Reformed (Gangsters at War #5)

Chapter Four

Jane

A lessandro pulled his car into the reserved parking space in front of my building, but I didn’t move. I was reluctant to get out. Leaving him now meant I mightn’t ever see him again. I’d blink and he’d be gone, becoming a figment of my imagination.

Just like my mother.

With a sigh, I unclipped my seatbelt and turned to him, the dash-lights illuminating his strong jaw and dark, styled hair, his shadowed beard and even darker eyes. I swallowed hard, my pulse leaping at his closeness. “Thank you for—“

He swooped low, his mouth claiming mine in a kiss that swamped my senses and made my toes curl as electricity danced through my nerve endings. Holy crap ! I’d never been kissed like this before, like I was being owned...possessed. Like my entire body was putty in his hands.

His lips were luscious for a man, but though they were soft and pillowed my mouth, they were also firm and unyielding in their quest to dominate and conquer, his beard rasping along my sensitive jawline and his tongue penetrating my mouth.

He pulled back, his eyes gleaming. “I’ve wanted to do that all night,” he conceded huskily.

A delicious tingle moved through me. “I wanted that too.”

He inhaled sharply, as though caught off guard by my frankness. “Invite me in and we can finish what we started.”

I opened my mouth, ready to reject his offer. Then I realized I’d regret turning him down, and I didn’t want to live my life with any more regrets. I wanted to be pleasured, I wanted his skillful hands all over me, stroking and caressing, I wanted to experience real—

“My apologies,” he said. “You’re not that kind of woman.”

“You’re invited.” I ignored his apology and smiled at his incredulous stare, his rigid posture.

“You’re sure?” he asked. “I’m nothing like the men you’ve dated.”

“And how do you know that?” I just barely withheld a giggle. He was right, of course. Tall, dark and dangerous men weren’t even in my realm. But now that one had stepped into my space I wasn’t about to kiss and run.

I wanted everything he had to give.

He reached out and reverently touched my cheek, his fingertips then burning a trail down under my jawline. “You’re too sweet for someone like me,” he whispered intensely. “Your purity is what attracted me in the first place.”

“So it wasn’t my sharp wit or my seductive looks?” I asked with a pretend, pouty look. Before he could respond and deflate my ego, I added, “You did say opposites attract.”

He shut down the engine and nodded. “You couldn’t be more opposite to me if you tried, little sparrow.” His eyes glinted. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not sharp, you must be to run your own business. As for your seductive looks, I’m uncovering more and more of that every minute I’m with you.”

I didn’t answer, not when a sudden onset of nerves shut down my vocal chords. Though I was a businesswoman first and foremost, I’d always kept my private life private. It’d been a part of me I’d kept shadowed and hidden away from the world, from men in particular.

I was little more than a gauche, twenty-six old woman whose experience with men was dismal at best. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing with a worldly man like Alessandro, but I was keen enough to learn from a master.

I had no doubt he’d been with plenty of women, but even knowing he was a player I didn’t care, not right then. As long as he was focused on me in this moment in time, I was happy to entrust my untrained body to him.

With one last, lingering look at my too expressive face, he climbed out of the car and came around to open my passenger door. I smiled up at him. I loved this gentlemanly side of him, loved how special he made me feel.

I didn’t doubt for a second I’d be made to feel a lot more special very soon.

I accepted his proffered hand and sailed onto my feet as he drew me upright. I laughed, giddy at his touch, his nearness, my skin prickling with awareness and my pulse thudding hard.

Then he closed the car door and activated its locking mechanism before he drew me toward my building. I fumbled a little as I retrieved the old fashioned door key from my handbag, and I was grateful when he took it from me and inserted the jagged end into the keyhole before swinging open the door.

I stepped through the storeroom with its racks of clothes and led him toward the narrow stairs. I didn’t hesitate; if I did I might give into the nerves that were giant pelicans in my stomach. It was only once we were in my kitchen that I slowed, then looked at him and asked, “Would you like a drink?”

