Chapter 28
EVERLEIGH
? During the ball. ?
I barely make it two steps into the public restroom when I am grabbed and pulled into the private family restroom next door.
The door then slams shut behind me.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hiss, stumbling forward slightly when Dante’s grip tightens around my arm hard enough to leave marks.
I wrench myself from his grasp and spin toward him. “You can’t just-”
“I can’t just what?” he cuts me off, voice low and dangerous as he stalks closer. “Stand there and watch you flirt with every politician in that ballroom while wearing that fucking dress?”
My back collides with the door behind me as he crowds into my space.
“Don’t be dramatic,” I mutter, even though my voice betrays me with the slightest tremor. “It’s just a dress.”
“Just a dress?” Dante leans closer, one hand braced beside my head against the door.
The tension between us sizzles violently.
I can smell whiskey on his breath and the heat pouring off of his body.
“You don’t get to be jealous,” I snap, lifting my chin toward him defiantly.
“You take my virginity and then, two weeks later, I find out your fucking FBI boss is blackmailing our people into feeding information to the feds.” My jaw tightens.
“So explain to me how any of this is supposed to make sense, Dante.”
His jaw tightens instantly.
“You know that wasn’t-”
“I don’t care what it was,” I cut him off while shoving against his chest. He barely moves. “How am I supposed to trust you?”
“Trust me?” His hand suddenly catches both my wrists, pinning them above my head against the door. “Like I’m not sitting here watching you turn into Gabriel’s weapon.”
I struggle against his grip immediately, but it’s useless. “Let go of me.”
“No.” His voice drops lower now, darker than before.
Then he presses himself against me.
I immediately feel his hardness beneath the thin fabric separating us.
“You’re drunk,” I accuse quietly, even though my breathing’s already betraying me.
“I’m not drunk enough to forget how you taste,” he growls near my mouth. “Or how you feel when I’m inside you.”
My pulse slams hard against my ribs. “We can’t do this here.”
“Why not?” His free hand drags down my side slowly, fingers tracing the curve of my waist. “Your father’s too busy toting Armani around to notice.”
His lips brush my neck and a shiver immediately betrays me.
“This doesn’t change anything,” I whisper weakly even while my body arches toward him.
Dante pulls back slightly afterward, eyes searching mine. “Then why are you still here?”
Before I can answer, his mouth crashes against mine.
The kiss is rough.
All frustration and teeth from the tension building between us over the last two weeks.
A quiet sound escapes me instantly as his tongue slides against mine.
I hate how easily he destroys my self-control.
His grip tightens around my wrists while his other hand slides lower, hiking my dress higher until his fingers find the edge of my underwear.
I gasp sharply against his mouth the second he pushes the fabric aside.
“Tell me to stop,” he breathes against my lips.
But I can’t.
Not when his fingers are circling my clit perfectly.
Not when every nerve ending in my body’s already burning alive for him.
“Fuck,” is all I manage instead while my hips betray me by rocking against his hand.
Dante releases my wrists immediately afterward before both hands grip my hips hard enough to bruise.
Then suddenly I’m lifted effortlessly off the ground.
My legs instinctively wrap around his waist while my dress bunches higher around my thighs as he carries me toward the marble counter.
He sets me down roughly enough to send another shiver through me from the cold surface beneath my skin.
His hands slide higher up my thighs while he positions himself between them.
“You’re going to ruin my lipstick,” I breathe weakly despite the fact my hands are already tangled in his hair.
His eyes darken immediately.
“I’m going to ruin more than just that.”
Then his mouth’s on mine again.
His hands grip my thighs tighter, spreading them wider while he presses himself against me.
The outline of his cock against his slacks makes my mouth go dry.
I tear my lips away from his with a shaky breath. “Dante-”
“Shut the fuck up,” he growls against my ear, teeth grazing my skin.
The possessiveness in his voice sends heat through me so fast it almost hurts.
I should shove him away and remind him that I belong to nobody.
But I go against my better judgement and pull him closer.
Dante’s hands slide beneath my thighs before gripping my ass tightly and grinding against me hard enough to pull another breathless sound from my throat.
