Chapter 14
14
COEN
I never thought a dinner at my favorite restaurant could be agonizing, but every minute that passed, every bite I took, every word of small talk Bishop tried to make, the more I stopped craving the delicious food I was eating, and instead wished for it to be over, so it could be now . So I could be standing here, in the threshold of my suite, staring at Allegra.
She sits on the couch, waiting for me, just like I knew she would be.
Or at least, hoped.
There was always a chance she would run again.
Maybe that’s why my knee kept bouncing and my hand kept tapping on the tabletop. Maybe that’s why my heart felt like it was trapped in a vise the entire time I sat there with Bishop.
Because I wasn’t one hundred percent sure she would be here.
And now that I’ve finally laid eyes on her, I can’t drag them away even if I tried.
Christ, she’s beautiful.
Her dark hair cascading forward over her shoulders, settling just above her breasts, making my fingers itch to bury themselves in those tresses. Her red lips that beg to be kissed and devoured. And those stormy-gray eyes searching mine as she slowly climbs to her feet.
I let the door close behind me, not even realizing I’ve been standing here with my hand on the knob for an embarrassingly long time.
Allegra twists her hands nervously in front of her as she moves away from the couch. “How was your dinner?”
Her typically strong, steady voice wavers slightly, making that vise tighten around my chest again.
I approach her slowly, not wanting to crowd her, considering how jittery she seems to be tonight.
Allegra has never been like this with me before. She’s never openly displayed this kind of weakness—signs of her humanity that prove she isn’t a cold, heartless machine going through the motions.
It’s always been a show for her, a need to demonstrate that she’s stronger, smarter, but she’s never really been in control.
She said it herself earlier.
And right now, she definitely seems to be out of sorts—shaken by the conversation we started at that table but never got the chance to finish.
“It was good. But do you really want to talk about my dinner?”
Biting her bottom lip, she shakes her head. “I guess not…”
She’s nervous.
I probably should be, too.
Allegra’s showing up certainly wasn’t even a remote possibility in my head when I left to come to Vegas. All I’ve felt for her since I woke up Monday morning to an empty bed and that note has been a vibrating rage. The fact that she hunted me down at Lago and is standing in front of me right now should scream trap after everything she’s done .
So, I should be nervous…
I should be very cautious with her and determine her true intent rather than act on the intense physical pull that tries to draw me right to her.
“I told you we would finish our conversation.”
Allegra nods slowly. “Yes…”
“So, let’s do that.” I cross my arms over my chest, holding my ground and keeping enough space between us that I won’t be tempted to touch her and short-circuit my brain. “Unless you’re afraid to?”
She shudders slightly, squeezing her eyes closed. “I’m fucking terrified, Coen…”
Her confession almost makes me close the distance between us.
Only absolute willpower keeps my feet rooted in place.
“The truth can be a scary thing…and I told you back in New Orleans that I wanted you to come clean, that I wanted you to be honest with me. You ran. So, this is your opportunity, right here, right now, to tell me what you really want, Allegra. You said you weren’t in control of your own life. You said you felt like you’ve been spiraling. This is your opportunity to stop that.”
She releases a long, heavy breath, pushing her thick, dark hair back from her face. “I don’t know how to stop the spiraling. I don’t think it’s as easy as you seem to believe it to be.” That uncertainty in her gaze threatens to split my chest wide open. “But one thing I’m absolutely sure of is that I wouldn’t have come to Las Vegas. I wouldn’t have needed to if I didn’t want you , if I didn’t want this , despite all the complications and reasons I shouldn’t.”
It’s as close to opening up to me as she’s ever come.
And I can see how uncomfortable she is with the vulnerability she’s showing me right now.
Allegra just laid all her cards on the table.
It’s the final showdown.
And she’s waiting to see what I will play.
I slowly close the few steps between us, staring down into her swirling gray eyes, a hurricane of uncertainty that threatens to swallow her whole if she can’t find a safe haven in the storm. Tilting her face up to mine, I brush my thumb across her bottom lip. “You can have me, Allegra, and I’ll help you stop the spiral.”
