Chapter 19
19
T he clock on the bedside table told me it was just after ten when Enzo left. For a moment, I forgot what day it was, and then realized it was Friday—the club downstairs was probably packed. I was amazed I couldn’t hear the music up here and wondered if Evelyn had come back with her new friend. How nice would it be just to meet a handsome guy at a club? Share a drink, a dance, a laugh, a kiss, maybe more... My head still ached and my limbs felt heavy as I crawled between the cool white sheets again and closed my eyes. I was exhausted.
But I couldn’t sleep.
He’s right next door. One wall away.
Did he wear pajamas or sleep naked? I felt that weightless swoosh in my belly, the one I got every time I thought about Enzo’s body.
So don’t think about it.
I punched the pillow a few times and put my face in it. How absurd that I still wanted him even now that I knew he had a fiancée. How awful of me. But I did. Maybe we can be together just once more , I thought, desire seeping beneath my resolve. One more time won’t hurt anybody. And I’ll never stay here overnight again, so I won’t be tempted like this in the future.
I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
Should I?
Of course not!
“But I want to,” I whined softly.
A clicking noise at the door sent a chill up my spine. It opened and slammed. Before I had time to react, someone was upon me in the blackness, thrashing around and fumbling with my chemise. I couldn’t see anything, but the bulky chest told me who it was before he even spoke.
“You little whore.” Raymond shoved me onto my back. “I know Enzo was in here. For once he wants what I have and I’m not gonna let him take it.” He dragged my slip up to my hips. One hand clamped down on my mouth and he used the other one to undo his pants. Frantically I fought him off, bringing one knee up sharply into his groin. “Bitch!” He slapped me across the face and grabbed his crotch, and I used the momentary pause in his aggression to wriggle out from underneath him. I just needed one good breath to get a scream out, but he was back on me in a second, bearing down with a force I couldn’t overcome. I twisted and kicked and pummeled him with my fists, anything to keep him from touching me where he wanted to. When he leaned over me, I butted my head into his chin.
“Ow!” he yelled, lifting his chest off me slightly. But he managed to get his knees between my legs and pry them open. The hand returned to my mouth. I needed him to stop moving if I was going to get another solid knee to his balls, so I went still, as if I were giving up.
It worked—he was surprised and stopped moving. “There, see?” He put his hand on my thigh. “I bet you’ll like this.” Suddenly a ray of light streamed into the room and weight was lifted from me.
“Bastard!” Enzo threw Raymond into the dresser and punched him in the face so fiercely blood spurted from his nose.
I scrambled to my knees and scooted backward on the bed. The two brothers fought hard, punching and kicking and tumbling to the floor. Someone bumped the lamp and it went over with a crash. I hated watching, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Raymond had the advantage of his hefty size, but Enzo was in better shape and quicker with his hands. At one point, Raymond was knocked backward onto the bed and I squealed, jumping to the floor. When I spied a smaller lamp on the bedside table, I shocked myself by having the wherewithal to grab it, yanking the cord from the socket. I hurried to the foot of the bed, where Enzo had Raymond pinned, his head toward me.
Then I did the only thing I could think of—clocked Raymond in the temple with the metal base of the lamp as hard as I could, on both sides of his big fat head. Then I backed up until I hit the wall, and black clouds swarmed my vision.
I opened my eyes and the kneeling figure of Enzo emerged from a gray haze.
“No.” I was still holding the lamp.
“Come on. Let’s get you out of here.” He took the lamp from my hand, pulled me up and led me to the room next door, where he gently pushed me onto the bed and told me to stay put. He left, shutting the door behind him. I sat in the darkness, listening to myself breathe. My entire body shook violently. Bringing my knees to my chin, I wrapped my arms around my legs. Men’s voices in the next room filtered through the wall, and the door thumped several times.
After a while, Enzo re-entered the room and switched on the light. His sleeveless white undershirt was spattered with blood. So were his hands. He washed up in the bathroom, behind a closed door. When he emerged, his skin was clean and his hair was damp. A bruise was forming on his right cheekbone, and he had red marks on his throat, but his face still made my insides tighten. He sat next to me on the bed.
“Did he hurt you?”
I shivered. “He wanted to.”
He reached for the tender spot on my cheek. “That looks painful.”
