Chapter 22 Viking
CHAPTER 22
VIKING
Her words hit him like a full-body blow. She’d never slept with Morelli? That didn’t make a lick of sense. Then she uttered a mewl like a kitten and slumped against his chest.
He froze. “What did you just say?”
“I never got to play Captain Hook with Vik.” She sounded forlorn.
He grabbed her chin and tipped back her head. “No, before that,” he urged. Elena’s head rolled, and he pushed it back onto his shoulder.
“I like pirates,” she slurred, eyes remaining shut.
He carried her across the dance floor, went downstairs, and walked to their apartment. There he punched the button of the elevator.
Suddenly Elena’s eyes opened. Her eyelids were still heavy. She fidgeted on his lap until she found a nice spot for her asson top of his groin.
“Stop moving,” he growled.
Of course, she didn’t listen. Not until she moved over his rock-hard dick. It was screaming for attention. He grabbed hold of her ass.
Elena nuzzled his neck, then kissed him.
“You don’t stop doing that, I’m gonna fuck you right here and now.” He didn’t care that she was drunk. He was tired of leashing his internal beast. Tired of taking her feelings into account. He was hard as a rock and wanted to pound into her until she could no longer sit or walk tomorrow.
“Okay,” she said with a sigh.
He didn’t do intoxicated women, tempting as Elena was.
Once back in the apartment, he carried her to the bathroom and peeled off her clothes. The tight dress was easier to remove than he’d anticipated. He washed her head to toe and growled when her naked body kept leaning into him. Her eyes were at half-mast and he didn’t think she was even aware of what was happening. His rage spiked when he thought about what could have happened to her tonight if Baran hadn’t let him know what was going on. Some asshole could have hurt her.
When her face looked rose fresh, he wrapped her in a huge white towel and carried her back into their bedroom. Without the heat from the steamy shower, she started to shiver. Her eyes were still not focused but he saw her checking him out. Hell, he got hard just from the way she was staring at him like she wanted to have a taste.
He took his clothes off and after getting her underneath the covers he spooned her. The shivering immediately stopped, and ice-cold toes pressed against his calves. With another sigh, Elena relaxed against him. He couldn’t do the same. His wife might be exhausted, but he wasn’t. His dick remained hard, pressed against her ass, and was screaming in agony. Her delicious scent hit his nose and he couldn’t help but press a kiss on her shoulder blade. Stupid mistake. A simple kiss wasn’t enough. Never had been with her. When he contemplated if he should fuck her from behind or go missionary, he cursed and forced himself to lie still.
Mind over body. Fucking mind over body.
He repeated that over and over until he finally felt the tension leave his body. His eyes were almost closed when Elena whimpered. Maybe she was cold again. He pulled her closer, but her restlessness didn’t disappear. Then she started to talk in her sleep. He’d almost forgotten about her doing that sometimes.
“Took her…”
He frowned when she repeated their daughter’s name, almost sounding like she was chanting.
Elena gasped. “Don’t take her. No, no, no.”
He turned her to face him. Her eyes were wide open now, but she didn’t seem to see him. Tears were streaming down Elena’s face.
“He took her away,” she gasped. “Don’t take my little girl.” Her eyes were huge, filled with tears as she was still in the nightmare’s grasp.
“Wake up.” He gently shook her shoulder.
“Anything,” she whispered. “I’ll do anything you want. Wear anything you like. I’ll diet. Give her back. Please give her back. Please…please…please…”
He couldn’t get her to wake up. After a while, she started to cry again. He held her in his arms and she sobbed into his chest. He didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what this was about.
Isn’t this what you wanted?
See her in pain?
Yeah…
Then why did her sobs tear at his heart? Why did they make him feel murderous? Why did they make him want to avenge her even though she had been the one to betray him?
“I hope it was worth it,” he said, his voice gravelly. “Hope those fancy cars, the big mansion, and the power that came with it all was worth it.”
As she cried herself back to sleep, he wondered for the first time if her life with Lorenzo maybe hadn’t been so great. He had been known for his secretive, kinky lifestyle. He had been known to be a dominant asshole with control issues. From the looks of it, he’d asserted that control not only over the Morelli family business but over his wife as well. It was the cruelest of things to keep a child away from her mother. If he’d been a little more of an asshole, he might have thought of it himself. But he would never do that. He could never hurt his daughter like that. And, though he would never admit it out loud, he could never use that particular bargaining chip against Elena, either.
He remembered how good it had always been between them. He loved the way she used to grind against him. At the same time, he resented her. He resented that she’d taken this away from him. That she’d chosen money and power over him. But most of all, he hated himself for still loving her.
***
ELENA
She woke up with the Godzilla of all headaches. Holding her head in one hand, Elena slowly tried to open her eyes. It felt as if an elephant sat on them. When she got some vision back, she was staring into narrowed pale-blue eyes.
“Glad you’re finally awake.”
Viking looked impeccably dressed in a black suit. This only made her feel even more disheveled. She untangled her legs from the bedsheets and propped her back against a pillow, hoping to appear somewhat decent.
“Interesting night, last night.”
Now, what did he mean by that? “Um, yes, I guess I’m not made to drink. In fact, I think I will stay sober for the rest of my life.”
