I fumbled my way through the western wing of the mansion, tipsy and unsure of where I was, until I finally reached the chapel at the far end.
A lot of the house was new and updated – the bathrooms, the kitchen, the study. But other parts of the mansion were hundreds of years old: the stone walls, the arched ceilings, the marble stairs.
The chapel was part of the building that was a holdover from the distant past…
And it was more beautiful than I could have imagined.
The door was a massive slab of oak carved with scenes from the Bible: Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, the Crucifixion. It felt entirely possible that some Renaissance artist had made it 500 years ago.
As I placed my hand on the door and pushed, it creaked open, revealing a world lost in time.
The room itself was relatively small compared to the grand halls in the rest of the mansion, but as a result it felt snug and comfortable.
There were only two sources of illumination: the light from the hallway, and the moon filtering through a stained glass window at the far end of the room. Even in the dim light, the room struck me with its beauty. I promised to return the next day to see what it looked like with the sun streaming through the colored glass.
I felt along the wall for a light switch and found nothing.
I looked up at the ceiling and realized there were no light fixtures. However, there were several candelabras at the far end of the room sitting atop a table.
I carefully walked down the shadowy center aisle until I reached the candelabras. A box of matches sat beside them on the table, and I lit the candles one by one until the entire room was glowing with light.
Now that I could see more, I gasped at the domed ceiling. It was painted with angels and clouds so beautiful that they should have been in a far grander church.
The stone walls were hung with tapestries, their faded colors depicting the twelve stations of the cross.
I stood there in awe… until I heard footsteps behind me.
I whirled around to see Dario in the doorway. He had paused at the threshold and was watching me.
“Are you afraid you’ll burst into flames if you come in?” I taunted him.
He smirked, then walked into the chapel and looked down at his hands as if examining them. “No flames of hell yet.”
“Give it time.”
He chuckled and looked around the room. “I haven’t been in here since… I don’t know when.”
“Ever?”
“As a child, I used to come in here to pray… but that was a long time ago.”
I could imagine him as a small boy sitting in the dark wooden pews, looking up at the angels… and the image softened my heart.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“It’s beautiful,” I admitted.
“Good. Then you won’t need to leave the estate.”
Our argument at the dining room table came flooding back, along with all my resentment at being his prisoner.
“I need to go to church,” I said stubbornly.
His eyes flashed with anger. “You need to OBEY me.”
“‘Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,’” I said, quoting Ephesians. Then I added mockingly, “You mean like that?”
His smile was dangerous. “Minus the husband and wife part… yes.”
I stood tall and looked him directly in the face. “I’ll do what you order me to, because you’ll kill me if I don’t. But submit to you? Never.”
Maybe it was the wine that made me so brave.
Maybe I was emboldened by the fact that we were in a chapel.
I thought that Dario would at least respect the fact that we were standing in a holy place.
I was wrong.
He grabbed the back of my hair again like he had last night and pulled gently, forcing me to look up at him.
My heart beat rapidly with fear –
But excitement, too.
The feel of his body against mine as he stared down at me –
The anger in his face –
It was both frightening and… I’m ashamed to say it… erotic.
“I told your father I would not take your virginity until you begged me,” he whispered hoarsely. “What I didn’t say was that I will do whatever else I like with you… and TO you. I will make you my whore… and when the time comes, you will beg me to take you.”
My entire body trembled –
And then he leaned over and kissed me.
I was too shocked to do anything but stand there.
I had kissed a couple of boys in years past – awkward moments behind the school building.
Those were nothing like this.
He was so tall…
So powerful.
His lips were soft and warm on mine – and I felt the tickle of his neatly trimmed beard on my skin.
At first I did nothing as his lips pressed softly against my mouth –
And then I mmmphed! and pushed as hard against his chest as I could.
But his other arm – the one not tugging at my hair – looped around my waist and pulled me effortlessly against him.
My soft curves pressed against his hard, muscular body.
The harder I fought, the harder he pulled me against him –
And the harder he kissed me –
Until he suddenly dipped me backwards.
I grasped his broad, powerful shoulders by instinct, trying not to fall –
And in that moment, I gave in.
I surrendered…
And it was bliss.
The softness of his kiss, growing firmer by the second –
The tug of his hand in my hair –
It was too much for me.
I felt his tongue softly touch my lips…
And I opened my mouth to him.
I opened myself to him.
We seemed to stay like that for an eternity…
Him holding me in his arms, swept off my feet –
Our tongues softly touching in the most sensual feeling I had ever experienced.
I was not aware of it consciously, but heat filled my entire body –
My breasts –
Between my thighs.
I couldn’t think straight. All I knew is that I wanted more –
And then it was over.
He pulled me back up on my feet and broke off the kiss –
And with a smirk, he left me standing there filled with longing.
“Ciao, bella,” he whispered in his smoky voice, then strolled out of the chapel as I stood there, trembling with desire, aching for him to come back and do it all over again.
