Born in Blood Collection Volume 1: Collection of books 1-4

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Born in Blood Collection Volume 1: Collection of books 1-4 Page 49

by Cora Reilly


  “As good as that feels, I’m going to come if you keep it up. You don’t know how much I fucking want you.”

  Dante held out his hand and I took it without hesitation, letting him pull me to my feet. Dante pushed the bathrobe off my shoulders; it pooled at my feet, and then I was already in Dante’s arms, pressed up against his firm, warm body. He moved us back until the back of my legs hit the bed and I fell down onto the soft mattress. Dante lowered himself beside me. My brows scrunched together in confusion as he turned me on my side. “What are you doing?”

  He slid up behind me, pressing his chest against my back, his erection digging against my thigh. “We’re going to try a new position. It’ll make things easier for you, and my weight won’t rest on you.”

  “Okay,” I said, my voice shaky with excitement.

  “Your pill is already working?”

  I nodded quickly.

  Dante nuzzled my neck as his hand traveled over my breast, then trailed down my stomach until it slipped between my legs. He dipped one finger, then a second into me, making me moan.

  “You’re ready,” Dante growled. I was more than ready. I needed him desperately. My entire body ached for him. Dante moved his hand along my inner thigh before hooking his palm under my knee and lifting my leg until my foot was flat on the bed and my legs opened in a wide V. He pulled me even tighter against his body, spooning me, and guided his erection toward my opening. He slowly eased his tip into me, and I squeezed my eyes shut at the stretching feeling. Dante’s palm cupped my breast as his lips kissed the spot beneath my ear and he pushed inch by inch into me. My breath caught in my throat when he filled me to the brim. He let out a harsh breath. “God, you’re so tight, Val.”

  It had been too long, and I had to get used to his size again. Dante paused, our bodies merged together, his cock stretching me. He stroked my side and stomach. “Are you all right?”

  I glanced over my shoulder at him, then claimed his lips for a kiss before pulling back and whispering, “I missed this.” Dante trailed his fingers down to my folds and gently started drawing circles on my sensitive nub. “Please move,” I half begged in between moans. And Dante did. He eased almost all the way out before sliding back in. When my inner muscles relaxed he settled into a slow, delicious rhythm. It felt like we were one as we moved against each other. Our breathing quickened and so did Dante’s thrusting, but he kept me in his embrace, his lips nibbling on my throat. I wasn’t sure how long we made love like that, the pleasure slowly building until I dug my toes into the mattress, desperate for release. When it finally claimed me, my clenching muscles took Dante right with me, and he spilled into me with a hoarse cry.

  Afterward he didn’t immediately pull out. Instead he wrapped me even tighter in his embrace, our bodies still joined together. My breathing was slowly coming down as Dante left a trail of kisses along my neck until he cupped my earlobe between his lips. I moaned and arched against him as his fingers took up their playing between my thighs again.

  “How about another round?” he said huskily. I couldn’t do more than nod as his other hand tweaked my nipple, and I felt his cock starting to grow hard in me again. He pulled out of me, causing me to glance at him in confusion. He rubbed my ass lightly as he sat up and opened his arms in invitation. “Another new position?” I asked excitedly. Dante’s cock was so hard it rested against his firm stomach. I crawled toward him and squatted over him before I slowly eased myself down on his length. I wrapped my arms around Dante’s neck, bringing our chests close together, and pressed my mouth to his.

  Dante’s hands cupped my butt and guided me up and down his erection. “Look at me,” he demanded hoarsely. My eyes flew open, meeting his heated gaze. “I love seeing your eyes when I’m in you.”

  We kept our gazes locked as our breathing quickened and my movements turned jerky, and even when I cried out my release, followed by Dante’s own raspy groans. His gaze was all the declaration of love that I needed as we clung together, unwilling to separate even now that we were spent and satisfied.

  Dante slowly lay back, taking me with him so I was stretched out on top of him. A silly smile spread on my face as I peered down at Dante. His messy hair, the shadow of stubble, his unguarded expression. I buried my face in the crook of his neck, whispering, “I love you.”

