Page 69 of Violent Pawn

Ice dumps on me. I blink up at him, trying to decipher if I heard correctly. “What?”

“Don’t mistake it as not wanting to. I need you to realize I’m here for you and you alone.”

Desire and ice mix. I’m confused, so confused. His hand remains on my stomach, slowly caressing as his lips trail across my skin. Over my shoulder and down to my collarbone. His tongue swipes a line down to my breast and over the curve until his words fade in a cloud of lust, and I arch my back.

“Nero,” I whimper. Whimper. I’ve never whimpered for a man. “Please.”

He smiles into my skin, swiping a tongue in a circle around my nipple. His hand slides between my thighs, pressing a thumb to the damp place between them. He pushes harder, rotating his thumb over my clit and above the material.

“You’re not allowed to beg. How the fuck am I supposed to deny you if you do?”

“You’re not supposed to.”

His tongue swipes down between my breasts, arching my back. “I can’t fuck you, cara mia. Not here. Not after last night.”

Another man would take advantage of my open offer.

I catch his chin, poking a nail in the underside to force him to look up. “I’ve never begged a man. You’re different, I swear.”

He hooks a finger beneath my panties, collectively groaning when he finds me wet. His tongue slides over my breasts again, this time straight over my hardened nipple. A jolt electrocutes me at the same time a fingertip breaches the opening of my pussy.

“You push me away if you don’t want this. Say the word and I’ll get off you.”

“Don’t.”

His eyes flash up. “I’m breaking so many fuckin’ rules already. I’m gonna touch you, and nothing else, no matter how much you beg and plead.” Then, a wicked grin encompasses his expression before he bites down on a nipple, sending me off to another world.

His finger slides inside me, and I bite down on the side of my hand to keep from alerting the rest of the house. Maybe he’s right about not taking this further while the others are around. Hell, it’s half the reason I tried to sneak out earlier—so they didn’t assume we’re doing exactly what we currently are.

“We do this, and there’s no going back for either of us,” he mumbles as his finger curls inside me. His thumb returns to my clit, rotating circles that rob me of breath. “I won’t be able to stay away from you.”

My legs drop open wider, hips pushing into his. I find a gentle rocking motion that works, practically fucking myself on his fingers while his mouth goes back and forth between my breasts, nipping and sucking.

Lingering concerns and trauma eviscerate beneath his touch. The barriers built around my heart wobble with the possibilities that could exist between us if moments like last night stay away.

He whispers a slew of Italian as his tongue doesn’t stop lashing my chest. While the translation is lost on me, the emotion they evoke is enough.

“Focus on me,” he mumbles, his low croon a near beg. “Focus on us.”

He thrusts his fingers in time with my rocks, whispering more Italian against my skin. None of it’s understood, but he’s praising me. Praising me in ways I already know the disgusting rapists never did. That wasn’t praise, but validation for their own crimes.

I didn’t know a man’s compliment could do so much for me until my legs stiffen, my core tightens, my head digs into his pillow.

His hands are relentless. He moves from my chest, grips my neck to angle me back down, and takes my open mouth in a heated kiss at the precise second I scream through my orgasm. He swallows my moan while he mercilessly thrusts his finger inside me, and as my pants slowly subside, so does his finger until he slips from me and only lazily strokes my clit.

“You come so prettily, Petrov. Already, I’m addicted to this view.”

“Nero—” I choke. Tears dab the corner of my eye as he moves to take my chin.

Bang! Bang!

“Are you two serious?” Serafina’s screech reverberates through the door, sending us both freezing as the world returns to a shade that isn’t Nero-coloured. The sun becomes bright again, his room apparent—and the crowd somewhere in the house. “We can hear you! Ana, we’re leaving soon.”

Despite knowing the likely questions about to bombard me beyond the room, I can’t help but laugh. Nero lifts himself off me and offers his hand. Fingers that are still damp brush my skin as he yanks me up and off the bed, and right into his chest.

Wordlessly, he kisses me. Closed-mouth but full of passion. He kisses me until I can no longer breathe, and then drops his forehead against mine.

“Cara mia…grazie.”