Arranged

Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

C armella

There was something extremely dirty about having a man demand I sit on his face. While I’d consider myself a lover of all things sexual, that didn’t mean I was either the most experienced or completely uninhibited.

Derek hadn’t done me any favors either, his less than subtle passive-aggressive comments finally taking a toll. I’d stopped feeling sexy, preferring to have the lights off when and if we had sex. The ‘if’ won out in the end.

But with Alejandro, in a few days I felt beautiful again. The fire in his eyes was an affirmation, his labored breathing another indication he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. If there was anything that turned a woman on, it was the way her man gazed at her in the heat of the moment.

I pointed to my chest, opening my eyes wide on purpose.

Alejandro had already positioned his arms behind his head, staring down at me with a single brow lifted. How could any man who’d refused to shave for a few days look any sexier than he did?

He growled in response. Seeing a slightly playful side of him left me partially breathless. It wasn’t at all what I’d expected from him. Or any man engaged in criminal activity for that matter. He had two distinct sides, both of which scared the hell out of me.

I shuddered purposely and shook my head.

His sigh was exaggerated and the shift of his head sent a true shiver down my spine. I wasn’t expecting him to react so quickly or at such speed. He snapped his hand around my wrist, yanking me up by a full two feet with such ease I was shocked. I even gasped in response.

The way he captured me by once again gripping both hips almost brought a shriek up from my throat.

“Lady. When I tell you to do something, you best do it.” While there was darkness in his eyes, there was ire in his tone. He wasn’t interested in hearing me sass him, immediately pulling me up by another four inches.

And directly placing my slickened pussy over his face. A rush of embarrassment skittered through me, explosive heat likely staining more than half my body bright crimson. I flailed my arms, but they were still too far away from the headboard. It felt as if I was swimming in a churning ocean, both my mind and my body unstable.

I had nothing to be embarrassed about. I’d fucked him before. More than twice, but this was entirely too intimate. Too… personal.

Yet I sensed by his firm grip he had no intentions of letting me go.

“Oh, sweet Jesus. You are so… You’re a horrible man.” I couldn’t look down. Hell, I wouldn’t be moving at all had my body not been disregarding all sense of decency.

“Tell me that after I eat your sweet pussy.” He acted like a man on a mission, immediately bringing me all the way down until his entire face was buried between my legs. I had no idea how he was even breathing.

Panting, I threw my head back, forcing myself to blink rapidly so a fog wouldn’t develop. But the same as when I tried to keep my control around him, I failed. The haze overtaking my peripheral vision was colorful in nature, spots of gold and silver forming just in front of my eyes.

This was filthy and sinful, made that much more so by the deep, animalistic growls he was making. I realized while he’d kicked the door shut, he hadn’t locked it. Oh, shit.

I bit back a laugh, but I also prayed Gabriel would remain exhausted. I remained stiff for longer than I should have, but as soon as he thrust his tongue past my swollen folds, the wild woman inside of me took over.

Finally, I could close my eyes, relaxing in his strong hold. His fingers dug into my skin and he shifted me forward and backward, taking his sweet time to lap up my juice. If he was smothered, I certainly couldn’t tell.

Time meant nothing as he feasted, now using both thumbs to keep my pussy lips wide open. I had no idea a man’s tongue could flick so quickly or provide so much raw satisfaction.

I was brought close to an orgasm several times, but he always pulled back. At this point, I’d be exhausted by the time he allowed me to climax. When I realized I was rocking his face like some cowgirl on a bucking bronco, I bit my lower lip to keep from shouting.

The electric sensations only continued to increase, pushing me closer to a perfect moment of nirvana. He was relentless in his actions, his tongue a magical weapon.

“Pinch your nipples for me,” he commanded.

The wash of embarrassment returned, but his tone of voice was too direct to ignore. I cupped my breasts, squeezing them for a few seconds before feeling uninhibited enough to finger my hardened buds. When I finally had the courage to pinch them between my fingers, the glorious aspects of pain and pleasure became consuming. Moans dripped from my mouth and he licked me even more furiously.

I twisted and plucked, enduring a full minute of near agony.

Soon, I realized it was impossible to hold back any longer.

I threw my head back, gasping as I stared straight up at the ceiling.

The orgasm was powerful, sweeping over me in the same relentless fashion as he was licking me. My pussy clenched and released, grasping his tongue. If it was possible, he drove it in even deeper.

I was covering his face, a single climax turning into a second. Sparks of light flew over my field of vision and my breathing was more intense and labored than before. At least I wasn’t screaming.

Yet.

I feared that would come soon.

After biting my lip, I finally started to roll off the high precipice, dropping my head once again. He sucked on my clit, adding to the sensitivity that had already formed earlier. When he lifted me slightly, kissing my inner thighs, I let out a deep sigh.

