14. Zeno
CHAPTER 14
ZENO
A m I really doing this? Here? To this girl…this woman …who has crept her way under my skin and made me do things that will get my ass roasted by my family and the syndicate, and potentially killed by other nameless, faceless douchebags?
Like there aren’t already plenty of those to go around in my daily life.
Sending Bruno and Aldo back to the hotel wasn’t my brightest move, but there’s no way I’m leaving Lily. Not only because I still haven’t figured out who between us is on the chopping block, but because I can’t leave until I’ve fucked her senseless and to the brink of her sanity.
I can’t leave…won’t leave…until I’ve felt her flesh under the palms of my hands, heard her squeals as they make it tingle and sting from the force, and felt her pussy clench around my hard cock.
Let Kat and Alek come after me for defying them.
Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve put my neck on the line, and it sure as hell won’t be the last.
Oh, yeah, I’m gonna show Lily just how dangerous she is and what guys like me will do to save her from herself.
A deep ache settles in my balls and they’re getting bluer by the second. Thank fuck her friend is passed out in the back bedroom because the shit I’m gonna do will make Lily scream for God until her vocal cords are as spent as that tight body of hers most definitely will be.
The way she gazes at me without a shred of fear in those caramel-colored eyes makes my dick jerk. I palm her ass and squeeze it hard, making her yelp again. “I won’t be so gentle once that dress is around your ankles. And you should be punished for wearing outfits like that, for making guys undress you with their eyes and fuck you sideways,” I growl against her ear.
I lift her into my arms, carrying her as far away from Chloe’s room as possible. I kick open a door at the opposite end of the hallway and darkness consumes us both. But light is overrated. I know what she wants just by the way she writhes against me and I’m gonna give it to her.
Over and over and over.
But not just yet.
First things first.
Time for lesson number one.
I place her feet on the floor and unzip her dress, sliding the straps off of her shoulders. The flimsy fabric flutters to the floor and pools at her feet. I squint and see a lamp on a nearby nightstand, flicking it on.
Soft white light creates a dim glow over the space and I grin as my eyes travel over every inch of her trembling body. She reaches for me, trying to pull me in, but I shake my head.
“That’s not how this works,” I whisper. “You have to be punished before I’ll allow you to experience any pleasure. You can’t learn your lesson if I just give in to what you want.” I inch closer to her. “And you want my cock, don’t you? You want to feel it deep in that wet pussy of yours, just like you did back in that club a few weeks ago. That’s why you wanted me to stay, isn’t it?”
I swipe my fingers over her lacy thong and slide them inside of her, pulling them out almost as quickly. I suck off her juices and my lips curl into a smirk.
“So wet already.” I grasp her ass, making her gasp. “You like hearing that I want to punish you. You like knowing that I’m going to take control over your body and make you wish that you could come harder than you ever have in your life. You like hearing how hard my cock is gonna slam into your pussy and into your ass.” I grab her hand and push it against my pants so she can feel exactly what I’m feeling right now.
Her eyes widen and that only makes me harder.
“You wanna see it, don’t you?” I hiss. “You wanna see how big it is, to find out if it’s as big as you think it is. Trust me, it’s bigger. And it’s all for you, Lily. But not yet.” I nip her ear, sliding my tongue down the side of her neck. “I need you to give me that ass right now so I can punish it.” I sink onto the edge of the bed and look up at her. Her mouth is open, her eyes some combination of panic and excitement.
This is gonna be fun.
“I don’t…um…” she says, pausing for a second. “I’ve never really done this before.”
“Sex?” I ask, lifting an eyebrow.
“No,” she whispers. “I mean, other stuff, yes, but not like…you know…this.”
“So I get to be the first one to punish you, and the first one to fuck that sweet pussy,” I say, my voice gruff. I run a hand down the side of her smooth thigh, longing to bury my head between them both. And to know she’s a virgin, that nobody else has ever been inside of her…fuck.
I’m gonna make her mine.
We have all night.
I pull her toward me and she looks at me with a mix of uncertainty and pure, unbridled lust. I run my hands down the sides of her bare torso and over her hips, grasping the globes of her ass.
