Thieving Hearts

by Nikita Slater

  His hand fell full force on her ass, rocking her body into the hardness of the desk. Motherfucker that hurt! Yes, he was definitely pissed about the Domingo thing and not holding back. This was no erotic spanking meant to amp up her desire. Husband dearest was proving a point for the next time Katie intended to put herself at risk to prove her own point. He might not lock her up again, but he was definitely willing to find other ways to punish his headstrong, manipulative wife.

  Katie held her cries in for as long as she could while he spanked her ass, alternating cheeks until she was sure her posterior was going to catch fire. Finally, she gave him what he wanted and let the screams loose. She begged him to stop and tried to reach behind her and slap at his arm. He took her wrist and held it against her lower back while he continued to work her ass over. His final strike landed right between her legs. Her cheeks flared red at the wet sound his hand made. To make matters worse, he brought his fingers, wet with her juices, up to her face.

  “Suck,” he ordered, his voice hoarse with restrained excitement.

  Katie opened her mouth and licked his fingers. They were hot from slapping so violently against her ass and they tasted both sweet and tart, like her. She moaned and sucked them deep into her mouth, giving him just the edge of her teeth to show him a little violence of her own. She opened her eyes to meet his and seeing the barely leashed heat, smiled wickedly up at him.

  “You like to suck, baby,” he growled.

  “Mmhmm…” she moaned around his fingers.

  He pulled his fingers out of her mouth, ignoring her grumble of disappointment. Dragging her off the desk, he gripped her arm and pushed down until she was kneeling on the floor. She stared up at him, loving his sexy black jeans. They looked so damn good on his long, muscular legs. She reached up his thighs and rubbed like a cat while he unbuckled his thick leather belt and unzipped the pants. He pulled his vest off and then yanked his black T-shirt off impatiently.

  “You okay for this, hermosa?” he asked, pulling his engorged, veined cock from the denim.

  Katie nodded eagerly and reached for him, her smaller hand covering his. Her lashes fluttered shut as she licked him, realizing that this was the first time she’d had the pleasure of taking Roman into her mouth. He was a generous, but impatient man. He always wanted his tongue somewhere on or in her. He rarely had the patience to allow Katie free reign with his body. As she flicked her tongue against the broad purple tip of his penis, taking his precum into her mouth and savouring his flavour, she determined there would be a whole lot more tasting of Roman in her future. Damn, he tasted good!

  He let her set the pace while she explored him with unhurried movements. She could tell from the constant tensing and releasing of his muscles that he was having difficulty controlling himself. The small… okay, large… sadistic streak in her was enjoying the fair turnabout on her playtime. She continued to suck and lick at her leisure, exploring every inch of him until she was ready to move down and explore the heavy sac underneath with her lips and tongue.

  His hands landed on her head and pulled her off with a forcible tug. Katie would have gone sprawling if he hadn't had a good grip on her hair. She gasped when he hauled her to her feet with a growl. She cried out in pain when her ass met the hard wood of the desk as he picked her up and dropped her on the hard surface. He pulled her legs up over his arms and, without giving her time to adjust, slammed into her in one thrust. Katie arched back on the desk and reached over her head to grip something, anything to relieve the pressure of his brutal entry. Now she knew what happened when she teased the beast with her tongue, and it was exquisite!

  Roman gripped her by the waist and slammed into her over and over, grunting with each thrust. He drove them both higher and higher with each savage thrust of his hips into Katie’s tight body. She thought she would die from the pleasure and pain as it merged and stole her breath. She could hear the whimpers escaping from her throat and wanted to snatch them back so she could make a sound that was sexier, but it was the best she could manage. Roman was wild and untamed. He demanded the same from her.

  “Going to come!” she managed to yell as he continued to jerk her body into his.

  He grunted something at her, but she didn’t know what. She heard something crash to the floor and shatter, she spared a brief second to hope it wasn't her laptop before she was soaring over the edge of a towering orgasm. She felt the silken glide of fluid as it slid from her body and stroked Roman’s cock while he continued to slam into her, harder and faster than before. He flared wider, his grip on her waist clenching until she knew there would be bruises. Untamed. He came with a roar, filling her with hot semen.

  She was a little disappointed she hadn’t gotten to taste it. Maybe next time she would convince him to come in her mouth instead. She could imagine how that conversation would end. It would probably take a few conversations before she would convince him. Roman stood, looked down at her for a moment, his expression unreadable and then staggered backward to collapse in the leather chair. Katie pushed herself up on the desk and watched unabashedly as her gorgeous husband tucked himself back into his jeans and zipped up. When he finished, he beckoned her over.

  She eagerly climbed off the desk and into his arms, cuddling close against his warm chest. She lazily traced the tattoo of her name with a fingertip, enjoying the way he watched her from beneath hooded eyes. His expression rarely gave anything away, but Katie always knew what he was thinking.

  She stretched one long leg out and asked innocently, “You like my shoes? I wasn't sure if I was going to wear them today, but they seemed fitting since you were going to catch a snake.”

  He chuckled and tucked her leg back so it was curled in his lap again. “I like them. They suit you. Definitely like fucking you in them.”

  She giggled. “I noticed that.”

  He trailed a hand over his hip, drifting it over her reddened ass cheek. He frowned when she flinched. “You’ll be okay?” She wasn’t sure if he was asking her or telling her.

  She shrugged and said mischievously, “Until the next time I do something to piss you off.”

  He stiffened and reaching for her chin, tilted her face up to his. Growling, he demanded, “You plan on doing something stupid, esposa?”