He let his hold go lax and that allowed me to crawl down his body, sweeping my hair across his chest as I’d done before. The powerful man didn’t stop me when I crawled between his legs. His eyes were glassy like I knew mine had to be.

While seemingly relaxed, his legs tensed when I wrapped my hand around the base of his cock. He allowed me to play, blowing across his cockhead before taking the tip into my mouth. I used my strong jaw muscles to suck, enjoying being able to keep my eyes on him. For a man with few expressions, I could tell how much I was pleasing him.

His chest was rising and falling, almost in time to how I was sucking on him.

I dragged my tongue along the underside of his shaft, darting licks across both testicles. His breathing remained labored as he watched me. I was quite enjoying being able to tease him. The moment I finally took his cockhead into my mouth again, he fisted my hair.

“So very naughty,” he whispered. His voice was even huskier than before, barely audible.

His breathlessness fueled me and I took more of his shaft into my mouth. The taste of him was tangy, salty, and I rolled my tongue back and forth. However, he tensed and I sensed he was starting to lose control.

For a man like Alejandro, that wasn’t acceptable. He eased up, rolling his hands under my arms. With no struggle at all, he lifted me up, dragging me over his torso. With his cock pressed against my slickened folds, he laughed softly, pushing the tip just inside and bringing me down forcefully.

“Oh, my God.” I bit back another cry, clawing his skin as my muscles stretched to accept his full width and length. He was huge, filling me completely. My body would ache for hours. I loved that. There was something sinful about the aftermath of hot sex.

Alejandro never blinked as I rocked atop his body, tightening my knees against him. However, his eyes were slightly dilated, the corners of his mouth turned up just slightly.

“My little tease.”

“But I don’t belong to you.” I knew as soon as I muttered the words he’d growl. I was right. He certainly believed that he owned me.

The tiniest part of me was thrilled. That was wrong, so much so I was taken aback. That didn’t stop the enjoyment. I felt free, alive, and on fire.

“Ride me, woman. Just ride me.”

His command was darker than before. So I did, now bucking hard against him. Just when I was certain he would release deep inside, with a single quick action, he tossed me over onto my back, crushing a portion of his weight against me. His cock was still firmly implanted, throbbing in my pussy.

My core was exploding, lights still dancing in front of my eyes. He took the time to yank one of my bent legs around him then the other. His eyes pierced mine in such a way I couldn’t breathe.

Or think.

Everything was one sweet blur as he continued fucking me, pumping long and hard, but with a perfect rhythm. Together we moved, a well-orchestrated dance that could go on forever. Beads of sweat from his forehead peppered my face, his masculine scent even more overpowering than before.

I was thrown by how lightheaded I felt, almost as if I was floating. I was certain I was too exhausted for another climax. I was wrong. This one was even more powerful than when he’d been licking me. When I emitted a slight shriek, he captured my mouth to keep me from awakening my son.

His tongue fit perfectly into my mouth, our lips firmly locked together. He pulled one of my arms over my head then the other, finally intertwining our fingers. I’d never felt this close to anyone when having sex.

The thought was wonderful yet terrifying. It was as if I was letting my guard down too soon with the man. I wanted to keep reminding myself everything about this and us was wrong, but with nothing seeming real, it just didn’t matter.

The man was insatiable, fucking me as if this would never happen again. There was such a sense of need between us, a desire that I’d never felt.

It was wonderful, leaving me sated and in awe.

As I drifted down from pure ecstasy, he finally allowed himself to let go. With three brutal pumps deep inside, he released, filling me with his seed.

I had no way of knowing what I wanted or where this would go, but a small part of me felt as if I’d just dropped straight into the fires of hell.

I’d promised myself this would only be an arrangement. Yet it felt very real.

That would continue keeping me on edge and in fear.

Not for my life, but for my heart.

* * *

Alejandro

“What did you say?” When Gio had texted me that he’d needed to see me right away, I’d immediately grabbed a weapon. Having a child in the house, I’d been forced to lock it away immediately. Another reason I’d purchased the home had been the in-house security that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.

The previous owner had installed two safes and a room that could only be accessed by a special button located in what had been the man’s office. It was tiny, but perfect to hold as many weapons as I felt necessary. I’d yet to tell Carmella about the special features. She was dealing with enough, finally acting as if she could trust me.

“You heard me, boss. A heist. I’m sorry to interrupt, but Drago called. The fucker was none too happy to do so, but he did what he’d been told to do.”

“Don Lupini’s shipment headed to the port,” I stated. I’d been told of the upcoming activities in brief format. There was still no trust between the two groups, but I needed to be kept abreast of all activity. In turn, I kept a few of my soldiers up to speed in case additional men were needed.

