Shadow Flight (Shadow Riders 5)

He took her mouth. Those lips. That mouth. She tasted fresh and clean. She was his everything, and she tasted that way, as if she had been created especially for him. Sin and innocence blending together, an incomparable rush. He kissed her gently, wanting her to feel loved. Knowing she would need that in the cold of the shadows, something light to hold on to when the demons came to tear her apart.

He wanted to be gentle for her, knowing what she’d suffered. Knowing what had been done to her. He’d sat through her nightmares hundreds of times, listening in the dark to her screams, feeling the tears on his own face when she couldn’t cry. She didn’t know he was there with her at first, in the beginning. He knew she would have been embarrassed. As it was, she was humiliated that he knew what had been done to her. Then later, when she did know because he couldn’t bear it any longer, she had used him as a punching bag, and he’d let her. Often, he’d held her, rocked her, let her learn to cry all over again on those long, sleepless nights.

He tried to keep his kisses under control, but they ignited together, two matchsticks, creating an explosion. Flames began to lick at his skin, dance in his veins, smolder in his gut and rise higher and higher, spreading from his groin until his entire body seemed to burst into a wild inferno. It was crazy and it was exhilarating. Only Nicoletta could do that to him. He was always in control. He’d thought it had been the alcohol before. He knew now it wasn’t so. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back, her mouth moving against his, her body melting into his as if she’d caught fire, too, and they shared the same skin, the same never-ending passion.

He lifted his head, reluctantly breaking them apart, breathing deeply, forcing air into his lungs when he wanted everything Nicoletta, including that fragrance that was all her. “You ready for this? Because we’re going to get Clariss back. I’ll need you to make certain that whatever happens there, Clariss doesn’t see me do anything to harm anyone. That’s more important than anything else, Nicoletta.”

He tucked her wild hair behind her ear and tracked her cheekbones with the pads of his fingers. He loved her soft skin and the way she had such perfect bone structure—at least to him, it was perfection. He admitted to himself that he was very enthralled with everything about her.

“I wouldn’t mind doing a few of them in myself,” she said, sticking her chin in the air. “Seriously, Taviano, you’re very protective, but you don’t understand …”

“Your number one goal is always to protect the family. Our reputation must be protected at all times. Our cousins just put themselves on the line for you, me and your friends. We always establish alibis so there is no question that we are innocent if someone points a finger at us. Clariss has been taken by this gang. We don’t know why. We followed and attempted to get her back. If some of them turned on each other when we freed her, we know nothing about that. Do you understand, Nicoletta, because if you don’t, I’ll get the cousins back here to take you with them and I’ll do this alone.”

He poured absolute conviction into his voice. There was no backup when it came to protecting the family, and she had to realize it. No matter how much he loved her and wanted to give her the world, he wouldn’t budge on that. It was a rule the family followed—every branch of the family followed. Every member had to be protected. He was willing to risk his career for her but not his family’s safety.

Nicoletta nodded, looking him in the eyes. “I understand. I didn’t think about that, Taviano. I just despise them so much. I need to understand how all this works. I don’t really know what you’re talking about, but I’m trying. I’ll do whatever needs to be done. I’m just so scared for Clariss.”

Taviano was well aware Nicoletta didn’t know much about the family business. How could she? She might be considered family, but she wasn’t privy to what they did or how their business was carried out. His brothers and sister knew that Taviano planned to claim her, to marry her and bring her in, but until that happened, she couldn’t know, and in some cases, a partner might never know everything.

“We’ll talk about this more when we have time,” Taviano promised. “Are you ready for this? You can’t let go. It’s going to be very intense. You have to hold on even tighter than before. You were doing great, learning to use your body by following mine.”