He didn’t answer. Instead he spun me around to fully face him, then he bent and kissed me, his tongue sliding in deep as my arms wound around his neck and I clung on while my whole body tingled and fizzed, heat spiraling through me and centering at my core.

I could get lost in this, lost in him while my emotions ran as high as my soaring temperature. He pushed his hands through my hair, my scarf sliding free and falling to the floor before he pushed me back against my island counter and lifted me onto it.

He stepped between my legs and pressed his arousal against my core, making me squirm and whimper. I no longer cared about foreplay. I was too far gone for that. I wanted him inside of me, wanted his length to fill me, sate me.

He reached down and pushed my panties to one side. When he touched my clit I jolted with shock. He deepened our kiss as he pressed my button harder, rotating my sensitive flesh until I was pushing against his hand and moaning at the electric current pulsing inside me. Then he flicked my clit with his thumb, an explosion of pleasure taking away my breath as I shattered into a million fragments.

I was still fighting to breathe when he scooped me up and carried me to my bedroom, laying me on the mattress like I was his most precious cargo. In that moment I supposed I was. He followed me down and kissed me again, then lifted his head as he undressed me and laid me bare.

My breasts quivered and my skin prickled as his stare devoured me. “Beautiful,” he said huskily.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice trembling. He was perfect for my ego. I’d never felt beautiful, until now. There was real admiration in his voice, his stare, my senses attuned to his veneration.

Though my hips and butt were a little too wide for my petite size, my breasts were barely a handful. I huffed out a breath. He clearly liked what he saw. My gaze dropped to his hands. They were no doubt big enough to span my waist.

I swallowed hard. I liked what I saw, too. “It’s your turn to get naked.”

He didn’t object. He pushed up onto his knees and took off his jacket. His navy tie and white shirt followed, a button flying off in his haste. I reached out and unbuttoned his pants, my hands shaking as I unzipped him to reveal he was commando underneath.

I sucked in a jagged breath. His cock was even more impressive than I’d imagined. Not that I had time to admire it. He was kissing me again, not bothering to take off his pants as the head of his cock brushed my core.

But although he’d made me wet, the moment he plunged inside me I stiffened, my body rejecting his invasion. It’d been to long since I’d been with a man. That he was so well endowed didn’t help.

His dark gaze held mine as he stilled. “Are you okay?”

I managed a nod. “I-I think so.” My lungs compressed as sudden awareness jolted through me. “We didn’t use protection.”

“I’m clean,” he said, barely withholding a grimace as he stayed in place, seated deep inside of me. His willpower had to be pushed to the limits. “I don’t doubt you are too.”

“Of course,” I said raggedly. Though Alessandro couldn’t possibly know my history, I’d only ever had two rather forgettable men in my life. “I can’t say fucking strangers is a part of my usual itinerary.”

Which was why I wasn’t presently on birth control. I released a tense breath. Surely the chances of becoming pregnant were minimal?

He chuckled darkly, his cock impossibly hardening, stretching me to the limits. “You’re one of kind, little sparrow.” He kissed me again, slow and tenderly, then lifted his head and said, “It means the world to me that you entrusted me with your body.”

I lifted my chin, though my panting breaths gave away my true anxiety. “Having your uncovered cock deep inside me is about as much trust as I’d give any man.”

“You really are special,” he said with a smile, his tension easing even before he covered my mouth with his yet again and kissed me until the pain of his entry receded to the back of my mind.

Then he was moving inside of me, slowly at first before gaining speed, his in-and-out rhythm quickly heightening my pleasure until I was hanging onto a cliff edge, all but lost to him even before an orgasm scattered my senses and the last of my inhibitions.

He exploded seconds later, my name a growled benediction as he looked down at me with possessive, narrowed eyes.

But then I was too far gone to notice anything. I was a light in the darkness, a burning flame that outshone comets. Until my heat and energy softened and I was floating, only distantly aware of his big body covering mine, of his murmured endearments as he disconnected and gathered me close again in his arms.

Until my eyelids drifted closed and I allowed sated exhaustion to take me.