Chapter 28
ADRIANA
The elevator doors slide open and Lochlan walks into the penthouse, broken and bloody.
I jump up from the couch and place my glass of wine on the coffee table. With a gasp, I rush over to him. His face is swollen, and dark purple bruises cover one side. He has a split eyebrow, swollen knuckles, and blood splattered on his shirt.
“Oh my God, what happened to you?”
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he yanks off his shirt and wraps his arms around me. Then he kisses me like he’s drowning and I’m the only thing that can pull him to the surface.
It’s not gentle. It’s not sweet. His hands tangle in my hair, then they move down my back to grip my waist, drawing me against him with a wild urgency that steals my breath. He devours me, his tongue delving deep and coiling with mine with an intensity that makes my blood electric.
This isn’t seduction. This is pure desperation.
“Lochlan—” I murmur against his lips.
“I don’t want to talk.” His voice is rough. “I just need you.”
I should push him to tell me what happened. But the way he’s looking at me sends chills scuttling down my spine. His pained eyes tell me I’m the only thing holding him together.
So I kiss him back. Just as hard, just as desperately. Because I need him, too.
We don’t make it to the bedroom. He lifts me onto the kitchen counter, shoves his sweatpants to his knees, then he pulls off my shorts and panties. His hands stroke the sides of my face, his blue eyes heavy-hooded, lust and need glittering in the depths.
“Don’t leave me,” he says in a thick voice before kissing me again. I nearly choke on my pulse when it leaps into my throat at the sound of those words.
As if I could… or would… ever.
He pushes into me, his thick cock stretching me wide. I cry out at the initial sharp burn, digging my fingernails into his inked shoulders. My heart thrashes as he thrusts deep. I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on his demanding lips as his cock plunders me in the most deliciously vicious way.
He captures me in his arms, holding tight as he fucks me with long, hard strokes that make my blood burn. I raise my hips toward him, meeting him thrust for thrust until we’re both writhing and breathless, aching for the release we both crave.
The edges of my world sizzle with white sparks as the orgasm crashes over me, the carnal electricity shooting out to the tips of my toes and the ends of my hair. I hug him tight, my cheek pressed against his chest as he buries himself and pumps me full of his hot cum.
It’s over too quickly, both of us panting hard.
“I’m sorry,” he finally whispers, sitting me up straight. “That was—”
“Don’t apologize.” I drop a soft kiss on his lips. “But you are going to tell me what happened.”
For the first time, a hint of a smile lifts his lips.
“Okay,” he says. “After we shower.”
He peels off his sweatpants so that he’s completely naked, and still very much hard, and carries me into the en suite. Reaper follows and settles himself on the bed. I strip off my t-shirt, my panties and shorts still on the kitchen floor along with his clothes.
I don’t ask him any questions. I just wait for him to talk.
He turns on the shower and within seconds, the room fills with steam. He walks into the enclosure, and I follow. “Cillian and Wolfe ambushed me at the gym,” he finally says. “Ronan was there.”
“What?”
He stands under the hot spray with his eyes closed for a long minute.
“They thought if we fought, we could work through all the bullshit between us.” He lets out a heavy breath.
“But they were wrong. He’s gone, Adriana.
There’s nothing left of my brother, not the guy he used to be.
He just looks at people like chess pieces. Just like my fucking father.”
I squirt some body wash in my hand and lather him up, gently to avoid hurting him. I shake my head at all the bruises on his midsection glaring at me. “Jesus,” I say. “So you guys just, what? Beat the hell out of each other to try to repair your relationship?”
“It’s how we work out our problems. Kind of the Molloy version of relationship therapy.” He shrugs as he scrubs his hair.
“Okay, well, if we ever get into an argument, please don’t expect me to climb into a metal cage so we can battle through our differences,” I say with a sly smirk. “I’d prefer to talk things out.”
He smiles, but it fades fast. “Ronan called you a liability again and said I was wasting an opportunity by playing house instead of positioning us to take over DiMicheli territory. It pissed me the fuck off.”
My jaw drops. “What did you say to that?”
“I told him your dad woke up and that his takeover fantasy was dead.”
My ears prick up, sensing something deeper in his tone. Something he’s not saying. “And?”
He’s quiet for a second too long. “Ronan said something about the marriage contract. He asked what happens now that your father’s awake.”
I look up at him. “You’re wondering what happens to us.”
