A second later, a feminine voice traveled through the wooden door. “Excuse me? Are you alright in there?”
“Fine!” I managed to shout as Damian yelled out, “Fuck off,” followed by a guttural growl.
I’d never seen him so unfettered. It only turned me on more. I did this. I had him unhinged. I drove away the pain and suffering his dad had caused. I’d always seen the side of Damian that others hadn’t had the privilege of viewing, but even I hadn’t seen how deep his demons went.
They hid behind a reserved façade, and an educated vocabulary, and bespoke suits, and patience. And now that the lid had been pulled off, Damian didn’t hold back as he chased them away with each thrust.
I assumed the person outside the door had left, because we weren’t interrupted again.
Damian’s pace didn’t relent, but he suddenly spoke out loud, “I’m not him.”
I wasn’t even sure if his words were meant for me, but I replied, “No, you’re not. You’re better.” He picked up his speed, and I groaned. “Oh, God. Damian!”
He grabbed one of my legs and led it to the bottom shelf. I lifted it onto the shelf, following his instructions without a word. With my leg raised, he slid deeper inside me, pressing harder against my G-spot. I was so close to coming, and I barely held on as it was. I didn’t want this to end.
He bit my shoulder, leaving teeth marks. “We won’t be them.”
I shook my head as much as I could with his relentless pace. “We won’t.”
Damian had always internalized his pain, and I’d always figured he’d find his breaking point. I just didn’t know he’d be balls deep inside me when it happened. But I was happy to help him, every part of me excited that he had chosen me to chase his demons away.
“Damian!” I needed him to slow down. If he kept this up, he’d make me come, and it’d be over. “Too fast. Too much. I can’t take it.”
“Yes, you can.” He reached around me and rubbed my clit with his fingers, bringing me over the edge. “And fuck, you look so fucking beautiful taking my cock.” He pressed dozens of little kisses along my neck, the only soft part about the way he pounded in and out of me.
I came on him hard, and he didn’t stop his relentless fucking, his fingers merciless in teasing my clit. He leaned against my back and whispered filthy words in my ear as my walls spasmed around his erection.
I’ve never slid into a pussy so tight.
I can feel your walls clamping around me, like you don’t want my cock to leave.
Come all over my cock, baby.
Your pussy is such a needy little cunt, Princess.
And then, he hit me with the words, his voice haunted, “Tell me you love me again.”
My eyes glazed over, the pleasure too much. “I do.” I tried to turn to look him in the eyes as I told him, but his fast pace had me clenching my eyelids shut and holding the shelf as tightly as I could. So, I settled for chanting the words, feeling freer with each iteration. “I love you, Damian. I love you, I love you, I love you.”
I was spent when he slid out of me, barely able to hold myself up without the help of the bookshelf I clutched and his arm around my waist. I dropped to the floor, turned, and leaned against the bookshelf with my legs tucked under me.
I stared at his erection with hooded eyes. “You haven’t come.” He didn’t answer, but I persisted. “Let me help you come.”
His eyes flicked over me, taking time to stare at my heaving breasts. “I’m a mess right now. I shouldn’t have fucked you that hard.”
“I liked it.” My voice came out spent and husky. “You should have fucked me harder.” My eyes traced his long erection, cataloging each vein and the perfect ridge of its head. I licked my lips. “Let me make you come.”
Indecision warred across his face until he walked forward, and I kneeled in anticipation. “I’m not ready to be gentle,” he warned.
I nodded. “I like rough.”
And I did. This rough, nothing-held-back, do-as-we-pleased sex felt liberating. He didn’t judge me for loving it, and I didn’t judge him for needing it. If anything, I loved that he knew I could take it.
“Open.” He reached out, and his thumb pushed my chin down until my lips parted. “Wider.”
I opened wider as he leaned forward, stuck his fingers inside me, gathered my wetness, then spread it across his erection. He stroked his erection a few times before guiding it into my mouth. I leaned forward and rubbed my nipples on his thighs as my tongue slid across his cock, tasting myself. I tasted a little sweet, almost like nothing.
“Can you taste your cum? Can you taste how much I turn you on?”
“Yes,” I tried to say around his erection, but it came out muffled, so I nodded my head instead.
“Good. Don’t fucking forget that, because I hate when you make me chase what’s already mine, Renata. And make no mistake, you’re mine.” He stepped back, releasing himself from my mouth. “On the bed. On your back.”
I scurried to the bed and laid down. He grabbed my legs and slid me lower until my face was near the middle of the bed. My heart charged as he climbed up my body, his hard length in my face and his fists holding his body up above me.
“Open your mouth.”
Holy crap.
I did as he asked, my tongue dying for another taste of him. He thrust into my face, his movements unapologetic and merciless. I moaned against his cock, causing him to groan as the vibrations traveled along his erection.
He fucked my face, not letting up for a second. I gasped for air, and when that didn’t work, remembered to breathe through my nose. A rush of his body soap and musk entered my nose until I was drunk on every part of him—his taste, his touch, his scent, and the chiseled eight-pack that flexed each time he pushed deeper into my mouth.
