by Jordan Marie
“How do you know Banks, pet?” Her eyes are spitting fire at me. Her tongue is moving over her swollen lip, trying to brush away the sting. “Ana,” I warn, almost at the end of my rope.
“He was a beat cop that was called out to my mom’s when I was sixteen. One of her customers woke up and, since mom was passed out, he thought he’d give me a go.”
Her words are hurled at me and they wound, as they were meant to. I pull tighter on her hair, not because she’s displeased me, but because her words light something inside that makes me want to kill. And I will. I will hunt the motherfucker down and kill him. I don’t care that’s it’s been over ten years. His blood will be on my hands and I will be the reason he draws his last breath. “Did he…?” Fuck, I can’t even say the words.
“No. Paul stopped him in time.” I refuse to feel an ounce of gratitude to that fucker. It’s not in me. “Until recently, I thought Paul was a friend. I looked at him like a father.”
I ignore the fact that she viewed a man my age, maybe a couple years younger as a father. I might be too old for Ana, but I’m not giving her up. Something else bothers me about what she said, however.
“Until recently? Have you seen Paul before today?”
“Until today, I meant. I’m sorry I’m just so rattled. He hates you Roman. Why does he hate you so much?”
She sounds frightened, and if she really cared about Banks that much, this had to be a hard blow for her, yet here I am, holding her. As guilt hits me, I let go of the stronghold I have on her hair and pull her into me, holding her close in my lap. I absently brush her hair with my fingers as I try to figure out how to put the things I need to say without hurting her further.
“You get that what I do might not be something everyone could handle. I deal with rules and laws outside of normal society.”
“Roman,” she starts, but I shut her down.
“It’s just facts, pet. I’m not asking you to condone what I do. I’m not asking for absolution. In fact, I love the fuck out of my life and things I do. It’s who I am. But some people might view me as slime, as the dregs of society. If I’m that, then Paul is worse. He has no honor even towards the laws in my world. He’s a bottom dweller, pure and simple, and the world would be a much better place if he had a bullet put in him.”
Her body tenses up and she tries to pull away. I know that I let my hate for Banks overrule my tongue. I didn’t go softly, not even a little bit.
“But Roman, he’s a cop. He’s devoted his life to—”
“This ain’t the movies, pet. Good guys don’t always wear white. Some of the lowest fucking men I’ve dealt with hide behind a badge.”
“You sound like you hate cops, but they keep the world from chaos. Without laws…”
I put my hand on her neck and pull her eyes to me. She needs to get this. I need her to understand. My world is the world she resides in now. She’s not leaving, so she needs to accept who I am—what I am.
“Men, pet. Men are human. There are good and bad in all of us, and I abide by my laws. It keeps chaos in my world from getting out of control and that world is yours now.”
“Roman, I’m not sure I want to be in your…”
I stop the words with a kiss, drinking from her lips in a kiss that’s sweeter and gentler than any we’ve shared before. Our lips move against each other, caressing. I suck her bottom lip into my mouth, pulling it with my teeth and running my tongue along the inside curve. Slowly, her mouth opens, the warmth and taste of her invading me and drugging my senses. My tongue moves in, seeking hers and dancing with it, trying to convey how I feel about her without the words. Words just get in the way. Ana and I have always communicated best through our bodies.
When the kiss is finished, she pulls back slowly, curls into me, and rests her head against my shoulder. Her arm goes around me and she holds onto me. It’s a simple gesture, but one I will never take for granted. Nothing about Ana being mine, can be taken for granted.
“Take me home, Roman,” she whispers.
Home. I haven’t had one of those before Ana. She’s home for me. I wrap my arms around her and settle back into the seat, counting the minutes until I can make love to her.
