Chapter 21 #3
I press my fingers to her jaw, tilting her face up to steal another kiss, this one soft and slow. The moment stretches on until she shivers, a chill settling over her body.
Reluctantly, I pull away from her mouth, but I don’t release her as I reach out to grab my mask. Once that’s in place, I slip my gloves on. There’s nothing in here to clean us up, so it will have to wait until we get back to her room.
“You can open your eyes now.” I lift her up and pin her against me, my cock still lodged inside her as I exit the closet.
“Wait,” she squeaks. “You can’t carry me through the house like this. My guard—” Her voice falters for a beat. “Oh my god, my guard. What if he heard me?”
“He probably did.” I smirk.
Her brows draw together in confusion as she glances up at me. “If he did, he would have come to see what was happening. Unless…he already knows you’re here.”
“I would hope so. Otherwise, I’d be worried about how competent he is.”
“You know him?” She swallows.
I don’t respond, but it gives her all the confirmation she needs.
“Of course you do,” she murmurs. “Are you the reason my other guard was replaced?”
Again, I don’t answer.
“And the apartment.” The words rush out as she connects the dots. “That was you, wasn’t it? You texted Abella that day. How did you know? Was it even unsafe to live in, or was that just a lie to get me out of there?”
She starts to squirm like she wants me to put her down, but I tighten my grip on her. A million different questions surface in her eyes, and I know they’re about to overwhelm her if I don’t get this situation under control.
When we get to her room, I pin her facedown on the bed to stop her from going anywhere.
“Take a breath.” I stroke my fingers through her hair, giving her a minute to recalibrate.
She releases an involuntary shudder as the tension in her body slowly dissolves, and her panic fades away.
“Who are you?” she whispers.
“You said you didn’t want to know.”
“I know, but…this is a lot. How do I know you’re not going to murder me and toss my body parts all over the city?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” I shift my hips, thrusting my cock that’s still lodged inside her. “Then I wouldn’t get to do this.”
She lets out a dry sound of amusement. “If that’s what this is about, you went to a lot of trouble for it.”
“It’s a really nice pussy.”
“Well, if you were being honest that I was your first, then you don’t really have anything to compare it to.” She points out.
“Don’t need to compare it. This one’s mine.”
Fuck, I’m already hard again. It doesn’t help that my cum is leaking down her thighs, the evidence of my claim soaking into her skin.
“Yours for now,” she reminds me.
My body has a visceral reaction to that statement, but I don’t give voice to it. She doesn’t need to know how deep this obsession goes.
“Then I guess I’ll have to live in it while I can.” I thrust into her again.
She laughs like I’m joking until I pick her back up and carry her into the bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a bath with you.” I balance her weight with one arm while I turn on the tub.
As it fills up, I set her on the bathroom counter and pull my cock from her warmth. Both of us watch my cum leak out of her, and I drag my gloved fingers through the mess and bring them to her lips.
I wait to see what she’ll do, and when she opens her mouth and darts her tongue out to taste me, a primitive satisfaction settles beneath my skin. Then she comes back for seconds, sucking my fingers and licking the leather clean.
Fuck, that’s hot.
Her gaze drifts down to my cock, and she reaches out to stroke it.
I close my eyes and let her play with me for a minute before I start peeling off her clothes. It takes me longer than I want to get her naked, because I have to remove her boots and tights, and she’s distracting me by trying to jerk me off.
When I finally extricate her from her clothes, she tries to slip off the counter and sink to her knees in front of me. I stop her before she can get her mouth around my cock, because I know once she does, there’s no going back.
“Not yet,” I tell her.
“Why?” She frowns. “You barely let me try this last night.”
“I know.” I palm her face. “But that can wait.”
She looks at me like she doesn’t understand, but I can’t say anything else without giving myself away.
If or when she kneels for me, I want to see that hunger in her eyes for me and nobody else. That can’t happen when I’m masked, and it probably won’t ever happen.
“I have other plans for you right now.” I help her up and tell her to wait a minute as I go back into her room and grab her sleep mask.
When I return with it, she puts it on without question, and I strip down, enjoying the small bit of freedom outside of mine.
Once I’m naked, I lift her up into my arms and carry her to the tub, turning off the tap now that it’s halfway full. I lower both of us into the water and settle her on my lap so she’s facing me.
She shifts her hips, sliding her slick pussy over my erection, and I sprawl back against the tub with heavy-lidded eyes.
“Ride me,” I murmur.
Her nipples tighten at the soft command, and she reaches down between us, stroking my cock for another minute. I think she’s having too much fun playing with it, and I’m not even sure it will make it back inside her, but eventually, she lifts her hips and guides me in.
