by LP Lovell
I step around the corner of the hallway, straight into their path. Lucas staggers a step, his face going pale. Anna’s eyes widen for a fraction of a second before narrowing.
“Rafael.”
“Avecita.” My eyes rake over her body encased in skin-tight yoga pants and a sports bra. The tanned skin of her stomach begs to be touched, and her tits strain against the fabric of the bra with every breath. When I meet her gaze, she stares back at me almost defiantly. She knows she’s caught. “Where are you off to?”
“Lucas and I were going to work out.”
“Work out?” She nods. “What kind of work out?” The thought of Lucas doing any kind of up close and personal self-defense training while she’s dressed like that has my pulse ticking up. He and I still need a little chat. I’ve just been too wrapped up in Anna to find the time.
“The usual kind,” she says evasively.
“Is that so?”
She squares her shoulders at me, and I almost smile. My little warrior, getting so feisty. Meanwhile, Lucas is practically crawling into the floorboards as though he’d do anything for the ground to just open up and swallow him. He won’t look at me. On a sigh, Anna grabs my arm and drags me toward the office, slamming the door once we’re inside.
“Do you have to terrify Lucas like that?” she says, pressing her back to the door and folding her arms over her chest.
I close the distance and cage her against the wood, plucking at the thick bra strap over her shoulder. “If you wanted to learn to fight so badly, you should have just asked.”
“I did. You gave me a gun.”
I cock a brow. “You don’t have to fight if you shoot them first.”
She thumps her head back against the door. “It’s not about that.”
“So instead of explaining that you so desperately want your ass beaten, you go to the kid?”
“Who told you?” She narrows her eyes. “It was Carlos wasn’t it? Rat bastard.”
I laugh. “I know everything that happens in my cartel, avecita.” I place my finger under her chin, forcing her to look at me. “And I know everything that concerns you.”
“So now what?”
“Ask me,” I say. She stills, and I can see her pulse start thrumming at her neck. I lean in, brushing my lips over her artery. “Ask me to teach you.” I kiss the soft skin. Her head tilts to the side, her palms landing on my chest. So sweet. So responsive.
“Teach me to fight, Rafe,” she says, her voice breathy. My cock twitches. I’m not sure if this is the best idea I’ve ever had or the worst kind of torture. Probably both.
“What will you give me in return?” I grab her by the back of her neck and tug her away from the door before spinning her and slamming her chest against it. Her palms land flush to the wood either side of her head. She twists her face, glancing over her shoulder at me. Every perfect inch of her is pressed against me as the scent of her invades my senses.
“Now,” I groan against her ear. “Get away from me.”
“What? I can’t. You’re three times the size of me, Rafe.”
“Tell that to the guy who wants to hurt you, avecita.” She struggles a little, but it’s pathetic really. “Place your hands in front of your chest, and lift your knee until you can get your foot against the door.” She does it. “Now push.” She does, managing to shove me back a few inches before I’m right back against her. “If that doesn’t work, do the same thing, but this time, throw your head back.” She moves again, and I duck to the side as she throws her head back. I allow her to move us away from the door before I wrap both hands around her body, pulling her arms across her chest in a tight hold. “Good.” I kiss her neck and she trembles. “Now, how are you going to get out of this?” She thrashes around, but she has no wall for leverage, and she weighs no more than a rag doll.
After a few minutes, she lets out a frustrated huff. “I can’t.” She sounds so dejected.
“It’s all in the technique. Turn your palms to face down.” She does it. “Good, now thrust your hips back and use every bit of force you have to throw your hands down.” I loosen my hold slightly, and she goes through the movements, breaking my grip. When she turns around, she has the most brilliant smile on her face.
“I did it.”
“Good. I assume Carlos showed you how to get in a crotch shot.” She nods. “He likes that one,” I mumble.
“So now what?”
I lift a brow at her. “You get free, you kick him in the nuts, and you run.”
“Rafael.” She sighs. “I don’t want to run away.”
