Page 120 of Brutal Heir

She leans back just far enough to look up at me, and there it is again. That fierce fire in her eyes, the wild thing that first made me want her and eventually made me love her. “What are we going to do?”

I press a kiss to her forehead, slow and deliberate. “We’re going to make him bleed for every bruise he left behind on your perfect form. Then for the mistake of believing he could ever take you from me and walk away breathing.”

She exhales softly, her breath mingling with my own.

“I love you, Rory Delaney,” I whisper into her ear as I pull her flush against me. “Conall has no claim on you. Not anymore. You’re mine.” Forever.

CHAPTER 46

JUST A GIRL AND A BOY

Rory

“Do we really have to go to Serena’s party?” Alessandro groans as he steps out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel slung low across his hips.

I freeze at the doorway between our bedrooms, about to head into mine to search my closet for a dress, but now my feet are rooted to the floor. As I take him in, the miles of taut muscle beneath fire-ravaged skin, my breath hitches. Not just at the sight of his physical perfection, but at how far he’s come in such a short time. I almost miss the days of tension-laced sponge baths.

He steps closer, a feral grin on his lips as he watches me trace a drop of water that blazes a path down his torso and disappears beneath the navy towel. “If you keep looking at me like that, tiny tyrant, I’ll be forced to call Serena to cancel.”

I close the distance between us and wind my arms around the back of his neck. “Tempting… but it’s New Year’s Eve, Ale, and I, for one, could use a distraction.” Since the truth of my pastcame out, we’ve barely left the penthouse. And even within the safety of these walls and constant guards, I can feel the relentless anxiety rolling off him in toxic waves. “We need this night out. Just one fun evening to forget.”

“Fine, I suppose it would be a pity to let that dress go to waste.” A flicker of amusement brightens his eyes.

“What dress?”

“You’ll have to go check your closet.”

I try to spin away, but his hand locks on my forearm and pulls me back into the hard planes of his body.

“We’ll go for a little while, but as soon as that clock strikes midnight, I’m bringing you home. So that I can spend the first hours of the new year making you come on my cock.”

Heat licks at my core at his filthy words. McFecker has a mouth on him, but, boy, can he back it up. “Deal,” I whisper against his lips.

His arms only tighten around me as he rubs his erection against my belly. Through the soft silky robe, that flicker of heat turns molten.

“Ale…” I groan.

His towel hits the floor with a soft thump, and his hard length strains against me.

“What?” The husky edge to his tone has that heat flaring brighter. His hands are at the silk knot at my waist, and a second later, my robe meets his towel on the floor.

We stand there completely bare before one another, neither one breathing. The sex has been different lately. With his newfound knowledge of the truth, it seems as if the final barrier between us has vanished.

Everything is more raw, more visceral. He regards me with nothing short of adoration as that hungry gaze rakes over me. First, it focuses on the butterfly pendant just above my breasts,then dives lower, to the words inked just below it. His eyes linger there for an endless moment before he draws in a slow breath.

As if every part of me has finally clicked into place for him.

“Free from the chains,” he whispers, almost reverently.

I nod, eager to close the distance between us and put an end to his intense scrutiny.

“You know I’m nothing like him, right? I would never treat you like he did…” His jaw works, fingers balling into fists at his side.

“I know,” I murmur.

His hand dives into the hair at the back of my neck, drawing me closer and those eyes, a storm of emotion sear into me. “I swear it, Rory. I willneverbe him.”

“I believe you.” I brush my lips to his, framing his face with unsteady hands. “You are nothing like Conall, Alessandro. I never could have fallen in love with you if you were.”