“You’re dangerous,” I grunt, squeezing harder. “You don’t think about your effect on others and how they’ll try to take what isn’t theirs. Do you know how many men would kill to have your pussy grinding against their cocks?”
“No.” Her knees fall open slightly. I run my hand between her legs, sliding them over her damp panties, making her gasp. I bite back a smile as my cock drips for her.
“All of them,” I hiss. “But do you want them, Lily? Do you want their dicks inside of you?”
She shakes her head.
“Say it,” I say, my fingertips digging into her flesh.
“No!”
“Why?” I ask. “Tell me why.”
“Because I want you.”
I nod. “Good. I want you to remember that every time my hand smacks your ass, do you understand? I want you to think about how badly you want my cock, and how good it’s gonna make you feel, and how I won’t give it to you until I want you to have it.” I slide her panties to the floor, and with a sudden motion, I throw her across my lap, raising my hand over her smooth skin.
She lets out a yelp, her fingers digging into my legs, as if she’s just now considering what the hell she’s getting herself into. Her quivering body lays over the tops of my thighs, the globes of her ass round and plump. I tangle my fingers into her hair and pull her head backward the slightest bit. “Do you know what you do to me, Lily? Can you feel what you do to me?”
“Yes,” she says breathlessly.
“And you want to feel it too, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
“You know how bad you can be, don’t you?” I hiss against her ear.
“Yes,” she whimpers.
“And do you want me to punish you for not thinking about the consequences of your actions?” I slide my fingers into her slick pussy, driving them deep and making her squirm and squeal.
“Yes!”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, please!”
I pull out my fingers, sucking off her juices before bringing my hand down on her ass cheek. Hard. The tingle of my palm against her flesh makes my dick twitch, and for a second, I think I may have to worry about losing it myself before she does.
“Again,” she whispers.
Oh, fuck yes.
“That’s not how this works,” I growl, trying to hold my shit together even though I’m ready to erupt. “You don’t get to ask for anything unless I tell you to.”
Another loud smack and she trembles against me, her legs parting even more. I can’t help but dip my finger into her wet slit again, finger-fucking her as she moans and whimpers for release.
“No, no, no, little girl. You don’t take instruction very well. I just told you not to ask for anything. I don’t think you’re learning yet.” I pull back and yank off my belt, positioning her over the bed. I wrap my arm around her torso, kneading her full breasts as she hovers over the edge of the bed. “Can I trust you to not scream?”
She nods, her breaths coming fast and furious. With a quick glance at my belt, she visibly shakes. I drag the leather belt down the slope of her spine and gently rest it against her ass.
The one I’ve already branded with my hand.
I lightly slap it against her left cheek and then her right cheek as she clutches the comforter in her fists. Her legs buckle, her gasps morphing into needy moans. She’s fighting so hard against the pleasure, and her lack of control is making me harder than a steel rod. I want to bury my dick deep in her pussy and fuck that badass attitude right out of her.
Lily trembles against the bed as I show her exactly what I expect in the bedroom, again and again. My heart thunders inside of my chest as the red mark becomes more prominent on her backside. She writhes on the mattress after every lash, tiny mewls slipping from her mouth.
But she knows not to speak, not to beg, not to plead for release.
Smart girl.
Good. That gets us closer to the fucking part.
And the coming part.
I drop the belt on the floor and flip her over so her back is against the comforter. She stares up at me, licking her lips, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. I can see she wants to talk, to say something she shouldn’t.
But she wants my cock and she knows that if she utters a single syllable, she won’t get it.
At least, not until I punish her again.
And this girl isn’t used to being controlled.
She wants to fight it, I can see it in her heated gaze.
I’m tempted to let her, too, since there is nothing hotter than taming the wild.
I grab a condom from my pocket, shove my pants and boxers to the floor, and kick them off one leg at a time. Dipping my head over her sweat-glistened skin, I drag my tongue down her torso until it’s just above her slit.
Her legs lock around my head and I grab each one, forcing them apart, blowing a thin stream of air that makes her back arch.
