Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kay
I was going home.
Three months ago, I thought I would never be able to say those words again, but he was letting me go home. Letting is a strong word…my demon didn’t want me to go.
The water was clear today, the lake around us was calm after last night’s storm.
“Angel.”
I jumped at his voice, and then his presence was behind me a moment later.
Both of us stood in front of his bedroom window, watching the midmorning sun shine down on the water as he wrapped his arms around me.
I was still wrapped in his dark bed sheet, having only gotten up a few moments before.
He had been up since before the sun. He told me that was when did his workout, which solved the mystery of how his body was so well maintained and beautiful. Yes, beautiful. Scars and all.
His scars were a part of him, and I loved all of him.
Col admitted he wasn’t ashamed of them when I asked why he kept them hidden from me.
My body is just as ugly and striking as the demon inside of me, Angel.
“You don’t have to go alone. I appreciate the gesture, but I can fight my own battles,” he said, dipping his face to my neck and sighing. I blinked, mentally shaking off his words from a few nights ago.
It had been three days since Ray Romano’s death, and Collin’s men had been spreading the news through the channels of the underworld.
Drug lords, weapons dealers, mayors, mafia regional bosses, and managers of MLB teams were coming forward slowly to acknowledge Collin as the new mafia king.
Even a Russian phone call came. However, the companion that usually came with change was stubbornness.
There were some who still needed convincing.
While Collin traveled to various cities, earning the loyalty that was rightfully his, I would be going home to…neutralize a different kind of a threat.
My family.
After that, Collin and I could be together. Ten years too late, but who’s counting?
My heartstrings tugged at his words.
Of course, I wanted him to come with me. I wanted to walk into my uncle’s bar hand in hand and be welcomed with open arms. Maybe someday.
Three nights ago, we both let down our walls. He told me everything he could about the mafia.
Col warned me he was still in danger, and he eased my worries about this not being over.
Ray Romano’s death almost seemed too easy.
My mind was struggling to believe that he was really gone, but I supposed all death was like that in a way.
It took me five months to believe Dad was dead.
Jeremy believed it the second Sullie told him.
My chest tightened at the thought of my brother. He would be the hardest battle to face.
Sullie. I could win over with a pair of puppy dog eyes, but my brother?
He held grudges until death.
“Karina?”
“Hm?” Tattooed hands landed on my bare shoulders and guided me to turn around, his touch sending chills down my body.
They only intensified when my eyes settled on his face.
Collin Stevens had always been a dark man, but today, he seemed a bit lighter.
There was an unfamiliar spark in his eyes and his lips were tilted up on his right side. He looked…happy.
“I can push back the meeting in New York and come with you,” he said, his voice gentle. We had been pushing the meeting in New York since Boston. That was Romano’s territory, and my demon needed to have backup. After California, we were going to head to Seattle…
I waved my hand as I stepped into him. “No, no. You have business to take care of there and I have…shit to sort out in St. Louis.”
“Shit?” His eyes flashed with amusement as his hands slid down my arms.
I rolled my eyes. “Col, this whole thing is a shit show…I need to smooth things over with them. Also, if James Garner sees you, he will arrest you.”
His jaw tightened, and the happy Col was gone, replaced by the intense blue-eyed demon who had my heart. “I’d like to see him try.”
“Ah, ah. You can’t hurt him. He belongs to Haley,” I said, putting my hands on his chest. He was already dressed for the day, wearing a dark gray suit and black under shirt, no tie.
The new Mafia King glared down at me. “Making a list of people I can’t hurt, Karina?”
I raised a brow. “Do I need to?” He looked over my shoulder, his face turning serious.
“If someone hurts you, I hurt them. Do you understand?”
I reached up and touched his cheek. “I know, Col.”
He looked back down at me, his eyes scanning my features. “I don’t like this,” he admitted, his hand wrapping around my wrist. I tilted my head, waiting for him to continue. “Just days ago, you fought like hell to come here, and now, you want to leave,” he said softly.
I was taken aback.
His eyes pierced mine, and I could see straight through him, those icy walls had remained melted for days. He was scared.
