“I have thought of you so often, Taylor, my cock stays hard,” he offered into my mouth as he pulled me into his lap. His thick accent, his smell, his dark eyes all created the perfect storm inside of me as I began to come undone. I rubbed my hot, wet mess over his lap repeatedly. “I have thought of your mouth, your taste, being deep inside you, and hearing your noises.” He pulled my t-shirt up, tearing at my bra to free my breasts as they peaked for his dark, hungry eyes. “Fuck.” It was the first time I saw his arousal weaken him. He closed his eyes, humming in appreciation as he sipped my nipple before enveloping it deep into his mouth. I arched my back, offering him more as I rode his lap.
Another long kiss had us both moaning and desperate as he pulled the button on my shorts and pushed them down my thighs. I lifted my hips, pushing them off the rest of the way, my need bringing a whole new level of desperation. Daniello plunged his fingers back inside of me without hesitation as I gripped his belt.
Before I could release him, he reached beneath him, reclining his seat back, and pushing me so my back was against the dash. I stared down as he spread me wide, lifted my hips, and dove tongue first into my aching pussy. I screamed his name as he devoured me like a hungry madman. I held myself up, my hands on his thighs and his lust filled eyes keeping mine as he fucking ruined me.
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to belong to him and to be as claimed as he made me feel.
He pressed in, flicking his tongue over my clit with expert skill, and the visual along with the sensation sent me falling into a blissful heat before I exploded on his tongue. He lapped up my orgasm and slowly set me back on his lap. His hand traveled across my collar bone softly before he cradled my neck, leading me back to his lips. He kissed me deeply and I threaded my fingers through his hair, pulling him as close as I could, unable to get close enough.
I’d never been kissed that way, touched that way, coveted that way, fucked that way, and I was truly addicted.
And I’d never in my life wanted a man more than I did in that moment. I pulled away briefly to look at him. The same heat accompanied his as he held me just a closely to him.
Everything was what I felt and that was no exaggeration.
Fear, excitement, hope, want, need, completion.
“I feel you, Taylor.” My whole body was trembling as he pushed me back on his thighs, his eyes never leaving mine as he started with his zipper. “I will fuck you so thoroughly tonight, I will be in your every thought.”
Before I could object to the weight of his statement, a black SUV with an extremely angry Rocco skidded to a stop next to us. Rocco jumped out of the SUV and Daniello pulled off his t-shirt, quickly covering me as angry Arabic was sprayed on the outside of my window.
I knew instantly something was off. Daniello listened as Rocco unleashed and looked at me with regret.
“I guess our plans have changed,” I said, knowing Rocco’s anger had less to do with the stunt I’d pulled and more to do with business. Rocco disappeared behind the SUV as Daniello helped me gather my shorts. When I pulled them up and resumed my seat at the wheel, Daniello grabbed my hand, bringing it to his lips.
“Tell me,” I implored as he paused briefly before pulling his t-shirt back over his head. “You can trust me.” I waited in vain as he exited the car and disappeared behind the SUV. Suddenly frustrated, I slammed my car door and rounded the SUV to see Daniello loading two glock magazines. He eyed me warily as I pressed in.
“You know enough about me,” I said to his back as he smacked a clip in with his palm.
“Bitch, you leave here now,” Rocco snapped with so much venom I took a step back in surprise. Rage covered his features as he took a menacing step toward me.
Daniello intercepted just as Rocco was closing the gap between us. More angry Arabic was exchanged as Daniello held up his hand and pointed in my direction.
“Go, Taylor, now,” Daniello barked angrily between his back and forth with his driver, who was apparently anything but.
I didn’t argue and made my way toward my car. By the time I had my door shut, the SUV had taken off, leaving me stunned. Stunned about Daniello’s departure, stunned by Rocco’s blatant hatred for me, and stunned I was dismissed so easily after what Daniello and I had just shared.
Furious with the situation, I quickly fired up my GT and caught sight of the SUV just before it disappeared. I knew I was playing with fire and my curiosity could very well get me in the path of Rocco’s vicious assault.