  Dante’s arms around me tightened, and he pressed a kiss against the side of my head. I closed my eyes, listening to the cacophony of our pounding hearts.

  We lay like that for a long time. I never wanted to move, but eventually we slipped under the shower.

  Afterwards, we crept into the nursery. Gaby was sitting in the rocking chair reading a book, but quickly got up when she saw us.

  “You can go,” I whispered. “We’re going to watch her the rest of the night.”

  Gaby nodded and slunk away, closing the door without a sound. Anna lay in her crib, her tiny hands curled to fists and her face peaceful. She was still small, but she’d grown a lot since we’d been allowed to take her home from the hospital two weeks ago. I tiptoed toward her bed and rested my hands on the edge, itching to stroke her rosy cheek, but I didn’t want to wake her. I loved watching her in these quiet moments. I never felt more peaceful. Dante came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning his head against mine. “I’ll never let anything happen to you or Anna. I’ll protect you until my last breath.” I knew he would.

  It had taken a while and we’d encountered some bumps along the road, but finally I had what I’d always wanted: a husband who cared deeply about me, and a beautiful baby we both loved more than anything else in the world. It felt as if I’d finally arrived where I was supposed to be.

  BOUND BY HATRED

  (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles, #3)

  PROLOGUE

  Gianna

  My reflection could have been the opening scene of a horror movie. Blood covered my chin and more blood dripped from the cut in my lower lip and onto my white shirt. My lip was already swelling, but I was happy to find my eyes dry, no sign of a single tear.

  Matteo appeared behind me, tall frame towering over me, his dark eyes scanning my messed-up face. Without his trademark shark-grin and the arrogant amusement, he looked almost tolerable. “You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” His lips turned into a smirk, but it looked somehow wrong. There was something unsettling in his eyes. The look in them reminded me of the one I’d seen when he’d dealt with the Russian captives in the basement. Something dark and twisted lurked in their depth.

  “Neither do you,” I said, then winced at the pain shooting through my lip.

  “True,” he said in a strange voice. Before I had time to react, he gripped my hips, turned me around and hoisted me onto the washstand. “That’s why we are perfect for each other.”

  Back was the arrogant smile. The bastard stepped between my legs.

  “What are you doing?” I hissed, sliding back from the edge of the washstand to bring more distance between us while pushing against his chest.

  He didn’t budge, too strong for me. The smile got bigger. He grabbed my chin and tilted my head up. “I want to take a look at your lip.”

  “I don’t need your help now. Maybe you should have stopped my father from busting my lip in the first place.”

  “Yes. I should have,” he said darkly, his thumb lightly touching my wound as he parted my lips. “If Luca hadn’t held me back, I would have plunged my knife into your father’s fucking back, consequences be damned. Maybe I will still do it. I’d fucking love it.”

  He released my lip and pulled a long curved knife from the holster below his jacket before twisting it in his hand with a calculating look on his face. Then his eyes flickered up to me. “Do you want me to kill him?”

  God, yes. I shivered at the sound of Matteo’s voice. I knew it was wrong, but after what Father had said today, I wanted to see him begging for mercy and I knew Matteo was capable of bringing anyone to their knees, which excited me in a horrifying way. That was
exactly why I’d wanted out of this life, why I still wanted out. I had the potential for cruelty regardless of how I tried to convince myself of the opposite, and this life was the reason for it.

  “That would mean war between Chicago and New York,” I said simply. Not that I gave a damn about peace. The men would find a reason to tear into each other soon enough. Someone always managed to insult someone else’s honor and then all bets were off.

  “Seeing your father bleed to death at my feet would be worth the risk. You are worth it.”

