Chapter 13: I Did Kill for You (The Safe Word)
Chapter 13: I Did Kill for You (The Safe Word)
Elio's POV
⚠️ High emotional intensity,
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He didn't come to my bed for three nights.
Not after Milan watched me get ruined against a window.
Not after I confessed that I belonged to him without condition.
And not even after I traced the silver tag on my collar and whispered his name to the dark, aching for a touch that never came.
So I went to him.
To the room with no windows. The one that smelled like leather, sweat, and sin.
He was there.
Sitting in his throne-like chair, black shirt undone, tattoos sprawled like war maps across his skin.
"Why haven't you touched me?" I asked.
He looked at me with those endless eyes. "Because you liked it too much."
I blinked. "What?"
"You're starting to love the pain," he said. "And I need to know if you love me, too."
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He didn't undress me this time.
He ripped my shirt.
Dropped me to my knees with a look.
Bound my wrists behind my back tighter than usual, rope this time — rough and biting.
Then he pushed me forward across the padded bench, leaving me completely exposed.
"This is punishment," he said softly. "Not for looking. For doubting."
"I didn't—"
"Don't speak. Just take it."
And I did.
He started with his belt.
One lash. Two.
By the fourth, I was gasping.
The sixth had me moaning.
He came closer, ran his fingers over the red stripes blooming on my thighs.
"You get drunk on pain, Elio."
"No," I breathed.
"You forget it's not the pain I give you that matters. It's the reason behind it."
He spanked me, hand open. Again. And again. The sound was sharp, the sting almost sweet.
Then came the crop.
It broke me faster than the belt.
I sobbed into the cushion.
He didn't stop.
Not yet.
"You say you love me?" he growled.
"Yes—yes—Luca—"
"I killed for you."
"I know—"
He landed another strike. My whole body jerked.
"I put a bullet between a man's eyes because he touched your fucking wrist."
"Luca—"
He leaned over me, breath hot against my cheek.
"So now you're going to take everything I give you. And you'll thank me."
"I—"
Another strike.
My vision blurred.
I couldn't breathe.
"What do you say?" he barked.
"Carbone!" I choked.
He froze.
The room went still.
"Say it again," he said, voice suddenly quiet.
"Carbone," I whispered.
Our safe word.
Coal.
Everything stopped.
The crop dropped.
He was beside me in a blink — hands already untying the rope, undoing everything, eyes wide, frantic.
"Elio—are you okay?"
I collapsed into him, shaking.
He wrapped his arms around me, lifted me like glass, and carried me to the bed.
No sex.
No play.
Just him — rocking me gently, holding the back of my head to his chest like I was something precious and breakable.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, over and over.
"I didn't want to stop," I said quietly. "I just… I couldn't breathe."
"I went too far."
"I let you."
"You don't have to let me," he said. "You just have to be mine. That's all I'll ever need."
I looked up at him.
His eyes weren't cold.
They were broken.
"I didn't ask you to kill for me," I said.
"I know."
"I would've stayed anyway."
He swallowed hard. "But I needed to know you were safe."
"Then be the man who makes me feel that way."
He kissed my forehead.
And held me like he was afraid to let go.
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