Chapter 14 #2
The soft whisper of her breath and the hint of amusement in her eyes only caused my actions to become even rougher, fucking her as if my very soul depended on filling her with my seed.
“Yes. Yes!” Her admittance fueled me, pushed me. I wanted her sore and used, her body marked so that everyone would know she was mine.
The moment should be surprising, seeing her letting go, faced with the destruction of her restraint and self-control. But I was inspired, losing myself in her, working myself into a frenzy.
And still, it wasn’t enough.
I’d yet to claim all of her.
I kissed her again, consuming and draining the sweetness from her lips. She finally shoved her palm against my chest, driving me away, gasping for air.
“Come for me, sweet angel. Come on my cock.”
She arched her back once again, finally spiraling out of control. “Alexander. Oh, God.”
Hearing my name on her lips meant everything to me. “Say it again.”
“Alexander.” Her voice was sultry, throaty in little more than a harsh whisper.
Her entire body tensed as the rush of a violent orgasm swept through her.
She was even more beautiful when she climaxed, her skin flushed with the kiss of my possession.
Just having her shuddering in my hold meant everything.
Only she wasn’t being fucked by a god but by a monster, a devil determined to claim her soul. Perhaps in some way, doing so would remind the beast there was goodness in this world.
But not tonight.
The moment her body began to come down from the high, I pulled free long enough to twist her on the bed, ready to claim her once again on all fours.
There was no struggle, although she clawed the bed, tugging at the covers the moment I smacked my palm against her bottom. Marks remained from where I’d used my belt, the sight a reminder I could damage her easily, which wasn’t anything I wanted.
Catherine bucked against me, the invitation too blatant for me to ignore.
I returned my cock to her wetness while rubbing my thumb against her asshole.
Only then did she stiffen, throwing her head over her shoulder.
There was nothing human about the moment.
We were both wild animals, incapable of thinking clearly. It no longer mattered.
All that did was consuming every inch. I wanted her dripping with my cum. As her sounds amplified, I became even more crazed. My thumb pierced her hole, driving inside while she moaned.
Every muscle was tense, my jaw aching. My patience was gone. The second I pressed the tip of my shaft against her dark hole, she stiffened, not a sound emitted. When she pushed back in encouragement, I gave her exactly what she wanted, pressing half my cock inside.
Her scream was amplified, filling the space. I had no fear of anyone interrupting us. They knew better. She could scream all she wanted. If she believed anyone would come to her rescue, she was wrong.
Sweat dripped from my brow, peppering her back. I grabbed a handful of hair, my fingers digging into her scalp, and thrust the remainder of my cock into the tight darkness. Fuck. Nothing had ever felt so damn good. She was on fire, her skin scalding to the touch.
There was a sudden sense of urgency, my actions reflecting the thought. My plunges surpassed savagery, pitching her body forward. The headboard was driven into the wall, the hard smacking sounds just another reminder I was an evil man.
But she didn’t seem to care. I could easily break her and she wouldn’t fight or beg for her freedom. She’d give it back, begging for more of what only I could give her.
My mind and my resolve were also shattered to pieces, incapable of thinking clearly or distinguishing if I was hurting her.
In the next few seconds of utter pleasure, nothing mattered but the two of us. There might be no chance at redemption for my sins, but this woman just might become my salvation.
Finally spiraling out of control, my own orgasm shut down every aspect of thinking.
Only when I heard her labored breathing and soft murmurs coming from beneath me was I brought down to earth, opening my eyes and seeing the world as if for the first time.
Rolling over, I pulled her with me, cradling my body around hers. Something that I wouldn’t have done before her. There’d been no one worthy of my time.
She was different.
The world was different.
No, I was the one who’d changed. She was the same brazen yet innocent woman I’d dared to corrupt.
I’d never felt any peace in my life, at least not before being with her.
A strange series of sensations washed over me and an instinct furrowing into my mind told me this was as close to tranquility as I would ever be allowed.
I absently brushed my fingers in circles on her shoulder as she nuzzled into my chest. The way her fingers were stroking the art on my skin that I’d once thought gave me a sense of power and satisfaction was far too comforting.
