Viella’s POV

Dante reached the bedroom and kicked the door open with a bang, the sound echoing in the silent room.

Without a word, he threw me onto the mattress. The plush silk offered no comfort as he immediately loomed over me, his heavy frame pinning me down before I could even draw breath to yell at him again.

He didn’t wait for permission. He smashed his lips against mine. His tongue looking for access but I grit my teeth, clamping my mouth shut in a stubborn line. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him. I wasn’t going to let him in.

But Dante knew exactly how to break my defenses.

His hand slid down, and with a sudden movement, he pinched my inner thigh. The unexpected sting made me gasp, my lips parting. That was all the opening he needed.

Dante seized the chance instantly, his tongue sliding inside to claim the territory he’d been eyeing all morning.

He groaned deep in his throat with pure satisfaction. He was savoring me, the lingering sweetness of the maple syrup and cream from breakfast mixing with the heat of the moment.

My head began to swim. The dizziness from earlier returned, but this time it wasn’t the drug. It was the overwhelming intensity of him.

My senses were being flooded. The scent of his skin, the weight of his muscles, and the hunger in his kiss. I couldn’t process anything.

The moment I thought I would pass out, Dante’s lips finally left mine, giving me a fleeting second to gasp for air before he surged back, his hunger renewed.

His fingers were roaming through my body with a possessive heat. I could feel my resolve crumbling, but I couldn’t let it happen.

Surrendering to this meant becoming his caged bird forever.

Gathering every ounce of strength I had left, I changed my tactic.

I reached up and tangled my fingers into his hair, pulling him closer and kissing him back with a sudden desperate passion. Dante’s eyes shook for a fraction of a second, stunned by my sudden change of heart, but he gave in almost instantly. Our lips met in a clash of teeth and heat. I kissed him roughly, biting down on his lower lip until the skin broke.

I could taste the metallic tang of his blood in my mouth. He let out a low pained groan, but his grip on me didn’t loosen, if anything, he seemed to thrive on the violence of it.

Using his momentary distraction, I braced my weight and shoved him backward. Taken by surprise, he hit the mattress, and I quickly scrambled up, pinning his hips with my own as I sat on top of him.

Dante lay there, his chest heaving and his face flushed with a dark intoxicating heat. He looked devastatingly sexy, his hair disheveled and his gaze burning with raw desire, but I wasn’t falling for it. I couldn’t afford to.

My hand roamed slowly over his chest, feeling the frantic rhythm of his heart through the fabric of his shirt. With a cold smirk, I reached into my garments and pulled out the dagger.

The blade glinted in the dim light of the room.

Dante didn’t move. He just watched me silently, his eyes tracking the movement of the blade as I held it steady against the hollow of his throat.

"You really shouldn’t have left the dagger with me, Dante," I whispered, the edge of the metal pressing into his skin.

He let out a huff of a laugh, his eyes never leaving mine. "Is this the part where you kill me, Viella? Or are you just enjoying the view from up there?"

"Oh please, I am not even interested in you," I replied, my voice cold despite the fact that my heart was still racing.

Dante let out a dark laugh that vibrated through my own body. "Is that so? Then why did the kiss feel so real? Were you taking advantage of me, mia cara?" He smirked, his eyes teasing me.

"Advantage!!! Of you???" I spat back, the heat rising to my face. "You’re the one who kidnapped me! You’re the one taking advantage of me!"

Dante’s smirk only grew, that arrogant curve of his lips making me want to punch him squarely in the jaw. I didn’t have time for his games anymore.

In an instant, I shifted the dagger, pressing the tip directly over his heart. "Any last wishes?" I hissed, my hand steady even as my mind screamed.

He looked up at me, his expression softening into something sincere. He nodded slowly. "Let me claim your body one last time~"

"Ah, hell nah!"

The words were out of my mouth before I could think, and I drove the blade down. A spray of warm blood rushed up, splattering across my cheek. I stared down at his face, waiting for the light to leave his eyes, waiting for the end of the monster.

But something was odd.

He didn’t even wince. Instead, his eyes stayed locked on mine, filled with a twisted kind of devotion.

Suddenly, despite the wound in his chest and the blood soaking through his shirt, both of his arms came up and squeezed me into a desperate hug. He pulled me down against him, his face buried in the crook of my neck.

I froze, the dagger still clutched in my hand, buried deep. I felt a sudden, sharp pang of guilt in my chest. He’s dying... he’s literally bleeding out because of me... and yet he’s just hugging me?

"Viella..." he whispered, his voice weak and wet with blood, but his grip didn’t loosen. "Even in death... you are mine."

...

The silence of the room felt heavy, broken only by the sound of his ragged breathing and the drip of blood onto the sheets.

But before I could sink any further into my guilt, a sound interrupted the heavy silence.

