Page 11 of King of Obsession (Kings of the Underworld #1)

She has one book waiting for her, tipped upside down on the table. It’s a romance novel and I sigh, knowing she misses my father and uses reading as an escape.

“I’ve had the experience of falling in love, being with the love of my life.

Now, I just want to experience it through books.

” A small pause follows before she continues in a soft voice, “Mio figlio, love is the greatest thing people can live through. I hope that one day this house will be filled with that once again. Laughter, parties, children’s squeals. ”

I don’t want to shatter my mother’s hopes for her children, so I keep quiet, kiss her on her cheek and leave.

Once I park in the underground garage, I pull out my gun from the glove compartment. Sliding it in the back of my pants, I walk toward the hotel across from my building.

As soon as I walk inside, the receptionist rushes to greet me.

I request the keycard for the top-level suite.

She doesn’t even blink as she hands me the spare one, telling me the guest’s still here, which is surprising considering she “killed” me.

Luciana keeps me on my toes, and fuck if I hate it while liking it at the same time.

I take the elevator. With each story, impatience tightens my skin around my bones, as if I am a tiger trapped in a cage, prowling around with no way out.

My heart hammers, thundering in my ears. It’s a mix of excitement and adrenaline that pulls me in two different directions. And when it stops on the last floor, I still haven’t decided what to do.

Swiping the keycard, I let myself in, making no noise as I tiptoe inside.

Just then a bullet whizzes past me before sticking into the wall next to my side.

“That’s how you welcome me, amore?” I ask, pulling my gun out, fully attuned to my surroundings and ready to teach her a lesson.

“Wanted to make sure if you’re real or a ghost to haunt me.”

I chuckle, but then I remember I should be mad at her. “Guess what? You failed. Again.”

I see her reflection in the glass in the living room. She rolls her eyes, and I pull the trigger.

She gasps. “Oh, no you didn’t.”

“I am all for fairness, and just so you know, if I wanted to kill you, you’d be bleeding out on the floor.”

“You really know how to make a girl feel special.” She pats her chest before she quickly ducks, disappearing into another room.

Like in a game of hide and seek, we hunt each other with no intent to kill. After a while and ten bullets wasted, I want to play a different game.

I tire of this chase leading nowhere, eager to get to the part where I put my hands on her and have my way with her. I halt in the living room, and she finds me.

Approaching me from the bedroom, her gun points straight at my chest.

“I’m not wearing a bulletproof jacket.”

She gulps, and I catch the slight tremor of her hand on the trigger. “Good to know.”

Like we’re pushed by forces beyond our understanding, we cut the distance between us—pulled together by sheer gravity, our muzzles kissing.

Cracking my neck, my jaw constricts. “You ruined my favorite car.”

She glares at me. “I don’t like you having favorites.”

“But you?”

“Maybe.” She shakes her head as if to clear her mind.

I want to say that’s impossible. I’ve tried to get rid of thoughts of her in vain. The only way for us is to give in. Everything else is a mere wish. We were made to clash.

“You’re crazy, but fuck if it doesn’t make me mad about you.”

“I will shoot you,” she warns.

I witness the battle going on in her eyes—the steel liquefying and solidifying.

“Put the gun down, Luciana. You don’t want to kill me at all, even if you do your best to prove the opposite.”

She lowers her gaze and when she looks up again, they glower, so many emotions burning inside of them.

“Which flowers?” she asks, and I lower my gun.

Against my better judgment, I listen to my gut instinct. She had so many chances like today, but she stopped me from getting blown up even though it was her doing.

“I prefer to lay you in a fucking bed of calla lilies and take you there until we forget we could never be together,” I confess and slap her gun away.

It drops to the floor, clanking with the knowledge that we have lost the battle with desire.

Cupping the back of her neck, I pull her up to me and slam my mouth on hers. Just like I imagined, her mouth tastes like paradise and demise, poison masked as honey.

I am too far gone to care that each kiss will bring me closer to death.

Nibbling along her plush lips, her arms cross over my neck, giving in to the kiss with the same frenzy and ardor.

Parting her mouth, I dive right into her sweet taste, our tongues engaging in a passionate kiss.

The world disappears while I try to satiate a need I doubt will ever be quenched.

My desire for this woman is uncontainable, bursting out of me. It makes me want to possess her—body, heart, and mind.

My need for her grows with each swipe of my tongue. When she moans, I wave the white flag in front of my biggest temptation—the biggest mistake of my life I could never regret.

Everything in her is tailor-made to make me lose my mind. From her sensual scent, something floral with notes of vanilla, amber, and sandalwood, to her body that melts into mine and that untamable and unapologetic personality.

“What the fuck is it about you, Luciana?” My voice sounds gruff with frustration, hoarse with too much desire, unfamiliar to my own ears.

She scratches her nails along my chest, deep enough to leave marks. Fuck, if that doesn’t turn me on more than anything else.

“You like danger too much.”

“No, I think I like just a particular brand of danger.”

And then the talk is over. I crush my mouth against hers, kissing her again, devouring her sounds of pleasure. My hands slide along her silk top and matching panties. She’s not leaving this room without getting fucked. If it were up to me, she’d never leave my sight and bed ever again.

“I like you more in a dress.”

“And I’d like you more dead.” She huffs through kisses.

“I guess neither of us is getting what we want.”

Lifting onto her toes, she bites my lip. “You’re arrogant and insufferable beyond measure.”

Gripping her hair in a fist, I pull her straight to my front with no way of escaping me. I nip her jaw, licking my way until I reach her mouth. Then I trace my tongue along the contour of her lips, which elicits a tremor from her.

“You have a thing for me, Luciana.” I click my tongue. “Denying it will only make me want to prove it.”

“The talk is over.”

Isn’t she a jokester?

I shake my head, moving forward, pushing her backward toward the bedroom.

When her legs reach the edge of the bed, I ease her onto it. “The game is over. It’s time to surrender.”