Make love.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ana
It might sound stupid. Maybe I’m the stupidest woman in the world. But when Roman pulls me in his arms and he kisses me… when all of this powerful, strong, and virile man’s attention is centered on me, I cave. I know what kind of man he is. I know what he’s done in his life. I’ve read page after page of all of the things that the DEA and FBI know Roman Anthes has done, but can’t get proof. So, maybe I am crazy. All I know is that I feel loved, cared for, and safer in Roman’s arms than I did standing near Paul today. Paul was the one who scared me and seemed out of control. Going with Roman and being with him felt… right. There’s no other way to put it.
Nothing about this case has turned out the way I thought it would in my head. Nothing I thought about Roman Anthes jives with the man I’m slowly falling in love with. I’m losing sight of my purpose. I’m supposed to be trying to save my brother. I’m supposed to be getting proof against Roman. I’m not sure I can do that now. I don’t think I want to do that now. And my brother, he hates me. He hates that I’ve kept stepping in and trying to save him. He hates that I became a cop. There’s so much bad blood between us, but I can’t sit by and let him die. If there’s a chance he’s out there and I can save him, I have to do it.
When the limo comes to a stop, I can’t make myself leave Roman’s lap. It doesn’t matter anyway because he holds me tighter and carries me from the limo. We don’t talk in the elevator either. I reach up and link my hands behind his neck and rest in his hold. It’s been a day and I’m emotionally spent. I don’t think I can take any more tonight. I will think about everything tomorrow. I will try my best to clear my head and plan then. For tonight, I’m going to get lost in Roman.
He carries me straight into our bedroom, placing me gently on the bed. He crouches down in front of me, pulling me around so my feet are on the ground and slides my shoes off. Once he’s done with that, he cups my neck and strokes his thumb across my cheek, a move so familiar that I’ve come to crave it, producing a feeling that I feel down in my soul. “I’ll be back, pet,” he tells me, and I have to smile. I still hate that damn nickname, but when he says it with that smile, I want him to say it again and again. This magic he works on me defies explanation.
He disappears into the bathroom and I flop back on the bed and breathe for the first time since Roman saw me talking to Paul. I have this urge to tell Roman everything. How would he react? It would feel good to come clean. I think what Roman and I have is real. He’d understand.
Roman comes back in before I completely convince myself. I need to think about it. What I’m contemplating has a lot of repercussions, least of all compromising my future as a cop and, ultimately, detective. I thought that was what I wanted, but now I’m not so sure.
“Stand up, pet.”
I look up to see Roman reaching for me. My hand goes in his and he pulls me from the bed. He turns me so my back is to him. The sound of the zipper on my dress sliding down is the only noise in the room. It seems unnaturally loud. His hands encircle my neck from behind. My pulse automatically jumps and a tight ball of desire curls in my stomach. He brushes his hands down my shoulders on each side, snagging my dress as he goes. The dress slides down my arms and cool air hits my chest as it falls to a puddle at my feet. I swallow because, as many times as I’ve been with Roman, this feels momentous. I don’t know what the shift is between us, but it’s there. He kisses the back of my neck at the base of my spine as his hands come around my sides to meet at my stomach. They fan out, following the line of my hips. His lips continue to leave a trail of kisses down the vertebrae on my back to the point that I know he’s on his knees behind me. The idea of Roman Anthes on his knees while worshipping my body runs a giddy thrill of pure joy through me. It s
ettles in my heart. It cements there, taking up residence.
This is real, what Roman and I have. This can’t be all about sex. It feels too different.
When I feel his teeth bite into my hip, a moan of pleasure escapes my lips. I turn so I can look down at him. He’s captured my thong in his mouth and pulls it down from my body, his dark eyes watching me the entire time. My heart beats triple the speed in my chest and every feminine part of my body clenches, preparing for an explosion. This man is lethal. He unhooks my garter, slowly rolling my stocking down one leg. I brace myself on the bed as he lifts my foot and removes it before starting on my other one. Each touch, each fleeting kiss grabs hold of me, refusing to let me go.