“It’s fine,” I said, leaning away from his touch.
“No, it isn’t. I’m sorry, Tiny. I don’t know what the fuck he was thinking. I never have.”
“He said he heard you were in my room. That’s what set him off.”
“One of the men must have seen me.”
“Why would they tell him?”
He shrugged. “Everyone’s for sale.”
I closed my eyes, the weight of his words sinking deep. “Where is he now?”
“He was put in a car and driven to the hospital.” Amusement crept into his voice. “You knocked him out cold, and he needs stitches.”
I opened my eyes and stared hard at him. “He deserved it.”
“He deserved worse.” For a second I thought he might try to touch me again, but he didn’t.
It’s better this way. I sighed. “Enzo, I want to go home. I want an end to this—I’m tired of danger at every turn. I just want to be a regular girl.”
He was quiet a moment. “No, you don’t.”
My feet dropped to the floor. “What?”
“You don’t want to be a regular girl. You like danger. You wouldn’t be in the bootleg business otherwise.”
I jumped up from the bed, my hands shaking. “You don’t know anything about me,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Yes, I do.”
His ability to stay calm while getting under my skin made me itchy with rage. “Go to hell, Enzo! You’re nothing but a liar and a cheat and?—”
He was on his feet with his mouth on mine in a heartbeat, hands wrapped around my head. Momentarily stunned, my body went slack. “I love when you get angry with me,” he whispered against my lips, hands running down my arms. “Your body is all heat.”
“Stop!” I pushed against his chest. “I was attacked tonight!”
“Let me make it up to you.” He caught my waist and pulled me near, touching his lips to my forehead. “I’ll make you forget everything, even your name.”
“No,” I said, my heart pounding with alternate beats of fury and desire. I pushed him away again and crossed my arms over my breasts, which were tingling. “You can’t have me.”
He whipped his stained t-shirt over his head in one smooth motion and let it drop. My belly warmed at the sight of his bare chest and golden skin. A slow smile crept onto his lips as he came toward me. “You want me to go?” he asked. “Because I will. I can’t let you leave tonight, but if you’d rather be alone...”
I backed away from him.
Tell him to go. Tell him to go. Tell him to go.
But I couldn’t say the words.
“Go on, Tiny,” he said, coming toward me as my back hit the door. “Tell me to leave.” He put his arms on either side of my head, bringing his face close to mine. “Say you don’t want me.”
A groan escaped me as he swept his lips across my forehead, bent his knees and pressed his hips against mine, letting me know he was hard and ready. He always wins. I hate him. “No.” Ducking down, I escaped the cage of his arms and ran for the bed, hopping up on it and standing above him for once.
He faced me. “No, what?”
“I won’t say I don’t want you. I can’t.”
He came forward and wrapped his arms around my legs, pressing his mouth to the spot that ached for him most. Through the thin cotton of my slip and underwear, his lips and tongue devoured me, and my knees trembled.
“Oh my God,” I whimpered, putting my hands on his shoulders to stay upright .
His hands slid from my calves up the back of my thighs and squeezed my buttocks, pulling me tighter to his mouth. When he moaned, I felt the vibrations go through me like an electric shock. He slipped my underwear down to my ankles and I stepped out of it. “Take your slip off,” he whispered. I grabbed my chemise at the hem and lifted it over my head. He took my breasts in his hands and massaged them gently before rubbing the back of his fingers over their hard tips. My desire rocketed. “Enzo. I want you. Right now.”
“Wait.” Taking my hips in his hands, he pushed me back slightly so he could kneel on the bed in front of me. One hand reached for my breast, while two fingers of the other slipped inside me, slowly, easily. I tried to breathe, but need was choking me. He took my nipple between his thumb and finger, and when he pinched it, somehow I felt it deep within my belly. His other hand penetrated me rhythmically as he kissed the insides of each thigh. When he swept his tongue between my legs, lingering at the top, I felt myself swaying and knew I couldn’t remain standing.
Dropping to my knees, I ran my hands and lips over the hard lines of his chest and shoulders as he unbuttoned his trousers. Then I sat on my heels while he undressed, my heart racing in anticipation. Every article of clothing that came off kicked my pulse up higher. By the time he was naked and reaching for me, I was panting.
