Buttons and Pain Page 15

  Bones was silent for nearly a minute. If he was seriously considering the offer, we were making progress. Or he was just drawing it out to make me squirm. “I’m going to get her, Crow. And when I do I’m not going to kill you. I’m gonna make you watch me fuck her until I kill her. And after you see me slit her throat, I’ll do the same to you.”

  ***

  When I came home, Button was sitting on the balcony looking over the vineyards. She was sipping a glass of red wine wearing a dress Lars had picked up for her at one of the shops in Florence. Aqua colored gems hung from her lobes and her hair was pulled back in some kind of bun. In her lap was a book. Like she’d never left in the first place, she fell right back into her routine of entertaining herself until I came home.

  Instead of telling her I was there I stood in the doorway and watched her. With my hands in my pockets I admired every feature I’d come to adore. She had long thin legs that gripped my hips tightly when we made love. Her toes were always manicured even though she never painted them. Sometimes she wore make up but most of the time she didn’t, which was fine by me. She looked stunning just the way she was. I studied her slender neck and remembered all the kisses I had placed there. I couldn’t recall the exact moment my heart softened and let her in. it could have happened the very first time I laid eyes on her when she was fighting to survive. Or it could have been the moment she told me she loved me. I didn’t say it back because the feeling wasn’t mutual. I just didn’t say it because of the heartbreak it might lead to down the road.

  But now I couldn’t deny and I certainly didn’t want to.

  Button must have picked up on my presence because she turned around and looked at me. “I didn’t know you were home.” She set her book and wineglass on the table and stood, the dress hugging her curves perfectly. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “A while.” I pulled her inside and guided her to the bed. A moment ago, I was content with examining her intricate details in an affectionate way. But now that she was looking at me with those sparkling green eyes I wanted to do something other than stare.

  I yanked her dress up and pulled her hips to the edge of the bed. My pants and boxers were around my ankles, and once her thong was on the floor I shoved my dick deep inside her and felt her wet channel greet me. The second I was inside her I stopped and treasured the sensation. Sex had never felt this good.

  Button pushed my jacket off my shoulders then undid the buttons at the bottom of my shirt, wanting to expose my chest and stomach. “I want to see all of you.” She laid back, her hair a mess on the bed underneath her. It had come loose from her hair tie and now it was all over the place and easy for me to grab.

  I undid the rest of the buttons and dropped the shirt to the floor. I wanted to see her tits underneath her dress but I was too eager to start thrusting. With my hands on either side of her head I leaned over her and gave her powerful rocks. Her slick pussy felt like heaven, and with every thrust I was falling deeper into her. She didn’t give me restrained looks of affection. Now that we were honest about our feelings she gave me all of her. She never held herself back and desperately clung to me like she couldn’t live without me. She rocked into me harder than I rocked into her, and she said my name so many times I couldn’t keep track.

  It was the best.

  I leaned further over her and pressed her feet against my chest. She bent her knees to accommodate me and she allowed me to dominate her completely. I pinned her right against the mattress and thrust into her so hard my balls smacked against her ass. She became wetter and wetter, and soon she was crying out my name at the top of her lungs.

  Just when I pushed her over the edge I emptied myself inside her, knowing I could do this every single day for the rest of my life. No woman ever compared to the one underneath me. She fought me, adored me, and submitted to me all at the same time. “That’s what I want every single day when I come home. Do you understand me?” I gripped her chin and forced her eyes on me. She controlled me that morning but now it was my turn to control her.

  She wrapped her fingers around my wrist as I continued to hold her chin. “Yes. And that’s what I want every single day too.”

  ***

  Candles burned on the table and the nighttime crickets chirped throughout the night. The Tuscan sun had disappeared over the hills just thirty minutes ago and now it was twilight. The land was going to sleep but it buzzed with so much life long after the sun was gone.

  Button sat across from me at the table and finished the remains of her dinner. Her hair was in a braid over one shoulder and her dress was strapless to show off her toned shoulders. A silver necklace hung around her throat, something Lars picked out for her.

  We didn’t say anything over dinner but instead made eyes at one another. I didn’t say much anyway, but it was nice not having to make conversation just for the point of it. We were comfortable in our mutual silence expectation wasn’t laid on either one of us. But I suspected she was going to ask me what I was up to that morning.

  And she did. “What kind of work did you have today?” She knew I was doing something in secret because she would have asked the question in a different way. For one, she wouldn’t have been specific on what kind of work I had done. And two, she wouldn’t have been waiting to ask the question so for long unless she was fearful of the answer.

  “Stuff with Cane.” I wasn’t going to mention my conversation with Bones. Button was strong and fearless, but even that would frighten her. He basically told me he would never stop haunting her until she was his slave again. Since she was mine in every definable way imaginable, she didn’t need to worry about it. Under my watch, nothing would ever happen to her.

  “Oh.” She sipped her wine before she returned the glass to the table. Another question was on her lips but she didn’t ask it.