I reached a hand out and ran it across his abdominal muscles, my movements jerky. His thighs rubbed against my pebbled nipples with each thrust, and I groaned around his cock. His cum surprised me, pulsing into my mouth as he pulled out of me.
I watched as he stroked himself with his right hand and shot jets of cum all over my face and breasts.
He leaned back and looked at the mess he’d made on me. “Push your tits together.”
I swallowed the cum he’d left in my mouth and squeezed my breasts together. He swiped the cum off my face with his fingers, rubbed them in circles around my nipples, and dipped them between the valley of my breasts with the rest of his cum until my entire chest was coated.
Then, he stroked himself again, his cock still mostly hard, and slid his length between my breasts. After a few more pumps, he leaned back and looked down at me. “Now, I’ve fucked every part of you but one.” His lips turned up in a smile, and while his eyes still looked haunted, he also looked satiated. “I’ll get to that later.”
Oh, dear Lord.
He let me take control later that night, riding him the way I wanted to ride him. Teasing him the way I wanted to tease him. And letting him come when I wanted him to come. We were sticky and sweaty and a little messed up, but we were happy.
Between rounds, I traced the scars his dad had left on his back. Stubborn, raised edges, which had healed as much as they could. I had listened from my room that night as Angelo De Luca whipped Damian, the lashes unrelenting. But I wasn’t that scared teen anymore. I wouldn’t be run out of a city again.
And when I fell asleep with Damian’s arms wrapped around me, I knew we’d be okay. We weren’t our parents. We were better. Because Damiano De Luca loved me in ways no one I’d ever met and would ever meet knew how to love—patiently, through time, with no limits, with no expectations.
And I loved him.
The unapproachable parts he showed the world.
The uninhibited parts he showed me.
And especially the bruised, savage parts he could never hide from me.
Sometimes, it’s not the people who change. It’s the mask that falls off.
Unknown
I woke up with
Renata on my chest. The room still smelled of sex, and I bet if she were awake, the cum I’d left all over her chest would cause her all sorts of discomfort.
Shit.
Yesterday.
That dull ache I’d lived with most of my life intensified. I’d always suspected my dad had done something to my mom, but I’d never known for sure. As much as it fucked me up to find out the truth, it also relieved me. It was one less lie in my life, and I felt more free than I had in a long time.
And Renata… Once again, she’d seen me in pain, and she tried to fix me. Only this time, it had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, pushing us together in filthy, naughty, desperate ways. I couldn’t say I was unhappy about that, and I sure as hell appreciated her.
I slid Ren’s arm and head off of me as gently as I could. The bed creaked as my weight lifted off of it, and I walked to the little bathroom connected to her room. I was already naked as the day I’d been born, so I strode into the shower and let the water hit me. Ice cold shards hit me before the temperature shifted to extreme heat.
The door opened, and Ren entered.
“Morning, Princess.” I studied her beneath the showerhead, watching for signs that I’d pushed her too far. The water droplets fogged the clear glass door, but I could still make out her face.
She wore my shirt, her bare body still on display, thanks to the way I’d ripped the buttons when taking it off last night. A lazy smile drifted onto her face as she watched me watch her. It was sleepy and lacking her usual walls, and I knew we would be okay. At least, I hoped we would be. I’d bared every fucked up feeling I had since childhood to her last night. I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to run the other way.
She yawned and leaned against the sink, content to watch me shower. “Are you going to explain yesterday?”
She didn’t sound mad. I didn’t know if it was her mafia upbringing or that spine of steel, but the way she took yesterday in stride didn’t surprise me as much as it should have. Well, I hoped I was reading her right.
I rubbed at my face, splashing water onto the glass divider. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No need to apologize.” The corner of her lips quirked up, and I realized I’d been anxiously waiting for more signs that she was okay with how rough I’d been last night. “I liked it.”
“I didn’t know what you’d like.” I shrugged and tried to play it off.
“I think how wet I was and the fact that I was chanting your name like it was the only thing running through my head—which it was—should have showed you that I liked it.”
Holy fuck.
My cock, which had been dormant, nearly shot up at her words. I thought of stinky socks, molded walls, and expired processed cheese until I got myself under control.
She had a teasing smile, like she knew what I’d been thinking of, when I spoke again. “I wasn’t sure if you liked rough sex. I was gentler when we did it in Devils Ridge.”
“And I appreciate that”—again with the smirk—“since it was my first time.”
Good God.
Stinky socks, stinky socks, stinky socks.
I was a grown ass mafia leader, chanting about stinky socks to keep my erection at bay. Perfect. Ego, meet blow.
I eyed the amusement on her face. “I took your virginity?”
“Yup.” She popped the P. “But about yesterday…”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’ve already apologized. Unnecessarily, might I add.”
I’d given up washing myself by now, so I just leaned against the tile and let the hot water rain down on me, courtesy of New York City taxpayer dollars. “My dad told me what happened to my mom, and I kind of just lost it. I mean, I already suspected that he had something to do with her death, but thinking it and knowing it are more different than I’d thought they’d be.”
