Page 17

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

ADALYN

I n typical Chicago fashion, I was given only an hour’s warning before the car pulled up at the front entrance to take me to Marco’s cousin’s club in town.

It wasn’t quite as grand as some of the venues I’d been to in Chicago, but something about the white fixtures and furnishings gave it an ambience unto its own. The blue strobe lights reflected off polished white surfaces, giving the whole place a more ethereal quality than any other bar or club I had been in.

Marco had done his usual disappearing act after the meeting earlier had finished. Not that I minded or cared. I needed to focus on re-building my walls if I stood any chance of surviving in this new life. I certainly couldn’t do that if I was pining over a man that would never, could never want me the way I wanted him.

I sat at the bar with my usual shadow, Alonso, by my side. I had already tried taunting him into being my drinking buddy for the night, but I was met with his usual gruff smile and shake of the head. To make things worse. I couldn’t understand anything anyone around me was saying either.

I ordered myself a glass of white wine and just as I took a sip of the cool liquid, the familiar swarm of designer black suits filtered in. The crowded floor of people parted around them immediately. Clearly, the sudden presence of mobsters was anything but unusual for this club, though I was hardly surprised. Displays of reverence, awe or just plain fear washed over some of their faces. Others wore a lustful expression that made my blood smolder and I turned my back to them, downing the rest of my glass in two.

Predictably, Marco and his men went to occupy the club’s restricted area. Raised on a platform, they overlooked the single-story building, more akin to the devil and his demons in hell than the God’s the crowd below clearly believed them to be. I wanted to roll my eyes.

After I emptied another glass of wine, the boredom had started to subside and the urge to dance took over. The floor was packed with warm bodies, all moving to the heavy base and upbeat tempo of the music mixed live by a DJ. I ingratiated myself effortlessly with the crowd and swayed to the music.

It wasn’t long until I felt a familiar sensation brush against my skin.

Following it, I found Marco watching me from across the floor. His chiseled jaw was tilted to the side as if in contemplation, his thighs slightly parted and in his hand was his usual tumbler full of liquor. The picture of ease and power.

And right now his focus was solely on me.

A more provocative track bled into the one before and I began moving to it instinctually, never breaking his gaze. His eyes flicked to my hand as I let it trail between my breasts, swaying my hips in a figure eight before bringing it down to graze my crotch.

His jaw clenched at the motion.

Feeling emboldened, I turned to my side and bent forwards. Flicking my hair behind me in one swift motion that he certainly would have something to say about.

I glanced back over to the booth but felt my heart fall to the floor when I found his seat empty. The glass he had been holding abandoned on the table beside it.

Annoyed, I carried on dancing to the music anyway. I let my body take over, and mid-way through a body roll felt someone press up behind me, their hands coming to rest lowly on either side of my hips.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. That big guy over there will beat your ass for touching me,” I yelled over my shoulder to the person, not forgetting Marco’s ‘rule’.

They didn’t listen, pressing their hips into me with an unrelenting firmness. I felt them lean in toward my ear. “I’d like to see him try.”

My heart stuttered and it took me a second to realize who the voice belonged to. Part of me wanted to revoke his touch, shove him away and promise him he would never touch me again just to prove to him I wasn’t an option.

But another, more potent part of me knew I was fighting a losing battle. That I wasn’t strong enough to resist the overpowering attraction that clouded my mind and tossed away all rational thought. To resist him .

So I didn’t.

Heat burned through my veins as the length of Marco’s body claimed me, engulfed me. I began moving again, lifting a hand to wind around his neck and through his hair. One of his hands strayed from my waist in response, coming up to rest just under the edge of my bra. I threaded my fingers through it, moving it leisurely down my flat stomach, so low it almost pressed against my sweet spot. He hissed in my ear, and I could feel his hardness digging into my back. I let his hand and hips trap me against him for a split second more before moving it back to my waist.

“You’re so fucking hot right now.” His voice grated low in my stomach.

I looked down at his other hand as it began easing its way between the cut-outs of my dress, tracing my bare skin. Once again, his touch didn’t evoke the flinch I was expecting.

It was only then that I noticed the fresh wounds crisscrossing his palm.

“What happened to your hand?” I asked, turning so I could just see him over my shoulder.

He turned his head into my hair as if he were smelling me, “I got mad.”

“Does it hurt?” I asked, finally meeting his blackened eyes when he looked up.