That’s a promise I shouldn’t be making, no matter how much I want to be able to fulfill it.
Not when Satriano looms over me and can make me do his bidding with a single word or snap of his fingers, and it will inevitably be something far worse than fixing games at his casinos.
It will be things that would put Allegra in the kind of danger the Hawkes have been running from for what feels like forever.
Protecting her means pushing her away.
But I can’t when I can see how much she needs something strong to cling to, a place to set anchor and weather whatever maelstrom is swirling around her.
She needs the spiraling to stop, and I can’t bring myself to walk away from her when she’s like this. Especially not when my entire being screams that I can be her savior. That somehow helping her will redeem me from all the mistakes I’ve made.
Allegra sags against me as if my words have released some sort of tension in her that has held her upright this entire time. Her hands curl around the lapels of my jacket, and I wrap my arms around her, tugging her fully against me, accepting her weight and that of whatever has brought her to this point.
I brush my lips over hers gently, holding her tightly, letting her cling to me for as long as she needs to.
It took a lot for her to be here, for her to show up, for her to admit any of this to me, especially after the way we left things, the way she left things.
A woman doesn’t like having her pride hurt, but she sacrificed it to come here and make this confession. To supplicate herself at my feet and beg for forgiveness.
And I’m going to reward her for it.
I deepen the kiss, cupping her face between my palms, holding her steady as I attempt to convey everything that’s so hard to say. Both because I don’t know how to but also because I fear, if I ever manage it, it might send her running again.
She sucks in a sharp breath as my mouth moves over hers, demanding and insistent.
All the things that seem to bring that flame that burns inside her back to life.
She presses into me tighter, as if she can’t get close enough.
I kiss her with everything I have in me, with all the frustration, confusion, and aggression that’s built up over the last several days since she disappeared—pouring it all into the kiss.
Into her.
The wanting.
The needing.
The desperation I’ve felt since she left me.
And now that there aren’t any more games, now that she’s finally letting me see those other sides of her, I want it all.
Her sassiness.
Her strength.
Her humor.
Her struggles.
Her fears.
I lift her easily, and she loops her arms around my neck, her thighs squeezing my hips as I walk us back toward the bedroom, where I plan to spend the entire night lost in this woman.
But I can’t wait.
I need her now .
Stopping halfway down the hallway, I pin her to the wall, my cock pressed between her legs, aligned precisely so that every twitch and roll of her hips brushes it against her clit. “I sure as hell hope you’ve stuck to your no-panties rule.”
She chuckles against my lips, tunneling her fingers through my hair and jerking my head back slightly. “You think I would come to you like this with any sort of barrier?”
Hell.
The many layers of meaning in those words wrap around me, as much of a declaration of honesty and affection as I might ever get from this woman.
It’s enough to make that razor-thin thread of control I’m still clinging to snap, and I slam my mouth to hers again, grinding my hips in a way that has her breath falling from her mouth on a startled gasp.
I slide one hand between us and find the hem of her dress, lifting it so I can drag my fingers along her slick core. “You’re always so wet and ready for me.”
She releases a little laugh—the sound is the most light and carefree thing I’ve heard from this woman since I met her. “It’s almost embarrassing what a slut I am for you…”
“Fuckin hell, Allegra…”
Her words awaken something primitive in me, the need to mark and claim and conquer, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.
I keep her pinned to the wall with my chest as I pull my hand from her cunt and reach between us to free my cock. Every second it takes me fumbling with my goddamn belt and zipper feels like an eternity, but when I finally manage to get my pants down, I don’t hesitate for even a second.
Eyes locked with her half-lidded, lust-soaked gaze, I plunge into her hard and deep, easily gliding in her drenched core as it expands to accept me.
“Fuck!”
Her head falls back against the wall, her nails scoring the back of my neck. She contracts around me, squeezing so tightly it’s almost painful to hold back my desire to come instantly, and I unleash a low growl that fills the hallway.