Didn’t she know she’d just captured the attention of a monster? Didn’t she have a better understanding of what that entailed?
And what it would do to her future?
She would never have another day of pure freedom.
Without me in it.
As my father had told me when I was a boy, possession was nine-tenths of the law. Not that my father had ever been a law-abiding citizen, but he was providing permission to take what I wanted because it was owed to me.
There was a difference with Catherine. The moment she’d walked into my life, she’d claimed a dark part of me that had been lost in a haze of anger and pain. But that wasn’t the only thing she’d laid claim to.
If there was any possibility that I still had a heart, she’d captured that as well.
“Who are you?” she asked moments later, the curiosity in her voice tempered by a continuing sense of exhaustion.
“You already know who I am. You made a determination hours before you met me.”
“Based on hearsay.” She crowded closer, easing her leg over mine. There was nothing quite like the feel of her soft skin rubbing against the roughness of mine.
“Are you trying to suggest you were wrong?”
“Mmmm… I’m never wrong, at least not completely.
Remember?” She lifted her head and for the first time since the discourse of our first meeting, her laughter wasn’t strained.
“I usually remind myself when taking any case that social media only provides a portion of the story about someone, whether good or bad. Photographs can be doctored, stories shaped to suit temperament and hidden agendas.”
“Then you’re suggesting I’m not the monster you claimed me to be.”
Twisting her body, she rested her head on her arm, the shift allowing the sheet to fall precariously away.
The sight of the long curve of her back to her waist had my mouth watering.
She was truly exceptional in her beauty, although I’d gathered a sense that she not only refused to flaunt her appearance, but shied away from doing so.
Yet nothing would keep her from standing out in a crowd.
She was very thoughtful about answering me, her brow furrowing as she tucked a piece of golden blonde hair behind her ear. Perhaps she was fearful she’d anger me once again.
“You can speak freely with me, Catherine.”
“Can I? You seem like a man whose ego is easily bruised. I could only imagine what you’d do to those who cause you pain.”
My sweet angel had clearly picked through the coarse armor I’d wrapped around myself, finding the easiest method of determining my worst faults. I laughed in response. “According to you, I’m a selfish monster, arrogant, incapable of showing my true feelings and… Let’s see. What am I missing?”
“Dangerous and a bully.”
It was good to laugh. “Maybe you’re right. That doesn’t free you from being required to answer the question.”
Her fingers aimlessly traced my tattoos, her thoughtfulness continuing. “I think you’re somewhat misunderstood, trying to maintain a balance between the power bestowed upon you by the death of your father and finding a reason to enjoy the niceties your power and wealth have provided.”
Quite profound and sadly true.
“Are you trying to say I’m not happy?”
“Not even a little bit. I can see it in your eyes, a feeling of uncertainty and simply going through the motions.”
There was no reason for her comments or her ability to pick me apart to have any particular effect on me, but I was bristling. To counter the building anger, which had no place at this moment, I pulled her hand to my mouth.
She studied me carefully as I kissed her fingers, finally tugging until I released her. “And you’re the master at deflection when someone is right.”
Fuck all the reasons we couldn’t be together. Fuck the trouble keeping her would cause me. As her hand slowly began to slide down the hard wall of my chest muscles toward my cock, I closed my eyes. That’s when I made a promise.
“Be careful pushing me in a direction I don’t want to go, my angel. You’ve already discovered I’m not a very nice man when pushed into a corner.”
“If you’re trying to frighten me, Alexander, it’s not working. While I believe you can hurt and even kill, and you’re doing everything to keep me from pushing back at you, I sense you wouldn’t hurt me. Not intentionally anyway.”
Oh, how wrong she was. She truly had no understanding of what I was capable of.
And I prayed to God I’d never be forced to teach her that lesson.
“Then you truly don’t know me very well at all.”
“Maybe not,” she mused. “But I’m willing to learn.”
“As I’ve told you before, be careful what you ask for.”
“I’m only asking one question that matters. And I need the truth. Can you give me the truth without hesitation?”
I searched her eyes, knowing what she planned on asking before the words left her mouth. “I have no reason to lie to you.”
“Did you murder Lorenzo Russo in cold blood?”
