Hero: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance

by Lara Swann

  God damn, this woman was going to be the death of me.

  “You’re not leaving my sight, remember?”

  She stiffened in indignation, but it didn’t stop the way she leaned in instinctively as she glanced around the motel and reconsidered. After earlier, she was at least prepared to listen to me. Too bad I was now too distracted by the soft flowery scent of her hair to drag my attention back to the man at the desk, my body suddenly craving the feeling of her underneath me, picturing pushing her against the wall and running my lips all the way down her neck…

  One room was a terrible idea. But there was no way I was leaving her alone here tonight—

  “We don’t have a twin. Just doubles left - you want one or two?”

  I looked back at him, and wondered whether the world was out to get me.

  That, or give me everything I needed…

  I cut that thought out of my head and answered before Bella could.

  “One.”

  “Seth—”

  Her voice hissed at me but I just turned with an eyebrow up, pretty sure she’d see the necessity in my decision.

  “Yes?”

  She bit her lip as she considered it, and I could feel the delicious tension in her body, the uncertainty - not because she was worried about what I might do. She was worried about what she might do. The thought made my blood pound something fierce, and I could feel the tendrils of desire making their way through every nerve.

  “Okay.”

  Her voice was soft, but determined, and I figured she’d made up her mind to resist the intense undercurrents that were sweeping me along regardless.

  I nodded to the man and he cast a dubious glance at us before handing over the key - making me remember the swelling on her cheek, and then wonder whether the guy was trying to judge if he’d have a domestic on his hands. It irritated me to be seen that way for the second time that night, but I let it go - answering unspoken questions only made you guilty in most people’s eyes.

  I kept my arm around Bella as I walked her to our room, luxuriating in the soft curves under me and trying to tell myself tonight really wasn’t about that. I’d wanted to seduce the girl, sure - had considered taking our banter further so many times today. But now didn’t seem the time for it. We were tired, irritated and had too much going on in our heads from the incident earlier. The idea of a double bed, though…

  I let her go as soon as we were in the room, looking around with a small nod. The place wasn’t big - certainly nothing compared to the last hotel room we’d been in together - but it was clean, efficient, and had everything needed to crash for the night. I shut the door and Bella looked at me uncertainly, obviously ill at ease with this arrangement.

  “T-shirts and underwear, no snuggling, no taking more than your half of the covers - and I’ll even let you use the bathroom first. Fair?”

  She nodded and disappeared into the bathroom without saying a word, and I could hardly believe my feminine tempest had grown meek. But I guess she’d been through a lot today.

  Most of the guys I knew would’ve surrendered the bed completely, and I could feel Dale’s disapproval already, but they had the whole chivalry thing going on. Women were for protecting and cherishing and all that shit. Maybe the kind of women they’d grown up with, but I didn’t really see that it made much difference whether you had balls or tits…tits might be softer and sweeter perhaps, but just as treacherous.

  Those guys might have smoothed a few of my edges, improved my manners a little - there was no doubt it helped in luring girls into bed - but that didn’t change who I was, and I was only going to go so far.

  I shrugged off my jeans and thanked whatever deity might be listening that my interest had at least calmed with Bella’s disappearance. Maybe tonight would be alright after all.

  Then she emerged from the bathroom, her light t-shirt barely reaching the purple silken panties I kept catching glimpses of, and I realized I might have misjudged my instructions.

  I tried not to stare and soak in every part of her. Honestly I did. For a few seconds.

  When I somehow managed to shift my focus to her sparkling emerald eyes, to my surprise they were lit with pleasure, absorbed as she watched my hot gaze devour her. No outrage or objection.

  My jacket still hung open around her shoulders, the large fabric reaching down to mid-thigh and flapping against her hips. It looked perfect on her. Seemingly unaware of my thoughts, she shrugged it off and held it out to me, offering it back.

  I wanted to tell her to keep it. To put it back on. To never take it off.

  They were nonsensical thoughts and instead I accepted it back, hanging it over the back of the chair already holding my jeans. I was beyond telling myself to cut it out. I stepped towards her almost unconsciously, my body moving with that slow, seductive grace I couldn’t help when I was so focused on something. It was like every part of me narrowed down to that one point of attention, noting every intake of breath, every beat of her pulse in her neck, everything I wanted. Everything I was going to make mine.

  Then she looked up at me and the light shifted against her face. The stark bruise on her cheek, now that she’d removed her make-up, stole my intent. I stepped close and raised a hand without thinking, cupping her chin and running a light finger over the discolored skin.

  “Fuck, Bella…”

  Her wide eyes looked up at me, and the expression there had nothing to do with that bruise. Her skin was flushed with the same need pounding inside me, her breath catching as I held her caught with just one light touch. The way she reacted to me drove me crazy, made me wild as I had been that night years ago.

  All thoughts disappeared as my mouth dipped towards hers and I took the kiss I’d been waiting a lifetime for. She moaned into my mouth, arms coming around my shoulders and body melting against mine as I’d dreamed of so many times. My hand slipped to hold her neck, the other coming around to run down her waist, her hips, her ass. The t-shirt did a poor job of stopping me, and I paused as my hand enjoyed the contrasting sensations of rough fabric with smooth skin underneath, the hint of panty lines making me nip at her lips.