He averts his eyes, his jaw tensing. “Yeah.”
I cup the side of his face that he’d turned away and tilt it back toward me. “The contract isn’t why I’m here, Lochlan.”
“I know. But—”
“No buts. My father waking up doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
His hands settle on my hips. “And how do you feel?”
My heart flips like it always does when he looks so deep into my eyes, I can feel him caress my soul. I never expected this… him… but somehow, in the most unlikely of circumstances, we found connection. And it’s more precious than I ever imagined it could become.
I swallow hard. “I’m falling in love with you, Lochlan. I think you already know that.”
His tense expression relaxes, relief washing away the apprehension. “I’m not just falling. I’m already there.” He dips his head low, his forehead grazing mine. “I’m in love with you, Adriana.”
I can’t stop the smile from stretching across my face. We stand there, bodies entangled under the steamy spray, and my heart is fuller and filled with more hope than it’s ever been. “We’ll talk to my father when he’s stronger. Explain that it’s real now.”
He pulls me close, water cascading over us. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t.”
I wake to Lochlan’s hands sliding down the slope of my back and over the curves of my hips. I let out a little moan and back myself into his chest. He brings a hand around to my front and traces small circles over my clit, the other hand kneading my breast.
“That feel good?” he murmurs against my hair.
“Yes,” I whisper, thrusting backward against his hand. He toys with me, alternating between teasing my clit and plunging his fingers deep inside of me. I clench tight, riding them hard as his cock thickens.
“Fuck,” he growls. “I need to be inside of that pussy.”
His cock grazes my pussy lips before sliding into my slick opening. “You’re already so wet. My cock is covered in your juices. Tell me how much you wanted this, Adriana.”
“So fucking much,” I cry out, backing my hips against him. He continues to play with my clit as he pumps his cock harder and faster from behind.
“I’m not gonna be able to last,” he rasps. “You make me so fucking crazy, all I wanna do is come deep in that sweet pussy.”
“Oh my God,” I say, my body teetering on the brink of euphoric bliss. “Do it. Come with me now. Give me everything.”
I scream into the pillow as the orgasm tears through me, sparks igniting into an inferno that sizzles every cell of my body. With a low roar, Lochlan trembles and shudders before stilling against me.
I lose track of how long we lie there together with him still inside of me, me backed into his chest. “Well, good morning to you, too,” I say, tilting my head backward with a smile.
He plants a kiss on top of my head.
“Last night was intense,” I say, covering his arms with mine to keep him close.
“Which part?”
“All of it. You really scared me when you came home.”
He sighs. “I’m sorry. I should have talked to you instead of just... attacking you like that.”
“I wasn’t complaining. I’m just really sorry all of that happened.”
“I’m glad you were here,” he says. “I really needed to hold you.”
I squeeze his hand. “I told you. I’ll always be here.”
We lie there for a few more minutes. Then Lochlan’s ringtone shatters the silence.
“Shit, I’d better get that,” he says. “Just in case it’s one of my brothers.”
I scoot away to give him room and turn to face him. He reaches onto the nightstand and stabs the screen before he grabs it and puts it to his ear.
“Yeah?” A shadow crosses his face. “What do you want?” he says in a terse voice. My brow furrows but he doesn’t meet my eyes.
Pause. “No.” Another pause. “Fine. Five minutes.”
His face twists into a grimace. He stabs the screen again and tosses the phone toward the foot of the bed. “It was my father. He’s downstairs.”
“Okay,” I say, sitting up and gathering the sheets around me.
“Stay here. I’ll deal with him.”
I don’t like it. But I nod.
He leaves the bedroom and closes the door. I hear the elevator door open and close, then voices move toward his office.
I should stay here.
But curiosity won’t let me.
I slip out of bed, pull on a sweatsuit, and tiptoe down the hallway. The office door is cracked open.
“—in light of Francesco waking up, we need to accelerate.” Eamon’s voice is calm. “The situation has changed.”
“The situation hasn’t changed for me.”
“You married into the DiMicheli organization at my arrangement. That access was always meant to serve our purposes.”
“Adriana runs that family. Not me.”
“That’s the problem. She’s too strong. I expected her to crumble and lean on you. Instead, she’s thriving. She’s not going to step aside.”
“Good.”
“Then we need to find another way.” Eamon’s voice sharpens. “Get her to turn over control to you. Position yourself as the one running things.”
“You’re out of your mind.”