  “We’re working on our plan to take out Bones. We’re considering bombing one of his factories so he’ll be drawn out into the open. And when that happens, we’ll hit him with gunfire.”

  “So you don’t know where he is?”

  “Not at the moment.” But I would find out.

  “Do you think he’s in Italy?”

  “Not right now.” As soon as we took out his men he must have retreated to France of Russia to recuperate. We had the upper hand and he knew it. It was pure chaos in the street, and if he didn’t hear about it from his own men he heard it from the police.

  She stirred her wine then looked into her glass. “So…should we have that conversation neither one of us want to have?”

  I stared at her face and waited for her to meet my gaze. She continued to look at her wine so she could avoid eye contact. It was unlike her to hide away behind something and I didn’t like it. “Look at me when you speak to me.”

  It took her a moment to comply. She raised her head slowly, irritated by the command but also aroused by it. She hated it when I bossed her around like I owned her, but she also loved it at the same time. She was a strong woman and needed a stronger man.

  “What conversation?”

  “About us.” She moved her glass to the side.

  “I thought our relationship was pretty defined.” When I told her those three little words I assumed that encompassed everything that needed to be said.

  “I mean, in terms of Bones. What are we going to do?”

  “I’m going to kill him. I told you that.”

  “What if you don’t? What if you can’t?”

  My eyes narrowed at the insult. “If I said I’m going to kill him, I will.”

  “And I don’t doubt you,” she said with forced calmness. “But what if he’s impossible to track down? What if he’s always on the move? Should we leave Tuscany? Should we move somewhere else?”

  “No.” I wasn’t the kind of man to run from a fight.

  “How does he not know where you live? He must know you make wine so he can figure out where your house is.”

  “Yes, he knows I make wine. But just because
my vineyard is here doesn’t mean I have anything to do with. According to paperwork, it’s owned by a family who bought it from mine. The paperwork is false but he won’t know that. And in regards to my home, this estate isn’t even on a map. It’s not registered to anyone or anything. All my mail is sent to a PO Box in Florence, and even then, it’s under a fake name. He won’t trace us back here. You don’t need to worry about it.”

  Like a queen, she held herself with refined posture and elegance. Her hair was pulled back from her face, and the lipstick on her mouth made her lips look fuller and even more kissable. But her confidence and strength gave her the greatest qualities of majesty. I’d always felt like a king of my world. And she certainly was my queen. “So, we’re going to continue to live here?”

  “Yes.”

  “And I can live here as long as I want?”

  My eyes narrowed. “Button, you’re living here forever.” Even if I killed Bones she wasn’t going anywhere. She wouldn’t rent a house somewhere in Florence and visit me during sleep overs and dinners. I told her I loved her, and that confession carried more weight than she understood. “This is your home now.”

  She quickly looked away but she wasn’t fast enough. Just a glimpse of moisture built up in her eyes. She blinked it away like it was never there at all.

  I pretended I hadn’t noticed. “But it will be dangerous for a while. Until I kill Bones, you need to stay at the estate and never leave.”

  “Okay.” Instead of arguing for her freedom and independence she let it be. “Can I have a gun?”

  “You want one?” I knew she knew how to use one but I’d never seen her in action.

  “No. I need one.”

  “Consider it done.”

  She sipped her wine again. “There’s something else I want…”

  I’d already given my queen the world. What more could she want? “What?”

  “I want to kill him myself.” She held my gaze as she made the demand. “I know you and Cane both need revenge for Vanessa…but I’d really like to be the one to pull the trigger.”

  After what he did to her, I couldn’t deny her request. She deserved it. “If the situation permits itself, yes.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “It means more than I can say.”

  I’d never forget the first time I saw her in that opera. From a distance away I could detect her rapid breathing and flushed cheeks. She was scared sitting next to the most ruthless man the world had ever seen. Instead of succumbing to the grief she tried to find a way to escape—but she was still scared. At the time her beauty had no hold over me. I’d seen countless beautiful women across Italy. She wasn’t special. But when I saw the fire burn in her eyes, I was lost. “You deserve it more than I do.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  When I saw her point the gun at her own chest and prepare to pull the trigger, I knew she hit rock bottom. Bones had tortured her beyond repair and death was her only escape. If I hadn’t stopped her she would have done it. There was no doubt of that. Since then she’d come a long way. It took her months to smile and even longer to finally trust me.

  “I want to help in whatever way I can. Whatever you need, I’m there.”

  I wasn’t letting Button anywhere near him. There was no way in hell I was using her as bait or sending her into combat with Cane and I. After the threats Bone made I didn’t want him to even look at her. “We’ll see.”

  ***

  When I came home from work Button was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t in the bedroom, on the balcony, near the pool, or in the study. Normally when I came home she presented herself to me immediately with a kiss.

  But now I couldn’t find her.

  I tried not to panic and jump to the worst possible conclusion. The house was undisturbed and the staff were unharmed. The gateway to the estate had been closed and locked when I pulled up in my car.

  I walked to the bottom floor and searched for my butler. “Lars.”