I fell backward as our bodies and mouths came together. His weight on me was glorious and exhilarating, and I wrapped both my legs around one of his. He propped himself up on his elbows and kissed me ravenously, his tongue driving into my mouth. I reached down and took his thick flesh in my hand, sheathing and stroking it the way I had in my room. I know what he likes. The thought aroused me beyond belief. I needed to say it out loud, needed him to hear it.
“I know what you want,” I said, looking him in the eye. “I know what you like.” His cock grew harder in my grip, and I moved my hand faster.
“Not yet,” he said, his voice gravelly. I arched my back as he kissed his way down my throat and chest, taking one nipple in his mouth and sucking it. My knees fell wide open, and long fingers pushed inside me, once, twice, three times. I lifted my hips, desperate for more.
“Enzo,” I begged, digging my fingers into his shoulders. “Now. Please.”
He moved to the other breast, circling the nipple with his tongue before kissing his way back up my neck. “What do you want?” he asked, his breath tickling my ear. He bit my earlobe gently. “You have to tell me.” He lifted his hips and set them on mine, rubbing his cock against me in just the right spot. “Tell me you want me to fuck you. Say it.”
“I want you to fuck me,” I rasped, clutching his biceps and straining up against him. “Now.”
He kissed me hard before rolling to the edge of the bed and grabbing his coat off the floor. Taking a small box from the inside pocket, he opened it up and pulled out a condom. When he was finished putting it on, he rolled back to me, and I slipped beneath him, spreading my knees wide. He reached down to position himself between my legs, and I gasped at his entrance. Leaning on his elbows, he pushed in slowly, giving me time to relax into the way he stretched and filled me. My hands flattened on his back and glided down over taut muscle. Our eyes met, and I nearly lost control right then.
“Oh my God,” he whispered. “It’s even better than I remembered. You feel so fucking good.”
I pulled at him, wanting more despite the quick stabbing pains I felt as he began thrusting deeper. My skin was on fire, and his back grew slick with sweat. He propped himself up on his hands near my shoulders, increasing the pressure where our bodies joined together and pushing me closer to oblivion. I looked at his gorgeous face above me. He’s so goddamn beautiful. How can any man be that beautiful? How can I ever possess him as fully as I desire him?
I wanted more control.
“Turn over.” I pushed against his chest, and somehow I got him onto his back and straddled him. He groaned as I sank all the way down, his long, hard cock gliding so deep it hurt. I adjusted my angle to feel the pressure where I wanted it and take in as much of him as I could.
He dug his fingers into my thighs. I clenched my muscles around him and rocked forward and back, placing my hands on his hard, hot stomach. “Fucking unbelievable,” he growled, eyes closed.
“Yes,” I whispered, undulating my hips faster. Colors swirled behind my closed eyelids.
Yes, yes, yes...
Suddenly he grabbed my hips and held me still, his jaw thrust forward. “You’re seriously testing my self-control here, sweetheart. If you want this to go on any longer?—”
I widened my eyes. “Sweetheart?”
One side of his mouth hooked up. “Fair warning. If you don’t stop moving that way...”
Flashing a wicked grin, I swiveled my hips. I felt him twitch once inside me.
“That’s it.” His stomach muscles flexed beneath my palms as he sat up and flipped me onto my back, our heads toward the foot of the bed. “Now listen to me,” he said, thrusting into me again and again, harder and deeper every time. “You’re going to come for me, now. You’re going to scream.”
“Yes!” I cried, not caring whether I was in control or not. In fact, the complete abandon was pure bliss. Clawing his back, I rocked my hips to match his rhythm. We were all frantic push and racing breath as we climbed toward ecstasy, and then time slowed as everything in my body tightened. “Yes,” I moaned. “Yes, yes!”
He came first, momentarily paralyzed as he thickened and throbbed, and I pulled him into me and writhed against him, crying out again and again as the orgasm crashed through my body and lingered in delicious little tremors.
He collapsed onto my chest, and we stayed that way for a moment, each of us gasping for air .
“Oh my God.” I blinked. Repeated myself.
After a moment, he propped himself up on his hands and looked down at me. “Are you all right?”
“I’m not sure.”
Smiling, he lifted himself off me. “Good.”
