“You don’t go and visit?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. I can’t.”
“Why not? I’m sure he misses you.”
“I don’t miss him,” she whispers. “I mean, he’s the reason I’m trapped here with you.”
“Ouch,” I say, clutching a hand to my heart. “That’s cold.”
“Well, it’s true. If he hadn’t gone to jail, I wouldn’t be scraping together pennies to pay all of our bills and support what’s left of our family. But he made a mistake, the biggest one, and now we’re all paying the price.” Marchella lets out a humorless laugh. “I had a life, Roman. It wasn’t extravagant but it made me happy, as happy as I’d been in Sicily. And then everything came crashing down around me like massive dominoes. Sometimes I wish they’d have just crushed me when they tumbled. Then at least I’d be out of my misery. Trying to keep your glass half full is fucking exhausting.”
She hugs her arms around herself, dipping her head low. My fingertips tingle with the urge to pull her close and trace a path over her bare skin.
“I’m, ah, sorry about all of that,” I murmur. “I didn’t know.”
“How could you?” she says, turning her head toward me. The pain flickering in her gaze makes my chest tighten. “How could you possibly know that my life is in shambles right now? She gives her head a quick shake. “I don’t need your pity.”
I sigh. “You know, things always get better just when you think they can’t get any worse.”
“I’ve been waiting for that sudden shift for about a year,” she snips. “It’s been a damn long twelve months with no end in sight.” She sighs. “And now this business with Frankie…he’s always been this way. Worse than when he was a kid. Short fuse, short-sighted. He never thinks about consequences. He’s all emotion. But he means well, and I know he’d do anything to keep me safe. He’s going to find your money, Roman,” she says, twisting toward me. “I promise you he will. He won’t want anything bad to happen to me.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” I ask. “Because I can’t tell right now.”
She leans back against the couch cushion. “He doesn’t always do the right thing. But he does the best he can. I just hope he figures out a smart way to get you what you want,” she whispers. “Because I’m afraid his emotions may get him killed otherwise.”
I don’t usually feel remorse for my work.
Then again, I don’t typically bring my work home with me.
But having Chella here, next to me, exposed in the literal and figurative senses, makes me realize what I’ve been missing out on all of these years. I thought I was just missing the sensitivity chip. Now I see I’ve had it all along. I just didn’t care enough to channel it.
I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and I never looked back once.
And now, I have another choice to make, a chance to make a strong move to restore faith in my influence.
Except I can’t seem to stop looking backward at the girl who makes me feel more vulnerable and exposed than I ever have before.
It was dangerous ten years ago…and it’s even more so now.
Marchella runs a hand through her sleep-tousled hair and I catch a whiff of coconut.
My shampoo…
I shift on the couch when my dick jumps at the mental images of her soaped up in my shower, naked and wet. She was gorgeous as a teenager, but now? Christ. She’s all woman with curves that my hands itch to caress. My mind sticks me in the glass-enclosed space right behind her, my cock pressed against the globes of her ass. I run my hands over her tits, flicking her nipples as she moans and rests her head on my shoulder. My cock dips in between her ass cheeks and she gasps when my fingers slide into her tight pussy—
“Roman!” She snaps her fingers in front of my face and suddenly, I’m no longer submerged in the hot spray.
“Yeah?” I say.
“Did I lose you? I feel like you completely blacked out there for a second.”
“No, I’m here. I was, ah, just thinking that maybe you might be, um, hungry.”
Hungry. Hmm. Well, I can definitely say at least one of us is.
She narrows her eyes. “I forgot. We didn’t eat before because you pissed me off.”
I scrub a hand down the front of my face. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean for you to starve.”
“Well, I had the anger to keep me sated,” she says with a tiny smile.
“Are you still angry?”
“Are you still a dick?”
We stare at each other. I watch her tongue dart out of her mouth and sweep over her lips, her expression full of conflict.
I feel that conflict, too.
Fucking everywhere.
“I can’t apologize for who I am, Marchella,” I say, my voice gruff. “But I promise that I’ll never hurt you. You’ll be safe with me.”
She nods. “That pretty much tells me what I need to know.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t mention Frankie in that promise.”
I lift an eyebrow. “I said I’d never hurt you. Killing your brother would hurt you, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So you have to trust me, then.”
“What if he can’t get your money back?” she asks, her voice wavering. “If he says he can’t get to it, what will you do then?”
“He’s going to find it,” I say. “He has you to think about. He won’t want anything bad to happen. He’s gonna do what he needs.”
“Right,” she whispers, toying with the ends of her hair. “Okay.”
Now, Marchella is a smart girl. She knows as well as I do that Frankie isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, and that any job he does is at risk of blowing up in his face because he never thinks about his actions.
That sure as hell hasn’t changed.
But yet, she’s still trying to convince herself that maybe I’m not the bloodthirsty savage she originally thought I was.
And that maybe I do have some redeeming qualities after all.
That’d be a first.
I’ve lived my life thinking I was just beyond redemption. How ironic would it be if my captive felt differently?
Captive.
