A Taste of Darkness

Chapter 30: Succumb

Scarlett

I wake up the next day on a surface much harder than the mattress of my bed.

It feels different, not soft or memory-foam-like, and it doesn't sink when I place my weight on it. It is solid, firm, with bumps and dips and defined contours displaced symmetrically across its surface.

Someone didn't change my mattress, did they? No, they couldn't have. And this cannot be a mattress. . . can it?

I struggle to open my eyes, feeling more exhausted than I have in weeks. After what seems like an endless stream of fruitless commands, they finally obey as my eyelids flutter open, revealing my surroundings.

Well this definitely doesn't look like my room.

I look down to see what is the surface that my arm and face seem to lay so comfortably on-

And suddenly, just like that, I feel more awake than I have ever felt in my entire life. My eyes widen as a shocked gasp leaves my mouth. That is not what I was expecting.

The surface is Julio's chest.

As soon as that realisation takes over me, memories from yesterday continue to hit me like a truck. Me humiliating myself over my assumption about him and Sienna, our heated argument, what I admitted to him, the things he said to me, his touch which made every inch of my body ignite with need, the absolute pleasure and ecstasy he gave me. . .

I never knew that being drunk on a person was possible until now.

I fucking had sex with Julio.

Fuck.

I quickly jump out of his bed as a stream of overthinking overtakes me, making sure to move with vigilance so as not to wake him. I cannot believe I actually did that. All of the vows I made, the promises I meant to keep, the walls I spent years building, the control I became a master of. . all for nothing.

He's a fucking mafia boss, the epitome of danger and immorality. I promised myself to never get close to any man ever again in order to protect my wellbeing, and I go for him? All I am doing is letting history repeat itself, Julio is probably even worse than Adrian, so what will he do now that he knows he has attained my desire for him? A man with power like him could do anything he wanted to me. If Adrian burned me, Julio will turn me into nothing but ash.

However, there is a part of my brain which tells me that Julio isn't like that, that he wouldn't hurt me.

But the other side preaches that I can never be too sure. . . I mean, look what happened with Adrian. It's better to be safe than sorry.

There is one problem which prevents me from leaving. I don't have a single shred of clothing covering my body, and the clothes that I was wearing yesterday are either ripped or left in the living room.

Shit.

I look to my left and spot a walk-in closet, clothes of every type hanging orderly and neatly on their assigned hangers. I suppose I have no other choice but to wear something of Julio's, because walking around the penthouse naked is definitely and obviously not an option.

I pick out a black shirt and pull it over my body, however his shirt is more like a dress on me as it reaches just above my knees, the fabric hanging very loosely over my body. I can't help but give into the urge to take in the scent that still lingers on his shirt, the smell pleasantly overwhelming my senses as I start to feel a warm sensation growing in my heart.

Spicy leather and sandalwood with hints of citrus, exactly as I was expecting.

Am I smiling?