Page 13 of His to Keep (Reluctant Vows #6)

E ilidh

Rolling onto my right side, I try my best to get to sleep.

There isn’t a lot of space to maneuver, and I struggle to find a comfortable position.

The problem isn’t just that the mattress is too thin or the pillow too soft.

It isn’t that the rocking of the train as it moves along the track makes me slightly nauseous.

It’s thoughts of the man lying on the bunk beneath me that render me incapable of drifting off.

Gio, of course, seems to have had no such issues.

He’s been snoring softly for more than an hour now.

I’m still tense after the horrible dinner we shared.

The food was better than I expected, and the wine was rich and smooth.

It was the atmosphere between Gio and me that soured the meal.

Rather than learning more about each other over a pleasant dinner, we barely spoke.

Once Gio laid down the law about us getting married, I couldn’t find a thing I wanted to say to him.

Well, nothing that wouldn’t have resulted in me getting another spanking.

We finished the meal, paid the bill, and returned to our room.

While I indulged in a quick shower, he stripped off his clothes and got into bed, leaving his jeans and sweater lying on the floor.

As I picked them up and folded them neatly to put on the table under the window, I hoped that wasn’t a foreshadowing of what’s to come.

I have no intention of spending my life tidying up after him.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on taking slow, deep breaths. I feel myself being pulled down into the darkness. Just as I’m almost there, a noise wakes me. Gio lets out an agonized groan.

“No,” he whimpers. “No, don’t.”

An inhuman cry comes from deep inside him as he thrashes about on the bed.

Although he was an asshole earlier, I can’t leave him in the grips of whatever terror has hold of him.

My feelings for him are complex, ranging from gratitude for saving me from Jason to intense annoyance for his insistence we marry, but I can’t let him suffer.

Apart from anything else, there are people sleeping in the cabins on either side of him and I don’t want to risk him waking other passengers.

Jumping down from the top bunk, I crouch next to him.

“Gio.” I put my hand on his bare shoulder and shake him gently. “Gio, it’s me, Eilidh.”

He gasps as his eyes spring open. He sits up and bangs his head. Cursing, he reaches under his pillow, I’m guessing for a weapon that he won’t find there.

“Gio,” I say calmly. “It’s only me.”

Blinking, he looks at me. “Eilidh?” His expression morphs from confusion to concern. “What’s wrong?”

It’s touching that he’s worried about me when he was the one in distress.

“You were having a nightmare.”

“Was I?”

“You don’t remember?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“You were pleading with someone.”

He nods like that makes sense. “Yeah, I got shot a few months ago, almost died. It was probably something to do with that.”

I’m surprised he shared that with me. “You were shot?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

He can’t open the door and then slam it shut so quickly. Anything that tells me more about this man will be useful for me in working out how to deal with him.

“Well, I do. Tell me what happened.”

As I get up and switch on the light, flooding the space with a harsh yellow glow, Gio swivels around and lowers his feet to the floor.

He sits at the edge of the bed, his head bowed.

It’s more likely because he doesn’t want to bash himself on the upper bunk than because of some deep emotion he’s experiencing. I crouch in front of him.

“Tell me, Gio.”

“Are you always this bossy?”

“Only at three a.m. when I haven’t had any sleep.”

“You haven’t slept?”

“Never mind me. I want to know about you.”

Gio blows out a slow breath. “It was at a party for my brother Leo and his new wife, Vinnie. She left her purse in the ladies’ room, and I went to grab it for her.”

“Go on,” I say when Gio pauses for a moment too long.

“We were at Emilia’s hotel, so I thought the location was secure.”

“Emilia?”

“My brother Alessandro’s wife.”

I run through the list of his brothers he mentioned earlier. Alessandro is the third oldest, if I remember correctly. “Okay, so you went for the purse. Then what?”

“I wasn’t paying attention. I thought I was safe. A man stepped out into the corridor and shot me. I got hit three times in the head, chest, and thigh.” At my shocked gasp, he smiles weakly. “Well, the head was just a graze.”

“Do you know who the shooter was?”

“An ex-employee. He got too old to do his job properly, so Leo fired him. He got us mixed up.”

“So, you and Leo look alike, then?”

“My brothers and I all do. Five peas in a pod, my mom used to say.”

I try to imagine what five Gio Volantes in one room would look like. It’s either incredibly hot or seriously intimidating. I decide it’s the latter.

