Bound by Vengeance by Cora Reilly
I’ll admit I initially read Bound by Vengeance by Cora Reilly just seeking non-con and not expecting much. But oh my God. I got so much more. This story delivered everything my id craved and more!
Cara is the nineteen year old daughter of a high-ranking mobster. Her mother and her friends, who are also the daughters of high-ranking mobsters, live in willful ignorance and consider their menfolk merely businessmen despite knowing that they work for Benedetto Falcone, the head of the mafia in Las Vegas. Cara attends one of Falcone's parties with her parents and notices Growl. Growl is twenty-something in age, Falcone's head enforcer, and only known as Growl or Bastard. She feels attracted to him, and while lost and drunk on champagne, she even introduces herself to him before her mother drags her away.
Growl, meanwhile, knows that Falcone only invites him to parties (invitations he cannot refuse) to provide the other guests with something to gawk at and gossip about. He is Falcone's illegitimate son (though it is not common knowledge who his father is) but he's only regarded and treated as muscle and "a monster" by his father and everyone else.
A few weeks later it's revealed that Cara's father has been stealing from his boss (an automatic death sentence for him and potentially his family) and while her father is in the midst of preparing them to flee, Falcone and several of his men burst into their home. Falcone gives Cara as a gift to Growl (as a deterrent to anyone else thinking of betraying him) before killing her father.
Naturally Cara is deeply upset by everything that's happened. Because of the circumstances and because she's been raised to believe any sex outside marriage is a sin (her mother even shamed her for masturbating) Cara is in emotional turmoil despite enjoying sex with Growl.
Growl has never been loved or treated well by anyone. His mother was a drug-addicted prostitute who didn't abuse him physically but also was never affectionate to him before she was murdered in front of him when he was five years old. He's been abused in one way or another his whole life and he has internalized it to the point that he doesn't think he deserves anything good or even to be treated with basic decency. His only friends are Coco and Bandit, pitbull dogs he rescued from being killed after they got too old to win dog fights.
Although no one's ever been nice or kind to him, Growl tries to be nice to Cara. He buys milk after she says she doesn't drink black coffee. He buys books after she says there's nothing to read in his house. He takes her to visit her mother and to visit her father's unmarked grave after she demands it.
Cara is not immune. The dangerous bad boy + sad damaged boy = Growl is irresistible to her. She both wants to be ravished by him and to comfort him. And he wants to both ravish her and protect her. At the end of Bound by Vengeance he tells her that his real name is Ryan and that he wants to start a new life with her as Ryan Trevisan (AKA an actual person) rather than as Benedetto Falcone’s pet monster Growl.
Bound by Vengeance has a happy ending for them. But it's their short story in the Born In Blood anthology that truly depicts their happily ever after. Growl accedes to Cara's want for children, despite his fears, and they have two sons. And it is totally adorable to read about him playing with his kids.
EDIT: This is the story of a young man brutalized since early childhood and treated like he was less than human until he internalized those feelings. He has two pitbulls he rescued from a dog-fighting ring and they indicate so much about his character. They, like he, have been forced into a life of violence and reviled by others for that brutality. It's also indicative of the fact that he's still capable of loving and being loved, despite appearances and everyone's assumptions to the contrary.
It is also the story of a young woman raised with old-fashioned values and the expectation that she will marry a man chosen by her father and spend her life as the idle trophy wife of a high-ranking mobster. She is a virgin whose mother raised her to feel a deep sense of shame regarding sex - including berating her after catching her masturbating.
Cara sees Growl across the ballroom and is so captivated, she stares at him. He stares back. Both are immediately attracted to each other. She masturbates to thoughts of him later that night.
A couple of weeks later, after their mafia leader kills Cara's father for embezzling money, he gives Cara as a gift to his enforcer Growl.
Cara is the nineteen year old daughter of a high-ranking mobster. Her mother and her friends, who are also the daughters of high-ranking mobsters, live in willful ignorance and consider their menfolk merely businessmen despite knowing that they work for Benedetto Falcone, the head of the mafia in Las Vegas. Cara attends one of Falcone's parties with her parents and notices Growl. Growl is twenty-something in age, Falcone's head enforcer, and only known as Growl or Bastard. She feels attracted to him, and while lost and drunk on champagne, she even introduces herself to him before her mother drags her away.
Growl, meanwhile, knows that Falcone only invites him to parties (invitations he cannot refuse) to provide the other guests with something to gawk at and gossip about. He is Falcone's illegitimate son (though it is not common knowledge who his father is) but he's only regarded and treated as muscle and "a monster" by his father and everyone else.
A few weeks later it's revealed that Cara's father has been stealing from his boss (an automatic death sentence for him and potentially his family) and while her father is in the midst of preparing them to flee, Falcone and several of his men burst into their home. Falcone gives Cara as a gift to Growl (as a deterrent to anyone else thinking of betraying him) before killing her father.
Naturally Cara is deeply upset by everything that's happened. Because of the circumstances and because she's been raised to believe any sex outside marriage is a sin (her mother even shamed her for masturbating) Cara is in emotional turmoil despite enjoying sex with Growl.
Growl has never been loved or treated well by anyone. His mother was a drug-addicted prostitute who didn't abuse him physically but also was never affectionate to him before she was murdered in front of him when he was five years old. He's been abused in one way or another his whole life and he has internalized it to the point that he doesn't think he deserves anything good or even to be treated with basic decency. His only friends are Coco and Bandit, pitbull dogs he rescued from being killed after they got too old to win dog fights.
Although no one's ever been nice or kind to him, Growl tries to be nice to Cara. He buys milk after she says she doesn't drink black coffee. He buys books after she says there's nothing to read in his house. He takes her to visit her mother and to visit her father's unmarked grave after she demands it.
Cara is not immune. The dangerous bad boy + sad damaged boy = Growl is irresistible to her. She both wants to be ravished by him and to comfort him. And he wants to both ravish her and protect her. At the end of Bound by Vengeance he tells her that his real name is Ryan and that he wants to start a new life with her as Ryan Trevisan (AKA an actual person) rather than as Benedetto Falcone’s pet monster Growl.
Bound by Vengeance has a happy ending for them. But it's their short story in the Born In Blood anthology that truly depicts their happily ever after. Growl accedes to Cara's want for children, despite his fears, and they have two sons. And it is totally adorable to read about him playing with his kids.
EDIT: This is the story of a young man brutalized since early childhood and treated like he was less than human until he internalized those feelings. He has two pitbulls he rescued from a dog-fighting ring and they indicate so much about his character. They, like he, have been forced into a life of violence and reviled by others for that brutality. It's also indicative of the fact that he's still capable of loving and being loved, despite appearances and everyone's assumptions to the contrary.
It is also the story of a young woman raised with old-fashioned values and the expectation that she will marry a man chosen by her father and spend her life as the idle trophy wife of a high-ranking mobster. She is a virgin whose mother raised her to feel a deep sense of shame regarding sex - including berating her after catching her masturbating.
Cara sees Growl across the ballroom and is so captivated, she stares at him. He stares back. Both are immediately attracted to each other. She masturbates to thoughts of him later that night.
A couple of weeks later, after their mafia leader kills Cara's father for embezzling money, he gives Cara as a gift to his enforcer Growl.