23
Evie
I’m grateful I’m alive.
Did I fall into another fantasy?
I floated in a haze of euphoria, weakened and confused. My owner said little as he wrapped me in his coat and dragged me out the service exit of a luxury hotel, where a car waited for us. We drove to an underground parking garage and switched vehicles. My husband’s face swam in front of me, taunting me like that bittersweet dream.
I reached out, tracing his stubbled cheek.
“Wait,” he ordered the driver, a tall man with a wave of auburn hair. “She needs a hospital.”
A man wearing khakis and a polo kneeled. He gripped my head, his fingers like icicles. He thumbed my eyelid and forced it open. Light burst from his cell phone, blinding me.
I flinched. “Touch me again, you bastard!”
“I saved your life, you ingrate.”
“She’s not ungrateful,” the vision of my husband muttered. “She recognizes a devil when she sees one.”
“Both of you are ingrates.” The light dropped away, and the man’s wholesome features came into focus. “She’s okay. Just has to sleep this off.”
“Cainan, I killed him.”
My heart pounded at the confession.
Cainan hardened. “I gave you a direct order.”
“You weren’t there,” Tony snarled. “The piece of shit had his hands all over her.”
“Taking him out wasn’t part of the plan!”
“I’ll deal with the fallout.”
“You’ll deal with it? I’m the one that got you in there. I vouched for you. Who do you think they’ll blame when they find his body?”
Tony’s soft hands fell away as he turned around, his drawl in full force. “Maybe it’s time for you to make a sacrifice.”
“God, you are hopeless. Completely irresponsible. Reckless. A loose-fucking-cannon. Have you any notion of what you’ve fucking done? Of the hell that’s about to rain on our heads?”
“I’ll survive.”
“Against one goliath, fine, but not two. Your cousin will come after you. I hope you realize that.”
“I’ll explain everything. He’ll understand.”
Cainan laughed bitterly.
Headlights swept through the parking lot.
They both startled.
Tony backed into me and Cainan’s haughty features froze as a car zoomed past. It seemed to spook him.
“I suggest you get out of Boston, and fast. I’ll be in touch.”
Cainan fished a set of keys from his pocket and clicked. A beep sounded nearby, and he strode into the darkness.
Tony’s face swam in front of me, concern knitting his brows. “Evie, I’m bringing you home.”Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
“Is this a dream?”
“No, it’s not. I’m here. I’m real.”
I tried to make sense of their conversation, and that my husband was the man who’d lifted that white card and bought me. How did find me?
I slid into the passenger-side seat as Tony’s outline cleared into a solid shape. His presence seemed so unreal, though my mind sharpened by the second. The hour ride home was enough time to clear the drugged fog, but I was so confused.
Who was that man?
Once we parked the car, I felt nothing but a dim buzz snaring my senses. I strolled into the darkened penthouse. All of my things were undisturbed, a snapshot of my normal life before it’d been violently taken away. I couldn’t believe what’d happened to me. Part of me wanted to think it was a strange dream, and nothing more.
Tony slammed the lock. He stood in the dark, his shoulders curling forward. His keys dropped. So did his jacket, sliding from his loosened arms. The warmth from his rescue suddenly left me, like a cold tide of ocean water rolling over my feet. The sadness radiating from him stuck in my throat.
I stroked his shoulder.
Tony whirled. He crushed me in his embrace. He exhaled a ragged sigh and pinned me to his body.
My hand found his chest, unbidden. I grasped his tie and slid my hand down, my pulse racing as he bowed his head. His full mouth touched mine. He was like silk and honey, so gentle my heart burst with pain. His lips claimed me as he pushed me against the wall.
I expected him to devour me like he usually did, but he held back. He sought every corner of my mouth, reassuring and healing. My fingers tangled in his locks as he tugged my hair, angling me to meet his mouth. Slowly, the kisses burned hotter. More urgent. He took my hip, brushing my naked skin under the coat.
Tony’s attention flicked to the collar wrapping my neck.
“K put that on you?”
“Yeah.”
Wildness overtook him like a growing shadow, contorting his features, turning his eyes black with greed. He nuzzled me, shaking. Trembling.
“It’s okay, Tony. I’m all right.”
I was. But he wasn’t.
His fiery gaze told me he was barely tethered to the ground, but I’d grown to like the monster inside him. I ignored the warning from his stiffening limbs and kissed his throat. I breathed him in. His scent steadied me. It set off an ache in my chest that demanded more.
“Tony, I need you.”
“Stay away. I can’t hold back.”
A thrill of anticipation touched my spine. I sucked on his full pout and nipped him.
He growled into my lips. “Evie.”
“The way you say my name is so beautiful.”