“You were badly injured?” It seems like a silly question. Getting shot in the chest is no laughing matter.

“I guess.”

Since he clearly doesn’t want to elaborate, I don’t push him.

“Do you often have nightmares?”

“Sometimes.” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “Shit. I don’t know what I dreamed about tonight, but I still feel…”

“I know.” I’ve experienced the same thing. Some nights I wake up disoriented, afraid, but unable to recall what horrors my nightmare held.

There’s an air of vulnerability about Gio I suspect he doesn’t show too often. Suddenly, I feel the urge to comfort him. He wouldn’t appreciate a hug and words of reassurance, but I know a way to take his mind off things.

“Stand up.” Does that husky voice belong to me?

Gio gets to his feet, and I drop to my knees.

“What are you doing, kitten?” he asks as I reach for the waistband of his boxers.

“Making you feel good.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

Shuffling forward on my knees, I pull down his boxers and his erection springs free. I wrap my lips around him. This isn’t something I have a lot of experience with, so I listen carefully for any audio cues from Gio that will let me know I’m doing this right.

As I flick my tongue over the head of his cock, I grab his ass to anchor myself. I dig my nails into his flesh, and he hisses.

“Watch those claws, kitten.”

I draw more of his steely length into my mouth and suck.

He tastes vaguely of something citrus. Slowly pulling back, I let my teeth scrape over him, just to see if he likes it.

His moan suggests he does. I bob my head back and forth, wetting his cock with my tongue.

Then I take him as deep as I can, almost to the back of my throat.

Sliding a hand between his butt cheeks, I press a finger to his anus, just enough to apply a gentle pressure.

“Fuck, kitten!” Gio grabs a handful of my hair and holds my head in place as he takes control.

My hands drop to my sides as he uses his grip on my hair to pull me up higher onto my knees.

He fucks my mouth like he’s claiming it.

I gag as the bulbous head of his shaft hits the back of my throat.

Tears distort my sight as I struggle to breathe.

When Gio releases me, withdrawing his cock completely, I drop to the floor on my hands and knees.

“Stay like that,” he commands, moving around behind me. “I want to fuck my pussy.”

His possessiveness sends a surge of desire through me. Gio gets down on the floor behind me.

“Spread those legs,” he commands, his tone somehow red hot and ice cold at the same time.

I comply immediately, parting my thighs to give him better access. He doesn’t waste time with preliminaries. After quickly checking I’m ready for him, he pushes his cock inside me, all the way to the hilt. It feels good despite the twinge of pain that comes from being filled so completely.

Gio grabs my hips as he pulls back, almost slipping out of me completely. Then he thrusts back in with a force that makes me whimper. As he fucks my soaking wet pussy, I swivel my hips, reveling in the pleasure that slowly builds at my core.

“You’re mine, kitten.”

I don’t reply. My body may accept his statement of ownership, but my mind isn’t there yet.

As he drives his magnificent cock deeper, Gio pulls me into an upright position and my head falls back against his shoulder.

He wraps a hand around my throat, applying just enough pressure for me to experience an intoxicating wave of panic.

“Gio,” I murmur as he cups my breast with his other hand and kneads the tender flesh with his fingers.

“You’re so fucking tight, kitten,” he grinds out. “No other man will ever feel this perfect pussy.”

Fuck, why is his desire to hammer into me that I belong to him so sexy? A pulse beats between my legs, spreading through my body until I’m completely mindless with desire. Gio fucks me hard and fast, and I can’t keep up.

Suddenly, he shoves me forward, pressing my face to the floor. He plows into my quivering body, showing no mercy as my limbs shake with the force of my orgasm. A cry rips from my throat.

“That’s it, kitten. Come for me.” Gio stills inside me. “Milk my cock.”

My pussy clenches tight. Gio shudders and groans as he spills his seed inside me. When he pulls out, a warm trickle of fluid runs down my inner thigh. I collapse to the floor, a sweaty mess. Gio drops down beside me.

“Next time, we’re taking it slow,” he tells me. “I’m going to explore every inch of you. Every part of you will be mine.”

He makes it sound like a threat and a promise. As I clamber to my feet, wondering how I’m going to get back into my bunk now that my legs have turned to jelly, I realize I’m not scared by the prospect of him claiming me completely. I’m looking forward to it.