He got a strange look in his eyes. “I wasn’t talking about being drunk as a skunk.”
She winced. “Well…I think we should keep this from Vicky. It wouldn’t do for her to think her mother was a drunk.”
“I was talking about your sleep talking.”
The world stopped spinning for a second. “What do you mean?” Oh, God. What had she told him? She wracked her brain trying to come up with something, but she didn’t have a clue. Sleep talking happened to her from time to time. She couldn’t remember the last time anybody ever confronted her about it, because she hadn’t spent the night with anyone since Viking.
“You said some interesting things.”
She pulled the covers closer and hunched up her knees. “Whatever I said in my sleep, you can’t hold it against me. I was probably dreaming some silly stuff.”
“It sounded more like a nightmare to me.”
That was even worse. Still, she produced a smile, tight as it may have been. “Well, um, if that’s all, I’d like to take a shower now. So…” Please just leave.
He crossed his arms in front of his broad chest. Her shoulders slumped. She knew that stance. It meant he wasn’t going anywhere until he got some answers.
“Before the nightmare, when I got you out of that club, you told me you never slept with Morelli.”
Her heart rate pumped up. This was bad. What else had she told him?
“I was drunk and…”
“Lorenzo was stabbed in one of his hips,” Viking said, his eyes pinning her down, and making her squirm. “I’m guessing it left a nice scar. What side was it?”
Why couldn’t he let this go? She was dying inside to tell him. To tell him everything. To get him to understand her. For him to forgive her. But she couldn’t. Sixteen years had passed since their love had blossomed. He might have changed here and there, but not that much. Viking was and always would be the guy who would avenge the ones he loved. It also meant he would try to avenge her. He might go after the other Morellis. She couldn’t allow that. It only took one Morelli to want to silence her by killing Vicky.
“I’ve asked you a question.” The patience in his voice had dissipated.
“On his left,” she threw out. She had a fifty-fifty chance, right?
He shook his head. “I just made that up. He wasn’t stabbed in his hip.”
Well, crap. She’d fallen right into that one, hadn’t she?
“I don’t know what you’re trying to—”
He leaned over and grabbed her chin. “Tell me the fucking truth, now.”
Guess there was no denying it. That didn’t mean she couldn’t spin this around without him getting anywhere near Lorenzo’s secret.
“Fine, it’s true. We never slept together.” She saw the wheels in his head turning. “He wasn’t attracted to me.”
“A man has to be dead not to be.”
His softly spoken words had her close her eyes for a moment. Never in her life had she felt more desirable than in his presence. No one ignited a fire in her veins the way Viking could. She would give almost anything to have him look at her like that again, without the hint of suspicion clouding his gaze.
“Lorenzo liked a tight, very petite physique,” she said truthfully. He had found her size ten too much. He had always tried to get her on a diet because he had a certain idea of how his wife should look. When Viking didn’t look convinced, she added. “You do know he married me just to slight you, right?”
It was as if reminding him of her marriage switched something inside him.
He backed away from her. “How could I ever forget?” He took his jacket off the dresser and looked back at her.
“Don’t expect me home tonight.”
“Where will you be?” The question had escaped her before she knew it. She hadn’t meant to let on that it was the question that haunted her every night. He had no reason to be true to her. He’d told her in so many words it was his life’s mission to make her life miserable. Sleeping around on her would be the best way to go. But if he thought she’d be one of those wives who looked the other way when her husband went to one of his side chicks, he had another think coming.
He put on his coat, not taking his eyes off her. “To the club. Strip club. Got people waiting for me there.”
“People? Do you mean women?”
“It’s a strip club, so yeah, there’ll be women.”
It was impossible to miss the gleeful sarcasm in his voice. She wanted to gouge out his eyes.
“I see.”
He lifted a brow. “What? You didn’t really expect the whole faithful thing, did ya? The only reason we’re married is Vicky.”
So, she had a teeny tiny jealous streak. Maybe. Sometimes. She couldn’t help but feel he was being too smug about exploiting her weakness.
Well, two could play that game. She shrugged. “Sure. I mean, you’re right. Have fun. I know I will.” Then she smiled.
Wait for it.
Wait for it…
His eyes narrowed. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
She dropped the covers and stretched. His eyes went to her breasts.
“Only that I’m totally okay with this arrangement, just as long as you remember that the same goes for me.”
He froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She didn’t remind him that he was repeating himself. The poor guy was already turning a nice shade of red.
“Simple. That I’ll be going on dates as well.”
“I will bury the motherfucker! Just give me his name.”
This time, it was her eyes that narrowed. “That doesn’t seem fair, does it? You get to screw around on me and I’m just supposed to take it? Is that what you’re saying?”
A laugh bubbled up from his chest. She could see the exact moment his rage was pushed neatly back into the bottle.
Interesting.
She yelped when the next second he lay on top of her. His hands on her breasts. His fingers plucking her nipples.
His tongue delved inside her mouth, devouring her until she forgot about what they were fighting about. Until she even forgot her own name.
Then he pushed off of her and pulled his jacket straight.
“Don’t know where you got the idea that this thing between us would ever be fair,” he said. “There’s only one rule. The basic rule of power: might makes right. I ever see you touch another man, I will skin him alive.”
With those words, and a smirk just to raise her hackles, he left.