by Magan Vernon
I squeezed her side. “Nah, not me. Just Dom. I’m not planning on doing any of that. Like I said, I’m not an animal. Neither is Dom, he’s just excited.”
The smile returned to Dominic’s face. He bounced in his seat, looking in the rearview mirror. He really was just a kid at heart.
Jackie’s eyebrows knitted together. “Is this really what you do? Retaliate against people with more violence?”
I tightened my jaw. The way she looked at me, like I was a monster, it was everything I didn’t want to be. But I wasn’t a fucking monster or an animal. This was what had to be done. This was the circle of life. They went after me and my family. They fucking went after Jackie. They had to pay. “I’m not doing anything right now, baby. I’m just concerned with getting us home safely.”
“Promise me that you’re going to be careful. What happened tonight scared the shit out of me. I thought you were dead.” Jackie put her hand on my cheek. “And with everything that happened with Phil.” The only light in the car came from the reflection of the highway lights, but I swore I saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. “I saw how much it hurt you. I don’t want to see you in pain anymore. Promise me you’ll be careful. Please promise me.”
“I promise.” I took her hand off my cheek and kissed her knuckles.
“Hey, I hate to interrupt your tender moment back there, but uh, since you seem to be getting along so great, do you think you can put in a good word for me with Haley?” Dominic smiled in the rearview mirror. “I think she likes us blue-eyed Italians.”
***
Dominic dropped us off at the condo and even the thought of getting Jackie naked held no appeal for me now. All I wanted was revenge. I needed to talk to my dad and move with the next step of our plan. I would make sure those gangbangers never went after us again.
Thankfully my decorator had come by. All the broken items had already been replaced with new ones and it looked like nothing ever happened.
“Is it okay if I take a shower?” Jackie asked.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “That’s fine.”
“You should join me.”
“Jackie ...” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’ve got some things to take care of.”
She closed the distance between us, holding my hands. “You’re covered in cuts from the glass and you need to get cleaned up. Let me take care of you like you’ve done for me.”
No one had taken care of me since I became an adult. I could barely remember my own mother doing it when I was a kid.
“Okay,” I agreed.
She took my hand and we walked from the living room into the bedroom and my master bathroom. Her eyes stayed on mine while she peeled off my shirt, tossing it to the ground. She ran her fingers over my chest, tracing the scars from fighting in the cage and bruises long forgotten. Slowly she leaned over and kissed each mark, her lips barely brushing against my skin, sending shivers through my body.
She stepped back, slowly taking off her shirt and unclasping her bra, adding them to the pile of clothes. Then she pressed her chest against mine, wrapping her arms around me. She didn’t need to say anything. When she brushed her fingertip just above my eyebrow, I winced.
“Sorry,” she cooed.
“It’s okay, you didn’t mean to hurt me,” I murmured.
“And I never would.”
“I’ll never hurt you. Ever.” I leaned over, lightly kissing her; then my lips trailed to her cheek then her jaw and neck.
She pulled back slightly. “Not now. Shower first.” She slid her jeans and panties down her long legs and kicked them onto our pile of clothes.
I couldn’t deny that I got hard the instant I laid eyes on her naked body. She was pure perfection. Everything about the curves of her body was amazing. She stepped forward, her fingers on my belt loops, and made quick work of unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans, yanking them down with my boxers. I thought she might tease me. Her face was right there at my hard cock, but instead she just peeled my jeans and boxers off, adding them to our clothes.
“I’m going to start the water, if I can figure out your shower.” She turned, giving me a full view of the tattoo that took over the entire left side of her back. Flowers peeked over her shoulder, falling onto an array of clouds that hung over a weeping willow that shaded an open book. As she started the water I walked up behind her, tracing the lines of the weeping willow. It really was beautiful work.
“Are you going to tell me what your tattoo means?” I whispered, pushing her hair back.
She glanced over her shoulder as she stepped into the shower, the water cascading over her body and making her flawless ass glisten. “Do you believe in fairytales?”
I shrugged, stepping in behind her and closing the shower door. “I don’t really know. I’d never really given them much thought.”
“Most girls believe they’re going to be a princess and live in a castle and marry a prince that slays dragons.” She looked over her shoulder, pushing the water away from her face. “I was one of those girls, of course. I wanted to escape living with my grams and grandpa and go live in those fairytales. I used to tell that to my social worker, and she used to say to me ‘Jacqueline, fairytales are just stories that people made up long ago. You have to write your own story.’ That’s where the book came from.” She pointed at the open book at her lower back.
I ran my finger up the tree to the flowers on her shoulders. “And the rest?”
She smiled. “I never had roots planted anywhere. I lived with Grams for a few years but then she dumped me in the foster care system so I got the tree when I was seventeen. I needed roots. Somewhere I could plant myself.” She turned around to face me. “And the flowers and the sky all add to my story, to this fairytale that just keeps getting more interesting the more time I spend with my new mafia prince. I’m just barely getting to touch the surface of his story.” She ran her finger along the edge of a scar above my left pec, one that I got not long after my father became Don. That was in his early days when he didn’t know how to harness his anger elsewhere, so he focused it all on me. Most of my scars healed, but that one was a constant reminder of the monster that lived inside of my dad.