I lean against my desk and cross my arms over my chest. “What is this about?” She opens her mouth to speak. “And don’t lie to me.” Her mouth slams shut again, and she stares silently at me. “You don’t want to learn to defend yourself—you want to know how to fight. Why?” She folds her arms around herself and drops her chin to her chest. “Come here.” I crook my finger at her and she hesitantly comes closer. Pulling her between my legs, I brush her hair away from her face. “Why?” I repeat quietly.
Her eyes lock with mine, and she looks so vulnerable. “My sister…”
“Isn’t going to harm you. She’s done a lot to get you back.”
“No. It’s not that.” She shakes her head. “You don’t understand. Una…she was always the strong one.” A small smile touches her lips before it falls. “When we were in the orphanage, they only used to feed us once a day. I used to get such bad stomach cramps. So, Una would break into the kitchens at night and steal food. She never ate it herself though. She just took enough that they wouldn’t notice—enough for me. And then the matron would sometimes find out. She’d beat Una with a belt until she bled.” She swallows heavily. “She’d just limp back to our room and go out that very night to steal more food.”
“She loved you.”
“She was always the strong one, Rafe. And now she’s this big bad assassin, and I’m still her weak sister. The only thing I’m good for is laying on my back.” In a heartbeat, my pulse spikes, taking my temper right along with it. My hand wraps around her throat, and her eyes go wide as I drag her so close that her rapid breaths blow over my lips.
My teeth grind together so hard that my jaw aches with the effort. “Anna…” Her nails rake over my wrists, and I force myself to loosen my hold just enough that she can breathe. “Please don’t say that.” My voice is a low growl.
“Rafe,” she whispers.
“Are you scared, little warrior?” I ask. I need her to say the words, to snap me from this.
Her eyes drop to my lips before her small hands cup my face, nails scratching over stubble. “Of you? Never,” she breathes. My grip on her throat loosens further, and she leans in, pressing her lips to mine. Pure and innocent. “I’m sorry,” she says against my mouth, and my anger instantly drops to a low simmer.
“You are not a whore, Anna. And you are far from weak. Your sister of all people will see that.” I wind my arms around her small waist, plastering her to my body. She still looks so dejected, and fuck if I’m not completely weak for her. This girl has so much power, and she doesn’t even know it. “But if you really want to learn how to fight, I’ll teach you.”
A small smile pulls at the corner of her lips. “You’d do that?”
“Under one condition.”
“What?”
“If you ever actually get attacked, you shoot, or you run.” She nods. “And I have another condition.”
She narrows her eyes. “You can’t just change the goalposts, Rafe.”
“If I hear you call yourself or reference yourself as a whore ever again, I’m done.”
Her expression shutters, a tinge of panic creeping through her eyes. “Done?”
“No more fighting.” I’d love to tell her that I’d walk away from her—that I’d be done with her. It bothers me that much. But I know it would be a lie. I’d never admit the level of my addiction to anyone but myself, not even her, but I’m hopelessly in love with the bro
ken little warrior. Men like me don’t often become weak, but it’s fitting that one as resilient and strong as her should be my one soft spot. I don’t know any man who could not fall in love with her. She’s infectious, her lure, magnetic.
“Okay.” Her voice is tentative, unsure. She swipes her hair behind her ear nervously. “When do we start?”
Standing up, I force her back a step as I move away from the desk. “I have to go into the city, so after that.”
“You’re leaving?”
I nod, going to my desk drawer and taking out my colt, checking the clip. “Yeah, I have some shit I have to handle.” She says nothing, and I glance up to find her knotting the bottom of her shirt in her fingers.
“Can I come with you?”
“Anna…” She looks at me with those pleading eyes. “It’s not safe in the city. Dominges still wants you.”
“And my sister, I know.” Una is no longer a problem. But she doesn’t know that.
“And the people who want Una. You’re not coming.” I move around her, and she steps into my path. I cock a brow at her. “My, my, we’re feeling brave today.” She grabs the front of my shirt, tilting her head back to look up at me.
“I just…I think I’m safer with you.”
I groan. She has no idea what it does to me when she says things like that. Such a small, simple thing, but her trust is precious.
