about her appearance, but he wasn’t disciplining her in a sadistic or cruel way. Past experience had taught him that a good hard spanking often proved a cathartic experience for both the spanker and spankee.

  He needed to break down the concrete barrier she’d erected between them.

  “Leon, I’m…I’m…I’m.”

  “I believe the word you’re searching for is sorry.”

  He continued slapping her bare ass, which was already turning from cute cherry red to a vibrant deep purple. Christ, how he loved the sound his palm made as it repeatedly impacted her warm, sexily wobbling flesh with metronomic precision. The noise turned him on, and he knew that even with her mind in its present state of turmoil, it turned Paige on, too.

  This was better. This was the natural order of things. He’d let his guard slip when he’d first seen her scars, and been too generous with his compassion, allowing sentiment to cloud his judgment. He was at his best when he was in total charge, and Paige was happiest when she took on a submissive role. As he spanked her bare ass again, slightly harder this time, he reveled in the cock-hardening sound that echoed off the stone walls of the villa. Normal service had been resumed, and her whimpers of contrition were music to his ears.

  “You’re no mind reader, Paige, because if you were you’d know that my feelings toward you are unchanged. You turned me on before I knew you were badly scarred, and you still turn me on.” He slapped her ass twice in quick succession, making her squeal with the pain. “But oh no, apparently the Great Paige Palmer knows what Leonardo Caparelli is thinking better than he knows himself. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.” Each time he angrily spat out the word “wrong,” the flat of his hand exploded against her disciplined butt, with awesome power.

  He saw her barriers were starting to come down, crumbling before his very eyes, almost like a huge dam before a flood of biblical propor
tions sweeps it away. “I’m sorry, Leon. I thought—”

  He was finally getting through to her, imposing his will on her negative thoughts, but he slapped her shapely, reddened rump once again, just to make sure. “You thought, you thought. That’s the problem, isn’t it, Paige. You didn’t think at all, because if you had, you’d realize I love you regardless of what you look like.” He slapped her ass again. “Can you feel my rock-hard cock pushing against your stomach?”

  “Yes, yes I can, and it feels lovely,” she sniffled.

  “You’re an intelligent woman. Let me ask you a question. Is my prick made of hardened steel out of pity for you, pity for a sad, disfigured woman who could never be found attractive by any man ever again? Or is it erect, attentive, and twitching because it presses against the soft, warm flesh of the most beautiful, sexy woman in the world?”

  “Yes.”

  He disciplined her butt again, admiring the fetching shade of purple. “Yes what?”

  Tears ran unchecked down her expressive face before dripping onto the carpet. She turned her head to look at him as best she could manage. “It’s like it is because you find me attractive.”

  “Stunningly attractive.”

  “It’s like it is because you find me stunningly attractive.”

  “At last.” He figured she’d finally woken up and smelt the coffee, and any crazy notions she’d had about her appearance had now been banished for good, never to return. Leon coiled an arm under her stomach, which was pleasingly moist with feminine perspiration. He then lifted her tiny frame, so she sat naked on his lap. “Good. Here endeth the lesson.”

  Chapter Nine

  As Paige sat stunned and naked on Leon’s lap, she couldn’t see clearly for the tears filling her eyes. She’d badly misjudged him, and she felt like a fool. He’d repeatedly told her how much he loved her, and insisted that her scars didn’t matter, but for some crazy reason, she’d refused to believe him.