  He emerged from the kitchen, his white hair combed back and a warm smile on his face. No matter how angry I looked, he didn’t seem to notice. “Yes, Your Grace?”

  “Have you seen Pearl?” I wasn’t going to resort to calling her name around the estate. She knew her job was to greet me the second I came home. I just made the demand yesterday and she wasn’t that forgetful.

  “I’m in here.” Button stepped out of the kitchen with a red apron around her waist. “Sorry, I lost track of time.” Stains were smeared across the fabric and a spot of sauce was on her cheek. She walked to me while wiping her hands down the front of her apron. “It’s a whole other world in that kitchen—”

  “Don’t pull that stunt again.” I couldn’t dim my anger in front of Lars. He knew what kind of man I was so my threats weren’t surprising. He crept back into the kitchen and tried to disappear without either one of us knowing about it.

  Button’s eyes narrowed to threatening slits. “What stunt?”

  “What did I say yesterday? When I come home, you either drop to your knees or bend over. Sending me on a wild goose chase around the house in unacceptable. For a second I thought something happened to you—”

  “I was making you dinner, asshole.” She put both of her hands on her hips and darkened her look.

  My tongue suddenly felt too big for my mouth. The words instantly died in my throat when I realized just how hostile I became in the matter of seconds. She was the only person who could put me in my place like that.

  “I lost track of time and didn’t realize you were home. But if you want me to drop to my knees and suck you off right this second, I will. Is that what you want?” She raised her voice and was borderline feral.

  If I didn’t backtrack this argument would take a deadly turn. When I went head-to-head with Button I usually lost. She was smart with words and unafraid to make me feel like the piece of shit that I was. “When I couldn’t find you I panicked. I thought someone took you…I’m not going to apologize for that.”

  “No.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You are going to apologize for that. You just insulted me in front of Lars and treated me like a slave. You bet your ass you’re going to apologize to me and you’re gonna mean every goddamn word.”

  My body reacted in the wrong way, and my cock hardened in my slacks and pressed against my zipper. Something about her ruthlessness got to me. I’d never met someone so small and fearless. Even when she didn’t know me, she wasn’t afraid of me. It just made me want to possess her even more.

  She kept her stance and continued to threaten me with those full lips. They were pressed tightly together to keep the venom in her mouth. This was a battle she refused to lose, and she would fight until the war was won.

  I’d never let anyone speak to me that way—let alone a woman. But she put me in my place so effortlessly and didn’t flinch while doing it. I wasn’t sure if she really was strong as steel, or she simply made me weak. Whatever the case, I allowed this to happen. And there was only one woman who could make me do it.

  No woman had ever brought me to my knees—but she did it. I took a knee in front of her and looked up at her.

  Button couldn’t hide the surprise on her face. The ferocity in her eyes disappeared quicker than the snap of a finger and her lips parted in shock. With just her words and her looks, she defeated me. She managed to tame the most feral beast in the world.

  “I’m sorry.” I meant every word I said, and I didn’t care if the staff saw me at my weakest point. Button was my queen, and I’d come to terms with the fact I wouldn’t always be the ruler in the relationship. Sometimes she would be the dictator, and sometimes I would.

  She still hadn’t recovered from the shock on her face. Countless times she fought me with tooth and nail and said the harshest things I didn’t want to hear. But she never brought me to my knees the way she did now. It took her a moment to recover from the shock. “I forgive you.”

  ***

  We had dinner on the terrace like every ni
ght. The weather was too perfect to be ignored. It was cool with a warm breeze, and the nighttime air wasn’t quite so humid at this time of year. Button pressed being outside under the sun. Even when she was inside she sat on the balcony just so she could be closer to nature and all its fruit.

  “Thank you for dinner. It was excellent.” Actually, it was nothing compared to Lars’s cooking but I appreciated what she did. She did the sexiest thing a woman could do for a man—cook for him. It was something I never had a desire before until now. The idea of her doing anything thoughtful for me was a turn on.

  “Thanks for saying that. I know it wasn’t very good but Lars is teaching me. I’m sure in a few months I’ll be better.”

  I sipped my wine to dismiss her words.

  “It’s definitely not easy like mac and cheese.” She chuckled to herself at her own comment.

  “I’ve never had it.”

  “You’re never had it?” she asked in shock. “Like, ever?”

  “I’ve had noodles with parmesan, but not the American version you’re talking about.”

  “It’s so good. I’ll have to make it for you.”

  It sounded like processed horseshit to me. “Maybe.” If she made it for me I would suck it up and eat it. But I wouldn’t be happy about it. Europe was so much more hospitable than America. Their food wasn’t fresh, it was full of pesticides, and it didn’t taste nearly as good. In the closest town there was a local market every morning where Lars brought our groceries. Most of the produce had been picked the day before.

  Now that dinner was finished my mind drifted to my favorite activity. When I came home, we spent our time fighting rather than making love. Now that my stomach was full and Button was looking beautiful across from me, that’s what I wanted to do next.