“You’re safer in the hilltop fortress surrounded by my men. They’ll protect you.”
She swallows heavily, her eyes shuttering closed for a second before she nods and steps back. When she opens them again all the vulnerability has washed from her features and in its place is a steely coldness. I both hate and respect it. I check my watch and pick up my phone, shooting a text to Samuel.
“I changed my mind. I’ll work with you in the gym now, but after that, I have to go, and you will stay.”
She glances at me. “Okay, fine.”
33
Anna
Sweat trickles down my spine, and my muscles scream in protest as I collide with the mat again. Jesus, I thought Rafael might go easier on me than Carlos. He’s brutal. I shove to my feet, chest heaving as my hair falls from its braid. Rafael cracks his neck from side to side, and I swallow heavily as the thick muscles of his body roll and flex ominously. I swear he only took his shirt off to scare me more.
“Faster, avecita. You have to be small and fast because you’ll never be stronger.” He comes at me, and I panic, the same as the last twenty times. I dodge to the side, but not fast enough. His tree trunk of an arm hits my chest as his foot sweeps my legs out from underneath me. I hit the mat with a thud, air rushing from my lungs. This time, he lands on top of me, pinning both my wrists beside my head.
“Now I have you, little warrior.” There’s not even a trace of fear. Since that day when he asked for my trust, I’ve given it to him without question. And it’s so freeing. I’ve stopped thinking about the possibilities of what might be and started to live in the moment—because Rafael is safe. He’s always safe. He’s exactly what I need because he always knows what I need better than I do.
My chest heaves, my pulse racing as I try to recover from all the physical exertion he’s put me through. He’s not even sweating. He looks as cool and calm as he always does. He drags his nose up the length of my neck, a low groan slipping from his throat.
“Did you just smell me?” I ask, fighting a smile. “Do you have a head injury?”
He chuckles. “No head injury. You just smell incredible.”
“Gross, Rafe. I’m all sweaty.”
His teeth scrape over his bottom lip, dark eyes flashing. “Exactly.” Lips brush my neck, and I instinctively twist my head to the side, granting him more access. His tongue swipes the length of my throat, and I shiver.
“You’re supposed to be teaching me how to fight.” My voice comes out sounding breathy and strained.
“You need a break.” His teeth pinch my jaw,
Before his lips move to the corner of my mouth until he’s kissing me. His bare skin meets the exposed strip of flesh between my sports bra and my pants, red-hot and yet sending goosebumps tearing over every inch of my body. He presses between my legs, and I invite it: his attention, his possession. I tiptoe along the tightrope of Rafael’s restraint, just waiting to fall off, yet knowing he will never truly let me tumble to the ground. He’ll always catch me. It’s that trust, that simple knowledge that opens the gate to all these foreign feelings. A strange tingling settles in my gut, warmth permeating me to my very core. Under his teasing kisses, a swarm of butterflies take flight in my chest, fragile wings beating against my rib cage like a primordial drumbeat. Rafe’s fingers slip from my wrists, trailing down my arms, leaving sparks in their wake. He’s kissed me before. I’ve always wanted it before. This is different though. This is more; a longing, a need I can’t identify.
My hands fly to his back, nails digging into rock-hard flesh as his tongue caresses mine.
“Anna,” he growls.
This feeling is eating away at me, a pressure that’s building until I’m restless. “I want you,” I blurt. I don’t really know what I’m saying or what I’m doing. I don’t know what I want, except him. I want everything that is Rafael. His brutality, his ruthlessness, his corruption, his tenderness, and the way he can make me feel safe and cherished with just a look.
He drops his forehead to my chest. “Do you trust me?” He asks, his voice tight. Why does he always ask me that? I nod, and he glances at me. “Words, avecita. I need words.”
“Yes, you know I do.” I don’t know how many times I have to tell him.