As she sinks down on top of me, I burn the image into permanent memory.
I let her have her way with me, and once she figures out I’m not going to help her, she finds her own rhythm, sliding up and down my shaft.
Her fingers drift over my body, all the way up my neck, and down to each of my hands. It makes me wonder if she’s searching for the rings and chain I was wearing earlier.
When she comes up empty, she releases another rough exhalation, and more than anything, I’d like to know what she’s thinking.
Whatever it is, she doesn’t give it away, and she shifts her focus to making me come. At least, that’s what I imagine is going through her mind as she rolls her hips and rocks up and down.
I feel drugged by the sight of her like this, and I’m already losing the battle of drawing out my release as pressure settles at the base of my cock.
When she comes around me, the sight alone sets me off. I grab her by the hips, holding her still as my abs contract and my cock empties inside her.
She collapses against me, breathless and exhausted, and we stay like that until her racing heart calms. When she shivers against me, I turn the tap back on and fill up the rest of the tub, dumping her bubble bath inside.
“Pink or white?” I ask.
“White,” she says, her voice soft and sleepy.
I toss the bath bomb into the water and let it fizz while she takes a little nap on my chest.
When she stirs again, she peels her face off me with a yawn. Between last night and today, I’ve worn her out.
I give her a quick wash and dry her off, helping her into her pajamas. When I carry her back to bed, I’m sure she’s done for the night, and she’ll be passed out by the time I return. But once I’m dressed and I come back to her, she’s lying there waiting for me.
“Can I take this off now?” She touches her mask.
I remove it for her and climb into the bed behind her. “I thought you’d be asleep by now.”
She worries her lip between her teeth, biting back a nervous smile. “I saved a video to watch earlier. I’ve been waiting all day to get to it.”
“Better put it on then.” I wrap my arm around her waist and get comfortable.
“You don’t mind?”
“No.” I tuck her head beneath my chin as she grabs her phone. “What are we watching?”
She pulls up YouTube and opens a video from a channel she watches regularly. They’re a group of marine biologists who promote shark conservation by documenting their dives, rescue and rehabilitation cases, and explaining shark behavior.
Watching how happy she is as she settles in for the show, cuddled against me, is more endearing than I want to admit.
“You never told me how we got here,” I say.
“What? Sharktube?”
“Mmhmm.”
“The algorithm found me.” A quiet laugh escapes her.
“I don’t even know, honestly. One day, it popped up in my recommendations, and I was curious, so I watched a video.
I didn’t even think I liked sharks. Not that I hated them or anything, but they get a bad rep.
Anyway, I thought it was really interesting, and before I knew it, I was kind of obsessed. ”
“I know the feeling.”
She nods, probably assuming I’m talking about sharks too, since that’s how I fake-met her.
“These ones are sad.” Her voice wavers slightly.
“The rescue cases always are. I’m really sensitive when it comes to animals, and I have to be careful about what I watch or read.
It makes me angry when I see how much suffering humans create.
But it also restores my faith a little, too, because there are people like this out there, making the world a better place. ”
Her emotion tugs at something inside me. Gabi experiences the world in a way unlike anyone I’ve ever known. I’ve seen her cry over TV commercials, true crime stories, and the pain anyone close to her carries. She feels things so deeply, it makes my chest ache.
It’s another reminder of how different we are. I’m wrong for her in all the ways that matter, except for one.
Nobody will ever protect her the way I do.
When the video ends, and she rolls over, using me as her body pillow, I tell myself it has to be enough.
For tonight.
For tomorrow.
For however long it takes until this blows up.
That thought plays through my mind as I lie there for hours in the stillness, watching her sleep. Then my phone vibrates in my pocket, bringing me back to reality.
When I see the message from Angelo, I carefully extricate myself from Gabi and grab my boots, heading out into the living room as I call him.
“What is it?” I grunt when he answers the phone.
“I need you down at the docks. Someone took out four of our men tonight.”
“A rival?” I question.
“I don’t think so.” Angelo sighs. “Pepe said it was some kind of back-alley assassin. He came in way too hot and started spraying bullets. They’re holding him for us so you can see what you’ll get out of him.”
“I’m on my way.” I put on my boots and head into my temporary room, changing the mask for my helmet.
“Meet us at the marina, and we’ll all go together,” Angelo says.
“I’ll see you at the docks.” I strap up and head for the elevator.
“Romeo—”
I disconnect the call and hit ignore when Angelo tries to call me back. It will be a fight for later.
For now, I need to figure out who’s fucking with us.