The Italian: A Mountain Man Romance

by Hazel Parker

  He was so close I could feel his breath on my face and I saw that his eyes weren’t black; they were the darkest brown I’d ever seen. There was a thickened scar curving from his jaw down to his neck. It looked old and I wondered, if I asked, would he tell me how he got it?

  As I looked into his eyes, I could feel him searching deep into my soul, like he was asking me a question and, whatever it was, I was willing to say yes.

  Something shifted between us and my eyes closed. My head tilted upward. Hoping. Praying. Begging for him to kiss me. His lips touched my cheek, just over the bruised skin.

  Time stopped. My heart came to a halt. My breath caught in my throat. As the soft skin of his mouth left the side of my face, the exact spot where they had come into contact burned and tingled. A hot, blazing fire pulsed through me and I came alive. A small grin crept onto my face and my cheeks painted themselves rose red. I felt bereft when he pulled away at last. But we didn’t part for long.

  He slid his arms under my body. His comforting hand held my back as the other arm slipped under my knees. Then he swung me up into his strong arms, against his hard chest, as if I weighed nothing at all.

  I didn’t resist and as he carried me downstairs. I cuddled closer to his warmth. I didn’t care that he was a stranger, that I didn’t even know his name. It didn’t matter that people were probably staring. I just wanted to leave and I knew with him, I would get to do that safely.

  He was my guardian angel.

  I buried my face onto his chest, inching my nose a little nearer his neck. With my vision blocked, I didn’t have to face the world just yet and I could pretend I was anywhere. Somewhere happy. Anywhere but here.

  I felt a small jolt for every stair he took and I could sense the crowd parting around us. One of his hands traveled up my back and covered the back of my head. He was still protecting me—from danger, from curious eyes and from the flailing arms of dancers not paying attention to what was around them.

  I could tell when we arrived at the front door from the temperature drop and the way he suddenly stopped.

  “What are you doing?” a booming voice asked, and I assumed it was the bouncer.

  My rescuer didn’t answer. He only moved sideways to make sure my legs didn’t hit the door rail on the way out.

  “Do you know her? You can’t take her. I’m pretty sure she didn’t come with you.”

  The man pushed forward, ignoring the bouncer and trying to leave.

  “You can’t leave with her, man.”

  I could feel his muscles tense and knew the bouncer had made the mistake of touching his arm.

  Then he said the first words I'd heard him say all night. “She’s coming with me.”

  It was not a suggestion. It was not even a command. It was a statement that came with the threat: Don’t be dumb enough to try to stop me.

  Chapter 7

  Solomon

  The old me, the normal me, would have turned the knob so slowly none of the inhabitants of the room noticed and, once I was sure what I was dealing with, I would have made a move. But not for her. Not when she screamed like she was dying. It practically skinned me alive.

  I hadn’t thought a millisecond before I was through the door and kicking ass. I hadn’t cared about taking names either. I didn’t give a flying fuck who this sleazebag was. I knew what I needed to know—he’d laid his fingers on the wrong woman tonight.

  He shouldn’t have touched her, but in a twisted way, I was glad he did because now I was with her. I had her in my arms and some caveman part of my head said I would never put her down again.

  She hadn’t complained when I’d picked her up and carried her through the crowd. She hadn’t tried to scramble free. In fact, she’d clung to me. That assured me that I wasn’t taking her away from the club involuntarily.

  I was probably holding her too tightly, but I couldn’t calm myself. Adrenaline still coursed through my body in fear, in fury. I was so angry I was shaking.

  It had been close. Too close. I couldn’t even get myself to think about what would’ve happened had I left her alone. I’d almost lost her when I didn’t have her to begin with, the sweet angel. I couldn’t leave her like this. I needed to help her.

  “Get in,” I said, pushing her into the passenger side of the car.

  Her hand on my forearm stopped me.

  “Are you okay?” she asked as she touched the blood on my knuckles.

  Despite everything that had happened to her tonight, she was asking if I was okay.

  “I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she said and looked down as I climbed into the driver’s side.

  My hands gripped the wheel as another thought hit me. “Did he hurt you anywhere else besides your face? I mean, did he…”

  I didn’t know how to say it, but her dress had already been torn when I’d found her.

  “Are you asking if he’d been able to rape me?”

  I nodded. “Do I need to take you to the hospital?”

  She shook her head. “You got there in time. Thank you.”

  “I just did what any man would do.”

  Fetching my vest from the seat, I handed it to her and once she was covered up, I started the car.

  I’d needed to put distance between us back in the club, but circumstances had pushed me to act. As a result, I hadn’t accomplished what I was supposed to do. But there was still time. I could drop her off, backtrack once Blue Nights closed, and burn everything down. I wanted to destroy that place now more than ever.

  We turned into a familiar corner and I became aware that I had been driving her to my house. I didn’t know where she lived.

  “Did you leave a car at the bar?”

  “Oh no!” she said, covering her mouth. “I left Sarah there.”

  “Call your friend,” I said, still weighing if I should take her to my house or ask her for her address.

  In my peripheral, I watched her dial a number and curse when it went to voicemail.

  “She didn’t answer.”