“I just want to make sure they don’t kill you,” I said gently, wrapping my arms around his neck. The sheet fell, landing in a heap at our feet. His hands immediately snapped to my hips, squeezing my flesh. “Collin, I want this. I want us.”
He looked pained, and I knew he was still fighting a war within himself. The new Mafia King didn’t want me in danger, but he also wanted me at his side. “I should let you go, but I don’t think I could, even if I wanted to,” he murmured, his lips brushing mine.
“I’m not letting you go, even if you push me away,” I whispered before kissing him.
He groaned, forcing my lips open so he could devour me. He backed me into the window, kissing me with abandon. Teeth, tongue, lips. Harsh breaths and promises that would never be broken. Not anymore. My bare ass was pressed against the window for all—
“Col,” I breathed, breaking away from him.
He didn’t seem to mind. His hand fisted my hair, pulling until my neck was exposed, and he dove in, kissing and nibbling until goosebumps pebbled my skin.
My core throbbed, aching and ready for him.
He pressed his rock-hard erection into me, shoving his knee between my legs. “Col, the window. They’ll—”
He bit down on my neck, hard, and I cried out. My arm banded around the back of his neck for support.
“Let them see,” he growled as he pulled one of my hands to the front of his pants. “Take Daddy’s cock out.”
Oh. Fuck.
I was panting, unable to move as he held me by the hair. My hand pulled down his zipper, whimpering as he licked the spot he bit.
Once his heavy, hard cock was in my hand, he moaned into my skin.
He thrusted his hips with a low growl, teasing me with what was to come.
I began to stroke him as he held me against the window, bare and exposed for everyone to see.
His free hand slid down my torso to the apex of my thighs, his fingers brushing along my clit. I whimpered his name.
“So swollen for me,” he chuckled, kissing my jaw. His finger went farther, dipping into my pussy slightly before bringing my arousal back up to my clit. “So wet for Daddy, aren’t you?”
I stroked him harder as I tried to grind my hips on his hand.
“Does my needy little angel need to be fucked?”
“Yes,” I pleaded. His fingers stroked my clit slowly to drive me insane.
“Does she need to be filled by her demon?”
God. “Col,” I moaned as he shoved a finger inside of me. He cursed under his breath, pulling back to watch me as he brought me to my peak. In and out. Over and over. He held my hair tightly in his fist, keeping me in place.
“That’s Daddy’s good girl,” he cooed as he added another finger, stretching me.
I cried out his name, and my hand fell, gripping his shoulders.
He shoved his knee higher between my legs, giving me support.
Good, because I was about to collapse from pleasure.
He began trailing kisses up and down my neck once more, the palm of his hand rubbing my clit.
His harsh breath, his muscles, his skin, his scent. The window. It was all too much.
I was gone. “Oh, Col!”
“Yes, baby. That’s it,” he praised, pulling out of me and repositioning us.
I didn’t even have time to suck in a breath before he plunged his thick cock into my spasming core.
I screamed his name as my legs wrapped around his waist, clinging to him as my climax surged.
He didn’t let up. He didn’t give me a chance to recover.
He just fucked.
My skin slapped against his as the wet sounds our bodies made echoed throughout the room.
His hands tightened on my ass, and my legs quivered around him.
I sought out his lips in frenzied desperation as I tried to hold on to him.
He was fucking me without an ounce of control, slamming into me over and over.
His grunts matched my moans, kisses became labored breaths. I dropped my head back against the glass, and my eyes fluttered closed.
“Look at you, my angel. My men are down in the yard, and you're against this window, taking every inch of my cock,” he grunted, bringing a single hand to my throat. “So fucking beautiful, Karina.”
“I—ah!”
He hummed in approval before ducking down, taking my nipple into his mouth.
Pleasure coursed through me like lightning.
His arms tightened around me, protecting me.
Tears formed in my eyes as I looked to the ceiling.
My Col was inside of me, his arms around me, his walls destroyed.
He offered himself to me, scars, mistakes, darkness and all.
His cock was hitting the same spot over and over, and my body began to shake as another climax began to build.
“I love you,” I breathed, holding his head near my heart. I didn’t care if he didn’t say it back. I needed to say it while he was inside me. He knew I loved him, but I needed the words to be in the air before I left.
Before everything changed.