Bound to Darkness (Doubeck Crime Family)

She laughs and wrinkles her nose, but the laughter dies and turns into a moan as I stroke my hand through her wetness. She’s perfect, slick and hot, so ready for me. If only I was willing to cross that line.

I swallow hard when she delves her fingers into my hair, tugging at the short strands.

Okay, I might be willing to cross that line.

24

ROSE

He’s saying this is a bad idea, all the while, he pulls me closer, leaning into every caress, every touch. I can’t get enough of him, and there’s so much more to explore. If he lets me.

I run my nails from his hair, down to his neck, then to his chest to scrape across his nipples through his T-shirt. “Can you take this off?”

He’s already ripping it over his head as he mumbles, “I shouldn’t take it off. I shouldn’t take it off.”

His muscles ripple and flex, and I lean up to tug one of his nipples between my teeth.

His hiss cuts right through me, making me wetter by the second. His fingers continue to make patterns on my skin, drawing me in deeper, drowning me in his touch. I still want more.

I shift my hips, so he’s cradled at the juncture of my thighs. Even so, he rocks onto his hip, keeping himself from touching me further.

“Don’t.” I reach for him, but he bats my fingers away. “I’m trying to be the rational one here. You don’t want someone like me taking your virginity.”

Fine. He wants to be that way. I wiggle under him, forcing him off-balance, so he rests against me, and it takes seconds to strip his boxer briefs and pants down to his ankles. I want this, so maybe I have to prove it to him.

He groans. “Did you really just do that?”

I nod, proud of myself. Until he rolls onto his back, sits up, and slings me belly first across his thighs. “I told you to wait.”

I peer over my shoulder, not truly believing he is about to do what I think he is. His hand connects with my ass, and for a second, I’m shocked he actually hit me. Then the sting blooms under my skin, creating a warmth that sinks into me, merging with every forbidden fantasy I already have about him.

He watches my face carefully, and I can feel the hard jut of his cock against my hip. He likes doing this as much as I’m enjoying the punishment.

His hand comes down on the opposite side this time. I flinch and then pant as another wave of sheer pleasure rolls through my nerve endings. “What,” I try, but my tongue feels like taffy, my body going loose against his legs.

Another stroke, this time at the top of my thighs, where my butt meets my legs. It starts more painful and then blooms like the other swats, finer, sharper. I’m clawing at the bedding to give myself an anchor in the storm. “Please,” I whimper, hardly believing that sound came out of me.

“You like that, don’t you?” His fingers knead my burning flesh, and for the first time in my life, I let myself go. I let him take control and give me what he knows I need.

When I come back to myself, he’s rolled me onto my back and is lying down beside me. I reach out to touch him, but again, he pushes my fingers away. “Where were we before that little punishment?”

I swallow hard and watch him trail a finger over my hard nipple, down to my belly, delving between my thighs. “Ah yes, I think about here.”

But I won’t let him get away that easily. “You might have been there, but I was doing something else.”

“Yes.” He grins. “Being a pain in my ass is what you were doing.”

I shrug. “You’re going to give in because you want me as much as I want you, so why keep fighting.”

His eyes go soft as he meets mine. “For you. It’s always for you.”

I’ve had enough of for me, about me, to protect me. Every day, it’s something else. What about him?

I shove his shoulder, and he lies flat, amusement twisting his full lips. But it slips away the second I swing my thighs over his and settle myself against him.

He’s up and out of the bed before I have time to tangle in the covers he mussed on the way off.

But I don’t give up easily. I chase after him, and he actually runs this time. “Look who is running now,” I taunt, having fun despite the swirl of terror in my gut.