  I only kept us like that a moment, unable to hold the chaste kiss when I wanted to taste her so badly. My tongue slipped into the warm softness waiting for it, her mouth parting easily as I took what I wanted. Then we were together - her hands all over me, exploring as they slid under my t-shirt and ran across the hard, ripped muscles of my chest. That made her moan, and she fell closer towards me, my own hands encouraging the way she leaned against me. I wanted to touch and caress every part of that hot, forbidden body - push her onto the bed and show her all the things I’d been thinking of on those cold, distant nights alone.

  My cock was harder than I could ever remember, just from that kiss, and I couldn’t believe what she was doing to me as I grunted and maneuvered us closer to the bed. This was what I wanted. Needed. One last, hard fuck to get the thought of that tender, delicate body out of my system.

  We landed easily, her breath leaving her in a delightful way as I held myself just above her, mouth whispering along her lips, chin, cheek, neck. My tongue flicked out, marking her, tasting her, and I fought the urge to use my teeth as well - claim her in the raw, primal way I was longing to.

  “God…Seth…”

  Her voice was light, dazed, and so hot for me. It shot straight to my cock and I pressed a leg between her thighs. That was enough to make her buckle under me, hips moving of their own accord as I flashed her a glance full of all the power swelling inside me, born of desire and need. I could see what it was doing to her, knew from the way her hands clutched at me that she wanted more. Needed everything I did. As if we were made for each other, bodies fitting together in perfect harmony.

  Growling at the romantic crap that refused to leave my mind, I lowered my head to her heaving breasts and took them in my mouth through the t-shirt. She gave a strangled sound, fingernails clutching into my back as I lavished her with my tongue.

/>   Fuck, yes.

  I hadn’t imagined this was how the evening would end, even when I extended that initial invitation - but it was everything I’d wanted. The chance to finally finish what we started, and I reveled in that just as much as her body. All those dissatisfied regrets…closure.

  I shifted, bringing my lips back to hers and she kissed me with a ferocity to match my own. I could feel the way she shuddered beneath me, the power of this affecting her as deeply as it did me. Her hand held the back of my head as I came up, the military grade buzz-cut not giving her anything to grip, but I loved the feel of it against her fingers anyway.

  I met her eyes and the rest of the world disappeared, caught in the vortex swirling between us. She paused, gasping for air a little as she looked at me, and my stomach tightened at the flicker I saw there. I tried to lean back in to continue that divine kiss, but she spoke first.

  “Seth…wait. What is this - what are we doing?!”

  Something inside me screamed in rage at the interruption, at her god-damn never-ending questions and what they might mean. But the echo of our first night came back.

  “Seth…what is this?”

  Now, as then, there was no way I could answer it. I didn’t have words for the depths of emotions rampaging through me. But I knew what it had to be. There was no choice - nothing else available to us. This was the end.

  “This is…one last night of fun, babe. One fucking fantastic way to bury that pent up history…the goodbye we should have had.”

  The last became a murmur, but I couldn’t help expressing it. This could never have worked, I wasn’t built for it and I knew it - but leaving after that hot night of passion, without a word…that wasn’t how it should have gone.

  Her eyes flashed for a moment, and I saw the heat and need there, the desire seducing her as it had done me - until my words sent a wave of shock and pain ripping through that, the sight of it hurting me as much as her.

  “I…no, Seth. I can’t.”

  I looked at her, not understanding for a long moment, until she started to wriggle under me, shaking her head.

  “I’m sorry…no, it’s not going to work. I can’t do that.”

  “What?”

  She pushed at me, but she was completely ineffectual against my weight and size, and I couldn’t gather my wits enough to move.

  “Bella?”

  My mouth reached down to nuzzle at her, but she ducked her head and pushed at my shoulder again, until I finally got the message to shift off her. She didn’t meet my eyes as I lay next to her, body on fire, wondering what on earth had just happened. I reached out to her but paused as she moved back. Something within me ached to see it, and I found myself unable to push where I was clearly not wanted.

  She took a deep breath, as if only just coming out of some confused daze, before finally meeting my eyes again. The sadness there made my heart clench.

  “I’m sorry Seth…I can’t do that. I…it’s not that simple for me.”

  I just looked at her.

  Of course it isn’t…

  She could sense my disbelieving outrage. The blood was pumping hard in my veins and it was all the self-control I had to lie here and look at her, not explode all over the room. Need and determination surged through me with something akin to adrenaline, and I needed to be up, active, using it. Not lying here listening to a ridiculous, rich girl talk herself out of the fiery passion that had felt impossible to stop.

  Her features twisted at whatever she saw on my face, anger flaring for a moment behind the lost, sad look on her face.

  “I mean - fucking to say goodbye? That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. Talk about opening a can of worms.”

  As I looked at her, untold emotions coiling within me, I considered that maybe she had a point. Maybe. But only because she was an uptight ass who couldn’t just let loose and have fun. Had to write meaning into everything.