Still, I followed.
I stayed as far behind as possible, exiting at the last minute, and keeping as much space between us as I could. It was impossible to disguise the red sports car and I’d clearly be made if they so much as looked in their rearview. My hope was that they were distracted by whatever had called Daniello away.
I saw the sign for Port Authority and followed the narrow road. With no sign of the SUV, I gunned the car in an attempt to catch up. Coming around a sharp curve, my whole body tensed in fear as I spotted Daniello in the middle of the road in front of the SUV, blocking both lanes, his arms crossed in front of him. I slammed on the breaks, missing nailing him by inches. Without hesitation, he came toward my car in a blur, pulling me out of it and slamming me against it.
For the first time since I’d met Daniello, I was afraid of him.
“Do you want to fucking die today, Taylor!” Rage and cold eyes greeted me as I managed to get some breath back into my lungs.
I looked around us for Rocco and saw he was nowhere to be seen. Daniello gripped my shoulders painfully as he tore into me again. “Never would I trust you.” He gripped my t-shirt, handling me like a ragdoll, opened my car door, and then threw me into the backseat. I sat up, indignant, in attempt to defend myself.
“All right, you’ve made your point,” I snapped with slight fear as he pulled the seatbelt free behind me along with all the excess belt, wrapping one of my wrists tightly and snapping the belt into place so that it hung above me. He tied the other the same way, leaving me tied to the back of my car, completely helpless.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I screamed. “I said I got it, all right. I’ll leave!”
Daniello cursed and hit the roof of the car repeatedly before his breath hit my face and he snarled his reply.
“I am save your fucking life, and I will not do it again, Taylor.”
“It’s saving, Jesus, and you can’t fucking leave me here like this!” I was grasping at straws. I knew damn well he had every intention of doing so. He got into the driver’s seat, pulling my car over to the side of the road where I’d be less likely to be hit. He pulled out the key and slammed the door without another word. I fumed as I watched the SUV speed away.
That was fucking stupid.
I pulled at the seatbelts to no avail. I felt his anger in the bite at my wrists as I pulled at the belts. Giving up after about a half an hour, I tried to ignore the pain spreading through my chest at his harsh words.
He was just supposed to be a fuck, a distraction. Why the hell did I care what he did when he wasn’t in my bed? The longer I waited, the angrier I became, and the more I distanced myself from my situation with Daniello.
As of that moment, I needed to be done with him. I’d made the decision for myself, even if he’d already decided the same. Hours passed as the heaviness in my bladder kept me on angry edge. Eventually, night fell as I sat tied to the backseat of my car. Panic crept its way in the more time passed. I hadn’t seen a car the entire time I’d been tied up. Civilization seemed a million miles away.
That was really fucking stupid.
I didn’t need this shit. I’d had enough of complicated to last me a lifetime. I didn’t need to add some crazed mobster and angry sidekick to the mix. As sweat gathered at my back and I fought the urge to relieve myself, I thought about the fact that Daniello had been intrigued with my car collection.
I’d told him that men had raised me, and it was the absolute truth.
Lazarus might h
ave taught me to ride a bike and eventually shoot a gun, but the valuable truths I learned didn’t start until the day he returned from juvie.
“Wow, you’re almost full grown now, Red.” I stiffened as I pulled my nightgown over my head and turned to see him smoking a cigarette outside of my window. No one had ever seen me bare the way he’d just witnessed and I felt a small thrill at the thought that he liked what he saw. He had grown at least another half a foot taller as he watched me through sharp blue eyes. His brown hair had grown slightly longer and a smile graced his lips around the pull of his cigarette.
“I was sure you had forgotten about me,” I huffed, unimpressed with his failure to write me a single letter in reply to the dozens I’d sent him.
“I had to go hard in there, but I kept them all. I couldn’t let them see me writing to a girl in there. I had no privacy. I had nothing.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said, bracing my hands on the window to help myself out. He gripped me by the hips, pulling me out and closer to him. He smelled like sweat, cigarettes, and a hint of soap. I gripped him tightly to me for a brief moment, letting myself feel the false safety I always did when I was with him. He hadn’t stopped the last year from happening and my hero worship for him was short lived when he failed to save me from it.