She grabs the comforter again, clenching her teeth.
She knows not to say a word.
She knows that speaking will torment her more than she’d ever imagined.
“Good girl,” I whisper, my lips vibrating against hers as I speak the words. My tongue juts out, sliding into her wetness to prepare her for what’s to come. My fingertips dig into her thighs as my tongue twists, taunts, and teases her swollen clit.
I slide one of my fingers between her ass cheeks as her hips thrust upward into my mouth, massaging her tight hole as I assault her pussy with my tongue.
Oh Jesus.
I’ve only tasted this girl and I’m already ruined for fucking life.
Her sweet juices flow into my greedy mouth as she flounders under me, shaking like my mouth is electrocuting her.
Ah, hell yeah.
Wait until she feels my cock ramming her.
Her whole body is gonna short-circuit.
“You want to scream,” I whisper, pulling away from her slightly and dropping kisses on the insides of her thighs. “I know you do, but you’re fighting it. Because you understand that if you behave yourself and do what you’re told, you’ll be rewarded.”
Sharp gasps make her chest heave as I slide against her, the head of my cock grazing her pussy. “Tell me you liked that,” I breathe, nipping at her ear.
“I li-liked that,” she rasps.
“Did you only just like it?”
She shakes her head.
I plunge my finger into her ass again, making her whole body arch. She stuffs a fist into her mouth to keep from screaming and there are a whole lot of nasty images flashing through my mind to keep myself from coming before I’ve even slid into that pussy.
Roadkill, hair in my food, blood…yeah, I’m not a fan.
Ironic, I know, in my line of work.
I keep that shit on lock-down, though.
“Do you want me to fuck you now, Lily?” I whisper, dipping my tongue between her lips, coiling her tongue with mine. So hot, so wet, so fucking intense.
“Yes,” she moans against my mouth.
“What do you say?”
“Please,” she whimpers.
“Say it like you mean it,” I hiss. “Otherwise you won’t get it.”
“ Yes! ” she cries out, making my cock tingle.
I tear open the foil wrapper and slide the condom onto my thick length, stroking it a couple of times before positioning it at her entrance. I gently thrust my hips forward, just teasing her.
“Say what you wanna say, Lily,” I whisper.
She drags her fingernails down my back, lodging them into my hips. “Please fuck me, Zeno,” she moans. “Oh my God, please do it now. You’re making me so crazy!”
Yeah, she ain’t alone in that.
I’d love to tie her up, to wrap those delicate wrists in something silky as I take my time tasting every inch of her and feeling her legs wrap around me as I drive myself into her.
But right now, it’d be torture…for me as much as her.
And besides, there’s always tomorrow.
If I’m not dead at someone’s hand, which is still very questionable.
I pull her toward the edge of the bed, forcing her legs open with my own. With one arm snaked around her, I use my other hand to lay her leg on my hip. I slowly thrust into her, long, hard, and so deep it makes her lance my skin with her nails. I want so badly to drive into her tight pussy, but I don’t want to hurt her, so I move with as much control as I can muster.
But as I slide deeper, stretching her walls, my resolve falters.
She gasps as I press into her, her breathing ragged as she clenches her muscles tight. “It burns,” she whispers, her teeth clenched tight. “God, it hurts.” She slashes at my skin as I slide out before driving into her once again.
I wince, pumping my cock faster as her body rocks against me. Her pussy is soft, wet, and so damn tight, it squeezes me like a vise. I run my hand down the slope of her spine, her skin pebbled with sweat. Her hair splays out on the mattress, her eyes squeezed shut as she thrusts her hips against me. I grab her other leg and wrap it around my other hip, lifting her off the bed and driving myself deeper.
“You scream for me, baby,” I grunt, my breath hitching. “I wanna hear it!”
And that’s all the invitation she needs. I sure as hell hope Chloe is still passed out cold because it’s possible that these sounds may wake the dead.
I flip onto my back, pulling her on top of me and bouncing her on my cock as she screams for God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and anyone else who can hear her. She rocks against me like she’s a fucking champ, swallowing my cock deeper and deeper. Our bodies slap together, slick with sweat, and any pain she might have felt seems to have morphed into erotic bliss.
