20. Daniela
I blink into the dark corners of the bathroom and give my eyes a moment to adjust.
With the door ajar, the steel blade on the floor is bathed in a sliver of lamplight pouring in from the bedroom.
I peel off my shorts and drop onto my haunches, doing as he says by returning it to my thigh holster.
Once it”s secured, the last of the light fades and I’m plunged into complete darkness.
Rising, I kick off my running shoes, step out of my shorts, pull my top up and over my head, and root my bare feet on the heated floor.
The last of the hot steam swirls scents of masculine shower gel and suddenly I wonder if he’s back in the room with me.
Unafraid, I blindly stretch my arm out to grab him, waving it in the blackness, but not meeting anything.
A little disappointed, I turn sideways and pat the wall at my side, using it to guide me.
Barefoot, I move from tiles to velvety carpet. On my right, the heavy drapes lay open a fraction, welcoming a silver glow.
It spreads across the empty armchair positioned by the window and casts a faint path for me to follow.
Keeping my ass to the wall, I skirt the heavy Italian wardrobe, narrowing my eyes on the shadowy bed across the room.
My senses are on high alert, but it”s the thrill of the hunt that has my blood pumping.
He’s here. Somewhere––watching me––I know it.
If I listen carefully, I should be able to pick up the rhythm of his breathing. Except there’s nothing.
Only my pulse thumping in my ears, the energy louder than the silence.
I can’t control the way my temperature is rising. I’m hotter than hell now and the ache between my legs throbs with need.
Usually, I’m at one with the shadows and comfortable when they hide me. Tonight, though, I want to be found.
To feel his body heat and hand myself over to this inescapable hunger eating me alive.
However, the killer inside of me, she knows how to play with her victims, not turn into one. Even if I’ve become a slave to this dark desire of ours.
Fingering the thick damask wallpaper, I keep to the edge of the room. My scalp tingles while my steady footfall doesn’t make a sound.
Reaching the drapes, I fist the weighted fabric and throw them wide.
Moonlight floods every inch of my skin and twinkles on the flat ocean beyond the glass. The plan is to use natural light to brighten the suite and expose him.
Standing here, naked, with my back to the room, a rush of excitement keeps me facing the white dot hanging over the horizon.
The longer I wait, the hotter the anticipation. Butterflies jumble in my stomach and my skin tingles.
I’m sure I could easily pinpoint his location behind me and drop to my knees.
Only that’s probably what a good girl would do for a dominant man like him. Me, however, I’d prefer to offer him my trust and let him grasp it with both hands.
My awareness spikes. I sense his predatory approach. Still, I don’t turn around.
Not even when the only way he touches me is his breath agitating the hairs at the back of my head, the warmth of an aphrodisiac.
“I won’t push you away anymore,” I tell him, speaking to the outdoors.
Matheus stands behind me while my heart beats against my ribs. The hairs on my arms prickle. My clit pulses, needy and swollen.
Despite my typical reflexes to face him, I stand still. I’d never push him away again. A tornado whirls in my stomach.
Just as I think he’s about to pull me close, he snatches the blade from my holster, grabs my elbow, and spins me around. I stare at the knife; my brows pinched and meet his serious gaze.
Silver flecks scatter his chestnut irises, and his beautiful features appear sharper under a war of shadows and moonlight.
This is him. Handsomely dangerous.
Mine.
I swallow hard, not because I’m scared. No, I’m drawn to him in every possible way.
“I want you to understand something too, Dani,” he says quietly, pressing two fingers to my breastbone and driving me backward. “When I said you were mine, it was the truth.”
My shoulders bump into the thin pane of glass as he takes the knife and drags the edge across his palm in the same way I’d done moments ago.
The sting on my own hand flares in empathy and my heartbeat drums.
I don’t like seeing his skin split and bleeding. It makes me feel weird. Protective maybe, or perhaps it’s something else. He’s doing it to prove a point.
His eyes fall to the blood gathering in his hand, both of us breathing the same air, not saying a word.
Sliding his middle finger through the shallow pool, he bites his bottom lip, cocks his head, and paints a letter on my chest.
“Spell it out with me, baby…M.” He begins.
I breathe deep, my eyes closing briefly and focus on the warm strokes.
“M,” I repeat, slowly blinking as he swirls the pad of his finger in more of his blood.
“A,” he mutters, writing the letter.
“A.”
He continues to coat his finger, dipping it like a quill in an inkwell. “T.”
“T.”
“S.”
“S…” I whisper and gaze down at the red capital letters painted in order, from right to left.
“You are mine, baby. I hope you understand how much I love you.”
My heart skips a beat. Before I get the chance to reply, he seizes me by the waist and drags me into him. Staring into my eyes, it feels like he’s about to kiss me.
I want him too badly.
Desperately.
My eyes close, anticipating his lips. Only to be walked backwards, bringing me with him.