“Why doesn’t it matter, Red?” he asked curiously. “You can’t lie and say you didn’t miss me. I have it in writing.”
“Yeah, I missed ya,” I agreed. “But I think you should know I’m the one leaving next.” I brushed past him as the breeze played with the hem of my long t-shirt.
“Oh yeah? Where are you going?”
“Anywhere. I can’t take it here with her, not anymore. I want to go to college.”
Laz stayed silent and when I turned to look at him, I saw he was staring at me openly with something new in his eyes.
“You’re beautiful, Red. I knew you would be, but I didn’t think it would hurt so fucking much.” He made two quick strides toward me.
Surprised and confused, I asked, “Why would it hurt?”
Flicking his cigarette, he placed his hand over his chest, rubbing back and forth as he gripped my hip and pulled me closer. “Because when you want something this much, it hurts.” I looked up at him as he smiled down at me. “And it’s time to make you mine.”
I didn’t have time to answer as his mouth descended. I inhaled as he kissed me with hunger and separated my lips to explore with his tongue. I felt my nipples tighten in response to him as I kissed him back. Eager fingertips gripped me tightly to him as I wrapped myself in his need for me. Sensation of his closeness, his tongue, his taste, his touch had me leaning into him, wanting to feel more. He pulled away, placing his forehead on mine. “I missed you. I thought about you every day.”
“You could have written one letter,” I scorned, though his kiss melted every single bit of anger I’d harbored. It was the first time anyone had touched me tenderly in years.
“I couldn’t do it. I knew ...” He gripped me even tighter. “I knew I’d fucked up. I knew it would be hard on you with me in there.” He kissed my lips again softly then pulled away and ran a frustrated hand down his face. “Fuck, Red, I was so fucking worried about you, but with every letter you sent I knew you could handle this without me. You had to.”
“I didn’t want to,” I said tearfully. “Laz, I almost ran away so many times. She’s so much worse now.”
“We will leave,” he said and pulled me back to him. “You believe me, right? I will get you out of here, I promise.”
I nodded into his chest as he tilted my head up at him.
“You have an objection to being my girl?”
I shook my head no.
I didn’t know why he’d decided I was his in his time away, but I was beside myself with the knowledge he wanted me. Still a large part of me was wary of his words. It seemed liked so much more time had passed since he’d left. The hell I’d had to endure at home and the hundreds of hours I’d spent daydreaming about my escape and starting a better life. None of those dreams had ever included him and now I felt guilty as to why. He took me by the hand and made his way to our pond.
We sat for hours as he told me of the friends he’d met in juvie. He’d decided not to go back to school and start working with Cedric’s father. Cedric was hell bent on staying out of trouble and Laz explained he would be keeping his nose clean until he left for the Army.
“He blames me for the bust, Red. He barely spoke to me in juvie. It was my fault.” Somewhere between his guilt for Cedric came his promises to me. “I’ll make some money and we’ll get the hell out of here, first chance.” He pulled me to him, engulfing me in his arms. “You are the only reason I came back.”
“I am?”
He simply shook his head as if I should’ve known better and promised me again. “As soon as we have enough money, we are gone.”
With all my heart I wanted to believe him. To trust him to help me escape the hell of my mother and the gun toting traffic that had become more frequent in the last year. I clung to Laz until the sun came up and we were forced to separate. He kissed me again, the kind of kiss full of promise and seemed more important than anything else you could do.
That was the night I learned that a promise in a kiss was a lie.
I came to with the blaring of the interior light and the door chime. How I managed to drift off with a full bladder and burning wrists would remain a mystery. I saw the softness in Daniello’s stare as he assessed me and took the driver’s seat. I remained silent on the drive to my house as he kept me tied up like a dog, full of rage and humiliated. As much as I wanted to assault him with an arsenal of choice words, I remained silent as he glanced at me in the rearview. Once inside my garage, he pulled the seat up quickly and started my release. He sat on the edge of the back seat, blocking my exit as I pumped my hands in attempt to get the blood flowing.