There’s that word again.
Why does it have to make me so damn heated when I think of tying her up and making her the kind of captive I really want her to be?
I jump off the couch, feeling as if I need to hurl myself into a cold shower but instead, opting to open the refrigerator. That’ll give me a chill and something to occupy my hands and eyes. I grab the carton of eggs, not sure what the hell to do with them, but knowing if my digits are free to wander, they may act on their own and do things that would be very bad.
Bad in the good way.
I can hear her feet pad into the room behind me. I swallow hard, sticking my head deeper into the fridge.
“You buzzed out of there pretty fast,” she murmurs. “Why?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. I can’t exactly tell her that I wanted to mount her on my couch and that I took off before my body betrayed me.
It’s done that before…too many times to count.
“I, ah, wanted to eat something.”
Understatement of the fucking century.
She sidles closer to me and reaches for the eggs. “Here, let me.”
But when her hand grazes mine, it jolts me and the carton flies out of my grip, smashing against the polished tile floor.
Eggs.
Everywhere.
As if on cue, my stomach rumbles. But I know it’s not because I have a taste for a very early breakfast. No, the hunger that has tormented me since I first laid eyes on Marchella Amante at that restaurant is manifesting itself.
Right here and right now.
A most inconvenient time.
But when is anything about my life simple?
“Dammit,” she mutters, looking around with a huff. She grabs the paper towels from the counter and sin
ks to her knees to mop up the runny mess coating my floor.
“Here, let me. I dropped them. You shouldn’t have to clean it up.”
She gazes up at me, a tiny smile playing at her lips. “Well, you’re paying me, right? I am your employee.”
Good Christ.
My mind and my dick immediately jumps to the thought of what else can I get her to do for cash?
I press my fingertips to my temples, forcing out the thoughts before they percolate for too long. I’ve got serious issues right now.
Sex with Marchella is one I don’t need right now.
It would be wrong on so many levels.
But despite that knowledge, I can’t tear my eyes away from her on the floor, the way her bare thighs tighten as she wipes up the eggs, the way the hem of the t-shirt rides up giving me the tiniest glimpse of…
No.
My dick jumps.
No fucking panties.
Thank you, God…
Tiny hairs on the back of my neck prickle as I sink down to the tile and reach out to grab the paper towels. Her back is turned toward me as she stretches over to clean up a stray piece of shell. The t-shirt lifts and the curves of her ass peek out at me, taunting me, tempting me to reach out and grasp them. I want so badly to dig my fingertips into her flesh, to sink my teeth into it, to drive my palm against it as she wiggles and writhes in my arms.
She should be punished for flashing that perfect ass at me…
And suddenly, a flaming pain shoots up to my skull as she gets up, her back crashing into my nose. I tumble backward against the cabinets, my hand flying up to my face and I let out loud groan.
“Oh my God!” she says, crawling over to me. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were behind me!”
“It’s okay,” I grumble. The intense pain explodes between my temples. Okay, so clearly that was karma getting me back for lusting after her ass.
I’d better watch myself with this one, or I might end up in traction before our time is through.
“Let me see,” she says in a soft voice, slowly peeling my hand away from my nose. Her face is so close to mine that her breath flutters against my cheek like feathers. “It’s not bleeding.” She grins. “I think you’ll live.”
“Good,” I say, dragging one of my hands down the side of her face. I don’t know it escaped my control, but it’s calling the shots now.
And I’m powerless to stop it.
Marchella’s eyes widen slightly, and more so when my fingertips trace a path down the slope of her neck, dragging the neckline of the t-shirt with them as they clear a path south.
She doesn’t stop me, though.
And her eyes are glued to mine, searching for a reason to push me away, to ignore the spark of electricity between us.
I know. I’m searching for the same things.
But both of us come up empty because here we still are, immersed in each other and buried in this twisted little bubble of forbidden desire that I’ve re-created, so many years later.
I close my fingers around her arm and pull her toward me. She leans forward, still on her knees. Her lips are so close to mine, like a scrumptious meal that is just within reach of my palette.
And I’m a starving man.
I push myself away from the cabinets, gathering her in my arms, all pain forgotten and replaced by pure, carnal lust. I can feel her heart race, thumping hard as I press against her chest. She straddles my legs as I run my hands down her spine, digging my fingertips into the small of her back because I need her closer still. Her hair falls forward, tickling my skin. I slide one hand behind her head, my fingers tangling in her soft, wavy hair.
“Marchella…” I murmur before crushing my lips against hers. She wraps her arms around my neck and I lose my balance, tumbling backward against the cabinets. I plunge my tongue into her eager mouth, drinking in her desire and taking that first bite of the forbidden apple that I just know is going to be my undoing.
The coiling heat of her tongue blasts through my insides, igniting the sparks that have lain dormant for far too long. My hands slip down the sides of her torso, toying with the edge of the t-shirt. My dick thickens against my boxer briefs as she grinds her hips against me. And just knowing there’s no fabric covering her sweet pussy makes my pulse jackhammer against my throat.
