Chapter 6
SIX
Lissia
I shouldn’t do a lot of things, but that never seemed to stop me.
When Marchello slapped the leather belt against his palm, I should have been terrified, but my nipples peaked against the silk of my dress, and the tingles between my legs said otherwise.
“Your impulses infuriate me.” He gripped the strap in his hand. “If you can’t control them, I’m going to have to do it for you.”
“You’re mad at me?”
“You don’t think I should be?”
“I helped you.”
“What did I tell you about helping me?” He cracked open the patio doors, allowing the warm sea breeze to flow into the room.
He took a seat in the chair by the doors, eyeing me like a hungry wolf.
“You don’t need my help.” When I started toward him, he held up his hand and halted me. “But you benefited from it tonight.”
“That remains to be seen.” He set the belt on the floor and then slipped out of his jacket. “I could have done without your flirtatious demeanor.”
That’s what this is about?
“Are you jealous over what I did eight years ago when I was barely a teenager?” I laughed. “For such a confident man, sometimes you make me wonder.”
“It’s your confidence that bothers me.”
“Well, it worked for you tonight. Without me, Lorenzo wasn’t going to negotiate with you.”
I had Lorenzo wrapped around my finger as tightly as I had when we were kids. Marchello may have been a hardened mob boss back in New York, but I could tell as soon as I walked into that room that the situation was going to require a certain finesse. One that my brooding mafia don didn’t possess.
“I don’t see what the big deal is,” I said.
“You never do.” Marchello unbuttoned his shirt down to his belly button, revealing all of his impressive ink and muscles. “That’s how you got yourself kidnapped.”
“That seemed to work to my advantage.” I placed my hand on my hip. “It’ll work for you too.”
He reached around to the back of his waistband and removed his gun, setting it on the small table by the chair. I tucked my hair behind my ear, twirling the ends around my finger. The moonlight seeped in from the glass doors behind him. In the distance, the sounds of the waves crashed.
“Take off your dress.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” He picked up the belt.
Anticipation gnawed in my stomach as I reached down to take off my shoe.
“I said take off your dress.” He kept his voice low and steady as he stared into my eyes. “Leave your shoes on.”
I glided my hand up my stomach and over my breasts, making my way to the strap on my shoulder. The other side was strapless, so it would only take one swipe of the thin material and my chest would be bare to him.
“Take it off.” He ran the leather through his fingers.
I slipped the strap along my shoulder and let the top of the dress fall to my hips. Placing my hands on either side of my waist, I pushed the silky material down my thighs. Once the thousand-dollar dress fell to the floor, I stepped out of it, leaving me exposed to him in my black thong and silver stilettos.
He curled his finger and summoned me to come to him.
Five steps. That was how many it took to get to him. Once I stopped, he spread his legs so I could stand between them.
“Turn around.” He didn’t wait for me to comply as he moved me to face the opposite wall with my back to him.
When he traced his fingertips along the back of my thighs and over my butt cheeks, I stumbled forward. He caught me by my wrist while he continued to explore my skin with his fingers.
“What am I going to do with you?” He trailed his hand up my back, pushed my hair to the side, and pressed his lips to the base of my spine. “You refuse to listen.”
He tangled his fingers in my hair and tugged my head back. “It’s not as if I didn’t warn you.”
His stubble grazed my back as he kissed my waist. Releasing my hair, he placed his hands on either side of my thong and shimmied the fabric down my legs.
The warm ocean breeze ghosted my skin, forcing a shiver to course through me as he helped me step out of the thong. When he ran the belt down my backside and between my legs, I tensed.
With one his hands at my front and the other behind me, he slid the expensive leather against my center.
“Oh.” My legs buckled as he created a leisurely rhythm.
“You don’t know how close you came to me dragging you out of that room by your hair and taking this belt to your ass. My hand against your flesh would have seemed like a game compared to what this could do.”
My nipples hardened when he increased his pace. The build-up was too much. My legs trembled while my hips rocked in time with the pleasure he generated. Before I could stop myself, I lost my balance and fell to my knees.
I glanced over my shoulder and gazed into his eyes. Finish me.
“You look good at my feet.” He smirked. “Maybe that’s where you should sit during my next business meeting.”
I could provoke him with my words, but that probably wouldn’t go well for me, so I turned and spread my legs, giving him a full view of my arousal.
“I can make it up to you,” I said.
“You’re going to.” He unbuttoned his pants and lowered his zipper. “Get up.”
I crawled to him, using his strong legs to assist me with getting off the floor. I glanced down at his erection and licked my lips.
“Do you want to suck my cock?” He glided his fingers along my throat and between my breasts. “That’s an act I reserve for women who can listen to me.”
“I can listen.” I opened his shirt and pushed it from his broad shoulders. “I’ll listen right now. Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
“Put your hands behind your back.”
I did what he asked.
He retrieved the belt from the floor, then gathered my wrists in his hands and secured them with the strap. When I tried to separate my wrists, they were bound tight.
He stood from the chair and took his massive length out of his boxer briefs. He gathered my hair in his hand and yanked on it, positioning my mouth in front of his erection.
“With your hands restrained and my hand in your hair, I’m going to have total control. You’re going to have to listen to me if you don’t want to suffocate or gag.”
The darkness in his eyes triggered an exhilarating response. I would let him do whatever he wanted, and it would be my total pleasure.
“Open your mouth,” he whispered. “Take all of me.”