He shook his head in answer, but unconvinced, I lifted his hand and brought it to my face so I could inspect the injuries.

His breath was at my ear once again. “Do you want to make it feel better?” His voice was husky and, my god, the sexiest thing I had ever heard.

A haze of lust washed through me. Curiosity and alcohol were making me forget why I was fighting my feelings for him in the first place.

He lifted his hand, bringing it to the side of my face and stroked my cheek gently. The second his index finger skimmed my bottom lip I knew what he was asking.

His finger slipped between my lips as his grip on my hip tightened and I felt rather than heard his groan. I swirled my tongue around his finger before sucking, pushing my ass into him at the same time.

“Fuck. Ada.” He gritted out.

He quickly pulled his hand free and encircled my wrist, pulling me through the crowd of people dancing and to a side door hidden amongst the shadows. To my surprise it led to a vacant office at the back of the building.

He closed the door behind us with an audible bang and my nerves kicked in instantaneously. I felt him come up behind me. A wave of heat rolling off of him like he was his very own kind of sun.

“Marco,” I started, turning around to look at him.

“Shh,” he soothed, placing a hand on my cheek in a display of gentleness that left me breathless. “Do you trust me?”

I nodded without hesitation, realizing that despite everything, I did trust him.

It was the inevitable afterwards that I didn’t trust…

Before I could protest, his lips sealed around mine in a kiss that stole my breath and erased any semblance of rationality I had left.

It consumed me.

I met his kiss with equal ferocity, forgoing my reservations and ignoring the voice in my head that screamed this would only hurt me more down the line.

Taking his bottom lip between my own, I sucked it like it was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted. He groaned into my mouth, and I sighed as his tongue pushed between my lips, teasing and swirling against my own. Struggling to catch my breath, I pulled away a fraction, and his kisses descended to my neck without hesitation. His teeth nipping at my skin before sucking the pain away.

My fingers involuntarily threaded through his hair, again coming to rest on the back of his neck as his lips trailed just above the neckline of my dress. His hand drifted across my waist, coming to grip my ass consumingly. Possessively . It sent hot tingles up my spine and my insides melting.

One of his hands snaked up to my back, unzipping my dress and pulling at the material until it fell like a puddle of water around my feet.

He pulled away to rake his eyes over my body as I stood before him in nothing but a strappy black thong and my favorite Louboutin stilettos. He growled out a “fuck” before slamming himself into me once more.

Capturing my lips roughly with his, one hand gripping my breast, a ‘mmm’ noise escaped his throat as his fingers pulled at my nipple and I let out a quiet moan when his fingers were replaced with his tongue.

His hands skimming the backs of my thighs was the only warning I got before I was lifted onto the couch that ran along the side of the office, the scarlet material soft and smooth against my heated skin.

Marco kneeled at the very edge of the sofa and gripped my thighs, jerking me toward him until he was situated directly between my legs. Anxiety kicked in as his gaze fell there . I could tell by the tension in his features that he could see just how turned on I was. That he could see just how wet his touch made me.

I would have been embarrassed by my vulnerability if I wasn’t so insanely turned on.

Marco descended on me, sucking on my skin just a millimeter above the line of my thong. His fingers slipped under the thin straps at my hips and he swiftly pulled the material down my legs. A jolt went through me as cool air caressed my newly exposed skin.

Anticipation thundered in my ears as his arms wound their way around the backs of my thighs, holding me in place with absolution. A moan tore from my throat the moment his tongue swirled against my sensitive skin for the first time.

A sound of satisfaction reverberated deep in his chest as he began lapping at my throbbing bud and licking me in places I ached to feel his touch. A violent shudder of pleasure trickled down my spine and my hips rolled of their own accord. His grip on my thighs held fast though, trapping my skin against him.

Marco’s eyes met mine erotically as his tongue circled my entrance teasingly.

When his tongue plunged inside an embarrassingly loud moan escaped my gritted teeth.

He pulled away an inch, his raspy voice breaking through my heavy breathing as he muttered, “You taste so fucking sweet.”

Pleasure and embarrassment consumed me in equal parts a moment, before his face descended again, and his tongue pushed back inside. Shoving away the remainder of my unease.

After a few moments I felt a gratifying burn as a finger replaced his tongue. His attention turning to my bud once again, sucking on it gently while his finger pumped in and out in a slow but intoxicating rhythm. After a few more pumps he slipped another finger inside and I suddenly felt full of him.