With a loud gasp, she pulls away, her eyes filled with dread. “No, this can’t happen.”
“Why not?” I pant, breathless from that kiss.
“Because it’s wrong,” she whispers. “Your brother is right down the hall. And besides that, I’m your prisoner, for Pete’s sake!”
“Prisoner. Right.” I sweep my hair out of my eyes, thinking as fast as my libido will allow me to. But damn, the lust is so thick, it clouds my mind. “Okay, well, what if I handcuffed you? Would a little role play make it right?”
That’s when I see it.
Raw hunger. She can’t hide it from me. It’s an expression I know all too well.
She likes the idea of me cuffing her.
Fuck, I like it too…
“Roman,” she whispers.
“Yeah?”
Marchella is still on top of me and my hands are on her waist, although they would like to be somewhere else right now.
Actually, in a lot of different places.
“I…I…” She bites down on her lower lip, the vicious battle still waging in her blue-green eyes.
Which side will win?
Oh, Christ, don’t keep me in suspense.
I’m ready to fight!
And then her lips crush against mine, crowning me the victor. She locks her legs around me, rubbing her chest against mine as she fists my hair, devouring me with a voracity I’ve only fantasized about. Our teeth crack, tongues flailing wildly as our heated bodies entwine right on the kitchen floor. We’re like two predators fighting over the same prey, attacking each other with an unbridled passion that courses through me like a raging inferno. I tug at the t-shirt, clenching the fabric in my fists, my dick screaming for release. I sit straight up with her still in my lap, grasping the globes of her ass beneath the t-shirt. A tiny mewl slips out of her mouth and she tugs at my lower lip with her teeth.
Without warning, she breaks away, her brow furrowed. “Did you hear that?”
“You mean, your body screaming at me to get you naked? Yeah, I heard that,” I murmur, trailing my fingertips down the slope of her back.
She lets out a soft giggle. “No, I thought I heard someone. What if Dante is awake?”
“If he is, he’s gonna get a hell of a shock if he comes in looking for a midnight snack because we’re what’s cooking in here.””
“Oh my God, that was so incredibly cheesy,” she says, giving me a playful slap on the arm. “Tell me you don’t use lines like that on all the girls. I can’t imagine you’d get laid if you did.”
“Maybe you just bring it out of me,” I growl, tugging her hair and attacking the sensitive area behind her ear with my teeth.
She melts against me and I make a mental note about her ears.
I slip my hand between her ass cheeks and squeeze before moving to her pussy. My fingers slide inside of her slick heat and I let out a moan. “My God, you’re so tight…”
Her breathing becomes more labored as I plunge my fingers deeper into her wetness, caressing the soft folds. She writhes against me, her eyes squeezed shut as she rides my digits like the bad girl I’d hoped she would be.
She grips the sides of my face, attacking my mouth with a pent-up fervor that makes my toes curl, her body supercharged by my evidently magical fingers.
Wait until the next course is served…
Marchella pulls away slightly, her hands gripping the sides of my torso. “Take me to your room,” she murmurs, her eyes glittering with desire. “Now.”
She takes her time sliding off of me and I rise to my feet, the ache in my balls so deep and so agonizing, I want to back her against the island and bury my dick deep inside of her so I can
get the release I so badly need. A chill slips down my spine as she traces the outline of my pecs with her fingertips, sweeping her tongue over her swollen pink lips.
I lift her into my arms and she locks her legs around me as I move from the kitchen to my room down the hallway. Our gazes are locked on each other, and it’s a damn miracle that I didn’t crash into anything in my path.
When we’re inside, I close the door as quietly as possible since I know Dante will be skulking around for food any second. He’s like a scavenger, for Christ’s sake. And the skulking… well, that’s courtesy of his job. You never know when he’ll appear over your shoulder. He’s stealth like that. It’s a skill that keeps him alive while he’s stalking his prey.
It’s also a skill that can come back to bite me if he happens to see what I’m doing right now.
Violating the kidnapper protocol by fucking the captive.
My dick jumps.
Oh, yeah. I’m gonna fuck her good, too.
I lay Marchella on my bed, her dark hair splayed on the comforter around her flushed face. Her eyes sparkle in the moonlight that streams into the room, and she raises her arms over her head as I straddle her, a coy smile on her face.
I slide the fabric over her head and toss it to the floor, revealing her lush tits. “No panties,” I breathe, lowering my head and grazing her lips with mine.
“I couldn’t find any in the drawer,” she murmurs. “Your kidnapping plan clearly wasn’t premeditated.”
“I guess that’s a good thing for both of us,” I say, plunging my fingers into her wetness, eliciting a loud gasp from her. I dip my head lower, and with my free hand I knead the soft flesh of her breast. I tease her nipple, gently tugging at it with my teeth as she wiggles beneath me, squealing from the sensations generated by my greedy mouth.
I want to taste all of her, sampling every bit of sweetness from those pouty lips to her quivering pussy.
Savage Beast: A Dark Mafia Enemies to Lovers Romance (Sinfully Savage) Page 15
