Page 20 of Malicious Marriage (Mafia Lords of Sin #9)

CLOVER

H e’s still here.

How often did I wake up and Ryan had run out on me? All he cared about was getting his dick wet like nothing else mattered, and here Dean stands with a tray in hand and the cutest smile on his face.

I’m still dancing the line between awake and asleep, so this feels almost like a dream. Even the sunlight trickling in through the curtains seems fuzzy, as if I’m still wrapped up in the blissful world of sleep.

“You made me breakfast?”

“If by made you mean raided your cupboards for a selection of things, then yes.” Dean sets the tray down on my lap, places a cup of tea on the bedside table, and relaxes back on the bed next to me. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I grabbed a selection.”

“Wow. I don’t typically eat breakfast, actually.”

“Clover!” Dean supports himself up on one elbow, and since he’s only wearing boxers, it’s very hard to keep my attention on his handsome face. “You need to eat breakfast.”

“I always feel unwell in the morning. I’m a coffee and snack at eleven kinda girl.”

“Hmm.” His nose wrinkles slightly and he nods. “Noted.”

I’m happy to appease him, though, so a few blueberries and a handful of cereal flakes make it into my mouth as I recline back against the pillows. Eating helps me wake up more and the fuzziness that this is a dream fades.

Dean is really here.

Lying half-naked in my bed feeding me breakfast as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.

Should I say something? Ask him about last night? Make sure he enjoyed it? The words struggle to come so I pop a few grapes into my mouth as I notice he isn’t eating anything.

“Mr. you have to eat breakfast ,” I say, tilting the tray toward him. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Yes.” Dean watches me with dark eyes that grow half-lidded when our gazes meet. “I am.”

“I’m not against sharing. Do you want some fruit?”

“My appetite is learning toward something sweet.” His voice drops low, so, oblivious, I pick up the fruit bowl and offer it to him.

“Here.”

“Clover.” Dean softly rolls his eyes and leans into my offering, but instead of taking the bowl, he kisses the soft inside of my wrist. “Do I need to spell it out for you?”

I stare at him blankly. “Huh?”

He laughs immediately. “I understand. Just… hold on.”

Just as I place the bowl back on the tray while trying to work through what he means, Dean suddenly pulls the covers away from me in such a rush.

The tray tips, and I grab it with a squeal so none of the food topples, but Dean doesn’t seem to care.

As soon as my legs are free, he’s between them with his strong hand clutching my thighs and spreading them wide.

“Dean!”

He pauses immediately. “Do you want me to stop?”

With my heart hammering and an embarrassed flush rushing through me like my blood is turning to lava, the option briefly enters my mind, but I quickly shake my head. I hadn’t made the connection that when he said he was hungry for something sweet, he was talking about me.

“I’m going to need you to vocalize that consent for me, darling.”

His tongue purrs around the world darling and my core clenches so hard that I have to fight back a moan.

“K–Keep going!”

“Excellent.” Dean drops down onto his stomach and buries between my legs while I try and set the tray down on the other side of the bed.

Several berries escape the bowl as it tips, but I can’t care because his soft, wet tongue slides against my pussy in one long stroke that forces all other thoughts to flee my mind.

“Oh, my God!” My head falls back, my core coils with warmth, and my legs tremble while Dean wraps both his strong arms around my thighs and grips tightly. I lean back, but Dean suddenly jerks me a few inches down the bed until I’m much closer to him and thrusts his tongue deep inside me.

I can’t breathe. My heart beats so wildly that my teeth ache.

Pleasure warms my belly faster than I’m ready for while Dean kisses, sucks, and licks my pussy like he’s a man starved.

Each stroke of his warm tongue against me is like a spark of electricity.

His grip on my thighs is surely tight enough to bruise, but there’s no pain.

With my legs over his shoulders, the angle forces me slightly onto my own and I’m powerless to resist. Not that I want to. I don’t need to do anything but exist in the onslaught of pleasure he’s delivering. I arch my back, curl my toes, and twist my hands into the bedsheets below me.

Dean’s warm tongue grows firm over my clit each time his sucking kisses turn into insistent pressure. I can barely track what he’s doing. He’s all over me. He’s inside me. He’s licking and sucking and kissing and moaning so deeply, it’s like vibrations against my clit.

My head spins, my blood boils, and sweat clings to the back of my neck as he drives me higher and higher.

I come with a cry, curling one leg around his neck and lifting my hips to his eager mouth while pulse after rapid pulse of pleasure takes me. Every breath trembles out of me and for a few long seconds, it feels like I’m suspended in the air with only his hands keeping me steady.

The rapid flexing of my core slows after the first five or so seconds, and I slump back down onto the bed, panting. Dean continues to kiss against me until I’m flat on the bed, gasping for air. Only then does he pull away with a final kiss to my mound.

Our eyes meet and a soft laugh escapes me at how his beard glistens with my juices, not that he seems to mind. He leans down and kisses the inside of my thigh where his beard grazed my skin, but it’s a pleasant warmth.