I rolled to the edge of the bed, scooped up my chemise, and pulled it on. Dazed, I stumbled to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I turned on the light and looked in the mirror.
Jesus, is that me? I had bruises on my face and tangles in my hair. My cheeks were flushed and my lips were swollen. But I liked the way my eyes looked —knowing and satisfied, as if I was in on a secret. I couldn’t help the smile that inched onto my face. Yes. I look like a woman who’s been to bed with the sheik.
The problem was, now that I knew the feverish thrill of it, I wanted to do it again. Right now.
No.
My last shred of sense took over. This had to be a one-time-only experience. The smile slid off my face. I used the bathroom and cleaned up, my mood souring.
When I opened the door, Enzo was lounging in his underwear on the bed, smoking a cigarette. He’d lit one for me as well, and handed it to me wordlessly.
We smoked in silence for a few minutes, watching each other through the drifting haze. “I wish I’d brought some whisky up here,” he said. “I could use a drink.”
“Me too.” I dragged deep and hard on the cigarette, searing my lungs. “Although I’m not sure my body can take any more sin tonight.”
He cocked a brow. “Let’s find out.”
“No. We can’t do that again.”
“Why not? Didn’t you enjoy it?” He tilted his head. “Looked like you did. Sounded like you did.” He leaned toward me. “Felt like you did.”
Heat rushed my extremities. “That’s not the point.” I put out my cigarette in the ashtray he’d set on the bed and leaned back against the headboard, my legs crossed. And they’re going to stay crossed. “You’re engaged to be married. I don’t want to be some little toy on the side you take out and play with whenever you feel like it.”
“We can play whenever you feel like it too.”
“No. I’ll help you get your money back from Sam the Barber—as long as my friend doesn’t get hurt—but that’s all.” I spoke with finality and hoped I sounded more sure than I felt. And why didn’t he get dressed again? His bare skin was tying my stomach in knots.
He put out his cigarette and moved the ashtray to the dresser. “I think you’re overestimating your willpower.” Returning to the bed, he put his hand on my knee and ran it up my thigh. “And I know you’re overestimating mine.”
God, he was unfairly handsome. He lowered his lips to my shoulder as his fingers crept between my legs, nudging them apart. His other hand brushed the strap of my chemise aside and pulled it down, exposing a breast. I knew before he even put his mouth on it I was lost. Closing my eyes, I let the languorous hum take over my body. “This is a bad idea.”
“Why? I think we could be good for each other. We just have to keep it a secret. Our very own...” He licked my nipple with one warm stroke. “Dirty little...” He blew cool air across it, and I shivered. “Secret.” He took it between his teeth and bit down.
I gasped in pain, but also with the shock of pleasure it brought me. He picked his head up, a fiendish smile on his lips. “Want to bite me back?”
Instead of answering, I got to my knees, pushed him back against the headboard and yanked his underwear down. Without breaking eye contact, I crawled up his body, one leg on either side of him, until my knees bracketed his hips. After tearing off my chemise, I licked my fingers, reached down and touched myself. His mouth fell open.
Slick with desire, I slid down the rigid length of his cock, smiling when he sucked in his breath.
“Don’t come,” I ordered, delirious with the power I had over my own pleasure—and his. At his strangled groan, I dug my nails into his shoulders. “I mean it.”
“You—are—a wicked little girl.” He struggled to get the words out, his dark eyes shooting angry fire. This was way too dangerous, and I knew it.
But I didn’t care.
And I wasn’t a little girl.
“Put your hands on me,” I said.
He did as he was told, running his hands up my legs, then over my stomach and breasts. I rotated my hips, and he moved his hands back to my thighs, digging his fingers into my skin. “Easy,” he begged.
So I did it again. This time he put a hand to my throat, his eyes warning me not to push him.
I did it a third time, and his fingers snaked up the back of my neck and fisted in my hair. We stared at each other, breathing hard and trying not to erupt with the madness boiling beneath our skin.
“Pull it,” I demanded. As I began rocking my hips, his fingers tightened. The faster I moved, the louder I sighed, the harder he pulled. Sharp needles of pain pricked my scalp, the perfect contrast to the unbearable pleasure that exploded in me at the very same moment. I knew right then that I couldn’t stay away from him, no matter what the consequences.
And I knew there would be consequences.