  I felt myself closing off as I dragged my wild feelings back from a dangerous precipice.

  “Fuck.”

  “I’m your step-sister, Seth. What the hell were we thinking?!”

  Now that she’d stepped past the raging lust, she seemed to be working her way up to what she no doubt thought was the right expression to have in this situation.

  I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it.

  “Okay. Fucking bad idea. You’re not interested in screwing around. Got it.”

  I pulled myself out of the bed, disappearing into the bathroom before she could say another word. Once there, my calm dissolved and I let my breath out slowly as my head tilted against the closed door.

  Fuck. Shit. God-damn fucking shit.

  My cock - idiot that it was - still held most of the blood reserved for my brain, and I found my hands clenching with the need to find something to rip and tear to pieces. Anything to get the hot desire out of my veins. Even the adrenaline highs had never been this bad - and at least I knew how to work those off. I idly wondered what Bella would say if I decided to go for a 10 mile run right about now…

  But I’d promised not to leave her.

  The infuriating, stuck-up girl who had wormed herself under my skin and got so damned stuck there I was still feeling the effects.

  Well, fuck this plan to hell.

  I ignored the conflicting mess of emotions and decided I was never going to work them out tonight. Instead, I took a few deep breaths and gave myself some weak attempt at relief, letting my internal compass flick between inordinate cursing and acceptance until I felt calm enough to emerge.

  When I did, the light was off and I could see Bella’s outline under the covers to one side of the bed through the streetlight coming through the blinds. I paused for one moment, seriously considering taking the floor for the first time, but pushed the notion away. I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself for the girl who’d just exploded at me for trying to give her something she desperately wanted.

  Taking the other side of the bed, I turned away from her and pillowed my head on an arm, unable to help noticing her warmth and the soft impression she left in the bed, only moments away from me. Every sense was still on fire, attuned to her in a way that kept my body coiled tight. I didn’t even have words for the unexpected desolation I felt like this, my back turned to her as we firmly ignored each other.

  I thought back to the endless freezing cold nights of BUD/S, the tense, controlled terror of nights crawling through pitch-black tunnels on deployment. That had been worse than this. It had to be. But as my ears strained for the lightest sound of her light breathing, my body tensed in anticipation of her slightest movement, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.

  Eventually, her breathing evened out and it was just me staring into the clinical white light from behind the blinds.

  With a deep sigh, I settled myself down for a long, sleepless night.

  Chapter Ten

  Bella

  I let myself in with a barely contained sigh, the mid-morning sun glinting from the windows framing the front part of the house and making it look more friendly than it felt this morning. My cheek was throbbing and I had a headache from the night spent tossing and turning, as well as the early start.

  And worst of all, I could still feel his hands on me…his mouth teasing me…the ferocious look in his eyes as he’d made me feel like the only person in the world. My body was practically quivering from the memory of it, betraying me again and again as I replayed his kiss, that deep penetration to my very core.

  Every few minutes had me cursing myself for stopping him - but it had been the right thing. I couldn’t have continued. Couldn’t have let myself get sucked into that divine vortex where nothing else existed. I wouldn’t have come out again - maybe he could use a one night stand to bury the past, but for me, it had cracked open something I spent so long sealing shut. Something I was afraid had splintered just from his touch.

  Fuck.

  The drive back had been one of the more awkward experiences of my life - both of us sat silent
ly, trying to pretend the music adequately filled the thick air. So much for this trip improving our relationship. If I never saw him again, it would probably be too soon. I wasn’t sure I even could, with the heat still burning between us—

  “Annabelle!”

  My father’s sharp voice had me pausing on the second step.

  Please not now.

  I turned with an apologetic expression as he marched down the long hallway.

  “Hey dad. I’m sorry about—”

  “Where were you?!”

  His voice came out clipped and angry, and I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves.

  “Seth and I went on a road trip - we meant to be back—”

  “Without telling anyone where you were going?”

  “I left a note—”

  “With no information.”

  I couldn’t work out whether I felt annoyed or uneasy at his aggressive questioning. He didn’t usually get riled up like this. Then again, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done something to concern him.

  “We got caught in traffic, dad, I’m sorry.”

  “And didn’t think call to let us know? We were up all night wondering whether to call the police, but without knowing where you were, there was nothing we could say!”

  Guilt stabbed through me as I suddenly realized I hadn’t even considered calling him. After the mugging, talking to my father had been the last thing I would’ve wanted to do, and then when we gave up for the night…well, then there were even more distractions. I think I vaguely recalled noticing my phone was out of battery and I didn’t have a charger with me, but that was as far as my thoughts had gone. Heat flushed my cheeks as I looked at the mixture of anger and concern on his face.

  “I’m sorry, dad - really. I…didn’t think about that.”

  “I’ve never known you to be so inconsiderate, Annabelle.”

  The desolation I’d returned with deepened as shame hit me. I never disappointed my father, and I honestly couldn’t believe how absent minded I’d been yesterday. The whole thing was a disaster.

  “I—”