“Evie, this is not what you need.”
“I always need you.”
I slammed my lips into his, and in one forward motion I was in his arms. He lifted me, and I buried my hands in his thick hair. Kissing, we stumbled into a console table. Something rocked violently and crashed, but Tony’s lips lashed mine hungrily. He bumped his elbow on the doorway, cursing. He stroked me, gliding over my backside to cradle the fullest part of my ass.
Perfect. He felt perfect.
He groaned a tortured sigh.
“Evie, I’m too fucked up. I’m trying to be a gentleman but I don’t-”
I kissed him, shutting him up.
He devoured me with a demanding possession before he yanked away, hissing. “Evie, I’m not in control. I relapsed. I couldn’t help it, and I don’t-”
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. It was just one drink, but-” He made a deep, frustrated sound as I smothered his protest. “Evie, for once, would you fucking listen to me? I can’t. I’ll hurt you and I’ll hate myself and then-”
I tore his shirt and curled into the curve of his body. I nuzzled his neck, seeking his warmth. I needed to forget the last twenty-four hours, and only my husband could make it better. I stroked his rock-hard pecs and the gorgeous wall of muscle, relishing the heat baking my skin. My fingers skated his back, bumping into rigid flesh.
Shock wedged in my throat as I traced the unyielding tissue. Scars. Slashes marked him in angry strokes. He was ripped up everywhere.
A shudder passed through me.
I’d never seen him completely naked. Tony had avoided taking off his shirt. He’d kept it on at Sanctum. Hell, he’d stopped me from touching him on our wedding night. He’d acted so strangely, refusing to fuck me even though I’d begged him for it.
This was why.
He wasn’t ready to share this with me.
Oh, Tony.
His tormented gaze found me as I took his face. For once, he didn’t wipe it blank.
To the world, he was Mob Prince-well-bred, elegant, beautiful, Boston’s most eligible bachelor with a perfect body. At the club, he was the monster. Witnessing him like this, so raw and wounded, moved me.
I wanted to take away his pain.
I leaned forward but Tony got there first. He fingered my collar and jerked hard.
“I’m done waiting.”
“Tony-”
He slammed his lips onto mine. His tongue forcing my mouth open. Liquid heat delved in deep, flicking, fucking my mouth like a wanton beast. He wouldn’t let me breathe, save for a quick inhale between ravishing me again.
As his grip tightened, I slipped further under his spell. I slumped in his arms. I submitted to his frenzy, knowing that I wouldn’t be the same after this. Once he pinned me down and finally fucked me.
He promised he’d hurt me.
What kind of a woman gets off on that?
He gathered me like a wolf snapping its jaws on squirming prey. He released a low hiss. His burning palms slid down my naked back, seizing me in a brutal, ass-grabbing pinch.
So fucking hot.
This possession was what I’d ached for.
He twisted the thong, breaking it on my skin. The black lace skimmed my legs. I shivered as it trailed my skin, jarred from the soft touch by Tony’s unyielding grip. He dragged me toward the bed like I was a convict headed for execution. His legs struck the edge of the mattress. He fell, dragging me with him.
My thighs straddled his muscled legs. Then he yanked me against his hair-roughened chest, the contact teasing my nipples into hardness. He lifted himself, easing his pants off to free his throbbing erection. His swollen head glided along my pussy, pushing at the aching entrance.
The contact jolted my clit. A ray of pleasure touched me like sunlight, and then Tony pulled me onto him. He rammed his cock inside me.
Too big. Too fast.
He was too much to take.
He was hot and thick, wedging me open. I winced as he reached the barrier inside me, but he didn’t hesitate. He pushed against it, growling as he ripped through it.
Oh God.
I was stretched to the limit, biting my lip to kill a scream.
Tony’s mouth crushed mine, smothering my whimper. His demanding hips punched forward.
Deep inside, I felt myself break.
My back arched with his anchoring thrust. The full length of him was buried. I raked his back as he retreated and the agony returned.
Pain.
Swift and brutal.
I released a choked gasp.
Tony silenced me, kissing me hard. His hands curled over my shoulders. He dug in, forcing me to meet his upward thrusts. It was warm and very wet, the slick pressure ramming me. Pain ricocheted in my stomach, yet I didn’t want it to stop.
Passion radiated from Tony’s body into mine. I’d surrendered completely, abandoned myself to sensation. It clouded my brain the way it seemed to consume Tony, ordering me to stay still and let him drill me.
Electricity arced through me as his arm banded my waist, shoving my breasts into his stubbled cheek. My nipple pebbled as he took it in his mouth. Ecstasy lashed me, stroking a line from my tits to my aching pussy. I eased into his slow but deep rhythm. When he pushed himself as far as my body would allow, he uttered a satisfied sound. His stabbing cock almost made me beg for mercy, but I clung to his back.