Her eyes searched mine with such a ferocity I was momentarily at a loss for words, yet she deserved an answer.
A truthful one. “No, I did not. I didn’t have proof, and still don’t that they killed my father, and doing so would bring war into New Orleans; one bloody and lengthy enough aspects of the city would be damaged beyond repair.
It would also put my family in danger and that is the last thing I would ever want to do. ”
“Because the Russos are also mafia.”
“Are you certain you want to know?”
“If I’m going to find a way to help you, then yes. I need to know everything.”
I’d had many people attempt to play me over the years.
Only one had succeeded. That had led to a perpetual bad mood.
Did I believe she could be cunning enough to lay a trail of breadcrumbs laced with her feminine wiles then betray me?
Absolutely. Women were far more dangerous when push came to shove.
I rolled her over, crushing her with my weight.
“You’re agreeing to help me prove my innocence.”
“While I believe you’re capable of being a monster, Alexander, I believe you didn’t kill this man. That means someone is trying and coming close in succeeding to frame you. If we don’t stop this ruse soon, everything will be taken from my hands.”
Which meant returning her freedom. The ache from the thought remained.
I studied her carefully, searching for any flicker of treachery, but there was none. “Don Vitelli Russo is a prick. I won’t lie to you. They’ve yet to evolve as a crime syndicate. In my opinion.”
“And you have?”
She could so easily make me laugh. “Let’s just say we’re no longer living in caves eating with our hands.”
“Very funny.”
“Is it? They were brutal in every sense of the world. An eye for an eye.”
“So even if you are innocent, this Don believes you’re guilty and therefore wants his pound of flesh as revenge.”
“Very well stated, Counselor.”
“Then he’s responsible for yesterday.”
Unable to help myself, I brushed my lips across hers. “Remember what I’ve already told you. Looks can be deceiving. There are monsters lurking in every corner. The reality of my life.”
“How very sad.” She moaned as I shifted back and forth, pressing the length of my throbbing cock between her legs. “And you’re incorrigible.”
“What does that make you?”
My lovely guest licked her lips in appreciation. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about your father. I can’t imagine the pain you and your family must be going through or what each one of you would do to discover the person responsible.”
“Are you trying to interrogate me, Ms. Prosecutor? Perhaps catch me in a white lie?”
Her cheeks immediately flushed, her laughter the sweetest music I’d ever heard. I suddenly wanted to be the kind of man who could always make her laugh.
“What if I were?”
“Then I’d need to punish you once again.” I lowered my head, drunk on the scent of her arousal.
“What if I said I didn’t mind?”
I was playing with fire with this woman, so much so my skin already felt singed. What I was doing could as likely land me in prison as it would into a tomb. But I was no longer certain I cared. Maybe I simply enjoyed a game of Russian roulette.
Or perhaps I knew she might provide certain answers to unlock the mystery. Whatever the case, the flickering and twitching of my conscience was already becoming an issue.
She’d need rules.
So would I.
“One last warning, my sweet angel. I want to place my full trust in you as I want you to be able to trust me. I’m going to gift you an opportunity to spend a day in my life. After that, you can make your own conclusions about me and my entire family if that’s what you need to do.”
“I—”
Interrupting her, I placed my fingers along the bridge of her nose.
“In doing so, I will ask for the same consideration in return. I need to know everything there is about you and your life. Something brought you to me. Not that I mind in the least. However, if I believe you’re betraying me or my family in any manner, I will not hesitate to provide you with swift punishment.
At that point, there will be no act of contrition capable of protecting you.
And there will be no clemency offered. Am I making myself clear? ”
She had no idea what kind of man or monster I’d turn into if she lied or betrayed me. I’d fought those demons my entire life. I’d lose the battle and in doing so, would lose the most precious possession in my life.
Her.
“As I said before. You don’t scare me.” As if to prove a point, she slipped her hand under the covers, wrapping those same long fingers around my cock and placing the tip against her swollen folds.
My God, this woman was going to be the death of me, but if she was willing to admit that she enjoyed delving into the darker side of passion, I certainly couldn’t ignore the obvious.
And what I’d already come to accept as the truth.
That I was never letting her go.