  CHAPTER ONE

  Matteo

  The first time I saw Gianna, she was a scrawny fourteen-year-old with a too big mouth, a splattering of freckles on her face and untamed red locks. She was everything a proper Italian girl wasn’t supposed to be, which was probably why I found her entertaining. But she was a kid, and though I was barely four years older, I had already been a Made Man for five years, killed several people and fucked my fair share of women. The moment Luca and I were back in New York, busy with mob business and easy society girls, I didn’t give the rude redhead a second thought. We had enough trouble with the Bratva trying to sabotage our drug labs, and our father had grown too old to handle things as they needed to be handled: with unrelenting brutality. It was time for the old man to die and hand the job over to my brother. Luca was the perfect man for brutality.

  * * *

  I’d pretty much forgotten all about Gianna when Luca and I returned to New York three years later for his wedding to Aria.

  Luca had gotten it into his head that he wanted to see Aria before the wedding. The official explanation being that he wanted to make sure she was on the pill—which was bullshit. I knew it was because he was eager to see how she’d grown up. And damn, the girl had filled up nicely. When she appeared behind her younger sister Liliana in the doorframe to their suite in the Mandarin Oriental, my eyes didn’t know what part of her to check out first. Long blonde hair, stunning blue eyes, narrow waist, lean legs, nice butt and tits. She was smoking hot. She was also Luca’s fiancée and so firmly off-limits. Not to mention that she was a bit too demure for my taste. The way she cast down her eyes whenever Luca looked at her would have driven me insane. Luca was an intimidating fucker, and the girl had been dealt a heavy blow for having to marry him, but she needed to grow a spine if she wanted to stand a chance against Luca. He was used to bossing people around.

  Of course, the moment I entered the suite, Aria was the last thing on my mind. My gaze settled on the girl with the flaming red hair who lounged on the sofa, long legs casually crossed and propped up on the coffee table. At once the long-forgotten memory of her rudeness resurfaced and with it my interest in her. She wasn’t the awkward, scrawny girl she used to be.

  Definitely not scrawny.

  She had developed all the right curves in all the right places, and her face had gotten rid of her freckles. Unlike most girls I knew she didn’t seem impressed by me. To be honest, she looked like I was a cockroach she wanted to squash under her boots. With a grin, I headed straight for her, never one to shy away from a challenge. Especially a hot challenge. What was life without the thrill of getting burned?

  Gianna straightened in a jerk, her black boots landing on the ground with a thud, and then she narrowed her eyes at me. If she thought that would stop me, she was thoroughly mistaken. Unfortunately, the youngest Scuderi girl stepped in my way and gave me her version of a flirty smile. “Can I see your gun?” she asked in that voice caught somewhere between girl and woman.

  Had Gianna asked that question, a myriad of inappropriate replies would have been on the tip of my tongue, but Liliana was a bit too young for them. What a waste of opportunity.

  “No, you can’t,” Aria said before I got the chance to come up with a reply fit for younger ears. Always so proper, that girl. Thank God, Father had chosen her for Luca and not for me.

  “You shouldn’t be here alone with us,” Gianna muttered, her eyes moving from Luca to me. Damn it. She was something else, really. “It’s not appropriate.”

  Luca didn’t seem too impressed with her. It was obvious that she grated on his nerves, already something she and I had in common. “Where is Umberto? Shouldn’t he be guarding this door?” he asked.

  “He’s probably on a toilet or cigarette break,” Aria said.

  I almost laughed. What kind of idiots worked for Scuderi? Things in Chicago seemed to follow very different rules. I could tell that Luca was on the verge of an outburst. He’d been on edge for days, probably because his balls were bursting. He’d fucked Grace far more often than usual to bridge the time before he could fuck Aria.

  “Does it happen often that he leaves you without protection?” he asked.

  “Oh, all the time,” Gianna snapped, then rolled her eyes at her sister. “You see, Lily, Aria, and I sneak out every weekend because we have a bet going who can pick up more guys.”

  Big words for a girl who’d never seen a cock in real life. From the look Luca gave me, he thought the exact same thing. Gianna really didn’t know anything about my brother if she thought it was a good thing to taunt him like that.

  Luca stalked toward his little fiancée who flinched as she always did when he acted like a berserk. “I want to have a word with you, Aria.”

