Chapter 10

He found sleep hard to come by.
Especially when he could feel the warmth of her body to his very bones. Her fragrance filled his lungs as he took shallow breaths, trying not to indulge in the fresh cherry blossom of her scent. His heartbeat was a tattoo against his ribcage.
Sometime during the night, Sia had moved even closer to him for warmth, her small hands placed gently on his shoulder and her face inches from his. Her dark hair spilled onto the pillow like liquid dark ink, making his fingers itch.
He looked down at her and wondered if she could feel his heartbeat, hear it thundering against his chest. He placed his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes, refusing to give into the temptation of Sia Milton. But fuck it! He was a man who appreciated women, and Sia was his biggest temptation to date. And until this moment, he had never had to suppress his urges for a woman he had wanted. And he wanted Sia with a passion.
But after what she’d gone through today, Julian cursed himself for not getting to her sooner. The cut on her forehead was proof enough of his failure. So was the bullet mark on his shoulder. God knows Christian was probably typing a resignation letter for himalready.
Julian thought back to all the girls he had slept with, but surprisingly, none of their faces came to mind. Their faces were hazy. He only remembered the stereotypes he went after: the fake blondes with huge boobs and long, slender legs. Sia, on the other hand, was curvy, not in an unhealthy way, just perfectfor him. As they lay together, unknown to Sia, he couldn’t help but wonder how perfectly they fit together, like two pieces of a puzzle.
But his admiration was short-lived as he noticed Sia’s peaceful physical features furrow into tight lines. She was having a nightmare.

* * *

One moment she was sitting in her office and designing a new wedding collection, and the next, all the lights went off, and she was back at the Stone Mansion. Everything was so, so quiet. Always quiet. As if even the winds were holding their breath in fear of being heard. But it was no use; he heard and saw everything.
Sia waited in her bedroom, the door unlocked. She didn’t have permission to lock the door, not if she wanted to escape another whipping session or go another two days without food.
She was already stick thin, having survived several punishments. Her eyes were sunken, and purple bruises covered every inch of her skin. Her only relief was that her son was sound asleep. Barely a year old, he didn’t understand what was happening around him. But Sia knew one thing: she had to escape before could even begin to understand what was really happening.
The clock ticked then, announcing that it was ten at night. Its bell echoed through the empty house ominously. The room turned even colder.
The manor was just like its master: cold. So cold. Everything was white, from the wall paint to the furniture. She wasn’t allowed to decorate it, to make it hers. Even though she was his wife, he made sure he made her realize that she was worth nothing more than the precious Chinese crystal rose plant he kept at his bedside table: a trophy.
The gravel crunched under the tires, then the honk of a car, followed by the sound of heavy metal doors closing.
Sia curled into an even tighter ball against the headboard of her king-sized bed. She kept the lights off, wishing and begging the gods that he wouldn’t need her tonight. But the gods had gone deaf long ago.
“Darling! Where are you?” he asked, a devil’s malicious intentions hidden in the guise of a singsong voice. She shivered.
“I’m coming for you, love. Better be ready.” A lover’s words meant to beguile, but from him, they sounded like a thousand sharp needles piercing her skin.
Footsteps on the stairs, the first floor. He was now outside her door.
Suddenly, the room glowed bright, so bright that it made her eyes water, but she couldn’t close them. She needed to see what he was going to do next.
“There you are! Aren’t you going to greet your husband? No?” White teeth against a menacing face, filled with wicked thoughts.
She whimpered before she could stop herself, and the smile broadened.
“Scared? But I haven’t even begun yet?” His voice was childish, taunting.
With that, he shut the door and came towards her with slow, deliberate steps. No need to hurry, he had her exactly where he wanted. He removed his clothes as he moved, so by the time he was in front of her, he was already naked.
There was no need for questions; he was tired of play. He grabbed her hair roughly by her nape and kissed her mouth, biting hard enough to draw blood. Then, he slammed her bead back against the headboard.
She didn’t even have time to wince, no time for the pain to even register in her brain before he ripped her dress apart in one instant and pulled her down with her legs spread wide open for him.
Fear slammed into her with such traumatizing force that her heart almost burst open as she clutched the sheets in her hand, preparing for the amount of pain to come. She wasn’t the least bit aroused; she never had been with him. She’d heard her mother say once that it gets easier after the first time, but to her, there had never been any difference.
But nothing could prepare her for the pain that ripped through her abdomen as he slammed his cock inside her.
“SIA!”