The friction’s maddening.
“Please,” I whisper before I can stop myself.
His eyes immediately lock onto mine.
“Please what?” he asks.
Heat burns through my cheeks, but I don’t look away. “You know what.”
His expression hardens. “Say it.”
“Fuck you,” I hiss, though there’s barely any real anger left behind the words now.
A dark smile pulls at his mouth. “That’s exactly the plan.”
The sound of his belt undoing echoes loudly through the restroom.
I watch him free himself with my pulse hammering violently in my throat.
“Do you really want me to stop?” he asks suddenly, voice more serious now despite how wrecked he already looks.
I shake my head immediately.
His eyes never leave mine as he pushes my underwear to the side, positioning himself at my entrance before slowly pushing inside me.
The stretch nearly makes me gasp.
My nails dig into his shoulders as he fills me completely.
“Fuck,” Dante breathes against my mouth. “I’ll never get used to this.”
Then he starts moving.
Every thrust sends pleasure shooting through me until I’m clutching onto him desperately.
“Harder,” I demand.
Dante immediately obeys.
His grip tightens against my hips as he drives into me harder now, the marble counter digging into my thighs beneath me.
“That’s it,” he groans roughly. “Take it.”
My head falls back while pleasure builds violently inside me.
Dante’s mouth finds my neck seconds later, sucking hard enough to leave a mark I already know I won’t be able to hide.
“You’re mine,” he growls against my skin. “Say it.”
I should fight him and keep some form of control.
Instead the words spill out before I can stop them. “I’m yours.”
Something dark flashes across his face after that.
His pace immediately turns rougher.
I feel myself getting close embarrassingly fast, my body tightening harder around him with every thrust.
“Come for me,” he orders roughly while sliding one hand between us.
The second his fingers find my clit again, I break completely.
Pleasure crashes through me violently enough that I cry out while my entire body convulses around him.
Dante follows seconds later with a groan against my neck, his body shuddering hard against mine as he finishes inside me.
For several seconds, neither of us moves.
The only sound left inside the restroom is our breathing.
Then reality slowly creeps back in.
He pulls away first and the sudden loss of him feels cold.
I slide shakily off the counter while straightening my dress with trembling hands.
“We should get back,” I mutter quietly, avoiding his eyes as I grab a handful of napkins from beside the sink and clean the mess he left between my thighs.
After I throw the napkins in the trash, I glance at my reflection immediately and it makes me curse under my breath.
Ruined makeup, just as I predicted.
A dark bruise is also already forming against my neck.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath while shifting my wavy hair over my shoulder, trying to cover the mark blooming against my neck.
I grab a paper towel before wetting it beneath the sink.
Dante steps behind me a second later, both hands settling against my hips while his eyes meet mine through the mirror. “Leave it.”
I narrow my eyes slightly. “I can’t walk back out there looking like this.”
“Like what?” he asks casually. “Like you’ve been thoroughly fucked?”
I spin toward him instantly, anger flaring back to life. “This can’t happen again.”
“Why not?” His grip tightens against my hips once again. “Because you’re scared of what this means?”
“I’m afraid of nothing,” I snap automatically even though the lie tastes bitter.
“Then stop running from this.” His voice lowers slightly. “From us.”
I immediately push away from him.
“There is no us.” I straighten my shoulders again while fixing my lipstick in the mirror. “There’s just moments of weakness. That’s all.”
“If that’s what you need to tell yourself,” he says quietly, “fine.”
I stay silent while trying to repair the damage he caused to my appearance.
Dante watches me quietly for another moment before finally speaking again. “Your father’s looking for you.”
My hand stills immediately. “What?”
“Gabriel was asking where you disappeared to… that’s why I went to find you.” His tone stays carefully neutral.
“And you thought that was the perfect fucking time to pull me away?” I scoff, shaking my head. “My father starts looking for me and somehow you decided sneaking off to fuck me was a good idea?”
He watches me for a moment and then finally says: “I just wanted a moment alone with you. I didn’t think about the possible consequences.”
Something in my chest twists painfully at the admission.
“We should go.” I respond.
Dante nods once before stepping back to give me room.