“You have no idea what you fucking do to me, woman.” I draw my hips back and slam into her again. “No. Fucking. Idea.”
“I think I do…” She moans on another thrust, then locks her gaze with mine. “Because you do the same to me.”
Bloody hell…
Every retreat and advance, I claim her in a way I haven’t been able to before, because this woman owns me . She did from the minute I saw her at that fucking bar; I just never really wanted to admit it.
It doesn’t matter what she’s done in her past, only that she’s committed her future to me, to this, to us, to seeing where this leads, and as her pussy contracts around my cock, as she clamps down on me, with each drag of my hips, I know I won’t be able to walk away, and neither will she.
It’s too intense.
Too uncontrollable.
All we can do is ride it out and see where it takes us.
I kiss her hard, angling her head where I want it, digging one hand into her hip, the other at the back of her neck, clutching and holding her tightly. My hips pound her into the wall.
The art hanging on it shakes violently, rattling like it’s about to come off.
But I don’t give a fuck if it does.
I want to break every last wall this woman has up.
And that starts tonight.
Right fucking now.
* * *
ALLEGRA
What I just said to Coen was either very right or very wrong, given the way he turns almost animalistic. Slamming into me, burying himself deep, like he can’t get close enough, like he’s trying to cement himself there permanently.
Each time he retreats, the head of his cock drags along that perfect spot, and lights flash against my closed lids. But then he’s right back, filling me, grinding his pelvis to mine to rub against my clit.
God, this position…
All his raw power on display as he keeps me pinned and maintains complete control over me—mind, body, and soul.
I cling to his neck, digging my nails into his tight flesh, the corded muscles rippling under my hands while his mouth moves over mine in another mind-bending kiss that momentarily short-circuits my brain.
Then we’re moving.
He pulls me from the wall, hands at my back, supporting my weight as he walks us over to the bed with his cock still embedded deep inside me. All while he kisses me wildly, as if it’s his only way to get oxygen.
The sheer intensity of Coen like this threatens to overwhelm all my senses, and I can already see he’s barely begun.
His eyes gleam as he leans forward and lowers me to the mattress. Only, instead of coming with me, he pulls back and steps away, his cock slipping out.
No…
I whimper and reach for him, but he tugs off his suit coat, tossing it behind him without taking his eyes off me. He toes off his shoes, removes his pants and socks, and then gets to work on the buttons of his shirt.
His hot gaze roams from my face to my spread legs, my dress still hiked up around my waist.
“By the time this shirt is off, you better be naked…”
Still clouded by the force of his passion, it takes a second for me to process his words.
But he doesn’t have to tell me twice.
I pull my dress up and over my head, tossing it off the side of the bed as he comes to stand at the edge of it between my legs. He bends down and caresses my cheek almost reverently, calloused fingertips skimming over soft skin.
He stops with his lips a mere hairsbreadth from mine. “I hope you’re ready for this, Allegra. I hope you’re ready for all of me.”
It sounds like a warning.
Maybe one I should heed.
A shiver rolls through me at the drop in his voice, and he kisses me as if he’s trying to quell the reaction. But I’m not afraid, not of Coen.
No matter what he might be thinking. No matter what might be going on in that head of his. No matter how feral he may be, balancing on the edge of control, this man would never hurt me.
I reach between us and wrap my hand around his cock, still slick with my arousal, and he groans against my mouth, thrusting into my tight grip.
“God, I love when you touch me, Allegra.”
The feeling is very mutual.
Whether it be his hands, his mouth, or his cock, Coen Hawke has mastered my body and has no problem using that knowledge to destroy me in the best ways.
Turnabout is fair play…
I twist my hand around his cock, basking in the way his entire body trembles with my touch. “Then fuck my mouth.”
Coen tenses, his hard muscles twitching slightly as he pulls back and stares at me. He brushes his fingers across my lips, slipping his thumb into my mouth. I suck on it and swirl my tongue around it, earning me a low groan.
“Believe me, sweetheart, I would love to fuck this pretty little mouth and to come down your throat. But I had something else in mind for tonight.”