Together, we stop in front of a full-length mirror. He twirls me around to face it, slides a big hand over my quivering belly and wraps his bleeding hand around my throat, controlling where my gaze falls.
In the half light, I see his face next to mine and the bloody name smeared across my skin. The sight of it doesn”t repulse me. Not in the slightest.
And by the way his dick prods my lower back, he’s turned on. We both are.
“Who do you belong to?” he asks, his voice vibrating through me.
“Matheus Souza—you.”
The hand on my belly skates lower, moving between my thighs where his fingers roughly circle my swollen clit.
“Never forget it, Dani.” The gritty texture of his tone is both raw and smooth.
Deep and gritty.
My blood turns to liquid fire. Vulnerability whispers through me. Yet staring at the two of us in the mirror, I accept I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my whole life.
His touch holds me together and scales the skyscraper walls I’d erected long before we met.
A moan escapes me when his finger dips inside. I automatically rise to my tiptoes, rolling my hips for more of his touch.
Taunting teeth graze the curve of my throat. The shivery sensation erases the heartache I endured when I thought he’d been shot dead.
“This is forever,” he murmurs against my skin, sucking my earlobe.
Goddammit…I’m almost shaking.
I watch the reflection of his hand work and whimper when he spreads his fingers across my belly. The ache for more burns through me.
“Do you fully believe it now? In your heart?”
When I nod, his growl rumbles between us. He quickly removes his fingers and slaps my pussy.
“Then say it,” he urges. “I want to hear you say it out loud.”
I suck in a breath. “My heart is yours until it stops beating, Matheus Souza,” I admit, my voice a whisper.
“Then I hope mine stops beating first, baby,” he whispers, low and husky.
My eyes sting and I bite my bottom lip. He slips in two fingers this time, buries his nose in the crook of my neck, and inhales deep.
I close my eyes, a powerful release building in my core, pleasure mounting from just his fingers and our genuine commitment.
He kisses my cheek, stops rubbing, and traces his wet fingers along my pelvis bone. I blink my eyes open to find him watching me in the mirror.
“Why did you stop?” I ask, pain and confusion all over my face.
His hand moves across my stomach and a smirk dances on his lips.
“Touching you is one of my favorite things to do…but watching you come…that’s the best. I plan to savor it.”
He drops his mouth to my shoulder and kisses rain all over it. Then he cups between my legs and presses the heel of his hand over my clit, his middle finger slipping inside of me.
“Do you deserve my cum again?” he bites out, energetically rubbing my clit up and down.
I gasp, needy and burning up. My mind scrambles and I completely surrender when the orgasm bursts. As soon as the intensity starts to fade, he manhandles me around and scoops me into his arms.
I settle there, having made up my mind hours ago, this is exactly where I want to be.
He carries me across the room and drops me in the middle of the big bed. His dick is thick and rock hard, ready as he crawls over the top of me.
Grabbing my wrists, he pins my arms at either side of my head, the length of his dick laying against my pelvis.
The sheer weight of his body alone, plastered on top of mine, sets off a chain reaction of sparks that quickly blazes into flames.
I groan, my heart beating heavily.
The thought of marrying this man one day charges through my brain. I’d been so focused on the past, and the dark world we live in, that I was blinded to the fact he’d already found his way into my heart.
It’s all his.
I don”t want to walk alone anymore. I’ve been running on empty for too long.
Neither of us knows where our paths would lead, but I sure as hell won’t waste any more time without him.
His lips start off on my forehead and kiss their way down my cheek to my collarbone.
It’s these intimate moments together that I crave more than anything. The intoxicating scent of his taut muscles and the raging fire taking hold in his eyes when he stares back at me.
“Daniela,” he murmurs.
His short nails skate down my arms and my body shivers in response, making me moan.
“Matheus.”
He gets up onto his knees, straddling me, and lightly slaps my left breast, followed with the right.
“I’m not playing games. Okay.” He confirms. “I’ll deal with Blanco and smooth things over with Tommy. They can either accept this or go up against me.”
“Go up against us.” I roll my hips. “We’re a team.”
He smiles. A genuine, breathtaking grin and dips into my face, his hum of approval a low rumble.
“Yeah, baby, we’re a team. A powerhouse,” Matheus declares against my lips. “You’re my religion. I worship you.” He licks his dried blood on my skin and twists one of my nipples. “And your cum is my holy water.”
Fuck, yeah.
My skin flushes and my clit pulses. I whimper when he kisses me, hard and violent. Our urges take over.
His hands control every inch of me and mine won’t stop touching him.
I kiss him back, opening my mouth for him and groaning as our tongues play.
He grunts down my throat, the sound so fucking dirty it makes me break out in a hot sweat. Tingles shoot up my spine.
Everything about him is addictive.
Roughly pushing my legs apart, he thrusts his hips forward, driving his dick deep inside me.
I suck in sharply, tensing a little at the fullness, and then after a beat, I completely surrender all that I am—for him.
He’s won.
I’ve fallen head over heels in love with a Souza.