My balls are heavy with a deliciously tormenting ache, sparks igniting in my groin. They fire into every extremity, making my fingers tingle and my toes curl. Sensations that I’ve never felt course through me like a raging inferno. I drive my hips into her one last time, my cock throbbing as I squeeze my eyes shut, letting the orgasm tear through me with a force that shreds my insides in its wake.
Seriously shredded.
That’s exactly how I feel.
Well, shredded and zapped of all ability to think or speak.
I can only feel right now and Christ, it’s incredible.
My dick jerks as the hot cum explodes out of me.
Lily collapses onto the mattress next to me and my head falls onto her tits. A perfect resting place, if you ask me.
I can’t breathe. I can’t speak. I can’t even hear.
And everything tingles, right down to my toes.
Holy shit…
Fucking incredible is an understatement.
I don’t know how much time passes before my mouth finds words, how much time before I can stop panting.
I don’t even care.
Lily’s skin is so soft and smooth under my fingertips, her hair draped over my arm.
I can stay like this forever.
Until a loud ring from inside of my pants pierces the still, sweaty, and sexed-up air.
Then I remember…
I can’t .
I can’t ignore the call, as much as I want to. I know it’s Sergio and I know he’s gonna spew some pretty toxic stuff in my ear, just as prep for what I can expect to hear…and feel…when I get back to the hotel.
I breathe Lily in — the sweet scent of her hair, the citrusy scent of her skin — it makes me yearn for a life when I can stay here all night, one where I can fuck her senseless for hours without worrying about whether or not I’ll have a cock to pump into her.
I messed up tonight.
I got myself tangled in things I should have stayed far away from.
But that’s me.
I’m the guy who sees red and charges like a bull.
I’m no closer to figuring out who took our money and somehow, I’ve become a target for some faceless assholes who want at least one of us dead.
The phone rings and rings, and finally I let out a groan as she slides off my half-hard cock.
I grab my phone. “Yeah?”
“I can’t find Sergio,” Bruno says in a low voice.
“Okay, great, you couldn’t have sent a text?”
“Well, it’s a little weird, right? Because he knows you’re out of the hotel and he was pretty pissed off that you left in the first place.”
“Maybe he decided to take a break and fuck his wife, Jaelyn.” I let out a dry laugh. “He was tense. Maybe she offered him a little rub and tug action.”
“Maybe,” Bruno says. I can picture him rubbing the back of his neck.
“Listen, stop worrying, okay? We have enough other shit to deal with right now. Consider it a blessing that Sergio isn’t there breathing down your neck.”
Bruno sighs. “Fine. When will you be back?”
“In the morning. Unless Sergio finds me first. Just relax, Bruno. I can hear the stress. Let it go. Maybe you should find a cocktail waitress to screw.”
“Uh-huh.”
I click to end the call. Bruno knows Sergio’s wrath so it’s no shocker that he doesn’t want to ignite the fire. I say take his absence as a godsend and just enjoy it.
We don’t get that kind of freedom too often.
“Work trouble?” she asks, a suspicious look on her face.
I avert my eyes, rubbing the back of my neck. “Something like that.”
Lily wraps the comforter around her and sits up with a strange look on her face. “So, tell me something, Zeno. Why are you carrying a gun? What hotel security guard just happens to have a Glock stuffed into the back of his pants?”
“Uh, the kind that is paid to defend said hotel,” I say with a lifted eyebrow. “You know how many crazy fuckers there are out there who use stray pit bulls as a distraction to attack casinos?” I smirk at her. “I use it for those people.”
Her lips stretch into a tight line. “Who are you, Zeno? Because I’m going to bet it’s not just head of security for the Excelsior. Kazimir Severinov is a business associate of yours, isn’t that right?”
“Wow, so now you’re putting me under a microscope when the attack outside the club was supposed to be a hit on you ?” I fold my arms. “Why do you care who I am all of a sudden, Lily?”