He pulls his thumb free of my lips, and it clicks what he’s saying.
I finally understand the warning he just gave me.
Oh, God…
What he did to me the other night flashes through my head. Where that very same thumb went and what he asked me that night. My response…
Everything clenches in response to the memory.
He pulls back enough that I’m forced to release my grip on his cock and smacks the side of my thigh, his eyes dancing with the kind of wicked intent that matches the grin pulling at his lips. “Roll over.”
And like the love-sick, obsessed woman I apparently am, I comply without question, getting onto my knees and elbows.
I look back at where he stands at the edge of the bed, cock in his hand, ready to do unspeakable things to me, to sin in the kind of way only a man like Coen Hawke can.
He steps forward until his hot skin brushes mine, then reaches around me with his free hand and wraps his forearm around my breasts, his warm lips skating across the back of my neck. His cock slips through my arousal, practically dripping from me at this point, then up over my ass, making me tense. “Do you still want me here, Allegra?”
Fuck.
I do.
I never thought I would want any man to go there, but I want him to take me.
I want him to be the one who finally does it.
I want to give him that, to give him me, for us to share the experience, for him to take me completely .
Trying to prepare myself mentally for what’s coming, I nod.
He releases my breasts to lift my chin up until my eyes meet his. “I need to hear you say it.”
God…
Coen needs the confirmation.
He needs to ensure I am one hundred percent on board with this, even though I already told him I wanted it the other night. Even though I’m naked and slick and quivering in his arms. He still wouldn’t even consider it if I said no.
This man…
Where the hell has he been my entire life?
I hold his gaze, unable to look away due to his grip on my chin. “Y-yes.”
One of his dark brows rises. “Yes, what?”
Oh, God, he’s going to make me say the words…
All the years of playing the game, of having to remain strong and unbreakable, of being forced to maintain an impenetrable veneer, battle against what my body tells me it wants.
And it wants that.
Even when my brain is telling me that it’s giving him too much when I should be keeping my cards close to my chest.
Too much power.
Too much control.
Too much. Too much. Too much.
But as hard as my mind may be working to convince me otherwise, I know it isn’t too much.
Not with him.
With him, it’s right.
“Yes…” It comes out barely above a whisper. If his face weren’t so close to mine, he might not even hear me. “I want you to fuck my ass.”
Those blue eyes of his flare, the pupils dilating until they’re almost completely consumed with black. Then those luscious lips curl up into a grin that completely changes his face, like I’ve just given him the greatest gift he’s ever received in his life. “Good girl. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“I-I trust you…”
Those words seem to be what he’s been waiting for because he drops a quick kiss to my lips, releases my chin, and then stands.
The loss of his body heat pressed to my back instantly makes me shiver, but he runs his hand from my clit up and back, spreading my slick arousal around my asshole before coating his cock by rubbing it along my seam.
Fuck.
I bite my lip, gripping the comforter as my body tenses in anticipation of what’s coming.
His hand slips around my front, those talented fingers gently rolling across my clit. I buck at the contact, little sparks of pleasure coursing through me, and I finally release the groan I’ve been holding back.
He chuckles low, his other finger circling my wet asshole before slowly easing in a fraction of an inch. I clench around it, and he keeps rolling his fingers against my clit, his hard cock nestled between my legs, getting coated in my arousal that flows like Niagara fucking Falls.
That finger slips all the way into me easily.
“Good girl. One more.
He moves his finger back and forth inside me.
Fuck…that feels so good.
Combined with the way he’s working my clit, I’m so close to coming already. My entire body is one massive, trembling, sloppy mess, and we haven’t even gotten to the main attraction.
Coen leans forward, his chest pressing to my back again. “You’re not going to come. You’re going to wait.”
I’ve never been one to believe that a woman can come on command. It certainly isn’t anything I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime, but the orgasm starting to build suddenly ebbs a little. Still there, on the periphery, but not knocking at the door, ready to burst out of it anymore.
Hell.
A few words from him and my body responds so easily.
Like it knows who it should be listening to.