  Gianna jumped to her feet like a tigress determined to protect her young. “I was joking, for God’s sake!” She actually tried to get in between Luca and Aria, which was a fucking bad idea. Before Luca could lose his shit, I grabbed her wrist and dragged her away.

  Gianna’s blue eyes flashed with fury. I’d been wrong. Her face hadn’t gotten rid of all of her freckles. This close up I could see the soft dusting of freckles on her nose, but somehow they made her look even more beautiful.

  “Let go of me, or I’ll break your fingers,” she hissed.

  I’d love to see you try. I released her with a grin that seemed to enrage her only further if the narrowing of her eyes was any indication.

  Luca started leading Aria away. “Come on. Where’s your bedroom?”

  Gianna’s gaze flitted between Luca and me. “I’ll call our father! You can’t do that.”

  Of course, Luca didn’t give a fuck. Scuderi would have given Aria to him years ago; he definitely wouldn’t care if Luca sampled her goods a few days before the wedding. The door fell shut and Gianna stalked toward it. I gripped her hand again before she could piss off Luca even more. This girl really didn’t know what was good for her. “Give them some privacy. Luca won’t rip Aria’s clothes off before the wedding night.”

  Gianna shook me off. “Do you think that’s funny?”

  “What are they talking about?” Liliana asked.

  The door to the suite swung open and Umberto stepped in, sending a glare my way. The old man still hadn’t forgiven me for insulting his wife three years ago.

  “Gianna, Liliana, come here,” he said sharply. I cocked one eyebrow at him. Was he worried I’d hurt them? If that were my intention, they definitely wouldn’t be standing next to me unscathed. Romero rolled his eyes behind Umberto’s back as he stepped in behind the man, and I smirked. Of course, the old man caught it and his fingers moved a bit closer to his knife holder.

  Do it, old man. It’s been too long since I had a good fight.

  Liliana obeyed at once and walked toward her bodyguard. As expected, Gianna stayed beside the door to her sister’s bedroom. “Luca dragged Aria into her bedroom. They are alone in there.”

  Umberto started to head toward the door but I blocked his way. Romero was close behind him. Not that I would need him to stop the old guy. Umberto tried to stare me down. He was at least four inches shorter than me, and no matter how good of a knife fighter he was, I’d cut him open with my blade before he could even blink. My fingers actually itched to do it.

  “They aren’t married yet,” he said like that was news to me.

  “Her virtue is safe with my brother, don’t worry.” It wasn’t a lie. Luca wouldn’t dishonor Aria.

  Um
berto’s lips thinned. I had a feeling that he wanted to start a fight as much as I did. Before things could get entertaining, the door to the bedroom opened and Aria walked out. She looked as if she’d seen a ghost. I gave Luca a look. Did he really have to scare the shit out of his fiancée a few days before their wedding?

  “What are you doing here?” Umberto asked.

  “You should pay better attention in the future and keep your breaks to a minimum,” Luca told him.

  “I was gone for only a few minutes and there were guards in front of the other doors.”

  Bored by their argument, I turned my attention back to the redhead.

  Gianna put her hands on her hips, somehow pushing her chest out. She really had a body to die for. I wondered if Scuderi had already set her up with some loser from the Outfit. That would be a pity.

  Gianna met my gaze. “What are you looking at?”

  I let my eyes wander the length of her. “At your hot body.”

  “Then keep looking. Because that’s all you ever get to do with my hot body.”

  “Stop it,” Umberto warned.

  Gianna really shouldn’t have said that. I’d always enjoyed the hunt. While Luca didn’t bother once a girl proved to be work, I’d always preferred going after a difficult conquest. It kept things interesting. Getting a girl into our beds had never been a problem for either of us. We were good-looking and rich, not to mention the kind of bad boy many bored society girls needed to spice up their boring lives, but there was no fun in always getting what you wanted without having to fight for it.

  Gianna’s narrowed eyes followed me when Luca, Romero, and I left the suite. I smiled to myself. The girl had fire.

  Luca sighed. “Don’t tell me you’ve set your sights on the redhead. She’s a major pain in the ass.”

 

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