He was expecting an explosion but instead got a stare full of blatant hatred.
“You want me to be sorry, I will not be. You will get no apology from me.” His tone was arrogant, as if he was speaking to a child after time out.
He really had no idea who he had fucked with.
“As soon as I get a gun in my hands, I’ll be using it on you, so I suggest you make your exit, Daniello, and don’t fucking come back.”
He gripped my arm and I pulled it away with ease. “I explained to you—”
“I’m done,” I seethed. “This isn’t worth the trouble. You are not worth it! Take your fucking watchdog and leave!”
I saw nothing change in his expression as he watched me. “Get out! Get the fuck out!”
He again reached for my hand and I slapped it away.
“Fucking lies. Jesus, I’m so used to it,” I mumbled, more to myself than to him.
“What are you saying now, woman? More words you do not mean.” He looked bored, which only fueled my anger. I flew at him, fists balled. “Fucking bastard!”
He laughed as he easily dodged my angry fists.
I worked up the best mock accent I could muster. “I will treat you well.” I curled the ‘L”in horrid exaggeration as I snarled at him.
He burst out laughing and I opened my hand and struck him hard in his smug face.
Before I could register movement, my back was flat against the garage wall and Daniello’s hand was wrapped around my neck.
“You get in the way of my work again, Taylor Ellison, I will not hesitate to end your life, understood?”
“Hey, asshole, I know my ‘south’ accent is funny to you, but I said it pretty clearly, we”—I gestured between us—“you and me are over.” He let go of my neck as I blew past him and ran to my bathroom, slamming the door behind me. My relief was audible as I drained my bladder, my face in my hands. I was sticky from sweating in the car and my arms were weak. I felt the anger bubble from inside and couldn’t help the small sob that escaped me. I picked up the clock off the shelf beside me and threw it at the wall. I ripped
the clothes from me, taking deep breaths to calm myself. Fighting the urge to make good on my threat, I stepped into the shower. More angry tears bubbled and spilled over as I placed my hand on the shower door in an attempt to calm down.
This kind of anger had always been dangerous for me. It reminded me of a time when I’d lose control and lash out without consequence. The result had never been pretty.
I was completely confused at the arrival of my tears, but it took very little time to remember why.
I’d tried to trust another man with just a small part of myself and the same thing happened that always happened. I got fucked, lied to, and made to feel unimportant. But I couldn’t completely blame Daniello. No, this was a sickness I’d started a long time ago with Laz.
I’d always wanted to believe and trust in the wrong type of man.
I heard the bathroom door open and saw Daniello sweep up the glass from my shattered clock before stripping bare and joining me uninvited in the shower. I hid my tear streaked face under the showerhead, avoiding his eyes.
“Just leave,” I said, defeated. “I don’t trust you either and I don’t want to.”
I ignored the large build looming over me, perfectly cut, and completely viral. Nothing about Daniello was subtle. “Those tears are for me, Taylor,” he said, holding my face with one hand while he pushed me gently against the tile.
“My tears are for my stupidity, you unbelievable asshole.” He leaned in, his grip tightening as I tried to resist his kiss.
“I will be taking my pussy tonight, Taylor. You fight me, and I will take it, anyway. It has been a ...rough day,” he admitted, using my words, “and I just need my woman’s legs around me.”
“I’m not yours.” I resisted as he cupped my face, pulling me close. “I’m not your woman.”
“You know that is a lie,” he countered, forcing my eyes to his. “That changed today.”
“We fucked. You got no such confession from me. If you think a good fuck negates my intelligence, think again,” I said tearfully as they continued to fall. Daniello sighed as he released me and dropped to his knees, burying his forehead in my stomach. I froze as his hands began to mold my body with his touch. I gripped his hair hard in attempt to yank him away from me as he held onto me tight as his touch roamed, tested, teased. Angry at my body, my mind, and the sudden erratic beating of my heart, I protested.
Camouflage (Predator and Prey #1) Page 11