A laugh.

I looked down, and Dante’s entire body was shaking. He wasn’t gasping for his final breath, he was cackling. He actually reached up and wiped away a tear that had escaped from laughing so hard.

I stayed frozen on top of him, my mouth hanging open.

The heck???

He looked at me, his smirk returning. He reached out, his fingers dipping into the blood on his chest, and brought it up to my lips.

Before I could pull away, his finger slid past my teeth.

Instantly, a burst of sweet, artificial strawberry flavor hit my tongue. This wasn’t the metallic tasting blood...it was dessert topping.

"Strawberry syrup? The heck?!"

Dante reached under his shirt and pulled out a punctured plastic pouch. He tossed the fake blood bag onto the silk sheets with a wet thud.

"How- why- like, what?!" I stammered, my brain struggling to reboot. "When did you even do that?!"

"Right when you were too busy finding an escape," he said, his voice smooth with smug. "I knew you still had that little toy hidden away. I wanted to see if you’d actually use it."

I felt the heat of pure rage boil over. I snatched the dagger back up, ready to actually stab him this time but Dante was faster.

He caught my wrist mid air, flipped us over in a blur of motion, and trapped me against the mattress.

He wrenched the dagger from my hand. He held it in front of my face and, with am easy flex of his muscles...

CRACK.

The blade snapped. He tossed the broken shards across the room.

I stared with widened eyes, my heart dropping into my stomach. Did he just... HE BROKE IT?!

"Noooooooo!!!!" I shrieked, struggling under him. "My dagger! Do you even know how important is that?!! That’s my shining armor!!!! That is important!"

"That was important," Dante corrected, fixing my grammar with a smirk.

"Now, shall we begin with your punishment?" he whispered, his voice a low vibration against my skin as he leaned in.

Panic flared in my chest. I slammed my hands over his lips, stopping him mid way.

"Wait, wait!" I scrambled for any excuse and then it hit me. The ultimate trump card.

"You lost the bet! You can’t do this! Dante Valerio Moretti never steps back from his word, remember?! You promised if you can’t prove my real identity within 7 days I am free to go!!"

He smirked against my palms, a knowing look in his eyes. He gently caught my wrists and moved my hands. "In a way, I did lose," he said, his voice loud clear. "But then again... I didn’t. Vivien."

My heart stopped. "What do you mean you didn’t? You did!! Its literally the 9th day!!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Is that so, Vivien?" He emphasized the name.

"Yes, Dante, you los-" I froze. My jaw dropped, and the blood drained from my face. "Wait... what did you just say?"

He didn’t give me an answer. He didn’t have to. His lips crashed onto mine, silencing my shock with a kiss that was pure fire. This wasn’t the hungry bite from before, this was a claim.

His tongue roamed my mouth with asserting dominance while his hands moving towards his body. He gripped the hem of his shirt, ripped it off, and threw it across the room without breaking the kiss. Then, his fingers found the laces of my dress.

The world was spinning. Between the lack of oxygen and the sheer weight of him, I couldn’t process anything- except that name.

Vivien.

It echoed in my mind...

A soft moan escaped my lips as the air hit my skin. In a blur of movement, the dress was gone, leaving me trembling in nothing but my undergarments. Dante pulled back just far enough to look down at me, his gaze sweeping over my body with a look of terrifying adoration.

"You’re so pretty, my Vivien," he rasped.

A fierce blush crept up my neck and flooded my cheeks. I felt exposed, stripped of every defense I had worked so hard to keep. I tried to pull my arms inward to hide my body, but his hands were like iron, pinning me firmly against the pillows.

"How..." I gasped, my breath coming out in shaky uneven hitches. "How do you know my name?!"

Instead of answering, Dante’s head dipped lower, the dark strands of his hair brushing against the sensitive skin of my collarbone. The air in the room felt heavy.

I watched him as my breath hitching in my throat, as his eyes locked onto mine. They were dark and predatory filled with a hunger that terrified and thrilled me all at once.

His teeth caught the strap of my bra, With a slow, tug, he pulled it down over my shoulder. He never broke eye contact, his gaze pinning me to the mattress as effectively as his weight did.

He shifted his attention to the other side, repeating the action. His teeth grazed my skin, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core.

The second strap slid down, leaving the cups of my bra loose and useless. My body felt like it was on fire, a flush of heat spreading from my chest outward.

The cool air of the room hit my exposed breasts, causing the nipples to pucker instantly, hardening into tight peaks. My babies were exposed to his view, and I felt my cheeks turn a deep shade of red.

Instinctively, I moved my arms to cover myself, to hide my vulnerability, but Dante caught my wrists, pinning them gently but firmly to the bed beside her head.

"Don’t," he growled, the sound vibrating in his chest.

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TO BE CONTINUED