“After you.”
I take one slow breath before reaching for the restroom door.
Whatever this is between us changes nothing.
In real life, Gabriel is still my father.
This family is still our reality.
And Dante Rivera is still the one person capable of destroying me completely.
But all I want to do is forget who we are in this life.
In my heart, all I want is him.
? Six months later. ?
“Harder.”
A gasp escapes my throat with each thrust.
My walls tighten around his shaft as his calloused hands trail down my skin, gripping my waist and forcefully pulling me back into him. I take every bit of his girth as he fucks me into oblivion.
The tip of his cock pounds into my cervix.
He moans out, “Fuck..”
His right hand leaves my waist and moves into my hair, shoving my face into the pillow as his thrusts quicken.
I struggle against his control, trying to free my face from the pillow.
I hate breath-play.
Dante grips my hair close to the scalp in a tight fist and pulls my face up to meet his, lessening my anxiety for the moment. “How does it feel not to have control?”
He already drives my face back into the fabric yet again, cutting off my oxygen.
This time, he rams into my core deeply causing me to arch my back inward. He doesn’t let up and his moans grow louder as he pushes further into my depth.
I barely take in any air and start to feel the side effects of it.
My body trembles, and I feel myself slowly going slack beneath his weight.
As I do, he moves his other hand from my waist, sliding along my inner thigh until it settles over my throbbing clit.
I don’t fight him as he rubs circles over my sensitivity, sending a wave of heat through my body.
His hand quickens at the same time his thrusts do. I feel myself fading out of consciousness as my core throbs and electricity shoots through me.
The bed shifts as he removes himself from me.
I decide to take control, rolling onto my back to face him, bracing myself on one arm as I reach up to grasp his length. I begin to pump his cock steadily, squeezing it slightly.
His breathing grows uneven, shallow gasps spilling from his lips.
Seconds later, he paints my chest and stomach, coating me entirely with his cum.
He lets out a shaky breath behind me. “I.. fucking love you.”
A laugh leaves me as I push myself up from the bed and head toward the shower. “Keep telling yourself that, Rivera.”
Once I turn the shower on, steam immediately flows through the bathroom once it hits max heat.
The temperature burns against my skin at first as I step in.
My hands brace against the shower wall while water runs down my body, washing away sweat, makeup, and the lingering evidence of what we just did.
My father still has no idea about Dante and me.
The thought almost makes me laugh.
I close my eyes briefly, letting the water hit the back of my neck.
A few seconds later, I hear footsteps step across the floor before the shower door slides open behind me.
Cold air slips through the shower for a brief second before disappearing again when the glass door shuts behind him.
I turn to face him.
Dante’s hands settle against my waist, firm enough to ground me instantly.
I grip onto him. “You really know how to ruin a moment.”
For a second, he stays quiet while water slides down both of us.
Then his chest presses against mine. “Leigh.”
The sound of my name in his voice makes something twist painfully inside me.
“Don’t,” I mutter quietly.
He lifts one hand to my face and grips my chin firmly, just enough to keep my attention on him without actually hurting me. “You think this shit is easy for me?”
A humorless laugh leaves me immediately. “Right. Because obviously you’re the victim here.”
His jaw tightens and then he suddenly turns us, pressing me back against the cold glass wall of the shower.
A sharp breath escapes me instantly.
Water streams down the side of us as he cages me in completely, one hand planted beside my head against the glass.
He looks angry.
“You think I wanted any of this?” he asks roughly.
“I think you’re very good at lying.” I reply.
Something flashes across his face after that.
Pain maybe, but it disappears too quickly for me to fully catch it.
His hand moves to my jaw, forcing my attention fully onto him.
“Look at me.” He says.
“I am looking at you.”
“No,” he mutters quietly. “You’re looking at the badge. The situation. Your father.” His eyes lock harder onto mine. “Not me.”
My chest tightens frustratingly because I know that he’s right.
I’ve spent the last six months trying to decide if I can trust him.
His forehead slowly presses against mine.
“If it came down to it,” he says hoarsely, “I’d kill every agent connected to that place before I ever let them touch a single fucking hair on your head.”