I whimper and nod my agreement now that he’s proven he can apparently control me with his words as much as he does his hands, mouth, and cock, and he slowly works a second fingering to me.
Gasping at the intrusion, my breath catches, and I hold it, clamping down.
“Relax, Allegra. Breathe.”
I try to do as he asks.
Relax my body.
Allow him to do his magic.
The fingers of his left hand continue to move over my clit while the ones on his right slowly work into me fully and spread me open. He drags the head of his cock across my dripping core one more time with a swirl of his hips before slowly withdrawing his fingers and easing the head inside my ass.
“Oh, fuuuuck!” I gasp at how thick he is, how full I already feel with only that tiny bit of him inside me, dropping my forehead to the mattress, burying my face in the plush comforter to muffle my strangled mix of a groan and a scream. “Fuck…Coen…”
“You’re okay, Allegra. You’re doing so well.”
His encouragement, coupled with his fingers moving rapidly over my clit, quickly melt away that momentary panic that hit.
My body shakes.
Heat boils deep and low in my core, and I instinctively clench where his cock would normally be—and where it currently is.
He issues a low, rumbling groan. “You’re going to come for me now. It will help you relax.”
Coen adjusts his hand at my core and twists my clit between his fingers, and like a fucking stick of dynamite…I explode .
Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuck.
Pleasure courses through me, my pussy clenching, body convulsing, ass tightening around the head of his cock. He keeps moving his fingers over my clit.
Keeps working me through the orgasm as he slowly pushes his cock deeper into me.
Until it feels like he’s completely consumed me.
Until it feels like he fucking owns me.
My orgasm finally ebbs, my limbs heavy and wobbling, and I drop down onto my forearms, resting my chest against the mattress, unable to hold myself up any longer.
Coen’s arm wrapped round my waist keeps at least that half up, and he slips his hand from my clit, down to my pussy, and slides two fingers in, fucking me there as he slowly eases his cock back, then pushes it in a fraction farther than he had been.
“Christ, you’re so fucking tight, Allegra. Feels fucking good…”
I can’t help the inclination to squeeze around him in response, to tighten, but his thrusts in both places, the slow, steady rhythm he sets that allows him to push deeper with each drive of his hips, quickly relaxes me into an almost trance.
My mind slips into a hazy fog of pleasure I didn’t know existed.
I want to float in it forever.
“That’s it.” He grinds his palm against my hyper-sensitive clit as he keeps fingering me. “God, you’re so good at taking my cock in your beautiful cunt and your stunning ass. I wish you could see what you look like right now with my cock shoved up it.”
Fucking HELL.
He can’t say things like that to me.
It isn’t fair.
It isn’t right for a man to be this…
Just this.
I whimper, wishing I could see myself through his eyes, wishing I could see all the things he does that somehow allowed him to forgive me for everything I’ve done—or at least, the things he knows about.
He keeps pushing into me slowly, ensuring he won’t hurt me as he works up another orgasm so quickly after the first.
This one feels different, though.
Almost like my body is starting to unravel, ready to come apart at the seams…
My limbs feel disconnected, like I’m floating on some magical cloud of ecstasy controlled by the man fucking me so beautifully.
“Are you going to come again, Allegra?”
God, he’s so observant.
He can already tell I’m on the precipice.
That it’s so close I can almost reach out and grab it.
I nod. “Y-yes…”
“You’re going to come with me this time.”
God, yes.
That.
That is what I want.
What I need .
To feel his release riding mine.
I nod, desperately trying to hold it back when it threatens to tear me apart at the simple swipe of his fingers.
He keeps pumping into me, the head of his cock dragging against spots I didn’t even know existed.
I squeeze around his fingers in my cunt and around him there and glance back to find his neck muscles strained, his jaw clenched, his eyes focused on the spot where he’s buried inside me.
“Now, Allegra.”
And as soon as my pussy starts rippling, when the first seam starts to tear, he pushes in all the way and roars, the sound echoing through the room, along with my strangled cry as I completely and utterly shatter.