“Will you be okay?”
“Yes. Maybe not immediately, but I’ll be okay eventually. I’ve lived the past sixteen years without my mom. It’s nothing new on that end. And I already hate my dad enough without this added to it. Though admittedly, it does make me hate him more. I didn’t even think it was possible.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’ll cut him off from the De Luca coffers. I’ve already taken away his empire. I considered sending him to jail, but I have a feeling he’s suffering more around senior citizens who have families that visit them than he would in jail, where he’d find camaraderie amongst the incarcerated.”
“You seem okay.”
Not like last night, I read her unspoken words.
Shit.
“I really am sorry.”
“Hey, Damsel?” she teased.
“Yes, Knight?”
“Stop apologizing for something I enjoyed. It’s getting annoying.”
“Okay. Fine.” I studied her. “Where does this leave us?” Naked in her shower was probably an awful time to ask this question, but our relationship had never boasted good timing.
“It’s so tempting to dive right in, full speed, isn’t it?”
I nodded. That was exactly what I wanted—to make up for lost time.
“Let’s take it one day at a time. Technically, we only dated for a week.”
“It was a good week.”
She sighed. “It was.”
Until it wasn’t.
“But?”
“But we live thousands of miles apart, in separate worlds, and have a history that isn’t the greatest. Don’t get me wrong. I’m ready for this. I’m letting you in. I think it’s unfair and unrealistic for either of us to leave the other waiting, and frankly, I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything else. I just don’t want to ruin this before it starts again.”
“Okay. I can live with that.” Sudden laughter spilled past my lips. “Maybe we should even go on our first date.”
She leaned her head back and groaned. “See? We haven’t even gone on a first date!”
“I was kidding.”
“I’m not.” She paused. “Actually, that’s a perfect start. Go on a date with me.”
“Are you asking or telling?” I’d say yes either way.
“Telling.” She straightened up from the sink. “And Damian? There’s a bookshelf with half its books still on it. You didn’t fuck me hard enough.”
Well, damn.
Game on.
Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.
Unknown
The knight is the only chess piece able to move freely, jumping over other pieces to reach the square it wants. That ability to jump means the knight is at its most powerful in closed positions, when forces close in and it seems trapped but isn’t.
I saw myself in the knight. Trapped by my father, by the lies in my life, by my last name. I wanted the power to break free. I wanted to be the knight, able to jump over my problems. But no one tells you that the best chess pieces are the ones off the board. The ones that don’t even exist on a chessboard.
All my life, I’d always wanted to be the knight. But maybe it was okay that I was the princess. Off the chessboard. No mind games. Just living. Breathing. Happy. When Damian called me princess, I didn’t even feel the urge to correct him.
He handed me my towel as I got out of the shower. He’d dressed in fancy sweats and a plain white t-shirt. “My driver dropped off my clothes and some breakfast.”
I dried off, threw on panties and an oversized shirt, and took the breakfast sandwich he offered me. “Thanks.”
There was nowhere else to sit, so we ate on the bed.
I picked at the bagel, took a deep breath, and let my walls fall. “When I left, I told myself it was because I had to. That I was doing the right thing, but I knew I wasn’t.” I had his rapt attention as he dropped his half-eaten sandwich back into the bag. I gave him mine, too.
He took it, set them aside, and focused on me. “Why did you leave?”
“Your dad cornered me in the hallway. He brought up Lud
ovico and implied he’d do the same to you. That he’d kill his own son.” I stared at the wall I faced. Offering information I didn’t need to went against my instincts, but he deserved answers, I finally felt ready to give them, and I needed to get this out.
For the first time in a while, hope had surfaced. Maybe we had a future. Maybe the lies and deception could stay behind us, and I could be happy again without fear of getting hurt. The walls I had built around me were dropping, but to totally destroy them, I needed to take a big step. I needed to own my truths.
I glanced up at Damian. “And then, I came into your room and saw the picture of Ludovico your dad had left on the side of your bed. You laughed it off, but it shook me. I was so damn worried about you, and it was weird for me because I’d never worried about someone other than my mother. It was nice to have someone to care for. But there was so much responsibility to it.”
Damian moved, so we sat with our sides pressed against each other.
I closed my eyes and leaned into him as he stroked my hair. “I knew I had to leave. You gave me an out when you said someone else had sent me to Devils Ridge. I took it. I called you horrible things. I threatened you. And I left.”
When I opened my eyes and met his, there was no judgment in them. It made what I had to admit next harder. “But there was another part of me that knew I was making the wrong decision. That it was the wrong thing to do. My ego over being lied to, and feeling fear for someone else for the first time ever, and the house of lies we’d built around us… they wouldn’t let me find you again. I could have gone back, but I chose not to because I was scared. I didn’t know how to handle the fear other than to bury it.”
“Dad threatened you?”
I nodded. “Sort of. He threatened you, knowing I loved you. But it doesn’t excuse leaving.”
Dark Romance Collection: A Sexy, Dark Bundle Page 17