“My story isn’t really that interesting,” I whispered.
She grabbed the body wash from the rack in the corner, rubbing it together in her hands and then soaping up my chest. Her fingers massaged, working their way into muscles that were so tense from the accident they screamed in pain from her touch. I flinched and she stopped moving.
“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”
I shook my head. “No. It feels good. Keep going.”
“I’ll only keep going if you tell me how you got these marks.” Her fingers trailed to a line of white scars on my hips. “And don’t tell me they’re from fighting. I know better.”
I swallowed as she began massaging the soap into my skin again. “Growing up with a father like mine isn’t always easy.”
She didn’t say anything, just continued washing me, taking away all the dirt and grime. “He always said that it would make me tough, you know? And I was fine with being punished when I did something wrong; but just because he had a bad day, didn’t mean I needed to take the heat for it.”
Jackie stood, shaking her head. “No, you didn’t deserve any of that.”
“And my mom, well my mom took a lot of pills and drank too much. That was her way of dealing with it. Dad beat the shit out of me and fucked other women so she just buried herself deeper.”
I swallowed. I’d never told that to anyone before. Not even Dominic who was one of my best friends. But there wasn’t anyone like Jackie, no one who took care of me like she did.
“I don’t want that to be us. I won’t bury myself from you,” she whispered. “You just have to tell me when you’re hurting and I’ll do my best to take the pain away.”
I nodded. “Then you gotta let me fight for you.”
“Always.”
I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to me, kissing her an
d pouring everything that words couldn’t say into her lips. I would kill Emilio all over again if it meant that he would never cause her pain. The water droplets fell over our faces and she pulled back.
“I promise I won’t hurt you, Jackie. Ever.”
“I know you wouldn’t. I trust you.” She kissed my shoulder.
Trust. That was a hard one for me to swallow. Trust was a hard thing for me to gain with people and a hard thing for me to accept. But I did trust her. I told her things that I’d never told anyone else. The demons that were buried deep inside me were something I had to keep at bay, but it was getting harder the more I got pulled into the family business.
I leaned back slightly. “I’ve been having nightmares. About Phil. Every time I close my eyes I see him. I see the fucking SUV pull up and hear the gunshots.” I swallowed, feeling tears prick my eyes. “All I can think about is that it should have been me. They were after me, not him.”
“Shhhh,” She put her hands on my cheeks. “Don’t talk like that, Nicky.”
I shook my head, putting my hands on hers. “No. They were after me. Just like tonight. I’m afraid that if I keep letting all of these bad things follow me that something is going to happen to you. I love you too fucking much for that to happen.”
Her lips parted and she gasped slightly. “I love you, too, Nicky. I’ve never felt like this about anyone else.”
“Really?” The happiness wafting through me was so thick it was about to burst. She loved me. She really fucking loved me. I’d never said it to a girl in my life and now she was saying it back.
“Of course I do.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing my lips. “I love you, Nicholas Ragusa.”
“Say it again,” I whispered into her lips, pressing my now hardened cock against her.
“I love you.” She pushed her mound against me. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
I kissed her deeply, pouring everything to my kiss and moaning into her lips. My hands trailed down her back as the water fell over us. She wrapped her arms tightly around me as I gripped tightly onto her ass. She gasped into my mouth and I nipped at her bottom lip. I pushed her against the wall, moving my fingers to her center, spreading her lips apart. I hooked one finger inside of her, rubbing my thumb along her clit as I deepened our kiss.
Her breathing quickened and she lifted her left leg up, wrapping it around my waist and pulling me against her, bucking her hips up so my finger went deeper inside of her. She came instantly and her sweet moans filled my mouth as she bit down on my lip to stop them.
“Be as loud as you want for me, baby,” I said, pressing my forehead to hers.
“I wasn’t trying to be quiet.” She reached down and pushed my thumb away before grabbing my cock and putting the head on her clit. “I wanted to make sure you were ready for me.”
“I’m always ready for you.” I pulled my finger out and slowly thrust my dick inside of her. She gasped into my lips as each inch went in.
I placed my hands on the wall beside her hips and pushed into her slowly, taking my time with each thrust and looking into her eyes. I wanted to make it last and enjoy every bit of her knowing that she was safe with me. This woman loved me. She didn’t fear me. I wasn’t numb to her touch. And I wanted to enjoy all of that.
She grabbed onto the back of my neck, throwing her head back in ecstasy. I kissed down her jawline to her neck. I thrust harder into her, her breasts bouncing against my chest. I pressed my thumbs against her hip bones, keeping my palms splayed against the wall next to her. She tilted her hips up pushing me deeper into her. She was so wet, her body tightening around me as she came.
“Jackie, baby, I’m going to come,” I panted, thrusting harder.
“Come inside of me. I want to feel all of you,” she murmured and gripped onto my back.
With that my body stiffened and I came, releasing into her. She moaned, shuddering against me. She dropped her leg down, putting her head against my chest, her arms wrapped around me as the warm water beat on my back. We stayed there in silence for a few moments, just listening to the water and the beating of our hearts.
