Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Dante
Ipull my fingers out of her.
She whimpers at the loss. Her hips push back, searching for me.
"Dante—"
"Shh." I grip her hips with both hands. "I'm not done with you."
I pull her backward.
She stumbles. Catches herself against the wall.
I keep pulling until her ass is inches from my face.
She's bent forward now. Hands braced against the wall. Back arched. Legs spread.
And I can see everything.
Her pussy is swollen. Glistening. My fingers left her dripping wet.
I lean forward.
My tongue touches her.
Marina screams.
The sound rips through the apartment. Raw. Desperate. Nothing held back.
I freeze.
Not because something's wrong.
Because I've never heard anything more beautiful in my entire fucking life.
I lick her again.
She screams again.
Louder this time. Her whole body shakes. Her fingers claw at the wall like she's trying to find something to hold onto.
Cristo.
I'm done.
I'm absolutely fucking done.
She can have whatever she wants. Anything. Everything. My money. My life. My goddamn soul.
As long as I can hear her scream like that.
I grip her ass harder. Spread her open. Bury my face between her thighs.
My tongue drags through her folds. Slow. Tasting every inch of her.
She tastes perfect.
Like something I don't deserve but can't stop taking.
Marina moans. The sound vibrates through her whole body.
I find her clit.
Circle it with my tongue.
She screams again.
"Dante!"
My name has never sounded like that before. Like a prayer. Like a curse.
I suck her clit into my mouth.
Her knees buckle.
I catch her. Hold her up with my hands on her hips while I devour her.
My tongue pushes inside her. Fucks her the way my fingers did. The way my cock is going to.
Cazzo.
The thought hits me like a bullet.
My cock inside her.
The sounds she'd make.
If she screams like this from my tongue, what will she do when I'm buried to the hilt? When I'm stretching her open? When I'm fucking her hard?
I groan against her pussy.
The vibration makes her cry out.
"Please," she gasps. "Please, please, please—"
She doesn't even know what she's begging for.
I do.
I know exactly what she needs.
My tongue finds her clit again. I flick it. Fast. Relentless.
Her screams turn into something else. Higher. More desperate.
I don't let up.
I lick her harder. Faster. My fingers dig into her hips hard enough to bruise.
"Come," I growl against her. "Come for me, Marina."
She shatters.
Her scream echoes off the walls. Her body convulses. Her pussy pulses against my tongue as she comes apart.
I don't stop.
I lick her through it. Every wave. Every aftershock. I drink down everything she gives me until she's shaking so hard she can barely stand.
"Stop," she gasps. "I can't—I can't—"
I give her one last long lick.
Then I pull back.
Marina's legs give out.
I catch her before she hits the floor. Pull her down onto my lap on the couch.
She's boneless. Trembling. Her head falls against my shoulder.
I hold her.
Just hold her.
My cock is so hard it hurts. Pressed against her thigh. Throbbing with every heartbeat.
But I don't move.
I just breathe her in.
She lifts her head after a long moment.
Her eyes are glazed. Unfocused.
"That was..." She trails off. Swallows. "I've never..."
"Never what?"
"Screamed like that." Her cheeks flush. "I didn't know I could."
I brush the hair from her face.
"I did."
She laughs. Weak. Breathless.
"Arrogant."
"Honest."
She shifts on my lap.
Her thigh presses against my cock.
I hiss through my teeth.
Marina's eyes drop.
She stares at where I'm pressed against her. Hard. Aching. Leaking at the tip.
Her breath catches.
"I want to..." She trails off. Swallows. "Can I?"
Cristo.
"Can you what?"
She doesn't answer with words.
Her hand slides down my chest. Over my stomach. Lower.
Her fingers wrap around my cock.
I stop breathing.
"I want to taste you," she whispers. "Like you tasted me."
My brain short-circuits.
For a full three seconds, I can't think. Can't speak. Can't do anything except stare at this woman who just asked to put her mouth on me.
"Then get on your knees."
Marina doesn't hesitate.
She slides off my lap. Drops to the floor between my legs.
And looks up at me.
Cazzo.
If that's not the prettiest thing in the world, I don't know what could be.
Marina Reeves. On her knees. Looking up at me with those blue-green eyes.
Waiting.
For me.
I've imagined this.
But nothing—nothing—compares to the reality.
She reaches up to gather her hair. Tries to hold it back with one hand.
Her right hand.
It trembles.
I reach down.
I gather her hair in my fist. All of it.
Marina's hands fall to my thighs.
She leans forward.
Her breath ghosts over my cock.
I grip her hair tighter.
"Look at me."
Her eyes lift.
"Don't stop looking at me."
She nods.
Then her tongue touches me.
I groan.
The sound rips out of my chest.
Her tongue drags along my length. Slow. Exploring.
She starts at the base. Licks up the underside of my shaft. All the way to the head.
Then back down.
Cazzo. Cazzo. Cazzo.
My hand tightens in her hair.
She does it again.
Base to tip. Tip to base.
Her tongue is soft. Wet. Curious.
She's learning me.
Mapping every inch.
Finding what makes me groan. What makes my hips jerk. What makes my grip on her hair turn painful.
She licks lower.
Her tongue drags over my balls.
"Fuck."
The word explodes out of me.
Marina's eyes stay locked on mine.
She licks me again. Slower this time. Like she's savoring it.
I'm going to die.
Right here on this couch.
This woman is going to kill me with her tongue.
She works her way back up. Traces the vein on the underside of my cock. Circles the head.