I reveled in the agony. Loved it.
The warmth spreading across my thighs was ominous. I knew what I’d see but it failed to horrify me. I felt slashed open. Filled. Gloriously fucked. Taken.
A second thought grabbed my throat.
A stranger would’ve done this to me. If not for Tony, my first time would’ve been just as rough. Tears of relief stung my eyes. Only Tony could fuck me like this. Only he had my trust and affection. Because I’d fallen for him.
And I already loved the monster.
My heart swelled.
His feral grunts blasted my ear as he fucked me with ruthless precision. The sharp pang faded to a dull ache as he lavished attention on my breasts. He dipped his head, latching onto my nipple. He suckled as he drove inside me.
A shockwave of heat rippled through me. Pain disappeared to a dim murmur as Tony lapped my nipples. He tantalized the buds, swelling them into points. His hands slid down, squeezing before finding the swell of my hips. He seemed to be searching for pleasure. His thumb brushed my clit.
I screamed.
The combination of tongue and cock-so hot. I was delirious with the wave of ecstasy. His perfect mouth worked magic on my tits, gliding from breast to breast to suck and bite. His tongue blazed my collarbone and neck before smothering my lips.
He pressed on my clit. Sparks engulfed my pussy. My torso moved up and down, and he paused, letting me take the lead. I grabbed his shoulders for leverage and ground against his erection.
We both exhaled.
God, he felt good.
Tony fisted my hair. His glare pinned me as he resumed thrusting. His cock rammed into me, the friction dragging a moan from my clenched lips.
“You’re mine.” Tony kissed me again, roughly. “I’m going to show you what that means.”
He hovered above me, his athletic frame tensed and his expression strained. Tony lowered himself until his chest brushed my nipples. His teeth sank into my breasts, leaving shining marks. Not content with that, he nipped the other globe, his bites punctuated with his savage thrusts. Tony glared at my curves, as though resenting them for bringing out the monster. Then he unleashed his frustration on me. He gripped my hair and wrenched. He smashed his mouth on mine, forcing his tongue inside as he gave me the violent fuck my cousin had warned me about.
All I could do was take his pivoting hips.
I was bound to him.
Completely submitted.
He took his pleasure, and I loved it. He marked me like prey, and I melted. He’d taken my virginity with violence, and gratitude swelled in my throat. He tore me with his giant cock, and I widened my legs. I let him devour me. I would do anything he wanted. I was a willing vessel for his lust.
Tony seized my face, his eyes wild. “You’ll never leave me again.”
“Never.”
“Tell me you belong to me.”
The yearning in his voice clutched my heart.
“I do. I belong to you.”
He kissed me until tears welled in my eyes. Then his tongue lashed my lips, flooding my thoughts with sin. He rammed me, filling me to the hilt. He bit my ear as his fingers massaged my clit, building my climax to a lightning storm. My orgasm ramped up as he nipped my neck, the pounding of his slick cock the only noise in my head.
His deep grunts softened as he drove his hips forward. He thrust harder, the pain almost blinding, and then he sighed. His back arched and a groan burst from him. Warm jets coated my insides with ecstasy. Tony furiously pumped, the thumb on my clit flicking hard.
A tremor worked through my body. Joy swept me in glowing clouds as I succumbed to the need clenching my thighs. A wave of peace washed over me as Tony lowered himself. He breathed kisses into my throat, panting. I held him, in awe of the sensations running through me.
Physically, I felt amazing. Sore as hell but satisfied.
Immensely satisfying. I liked the sticky, hot feeling, the primal nature of it, and that I had no desire to separate from him. Especially when he rained sweet kisses on my cheek and temple. His tenderness invaded my soul, healing broken patches, awakening dormant needs.
Tony’s beautiful features flickered with apprehension. He pulled away and glanced at the mess between our legs. His raw gaze clashed with mine.
“Tony, I’m fine.” I rubbed his bicep. “Don’t be sorry for this. I’m not.”
“Evie, I am so sorry. If I weren’t such a bastard-”
“You made up for it by saving my ass.”
“You didn’t need saving until I made you run.”
“Couples fight. I never expected this would happen. And if you weren’t in my life…I’d be raped or dead.” I cupped his face, smoothing the frown creasing his forehead. “Thanks for being there for me. And for not giving up.”
“Never, Evie.”
He balled me in his arms and dragged me into his chest, and I nestled in his warmth. He kissed the top of my head and whispered into my hair.
“Evie, I’m grateful you’re okay.”
My heart clenched. “You need four more.”
“That’s the only one I care about right now.”