“See?” Dean says, briefly licking his lower lip. “Breakfast is important.”

No sooner are the words out of his mouth than the ringtone of a phone rises up from the floor amid the pile of discarded clothes from last night.

Dean caresses my knee as he glances over the edge of the bed, then he leans down and locates his phone.

The relaxed, easy expression on his handsome face rapidly vanishes and I’m faced with a man resembling the first time Dean and I met in his office.

“Damn,” he murmurs.

“Everything okay?”

“I hate to leave you like this,” Dean says, his brow furrowing, “but I really have to go.”

“He left?” Bobby leans up from working on the engine of our car and grabs the oil-soaked rag from his belt to clean his hands.

I nod and offer him a fresh cup of coffee. “What’s wrong with the car?”

“Nothing. I’m just making sure it stays that way since you won’t let me cover the MOT.”

“Bobby—”

“I know, I know.” He throws both hands up then takes the cup. “But you know, if we get caught driving this, then you’ll have more problems than just an out-of-date road tax.”

Puffing out my cheeks, I glance at the engine as if I have any hope of understanding anything about it and nod. “I’ll start taking an Uber.”

“You know Dean would send a car, right?”

My stomach drops. Last night was amazing, there’s no denying that. And this morning was the best way I’ve woken up any morning, ever. But it was wrong. Now that Dean isn’t here with me and I’ve had time to think over my actions, I know it was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” Bobby frowns over the cup. “Why do you look so troubled all of a sudden?”

I can’t meet his eyes. “I fucked up.”

“How?”

“You know how.”

“Because you slept with him?”

I nod.

“Was it awful?”

“God, no.” I rest against the car beside him and sigh deeply. “It was amazing. I never knew someone could make me feel like that.”

“Perks of an older man,” he teases.

“Maybe. He was so focused on me that it was… You know, it doesn’t even matter because I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve muddied everything. This was supposed to be just business.”

“But?” Bobby prompts.

“I like him. I think I really like him.”

“And that will make it too hard to take his money?”

“I’m lying to him about so many things.”

“You’re right.” Bobby sighs and drinks deeply for a few minutes.

“Listen… muddying the waters probably isn’t the best idea if getting close to him is making you rethink things.

I can’t tell you what to do here, Clover.

I’m your friend and I have your back, but you have to work out what you really want from this. ”

“I want to find Hailey and he’ll help me get there.”

“Okay, so that remains the real goal.”

“Was there any doubt?”

“No,” Bobby sighs softly. “But I know you, Clover. You have a soft heart.”

“What are you saying?”

Bobby drains his cup and hands it back to me, then he pushes up from the car.

“You fall easily. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but if you’re already contemplating feelings for Dean, then you need to be careful and protect your heart.

Falling for Dean and risking losing him when he learns the truth means we’re further away from finding Hailey. ”

“Do you really think I can’t keep my priorities straight?”

“No, I’m saying that you don’t know how to have fun. Casual sex isn’t you.”

“Maybe it is!” I snap, straightening up as a lance of heat rushes down my spine. “I can remain detached.”

“Can you?” Bobby’s eyes narrow. “Either you fall for him and tell him the truth, risking everything, or you rebuild that barrier and make sure nothing risks our attempts to find Hailey.”

He’s right.

I hate that he’s right because telling Dean the truth is not an option.

He’s already in such a tough spot that revealing my true status will not only completely remove him from my life, but it will also further damage his own reputation.

I don’t want him to look at me like I’m a liar, like how he looks when he talks about his ex.

I picture how soft he looked this morning when he was looking at me like I was worth something. I want to keep that so badly.

Is that selfish of me?

“Well, since you’re undecided about Dean, what are we going to do about Ryan?”

“Oh, God.” My chest tightens. “What happened with him yesterday?”

“The usual. He threatened to kill me and my husband, burn down the manor, and then said if he doesn’t get his money with extra interest, he’s going to tell Dean everything.” Bobby’s mouth presses into a thin line. “So, out of the things we can control, I think we need to deal with him.”

“Right. You’re right.” Heat prickles down my spine and I wiggle my shoulders to try and remove it. “So, what do we do?”

“You know what you have to do. You have to ask Dean for money.”

“Right now?” After sex, it feels cheap to call him and ask for that.

“Clover, you can’t put everything on hold because you feel bad.

Listen, Ryan is a pressing issue. Dean already knows you have money worries but he thinks they’re related to your family and your uncle.

He doesn’t need to know that the money is going to a loan shark.

He just needs to give it to you. And he seems like a decent man, so the sooner we tick off Ryan, the sooner we focus on Hailey, right? ”

I nod slowly, chewing on my lower lip.

“I’m not trying to be a dick here,” Bobby says. “I just don’t take kindly to that asshole threatening my family and my friend.”

“No, you’re right. You’re right.” Bobby already does so much for me. Getting Ryan squared away is the least I can do. “I’ll call him. I’ll call Dean and I’ll ask him for the money. Ryan won’t be a problem for much longer.”