  “Should you be worried?”

  She shook her head no. “That’s just like her. I’ll just text her to let her know I went home.”

  The cellphone light animated her face as she texted. What exactly she said I could only imagine.

  It was smarter to take her to her home, leave her there and forget about her. But I didn’t want to be smart. As pitiless and as selfish as it sounded, it was undeniable that I wanted her in my bed. It was so easy to see that image in my head.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Solomon,” I said, smiling.

  “Jenny,” she said, sticking out her hand.

  I shook it quickly and returned my hand to the wheel.

  “Are you planning to take me home?”

  She made the decision easy for me.

  “Sure. Just tell me where to go.”

  We drove in silence, only talking when she gave me directions. I pulled up to a small house and parked out front.

  “Do you live on your own?”

  “No. I have roommates. Sarah and Jo.”

  I walked her to the door. “Will you be safe?”

  “Sure but…” she said, hesitating.

  I shouldn’t have waited. I shouldn’t have been hoping she said something else. I should have walked back to the car and kept my mind focused on the job. But I didn’t.

  “But what?”

  “But Jo is most likely asleep by now and I don’t want to be alone.” She put her hand on my arm and looked up at me with big, blue eyes. “Can you stay?”

  I really shouldn’t. I had a mission to do and my loyalty was to the club, not a woman I just met.

  But before I could refuse she added, “Just until Sarah comes home?”

  That seemed easy enough. It had a deadline. I could stay just until her friend came home.

  “Okay.”

  She unlocked the door and went in quickly, holding a finger to her lips until we passed two doors and were in
her room.

  “Do you want to wash off that blood?”

  I looked down and, even though I wasn’t too dirty, I didn’t need to accidentally drop any incriminating evidence. “Sure.”

  She handed me a towel and opened the door. The bathroom was at the end of the hallway.

  “I’ll just wash my arms and my hands.”

  I saw something flicker in her eyes before she looked away and smiled.

  “Here’s some soap. Don’t forget, my room is the one closest to the door,” she said before walking away.

  I didn’t bother wasting time on a shower, though I felt the sweat and grime from the club on my skin. I only had until her friend came home and I wanted to spend that time with Jenny. I rubbed the soap against my skin, not feeling the stinging of my knuckles probably because of all the blood rushing to my cock. I kept trying to remind myself I wasn’t getting that kind of action tonight.

  I wanted Jenny. Damn it. I knew what she’d been through tonight, but still, I wanted her bad.

  I tiptoed back to her room and entered without knocking. She was just sliding a thin shirt over her head. I watched the smooth skin of her back disappear behind the cotton.

  “Do you feel better?” she asked with a smile.

  I had on my jeans and boxers. My t-shirt was sweaty and had a little bit of blood on it. I didn’t want to put it back on until I had to. Her eyes danced over my chest without trying to hide it.

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  She walked behind me and clicked the lock on the doorknob.

  “Again, thank you so much for saving me,” she purred, standing in front of me.

  I could smell her perfume and I wanted to sink my nose into her hair.

  “No problem,” I said, hearing the alarm in my head to back away.

  I knew she would do it before she stood on her tip-toes and kissed me and I still didn’t stop it. Her lips were soft as she started tentatively. When my hands wrapped around her back and in her hair, she moaned and kissed me deeper. Our tongues danced and teased one another. My hands didn’t remain idle. I used the tip of my fingers to caress the smooth skin of her back. She sighed as my hands slid under her shirt.

  I really shouldn’t do this. I really shouldn’t be here. And after chanting it in my head a few times, my lips moved from her lips to her neck.

  She sighed and leaned away so I could suck more skin into my mouth. Her hips undulated against me, begging me to do something about the hard-on in my pants.

  “Solomon,” she said, grabbing my hips and pulling me closer.

  “Wait. We can’t.” I said, pulling away softly.

  The line was drawn, and I was standing on it.

  “What?” she asked, looking up at me.

  Her eyes were glazed with lust, but I could see her fear of rejection.

  “This isn’t a good idea. I should go.”

  “Don’t go,” she said, grabbing my hand.

  She looked so adorable and edible and I knew staying would be a mistake.

  “I shouldn’t stay.”

  “Please?” she said, pouting.

  “Okay,” I said, pulling her to the bed. “But you need to lie down.”

  “That’s where I was trying to go,” she said, smiling at her hint.

  “No. You need to lie down so you can sleep,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. I hadn’t showered and I didn’t want to dirty up her sheets.

  She draped herself over my back, pushing her heat and tits against my bare skin, obviously not caring. “Don’t you want me?”

  I did. I did so fucking bad, but that didn’t mean I should take her. “I still can’t do this.”

  “Why?” she moaned.

  I turned towards her, pushing her on her back. She gladly lay under me, wrapping her legs around my center.

  “Don’t do that,” I said clearly though my hips moved on their own against her.

  Her soft skin and lithe body felt so good.

  “Why?” she asked, writhing underneath me.

  “Because someone almost raped you.”

  I had more encounters with women who were broken and used than I wanted to admit and I could remember that the first time always hurt the worst. I imagined Jenny would want to take a shower or at the very least lessen any contact with men. Shit, I was a stranger to her, but she was going completely against the grain.