By the time he’s done, I’m completely naked and facing the bed, which seems to be his plan because he stands up behind me. I feel his hot breath graze across my skin. His hands hold my upper arms against my body and he places a kiss on my shoulder, his tongue tracing my collarbone. When he reaches my neck, I automatically tilt it to the right, giving him better access. His tongue paints a path from my shoulder to my ear and back down. Then I feel his teeth bite gently into my neck, capturing the vein that is throbbing crazily, betraying my excitement. He sucks that into his mouth while his teeth knead the skin and my knees go weak.
“Stretch out over the bed, Ana,” he orders.
His voice causes tremors of excitement to run through my body. I do as he asks, trying to control my breathing. He walks around to the other side of the bed and I look up at the man who is slowly owning my soul. He’s holding his tie in his hand. He has this look on his face that if I wasn’t already on fire for him, I would be with just that look. I reach my hands out to him, expecting him to tie them again, even wanting it. I love the feeling I get when I am completely at his mercy.
“No, pet. This evening’s lesson is all about feeding your senses,” he tells me.
He takes the tie and secures it around my eyes, tying it. I’m immediately enclosed in darkness. The silk material glides against my closed eyelids and I breathe heavily, wondering just what comes next.
I go a few minutes without Roman’s touch. For a bit, it feels like he left the room. The heady energy that is uniquely Roman is gone. Then I hear his footsteps. It sounds like he is pacing around the three sides of the bed, and I can almost feel his gaze on me. With each minute that passes like this, my anticipation wars with my nerves. I start to smell the faint scent of cherry in the air. After a minute or two, it gets stronger.
“Roman?” I finally question, using my elbows to support me and lifting my lower half off the bed, trying to search for him blindly.
“Which sense do you think is stronger, pet? Sight? But then you don’t have that one right now, do you?” he asks me. I jump because, from his voice, it appears he is standing right in front of me. “Maybe it’s hearing. Do my movements sound louder to you now that you can’t see, Ana?” he asks, his voice almost casual, but I can hear the undertone of need in it.
“Yes,” I whisper. That’s when I hear the crinkle of his slacks in front of me and feel his breath skate against my forehead as he places a soft kiss there.
“Maybe it’s taste,” he whispers, his voice wickedly soft.
His finger trails down my jawline, following my chin. I’m completely taken by surprise when I feel another hand hold my breast, pinching my nipple between his large fingers and pulling. When I cry out, his finger moves from my chin to my mouth, sliding inside. I close my lips around it, sucking his finger inside my mouth and sliding my tongue around it, imagining it is his cock.
He pulls on my nipple again and his lips are by my ear. “I’ll definitely give you something to taste soon, Ana,” he tells me, and when he takes his finger away, I bite my lip to keep from begging him to give it to me now.
I whimper in disappointment as I hear him stand up. He walks around the bed and I can hear him behind me. I try to decipher the noises he makes, but my breathing is too ragged, my heartbeat too loud.
“I think maybe touch could be the strongest sense to experience,” he says, his hand moving over my ass cheeks and up to my back.
I thrust my ass back towards him, begging without words for him to take me. Instead, I feel something slap against my ass. The sting is immediate as the cold leather connects, once, twice… three times. Burning heat zips through my skin and I cry out from the force of it. My wet pussy clenches internally as more juices rush forth. I’m on a razor’s edge and a breath away from climaxing. I feel something tickle across the heated skin in a zigzag type of movement. Feathers?
“Do you like that, pet?”
“Roman,” I gasp, the blood rushing through my ears.
Just like that, the feeling is gone. Then I feel the leather return, moving across my ass in much the same pattern, but it doesn’t stop. It moves lower and with purpose until it’s sliding against the lips of my pussy. When it pushes into the wet valley, I moan at the intrusion. It moves as if being guided, and the hard leather rubs over my clit—back and forth, ending in a small circle, and then repeating, over and over until my ass is pushing off of the bed and my pussy is trying hopelessly to latch onto the torture device so I can at least ride it.