“I love you so much, Jackie.” I whispered.
“I love you, too, Nick.” She looked up, her eyes glistening.
“Are you crying?” I tilted her chin toward me.
“No. I mean I don’t think I am.” She wiped her eyes. “I’ve just never been this happy before.”
“Me neither.” I kissed her gently.
“Sorry for getting emotional.”
I shook my head. “Don’t apologize for anything. I’m just happy you’re here and that you can be honest with me. I always want you to tell me what you feel.”
“I want you to do the same with me.”
“I will, baby. I promise.” I kissed her again.”
“But we should probably get out of this shower and get to bed. You actually have to work tomorrow.”
I smiled. “Or I could call in sick and just lay in bed with you all day.”
She turned off the water. “As great as that sounds, I can’t be the reason you’re missing work. And I still have a job to keep, too.”
We dried off before going back into the bedroom. I may have had sex with other girls but I’d never actually slept in the same bed with a woman. Jackie stood at the end of my bed in nothing but one of my plain white t-shirts and black lace panties, her hair still wet from the shower. I’d never seen her sexier.
“Are you ready for bed?” she asked.
“Yeah. I am.” I stood by my nightstand.
“Do you prefer the right or the left side?” she asked.
I shrugged and rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I usually just sleep in the middle.”
Jackie rolled her eyes and crawled onto the bed. “Well, that’s not going to work.” She sat directly in the middle of the bed, looking up at me. If she didn’t stop looking at me with her lips pouted and her eyes wide, so damn sexy, I’d have to adjust my boxer briefs or put on something else. That or we’d be headed for round two.
“How about this...” She pulled back the bedspread and then slid underneath it, still in the middle of the bed. “I’m going to lay here and you just pick a side.”
“I don’t think anyone has ever asked me to pick a side before.”
“Well, looks like you’re going to have to pick one or sleep on the floor.”
I climbed on the bed, crawling until I was on top of her, straddling her hips. “How about I just sleep here.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “Nuh uh, you’re not getting off that easy. Pick a side.”
“Fine,” I growled and looked from the right to the left before finally rolling to the left and sliding under the covers.
“Why’d you pick that side?” she asked and snuggled against me, putting her head on my chest as I put my arm around her.
“This side is closest to the door and if anything happens I wanted to be able to protect you.”
“That’s a pretty good reason. I’ll allow it.” she kissed my cheek then pressed her head back against my chest. “Goodnight, Nick.”
I leaned over and turned off the lamp on my nightstand. “Goodnight, Jackie.”
I wrapped my other arm around her and held her close, staring up at the ceiling. There was never any way to block out the city lights from coming in through my windows and they cast dozens of shadows on my walls. I didn’t lie to Jackie when I told her that I had nightmares about Phil’s death, but I didn’t tell her that I’d had plenty of nightmares about what would happen to her as well. Having her lying next to me and knowing she loved me was at least one step closer to having the nightmares stop, but for how long, I didn’t know. Because I still hadn’t closed my eyes and El Lobo was still alive.
Chapter 18
My alarm clock went off bright and early as usual. I reached over to my nightstand but Jackie’s hand was there first, turning off the alarm. I kissed up the length of her arm and she giggled.
; “You have stubble,” she whined.
I pulled her over until she was on top of me, her chest to mine. “That’s not the only thing I have this morning.” I bucked my hips to meet hers.
She licked her lips. “I guess you slept pretty well then.”
I wished I could have said that it was amazing to sleep all night with her in my arms and know that she was safe, but it wasn’t true. The nightmares didn’t fade. They just grew darker. And the only way to stop them was to deal with El Lobo.
“I slept okay. But now I’m awake.” I grabbed her ass, feeling the lacy material of her panties slide between my fingers. “Very awake.”
“Mmmm, I’ve noticed.” She put her lips to mine grinding against my hips and my morning wood turned into an all-out boner, aching to be inside of her.
I kissed her, sliding my hands underneath her shirt, running my fingers down the length of her backbone and feeling the goosebumps that pricked from my touch. She pushed harder against my dick, I could practically feel her wetness through my boxers, and I thought I’d burst through them to get to her. Damn the girl could turn me on.
My phone vibrated on my nightstand, knocking me out of my trance. Jackie pulled her lips from mine, staring at the phone. Her eyes flitted back to me. “It’s your dad.” She blinked. “Are you going to answer it?”
I groaned, grabbing my phone. “As much as I’d rather continue what we were doing...”
“Yeah. I understand. Family business and all that.” She crawled off of me and the bed. “I’ll go take a shower and give you your privacy.”
“Okay.” I nodded and answered the call. “Hey, Dad.”
Jackie took one look back at me before she went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. I hated to make her feel like I shut her out, that I didn’t want her involved in my business, but I hadn’t talked to Dad since everything went down at Jackie’s place.
“Nicky, you’re up bright and early.” Dad certainly didn’t sound like he just woke up at all even though it was the ass crack of dawn.
“Always am.”
“I’m glad to hear you weren’t seriously injured last night.”