  “I don’t care,” she swore.

  “You’ve got to give me something better than that, love. You need some time and you’re also reeling from almost being raped.”

  “I’m fine,” she cried, humping against me.

  My hips moved with her, barely controlled. “Try again.”

  She huffed before telling the truth. “I need to erase the memory of Jay’s hands on me. Please. I don’t want that to be my memory of tonight. I want to remember being saved and… I want to get to know my hero as intimately as possible.”

  There it was, and completely not what I wanted. As beautiful as her answer was, I still didn’t feel comfortable giving her dick like this. When I fucked, it wasn’t out of pity or as some form of consolation. Anybody in my bed was about to get a gift and a little piece of heaven they weren’t likely to forget. That’s what I wanted to give Jenny. I wanted to stretch her pussy to the limit and be so far in that she wouldn’t remember anybody who had been there before and would compare every man after to me. That was what I wanted.

  I rolled off her and she mistook my movement as more willpower than I actually had.

  “You can’t leave me like this,” she said, lost in the fever of sexual desire.

  “I won’t,” I said, leaning forward to kiss the delicate upturn of her nose.

  “You’re going to fuck me?” she asked so hopefully I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “Not quite,” I said as I slid down the bed.

  “Then what are you going to do?”

  “Taste this pussy,” I growled as my face met her wet core. “Make you forget all about that asshole and remember me.”

  She was soaked.

  I yanked her panties down roughly and barely restrained myself to finger her gently. I rolled her clit between my thumb and finger, making her squirm with pleasure.

  “Be quiet,” I commanded before I pressed my fingers deep inside her.

  She gasped loudly. Her body was so petite against mine and in comparison to my hands. I pressed as deep as I could go, playing in her wet heat. She was barely holding on. I didn’t think she could hear how loud she was so I covered her mouth with my own.

  “Shit,” she gasped as I pulled back to kiss her neck. “Oh, Solomon. Solomon. Yes.”

  “You better scream into that pillow,” I said, pulling the pillow from under her head as I slid down her body again.

  She moaned as I sucked her nipples and kissed the valley of her breasts. I pushed her legs apart, as wide as they could go, and put my face in between them. She was dripping wet. Her legs wrapped around my head in a vice as she rocked against me. I could smell her musk in her pubic hair and I hummed into her core.

  Her hands were vipers in my hair, yanking as if she wanted me to come up for air, but I knew that wasn’t true. She wouldn’t be happy until I made her come. I wanted her to come apart. I wanted her to come so hard she saw stars and KO’d.

  I sucked and licked her like I was starving for her pussy. My fingers continued to explore her depths, sliding in and out with speed as my tongue licked her up and down. I didn’t stop at her ass either. She jumped and moaned loudly into the pillow and some sick part of me cataloged that information in the back of my mind.

  If I ever got the chance to be in her bed again, I’d be revisiting that virgin hole.

  She humped me frantically and I could tell she was close. I worked her faster, harder, trying to get her there. My dick was so hard, I knew I could split wood, but this wasn’t about me. This was about her.

  Then the orgasm rolled over her like a great wave. She was paralyzed, legs tightening around my neck, thig
hs suffocating me as the orgasm exploded through her body. Her pussy quivered in my mouth and her nectar coated my lips and tongue. She lay there gasping as I licked my fingers clean.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” she moaned, already halfway asleep.

  “Good night, Jen,” I whispered back.

  I watched her for a few minutes. She slept so peacefully and for a moment, I envied the pleasure she got. My cock pulsed with the need to be sated. I wouldn’t get anything done tonight if I couldn’t get rid of this hard on. I grabbed the lotion bottle from her shelf and jerked a wad of it into my hand.

  Jenny snored softly, sleeping in a little ball. From her position, still naked from the waist down, I could see her pinkness peeking out from between her legs. I imagined my dick inside of her instead of my tongue, her pussy holding tightly to my cock.

  Being silent was never difficult for me and, watching her, I came into tissues I’d grabbed from the box on her desk. I had never jerked myself off with a half-naked woman in a bed near me before, but there was a first time for everything.

  I sighed loudly and threw away the sticky tissues. I lay down next to her and listened, waiting to hear when her friend came home from the club. I was only going to stay until Sarah made it home.

  Chapter 8

  Jenny

  I woke up in a pair of big arms… warm arms. So warm, I wanted to burrow in deeper.

  Who was in my bed? I tried to think through the morning fog to all that happened last night and it hit me like a hammer. The club, the guy, the fight, and Solomon. He was still here.

  I’d thought he would be gone when I woke. He’d told me he was going to leave when Sarah came home. I smiled to myself hoping he’d stayed for me, but knowing he’d probably just fallen asleep.

  What if Sarah never came home?

  I reached across to my nightstand to check my phone for messages. My phone was sitting at five percent and there were three missed texts. Sarah had texted me to say she’d gone home with a guy named Alex, and that she’d be home in the morning. I breathed a sigh of relief and cuddled closer to Solomon. Sarah was safe and Jo was home. I could relax now. Relax back into the man in my bed. He felt so solid behind me.