I widened my mouth as he flexed his hips forward, shoving inside me until his balls hit my chin.
Whoa! That was fast .
I wrapped my lips around him, but before I had time to begin, he was already pounding against my face. The firm grasp he had in my hair kept my head still so he could maintain a violent speed.
Don’t panic. I controlled my breathing, but the more I relaxed, the faster he shifted his hips and the harder he tugged on my scalp.
I wiggled my wrists, trying to free myself so I could slow him down, but it was no use.
He briefly pulled out of my mouth.
“Breathe,” he growled.
Luckily, I managed a quick breath before he shoved himself as deep as he could again and pounded against my chin, hitting the back of my throat.
After a minute, we settled into a routine, and I was able to anticipate when he was going to pull out so I could steal a breath before he assaulted my mouth. The salty drops of pre-cum coated my tongue, making me even more aroused for the beast who had total control of me.
“Use your teeth,” he hissed.
I scraped my teeth along his shaft, eliciting the most delicious moans from deep inside his chest. He may have been in control, but I was the one who got this reaction out of him. Pushing his buttons was my specialty. In and out of the bedroom. That was what made us so good together.
“That’s so…” He tugged on my hair. “Fuck…”
A burst of hot liquid filled my mouth. I savored his taste as I tightened my lips and swallowed around him.
“Hell.” He pulled out and rubbed my scalp before dropping into the chair.
I remained on my knees, bound with his belt, waiting for his next command.
He leaned forward, lifted me into his lap and straddled my legs around his thighs. With a slow swipe of his thumb across my lips, he brought his face to mine and kissed me, long and hard. He pressed his hand to my back so I wouldn’t fall out of the chair as he continued to arouse me with his lips and tongue.
“It’s not that difficult to listen to me.” He held onto my hips. “Maybe we can try it from now on?”
“I fully intended to go into tonight listening to you. I had no intention of interfering in your business, but it isn’t my fault I know Lorenzo.”
“I suppose it isn’t.” He released my wrists from the restraints and rubbed them. “That’s the downside of you coming from a rival family.”
“But tonight it was an upside.” I arched a brow at him. “Lorenzo is giving you a chance to make up for what happened because he knows me.”
“I’ll agree that you were an asset, but I did have something he wanted. I was prepared to use it, but now I might not have to.”
“Thanks to me.” I ran my hand along his chest.
“You never give up, do you?”
“If I had given up, would I be here with you right now?”
“I’m glad you’re not a quitter.” He cupped my cheek. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“How could anything happen to me if you’re protecting me?”
“Going rogue, for one.”
“I told you when you rescued me from Danny, I would do what you needed.”
“Oh, we’re calling it a rescue now?” He bit the corner of his lip. “I call it retrieving my hostage.”
“We’ll have to disagree on that one.” I traced my finger over the most prominent tattoo on his chest. The smoking gun with the check marks beneath it. “What’s the story behind this one?”
“I’m sure you can figure it out.”
It didn’t take a genius to know that the check marks represented the lives he took.
“How old were you when you got this?” I asked.
“Eighteen.”
“After your mother died?”
“After she was murdered.”
“Did it have anything to do with her death?”
“Are you asking if I took care of her murderer?”
I nodded. “Would you tell me?”
He leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. The waves weren’t as noisy as they were when we first came into the room. They had settled into a calmer flow.
I had gone too far by asking that question. But I craved to know him better. To understand him.
“That honor will go to my father,” he finally said.
“You still don’t know who killed your mother?” My heart skipped a beat. He didn’t have closure.
“We had a lead or two.” He ran his thumb over the first check mark. “We found the guy who planted the device, but he didn’t have a name.”
“That was your first?”
“A day after, I went to the tattoo parlor and got this. I wanted to add dates, but I was a kid and didn’t know better. My father told me that would only be considered evidence.” He tapped his forehead. “The dates are all up here, though. You never forget when you…”
“Aren’t you missing one?”
“Why would you say that?” he asked.
“The night of the auction, you shot that guy, but you never added to the tattoo.”
“I’ve been a little busy with an extremely defiant hostage.”
“Good point.”
“I’ve been debating that check mark.” He stroked my cheek. “I wasn’t sure I was going to add it.”
“Why?”
“Normally, I wouldn’t consider random acts of self-defense worthy of a mark on my body.”
“That makes sense in your line of work.” I laughed. “Because self-defense happens a lot.”
“It does.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “But in this case, I shot that guy to protect you, and that seems like a good enough reason to add it to my collection.”
“The next time you get a tattoo, I want to go with you.” I kissed him. “I want something that represents us.”
“Are you sure about that?” He ran his finger along my lips. “That’s a huge commitment.”
“Didn’t I prove tonight that I’m more than just arm candy?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’m here for it.”
“All of it?” He lifted me up and eased me onto his shaft. “All of me?”
“Oh.” I moved my hips, surrounding him in my heat.
“It’s not all designer dresses and expensive cars. It’s bloody and brutal.” He kissed my neck, grasping my hips in his firm hold, then he shifted his waist, moving inside me. “It’s dangerous and deadly.”
“If that’s who you are, then that’s who I’ll be.”
“Maybe you are worthy to stand by my side after all.”
“As your princess?”
“As my queen.”
I lost myself in our mutual ecstasy, but a dominating thought crossed my mind. One that I had no idea how true it would end up being.
What happens when the queen is caught between two savage kingdoms?