Her tongue flicks over the tip.
"Marina."
Her name comes out like a warning.
She doesn't heed it.
Her mouth opens.
She takes me inside.
Cristo santo.
Wet heat surrounds me.
Her lips stretch around my cock. Her tongue presses against the underside.
And she never stops looking at me.
Those eyes.
Those fucking eyes.
Watching me fall apart.
She takes me deeper.
Inch by inch.
Slow.
So fucking slow.
I can feel everything.
The softness of her tongue. The pressure of her lips. The heat of her mouth.
My hand shakes in her hair.
"Good girl."
Marina moans around my cock.
The vibration shoots straight through me.
My hips jerk.
She takes it.
Takes me deeper.
Her eyes water slightly as I hit the back of her throat.
But she doesn't pull away.
She just keeps looking at me.
Like I'm the only thing in the world.
Like she's been waiting for this too.
I brush my thumb across her cheek.
"You're perfect," I tell her. "Fucking perfect."
She moans again.
Pulls back.
Then takes me deeper than before.
Marina
My jaw aches.
He's so big.
My mouth stretches around him until my lips burn. Until my jaw screams.
But I don't stop.
I can't stop.
Not when he's making those sounds.
Dante groans above me. Low. Rough. Like the sound is being ripped from somewhere deep inside him.
I did that.
I made him sound like that.
My tongue presses against the underside of his cock. I take him deeper. Feel him hit the back of my throat.
My eyes water.
I don't care.
"Cazzo." His hand tightens in my hair. "Marina—"
I moan around him.
His hips jerk.
I gag slightly. Pull back. Take him again.
The rhythm is clumsy. Unpracticed. My jaw burns with every stroke.
But his groans.
God, his groans.
They're worth every ache.
I hollow my cheeks. Suck harder.
"Fuck." His voice cracks. "Just like that. Just—"
He doesn't finish.
His whole body goes rigid.
Not the good kind of rigid.
Something changes.
One second I'm on my knees with his cock in my mouth.
The next—
Dante's hands are under my arms. Lifting me. Throwing me.
I don't even have time to gasp.
My back hits the cushions behind the couch. The impact knocks the air from my lungs.
"Stay down!"
His voice is different.
Not the rough, pleasure-drunk rasp from seconds ago.
This is cold. Sharp. Lethal.
I don't understand.
I don't—
Dante drops behind the couch.
His body covers mine.
Heavy. Solid. Pressing me into the cushions.
Then the shouting starts.
Outside.
Through the window.
My blood turns to ice.
No.
No, no, no—
I try to move.
Dante's hand clamps over my mouth.
"Don't." His lips brush my ear. "Don't make a sound."
I can't breathe.
The shouting gets louder.
Glass shatters somewhere.
Not my window. Somewhere else in the building.
But close.
Too close.
My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat. In my temples. In my fingertips.
Dante's weight presses me deeper into the cushions.
He's still naked.
I'm still naked.
We were just—
And now—
The shouting stops.
Silence.
Worse than the noise.
I strain to hear anything. Footsteps. Voices. Breathing.
Nothing.
Dante doesn't move.
His body is coiled tight. Every muscle tensed. Ready.
For what?
I don't want to know.
I don't—
My door explodes inward.
I scream against Dante's palm.
The sound dies in my throat as a figure bursts through.
"Cover yourself!" Dante roars.
The man freezes.
I can't see him from behind the couch. Can only hear boots on my floor. Heavy breathing.
"Clear," a voice says. Male. Familiar somehow. "Building's secure. Two hostiles down. Three more fled."
Dante's hand leaves my mouth.
"The window?"
"Sniper position across the street. Nico's team took him out before he could get a shot off."
My whole body starts shaking.
Sniper.
Sniper.
Someone was going to shoot through my window.
While I was—
While we were—
"Get out," Dante says. "Now."
"Boss wants a report—"
"Out."
Footsteps retreat.
The door doesn't close. Can't close. The frame is splintered.
Dante shifts off me.
Cold air hits my skin.
I'm naked.
Completely naked.
On the floor behind my couch.
In my apartment with a broken door.
After someone tried to—
The shaking gets worse.
My teeth chatter.
Something soft lands on me.
The blanket.
Dante wraps it around my shoulders. Pulls it tight across my chest.
"Marina." His hands cup my face. "Look at me."
I can't.
I can't see anything.
Everything is blurry.
Wet.
I'm crying.
When did I start crying?
"Marina." His voice is softer now. Still urgent. But softer. "You're safe. I've got you. You're safe."
I'm not safe.
I'm never safe.
This is what happens.
This is what always happens.
Violence finds me.
No matter how far I run.
No matter how normal I try to be.
It finds me.
"Breathe." Dante's thumbs brush my cheeks. Wiping tears. "Breathe, cara. In and out. With me."
I try.
The air catches in my throat.
Comes out as a sob.
"Again." He breathes in. Slow. Deliberate. "With me."
I match him.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
The shaking doesn't stop.
But I can breathe.
Dante pulls me against his chest.
The blanket bunches between us. His skin is warm. His heart pounds against my ear.
Fast.
He's scared too.
He just hides it better.
"I've got you," he murmurs into my hair. "I've got you. Nothing's going to touch you. I promise."
I want to believe him.
I want to so badly.
But my door is broken.
And there was a sniper.
And two minutes ago his cock was in my mouth and now there are bodies somewhere in my building.
The sob that tears out of me is ugly.
Raw.
I bury my face in his chest and cry.