She runs a hand through her hair, a frustrated grimace twisting her lips. “Maybe because I want to know if that attack really was targeting me or if, like you said, we got caught in each other’s crosshairs.”
“Well, I already told you that the list of people who want me dead is pretty much endless, so…” I shrug. “Could be anyone’s hit.”
We stare at each other for a long minute until I bite the bullet and give her a shred of the truth she thinks she’s so desperate to hear.
I let out a deep sigh. “Look, you really wanna know my story? I’m out here in Vegas because I did some bad stuff as a favor to someone. And if that bad stuff is traced back to me, it can do a lot of damage to my family.” A dry laugh escapes my lips. “And to me, if I’m found. So I’m working security and laying low until things blow over.” I leave out the part where the favor was for her father because it won’t be me who drags her into the life she’s so desperate to separate herself from.
“So you and Kazimir?—"
“Let’s just call it my initiation into a club.”
Her brow furrows. “Club?”
“Yeah. What do you know about it?”
“The Severinovs are close with my family.” She twists her hair around a finger. “And my brother and father are coming out here soon to talk about joining some group, a group the Severinovs recommended them for.” Lily cocks her head to the side. “My brother told me about another family who was being considered.”
I narrow my eyes. “Considered, huh?”
She furrows her brow. “That’s what he said. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be part of that group.”
“Fucking bullshit,” I mutter. “After everything I did.”
“What are you talking about?” she asks.
“It’s my family being considered. The Severinovs told us it’d be a sure thing if I…”
“If you what?”
I clench my fists. “The bad stuff I did? It was for your father. Because he needed to feel like he could trust us before working with us.”
“That makes sense. He doesn’t know you at all.”
“Yeah, well, after that night we met a few weeks ago, I was told to stay the hell away from you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your friend Kat attacked me the morning after. Evidently they have surveillance on every square inch of that hotel, including the VIP room at the nightclub.”
She gasps. “So you mean…?”
“They saw everything, and pretty much told me I’d be mutilated if I lay a finger on you ever again.” A dry laugh escapes my lips. “Your dad would be pissed if he knew what I just did to his little princess, huh?”
Her eyes flash, nostrils flaring. “I’m not a princess!” She wraps the comforter tighter and sticks her finger into the center of my chest. “Let me tell you something, Zeno. I came out here because I didn’t want any part of that life. And I wanted a life, one that I live on my own terms. I didn’t want to be the victim, the weak pathetic damsel who needs a savior. I’m my own savior. I have claws, dammit!
A snort of laughter escapes my lips. “Uh, yeah, I know. I felt them digging into my back a few minutes ago.”
She narrows her eyes. “This isn’t a game.”
“If it is, it’s more like Russian roulette than Monopoly, I’ll tell ya that.”
Lily rolls her eyes. “Is that all you can do? Just make jokes? For the record, I decide who I screw around with, not my family, and certainly not the Severinovs. And the other, more pressing, thing is…someone obviously wants one — or both — of us dead.”
“And like I told you before, that’s my normal,” I say with a shrug. “So excuse me for using humor as a defense mechanism.” I can’t help but chuckle at the furious expression on her face. And then I remember what she did to the guy at the club and think maybe I should quit while I’m ahead.
“This isn’t just a coincidence, Zeno. Think about it. Our families are coming together here in Vegas. In one place! Do you realize how impossible it is to keep news like that quiet? Everyone has a price and there are plenty of people inside our family organizations who would pay a ton for that information. There are always enemies watching and waiting for their chance to steal the crown. I know they’re here. I always knew they’d be back.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, holding up my hands. “So I told you my story. What’s yours? Who wants you dead and why? Is it because of who your father is?”
Lily presses her hands to her temples. “My brother warned me that something was going to happen, to be careful and keep my eyes open. I thought I escaped it a few months ago. I figured I’d be safe out here. But deep down, I always knew they’d find me and do just what they promised.”
“What was that?” I ask, my mouth drier than the Mojave at this point. She’s talking in code, but somehow I know exactly what she’d saying.
And I don’t like it one bit.
Lily’s pained expression makes my chest tighten. “That they’d kill me, just like my father did to their son.”