“How bad?”

“Pretty bad. It appeared Don Lupini had a prearranged buyer they’d worked with before. There’d been no threats, no indication the truck would be hit. They were surrounded by three vehicles and the truck was blown to bits. Two men were killed instantly, but one hung on providing a limited description. Nothing that provided any real shit. The explosion didn’t do it. They were shot. You can imagine the aftermath. His men barely got to the scene before all hell broke loose. The only saving grace was they’d headed through a part of Brooklyn cops don’t like to go to in the middle of the night.”

Gio was close to panting.

“The merchandise?”

“Taken, or at least most of it. Whoever it was knew how to make the hit without destroying everything inside. I have no fucking clue how that happened considering there was live ammunition inside.”

I took a deep breath. The operation sounded like something the military had perfected.

“They have a leak a mile wide,” I told him. Or…

We did.

My thoughts drifted to Marco. While it was apparent he’d been tasked to provide one scrap of information, that didn’t mean one or more of my men hadn’t been approached and offered large sums of money in exchange for a single act of betrayal.

“That’s what I was thinking. What do you want to do?”

I thought about the best course of action. “I take it no one has come forth to claim responsibility.”

“Nope.”

“Why did Drago bother calling?”

“He was told to. He’s taking orders from you.”

Well, fuck. I hadn’t been told I was directly in charge of all operations, only when we were working together as an alliance. I was standing in sweatpants in the middle of the night holding a weapon. I’d been placed in charge of two very different sets of soldiers and both families were still being targeted. A question remained in the back of my mind as to whether the attacks were directed toward Lupini alone.

“Double up on security for our warehouse. No deliveries until they are triple checked. Change routes when they go. Make certain every shipment going out has at least one backup, two when available. And I want twelve-hour reports on all avenues of business and security on both the Lupini and Santorelli estates.”

“Yes, sir. Are you heading to the scene?”

“Did they take what was left of the truck to one of their facilities?”

Gio nodded. “Yes.”

At least Lupini’s men had been well trained. “I’ll head there in a couple hours. Let Drago know. I want to personally check what’s left of the truck. Don Lupini?”

“He hasn’t made a statement. My guess is he’s waiting on hearing from you.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I felt a presence in the shadows and stiffened. “You’ll take Carmella and her son back to the condo first thing. I’ll head to their warehouse.”

“You need backup.”

I laughed. “I can handle myself, Gio. It’s your job to keep my wife and stepson safe. Understood?”

“Of course, sir. I’ll watch out for them with my life.”

“Keep a close eye on the house. No one else knows about this address. Correct?”

“Correct, boss. I was very careful.”

“Make certain it stays that way.” Gio shifted back and forth. Even in the darkness, I could feel his discomfort. Whoever was targeting the two families was placing us on edge on purpose. They were hoping weaknesses could be discovered and used.

“Yes, sir.”

I moved to the door with him, closing it with a soft click. After locking and switching the security back on, I took a deep breath. “You can come out now, Carmella.”

She padded closer, turning on the foyer light. When I turned, the look of fear in her eyes pulled at the anger inside of me.

“What happened?” she asked, inching closer. She was in a robe I’d tossed into her duffle bag, the material following softly around her naked body hiding underneath.

“One of your father’s trucks was hit. Three men killed.”

“Oh, my God. Is my father okay? My sister and brother? Sasha?”

“They’re fine.” I moved closer, gently reaching out and touching her arm. It wasn’t the first time she pulled away from me, but it was the first time I felt a reaction deep inside.

“What does this mean?”

“It means I’m heading to where what’s left of the truck in the morning.”

“You’re sending me back with your men. Right?” Her face had tightened, her lips pursed.

I nodded. “I need to ensure your father’s soldiers understand what’s at stake.”

“And what is?”

“Lives. You should go back to bed.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“Make a few phone calls.”

Carmella sighed. “You need to realize that I’m not helpless nor will I stand by while my family is targeted. I deserve to know everything that’s going on. If this is going to work between us, we need to talk to each other. That’s how you build trust.”

She was a tough girl, her determination admirable. At times, I needed to remind myself that I hadn’t been born into the world of criminal activity. I hadn’t been raised to believe that women had no place in the business. At that moment, it felt as if all of what I’d been on was on a collision course of being destroyed. My mind told me getting her involved would place her life and that of her son in additional risk.

But my gut said that her assistance and her support could alter the future.

Even if I didn’t know what that looked like.

She stood with her head held high and her eyes cutting through mine.

I shook my head, hoping I didn’t regret my decision. “Then I suggest we make a pot of coffee. And we’ll talk.”