“Oh, pet, you are soaked. I don’t think you’ve ever been this wet before,” he says before walking away. I cry out over the loss of both him and whatever he used to spank me with. My body grinds against the mattress and my fingers bite into the comforter on the bed so tightly, I’m surprised it doesn’t rip. I’m terrified he will leave me like this and not finish me off. “Hold still, Ana,” he growls. I definitely hear desire heavy in his voice now. My body instantly stills as if he controls it by invisible wires. “Good girl,” he says, his hand brushing along my ass, which still feels heated. He rubs it gently and then moves up my lower back. “How about we try a different kind of touch this time, Ana?”
I’m confused, but before I can ask him anything, I feel hot liquid drip onto my back. It’s painful, but there’s a warmth that spreads through me. It brings out an elemental response in me that’s even more pleasurable than when he spanks me.
“Fuck…” I whisper as another drop hits and runs down my side.
“We’ll get to that soon too, Ana,” he whispers. “Very soon.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Roman
I watch as the wax drips down on Ana’s body, gathering in deep pools of maroon and then slowly hardening as her body cools it down. I watch in fascination as the wax makes color trails against her milky white skin. Ana is so receptive to anything I do. I never thought I’d be someone who decided to keep a woman permanently, but I’m going to. They’ll have to pry Ana out of my dead hands before I let her go. I put the candle down, not because I’m not enjoying the fuck out of our game, but because my dick is so hard, I can’t spend another moment outside of her. I reach under her stomach and pull her up on her knees.
“Hurry, Roman,” she whispers.
“Is my pet hungry to be fucked?” I ask her, my hand moving over her ass and up her back. I love touching her. I love watching the way my dark hand stands out against her pale skin. I let my finger trail over the hard ridge of the wax on her body. Satisfaction rolls through me. I love knowing that I’m seeing a part of her that no other fucker will ever have.
“Yes. God, yes,” she pants.
I unzip my pants. I don’t have the time to take them off. I need inside her more than I need my next breath. I push them out of my way and line my cock up with her pussy, pushing just the tip inside her. She’s so wet and hungry, that’s all it really takes. If I let her, she’d suck my dick in and this would end way too quickly. I take back control, holding my cock tight, trying to hold back my own orgasm. I’m that ready to blow. I use it to circle her pussy. Her juices are so thick, they instantly start dripping down my cock, coating me in… her. That possessive feeling overtakes me again and I know there’s no way I’m going to be able to hold back. I slide my cock back and forth against her pussy, letting the shaft
graze her clit. The lips of her sweet cunt hold me in place as I let her ride my dick like that. It feels fucking good and I can feel the way she’s already trembling against my cock. My hands bite into her hips as I close my eyes and enjoy the way her slick, wet pussy moves up and down my shaft, branding it in her desire.
“I’m close, Roman,” she says, her voice hoarse and full of need.
I pull back, lining my cock up. I grab her hair in my hand and pull it roughly back. “Who do you belong to Ana?” I growl.
“Roman,” she cries, but I pull harder, her head coming back further as I lean over her, the hunter towering over his prey.
“Who do you belong to?” I growl, asking again.
“You, Roman. I belong to you,” she whispers.
Hearing the words, I needed most, I thrust into her, not stopping until my balls are pushing against the outside of her pussy. Her walls close in on my dick, squeezing and fluttering all around it, signaling how close she is. I keep my hold on her hair as I pull out and then thrust back in. I fuck her harder and harder in a way that I know she’ll feel me for weeks to come, in a way that with every step she takes, she’ll ache and miss my cock at the same time.
“You’re mine, Ana. I’m never letting you go. Mine,” I growl, using her hair to pull her head to the side and exposing her neck. I bite into her shoulder, not even thinking twice about it. I want my mark on her. I want to brand her skin with me.
Ana cries out and her body shakes as her climax rips through her. She meets every thrust I give her, her ass pushing back into me. I’m doing my best to hold back, wanting this to last longer.