“Yes.” I sighed and he groaned, picking up the pace.

“You’re so tight, Ada.” He bit down lightly on my thigh. His other arm cupped my breast and squeezed.

The release was so close now I could feel it burning, begging for release inside me. The pressure in the bottom of my stomach became unbearable, the heat driving me to the brink of insanity with Marco as my only antidote.

I couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Please,” I begged, my voice coming out breathy and weak.

“Please, what Ada?” I felt his breath against my skin as he spoke.

“ Please make me come, Marco.”

With that, his fingers dove into me harder and faster. His tongue lapping at my slit relentlessly and I screamed as a wave of pulsating ecstasy washed over me.

My thighs trembled and darkness temporarily clouded my vision.

My body flushed and then cooled as his fingers moved languidly, drawing out the climax until my body eventually calmed and stilled.

I sighed, enjoying the come down.

The first time any man had made me orgasm and Marco had been the one to do it. But the moment his fingers left me, my euphoria was quickly replaced with piercing uncertainty.

He rose to his feet. His half-lidded eyes slicing to mine with a carnal arousal burning in his irises. Without breaking eye contact, he brought his moistened fingers to his lips and sucked them into his mouth to taste me.

My cheeks burned with embarrassment, the salaciousness of the act catching me off-guard.

With a wicked grin adorning his face, he offered his hands out to me help me sit up. The bulge in his trousers was as unmistakable as the scent of sex that clung to the air.

My eyes flicked between him and his bulging crotch. I bit my lip, not exactly sure what to do. Do I just grab it?

He let out a dark chuckle and pulled me to my feet.

I was keenly aware of my nakedness, especially given that he was still fully clothed. His suit trousers and long sleeve shirt barely disheveled while I sat in nothing but a pair of stilettos.

I didn’t know what Marco was going to do next…but I certainly didn’t expect for him to drop my hands and back away from me completely.

He reached down to pick up my discarded panties from the floor and stored them in his trouser pocket. Shooting me my favorite boyish smile, he opened the door and disappeared back out to the club.

What the fuck?

I shook my head and let my thoughts catch up with me a moment.

I didn’t know why I had done it.

I wasn’t strong enough. It was inevitable . It would be worth the hurt.

They were the only excuses I had, but the truth was that the excuses didn’t matter. The damage was done now. It was irredeemable. Inescapable. I couldn’t deny my feelings for Marco any longer. I was going to give myself to the man and it wasn’t a matter of if but when .

Giving in tonight had proven how impossible to ignore my feelings had become. It also meant I would rather risk a future full of heartache than resist him any longer.

Being with him was too intoxicating, too exciting. He brought out a side of me that no one else had.

A side where I was strong and free.

Then again, when Eve took a bite of the apple in the garden of Eden, she probably thought she was free too.

MARCO

She was so fucking submissive in the sack.

It was like someone had infiltrated my thoughts and created a woman just for me, based on all the features that were guaranteed to fuck with my senses.

I hadn’t intended to watch her dancing at the club. Just like I hadn’t intended on going over there, putting my finger in her mouth, pulling her into my cousin’s office and fucking her with my fingers on his couch.

Not exactly how I had envisioned it happening.

When she had begged me for her release it had turned me on so much my vision went hazy and my dick so hard, I thought it would shatter. I had to force myself to leave.

If I had given in to the wild desires stirring in me, I was sure as shit not going to be gentle. I was going to fuck her. Hard .

And I wasn’t going to do that in my fucking cousin’s office.

She was different from everyone else…which was exactly why I couldn’t do her on that couch as if she was anyone else.

She’d told me before that there had been two men in her past, but judging on the way she responded to me tonight with those dick-stirring moans and heavy sighs at the slightest touch…I had a feeling she had never truly been touched before. Not to mention how tight she was.

Her body was driving me to the brink of absolute fucking distraction.

Knowing that nothing short of sex was going to truly help with my hard-on, but with everyone else on the shitting planet out the window—my only option was the shower.

The second the SUV pulled up to the door I made a beeline for it and the moment the water hit my shoulders, I gripped my dick in my hand and started pumping like a teenage chump. It was pathetic, but entirely necessary.

Thoughts of her laying out before me, her sighs and please s… her face when she climaxed hard around my fingers.

I came undone beneath my own hand, letting out a quiet groan as a small sense of release washed over me. Unfortunately, it did little to still the beast that still prowled inside.

She’s driving me goddamn insane.