“Look at me,” he orders. I look right at him, into those bottomless dark eyes. His fingers trail down my sides before sliding beneath the material of my yoga pants. My breaths quicken along with my heartbeat as his hands slide down, over my hips, down my thighs, taking the material with them. Panic starts to rise like a wave, threatening to consume me. But like the life raft that he is, Rafe pulls me from the cold depths of my memories. “Focus on me, Anna.”
He finally removes my yoga pants, and I lay there, muscles tight, anticipation lingering on the edge of fear as his huge body towers over me.
Stroking over my face, he places a soft kiss to my forehead. “I love you.” Thump-thump, thump-thump. My heart splutters raggedly. “Remember that.” As I look into his eyes, I feel it, the unbreakable bond snapping tight between us. Me, the girl he unwittingly saved, and him, my most unlikely salvation. I feel it, real and tangible, reaching out across the air between us, licking over my skin, warm and inviting; love. Need. Belonging. I haven’t felt it in so long I’d almost forgotten what it feels like.
For a second he just watches me, his fingers tracing feather-light touches over my exposed skin. He kisses me, his lips strong and coaxing. Slowly, I relax into him, the tension in my muscles dissipating. Pulling back, he watches me carefully before dropping his lips to my neck and swiping his tongue over my collarbone. He places gentle kisses over my chest and stomach. I close my eyes and bask in the simple sensation of his warm breaths skating over my skin. Fingertips whisper down my thigh before trailing back up the inside. The higher they go, the less relaxed I become.
His lips hit the inside of my thigh, and I tense. “You said you trust me.” He kisses me gently.
“I do,” I say, although my voice sounds shaky and unsure even to my own ears.
I glance down at him, his face practically between my thighs. His fingers travel higher and higher. My chest tightens with each creeping inch, and when his fingers skim the edge of my underwear, I flinch. I’m right there, teetering on the edge of wanting to be brave, normal… and buckling under the strain of years of engrained fear. If he touches me…nothing good has ever come from anyone touching me there.
He pauses. “It’s me, avecita. No one else.”
I nod, listening to his voice but staring at the ceiling. It takes everything in me to remain here with him. “I know.”
&nb
sp; “I want to show you something.” I glance down at him again. A wicked smirk dances over his lips and I narrow my eyes at him. “But I still need you to ask…”
“What?”
“I’ll never touch you unless you ask.”
“Rafael, I… I don’t—.”
He turns his face and kisses my thigh again. “You want something you’ve never had before because you feel something right now you’ve never felt.” His tongue traces a wet line up my thigh, and I tremble. “You want it, you’re just scared. Ask me, avecita.” His gaze meets mine again. “Trust me to know what you need.”
My heart thrums so fast it feels as though it’s going to rip out of my chest and take off. “Touch me.” As soon as the words slip from my mouth, I feel like I’m going to be sick. My fists clench tight, my nails cutting into my palms. He’s going to touch me, with his face that close. Watching, seeing everything. I want to run from him. I want to run to him. I want to fight this fear, while allowing it to consume me. His finger brushes over me through my underwear and a sharp breath leaves me, every muscle in my body screaming with tension. My mind blinks, reaching for that untouchable place that has saved me for most of my life.
“Look at me, Anna,” he demands. I lift my head and look at him resting there, his face so close. Hot breaths blow over me, and I bite the inside of my cheek. I watch as he shoves my panties to the side and puts his mouth on me. His mouth! Embarrassment washes over me, and I try to back away from him, but his hands wrap around my thighs, holding me in place.
“Rafe.” His name comes out on a raspy moan as his mouth elicits sensations I’ve never felt before.
He groans against me, strong fingers digging into the flesh of my thighs. I fall back against the mat and wait for the fear and the anguish, followed by the void of nothingness. But it never comes. He doesn’t allow it. Rafael tears me apart with nothing more than a lash of his tongue. The world as I know it crumbles to dust before my eyes like a veil being ripped away. My body trembles and quakes as tears track down my temples. Long buried roots are torn from the ground, and I suddenly find myself free, weightlessly floating away. As if he knows exactly what I need, his hands slip from my thighs, and he winds his fingers through mine, holding me together as he shatters everything I thought I knew.
