REYNA

My whole body shuddered as his hand trailed up my spine to the zipper of my dress. I didn't even get the chance to protest before he was unzipping the fabric. The dress loosened, and I was scared it was going to fall, leaving me in nothing but a pair of panties.

I pulled away from Saint's chest to peer into his eyes. There was a licentious darkness looming in his ocean gaze. I was almost just as scared as I was lustful.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.

I was forced into a place that wanted me to ponder on those words. Did I trust Santino Venturi? Obviously, I wouldn't be standing in front of him if I didn't. The only reason I helped him was that I trusted him enough to help me find my mother.

Even though he was the last person in the world anyone should trust, I repeatedly let my guard down out of fear.

If I wanted to survive this, if I wanted respect... I needed to be stronger. I was too knowledgeable and sensible to fall to his feet and stammer with his glares.

My mother would never want to see me look like a fool for a man who needed me. She'd want me to hold my head up high and demand respect. I should be ashamed of the woman I had become. With allowing fear to paralyze my judgment, I raised a white flag before the war even began.

His previous words sang a familiar tune in my head. "Trust no one," I said.

He smiled an actual smile. It wasn't sadistic or sarcastic. It was natural and it heaved at my heart.

"In this world, people always want either money, information, fame, or power. They would do almost anything to get it." He brought his hand up to the strap of my dress where he slowly pushed it off of my shoulder. "Sadly for you, you have two of the four. You have information and power, Angel." I gasped once he leaned down to press his lips against my exposed shoulder.

"I must admit, I want your power and your information, it's the reason you're here. I'm feeding off of you, and you're allowing me to do it because you trust too easily. Which is why I don't believe you," he said before moving over to my other shoulder and gently pushing the fabric until the dress fell to pool at my feet.

I immediately moved my hands up to cover my breasts from his prying eyes. My nipples were hard and it wasn't just because of the breeze that teased my skin. It was his hard eyes that were staring into mine, challenging me.

"I'll ask again, do you trust me?" he questioned.

"I don't know... do you trust me?" I asked.

He chuckled darkly.

Before I could even debate, he grabbed me by my waist and easily lifted me onto the bar. The only thing protecting my private areas were the thin fabric of my underwear. I managed to hold onto my breasts as tightly as I could, but I wasn't sure how long it would last under Saint's heated eyes.

"Lay back for me," he said.

"What if I don't?" I challenged.

He quirked a brow, placing himself directly in between my legs. He was so tall that even though I was sitting on the very high bar, I was still just a few inches from his height.

He tangled his fingers into my hair, snatching my head back, exposing my neck. My eyes shut as he leaned in so close to me I could smell his cologne.

He dragged my head back until I was laying against the cool glass with my back arched. The moment I was in the position he wanted me in, he grabbed both of my wrists and snatched them away from my breasts leaving them to fall into place.

I turned away from him, not wanting to see his reaction. I knew I was blushing just because of how embarrassed I was.

When seconds went by with nothing happening, I turned to Saint only to meet his gaze. His blue eyes were impossibly darker than ever before.

Just as I was about to sit back up, he pushed me down.

"Can I... I mean, I want to put the dress back on," I said trying to hide the quiver in my voice.

Saint didn't say a thing. He just reached over and grabbed his glass of tequila that he never drank.

My brows came together when he brought the glass up to my body and poured it on me. He let the tequila fall on my breasts and my stomach.

"What are you doing?" I asked worriedly. The glass was empty so he reached over and grabbed the entire bottle. I shook my head as he presented it to my lips.

"Drink," he ordered.

Slowly, I parted my lips and he poured the alcohol into my mouth. My face scrunched up as I swallowed as much as I could. I thought it was enough but he ended up bringing the bottle to my lips again, coaxing me to drink more.

Once he finished, his eyes trailed down my body making me shiver in insecurities.

A smirk was dancing on lips. "I guess it's my turn to drink, isn't that right, Angel?" he asked. My brows came together again.

He slid his tie off his neck. It wasn't supposed to look so tempting but it was. I watched him as he swept his suit jacket off his muscular body. Saint didn't waste any time unbuttoning his shirt, and even though it wasn't happening in slow-motion, my eyes didn't fail to see it that way.

I never knew he had a chest tattoo until he took off his shirt. As I stared, I noticed there were words written in Italian, la famiglia è per sempre, overlapping three skulls centered on his chest with large angel wings flourishing around it.

Saint gripped the back of my thighs before sliding me further down on the bar table so that I could feel his erection poking my thigh. He held me there until I wrapped my legs around his waist.

I didn't know what he was doing until I felt his lips against my lower stomach. His tongue swept out and licked up the tequila. Every time I felt him make contact with my lower stomach, my hips rubbed into his hard-on, aiming to aid my frustrations. He seemed to notice that because he bit me, hard.

I shrieked.

"Stay still," he ordered, grabbing my hips and forcing them down onto the glass.

He moved up my stomach, licking and sucking my skin every now and then. He really made sure every drop of alcohol was gone. When he got to my breast, he sucked one nipple into his mouth. I could feel his tongue circling my areoles.

I moaned as he tugged at the bud of my nipple with his teeth. My pussy was begging for release. I had never been more turned on in my entire life.

He moved from one breast to the other. Planting his claim on me as he sucked my skin, possibly leaving a hickey. I couldn't get over the sensations.

I didn't know what I was thinking to try and pleasure myself with my fingers because the moment I moved, he bit my nipple and grasped my neck. He was squeezing me so tightly that I almost couldn't breathe.

He lifted himself away from my breasts. "What the hell did I just tell you? Don't fucking move," he threatened. I nodded my head since I couldn't get a word out.

He released me, glaring into my eyes. My breathing was so heavy that I could just hear my every inhale and exhale.

"Stick out your tongue," he commanded.

"What?"

He gave me a pointed look. I didn't disobey him, instead, I reluctantly brought my tongue out against my bottom lip. His gaze fell to my tongue as he leaned over, digging his erection into me and sucked my tongue into his mouth. I was frozen as I tasted all of the tequila on his tongue. I was sure he could say the same for me. I moaned into his mouth as he massaged his tongue against my own.

Saint ground his hard cock against me. Even through his slacks, I was sure he could feel just how wet I was.

"Turn around," he ordered.

—

I spent like ten minutes today trying to figure how the hell to spell challenged. Someone please slap me. Thanks.

Y'all are probably wishing my phone charger doesn't work at every angle tonight. I was bored so I decided to make my readers mad today and leave them with a cliffhanger. Kidding. I just felt like this would be a good pause. I'll update soon, I promise.

Don't forget you can join my discord if you want to talk about this chapter.

Thank you guys for reading and thank you all for over 400k+ reads. I love you guys so much! You're the best!

See you next update!

—A. Marie

Question: what did you think of this? What do you think will happen next?