  “Well…” Katie said, biting her lip and lowering her eyes so he couldn't see them. And then, in honour of their partnership, she sighed and decided to give him the truth. She rolled her eyes toward the far corner of his office. “You see that empty section of wall over there by that bookshelf. I think I can get my hands on a Carlo Cignani's Madonna and Child. Your fault, really, for lying about having a seventeenth century Virgin Mary. Now I’m obsessed with getting my hands on one and I know exactly who doesn’t deserve to keep his locked up in a lonely vault in New Zealand… and why are you looking at me like that?”

  THE END

  A NOTE FROM NIKITA

  Dear readers,

  Thank you for reading Thieving Hearts! I hope you enjoyed reading Katie and Roman’s eighteen-year journey into love as much as I enjoyed writing it. Anyone that has read any of my books knows by now that I enjoy exploring dark erotic romance themes, which are pure fun and fantasy.

  In this particular book, I touched on a few more serious themes such as depression, poor self-esteem and image, and self-harm. These are subjects I have come across in my work and among people I care deeply about. I believe that the subject of mental health is something that needs more mainstream attention and discussion. In Thieving Hearts, I have attempted to handle these subjects with the care and respect that they deserve.

  Thank you again for reading,

  Nikita

  Sneak Peak: Excerpt from Capturing Victory

  “Lovely.”

  The deep voice echoed through the darkness, penetrating the warmth of her dungeon. She turned, heart beating erratically, knowing it was finally time for her to meet her captor face-to-face.

  It had been two days since she’d been taken. She ha
d no idea where she’d been brought. The men had stormed into her tiny, underground place in Portugal and put a bag over her head. They’d hustled her into a car, sped her through the rainy streets and then onto a private aircraft. When she tried to fight and wrestle the bag off her head, a man had wrenched her arms back and ruthlessly zip-tied them. When she’d screamed curses and begged her captors to let her go, the same man had pressed a gun against the side of her head and told her to stop speaking or die. She had chosen silence.

  Though she had no idea where she was, she knew who had taken her and why. Katie Pullman’s last call had held a chilling warning. Her voice had screamed out for Source to run. There was only one man connected to Katie with the resources to hunt someone as invisible as XSource. Source had done her best to heed the blond cat burglar’s warning, erasing sensitive files and throwing necessities into a bag at hyper speed.

  She hadn’t thought there was any chance Ivan’s people could be so close. He must have a truly stunning amount of resources all over the world to be able to grab her in such a small and insignificant place. There was a reason she’d chosen the small seaside town in Portugal to hang out. It wasn’t for the seafood. The place was gloomy as fuck.

  She thought when she arrived at wherever she was that Ivan would confront her and demand she work for him again. At least that’s what she hoped the plan was. Knowing what a cold-blooded bastard Ivan Vogel was, he might have just brought her here to torture and kill her for turning down his incredibly kind offer of employment. Instead, she’d been left alone for two days, imprisoned in some kind of old-fashioned dungeon with stone walls and barred windows while she awaited his arrival. Granted, it was a comfortable dungeon, warm with a large comfortable bed, reading materials and plenty of food. But still…

  Now it would seem her captor had arrived. And he was in the mood to inspect his newest acquisition.

  “You are a pleasant surprise,” he drawled in flawless English, stepping through the shadows toward her. “I was led to believe you were a man.”

  He stopped so close to her she could feel the heat from his body. She had stood up to greet him, not wanting such a predatory man to have any kind of physical advantage. Not that it mattered. He was still almost a foot taller than her. She shuddered as his dark eyes roved hungrily over her, taking in every part of her, despite the shadows. Instinct screamed at her to back away, but pride held her still.

  “Of course, had you been a man, you would be dead,” he said easily, as if he’d been informing her of the time.

  She bit her lip to stifle the whimper that threatened to break free. “And why is that?” she asked, attempting to infuse strength into her husky voice. She didn’t speak often, preferring her own company.

  His lip lifted in a cold smirk. He was in his early forties with a face that looked like it was sculpted from granite, hard and masculine, with barely any inflection except what he allowed. His body was built out of the same rock as his face, all sharp planes and hard muscles with long, masculine limbs. She’d thought he was a handsome man when she’d seen him at the Athens ball. And now? Now that he held her fragile life in his ruthless hands, she didn’t think so.

  “You refused to work for me,” he said simply, his eyes never leaving her face.

  “And no one has ever refused you before?” she asked sharply. “I somehow doubt that.”

  His brow lifted in surprise, as though reminding her of her precarious position. A small shudder rippled down her back. She needed to remember who she was dealing with and somehow rein in her impulsive tongue. There was a reason she was a hacker. She preferred not to develop the social skills necessary in dealing with the masses. She didn’t like interacting with people or giving them the required responses to their inane conversation.

  “No one refuses me for long, little Miss Source,” he drawled her nickname out as though teasing her with it. “And you withheld services from me repeatedly. Refusing my advances, despite my ever more lucrative offers.”

  He stepped closer to her as he spoke, purposefully using provocative language. He lifted a finger and ran it over her cheek, testing the softness of her skin. Her eyes flared wide and the breath strangled in her throat. She stumbled back a step, but her legs hit the edge of the bed. He stepped closer, trapping her against the high bed she’d been sleeping on for the last two days.

  “P-please,” she whispered, terrified of the giant man. She’d heard so many horrific stories of the international arms dealer over the years. He worked in and out of the shadows. The one story she should have listened to when he first started pursuing her a year ago was that Ivan always got what he wanted. “I’m sorry.”

  He looked down at her, lifting his hand again and touching it to her cheek before drifting it down her throat and then her arm. He lifted her hand and brought it to his face, caressing the back with his lips. Her skin was only a few shades darker than his. Her hand looked so small and delicate in his much larger hand. His tongue darted out to touch the back of her fingers.

  “You are sorry you didn’t come to work for me?” he asked against her hand, pressing the soft skin against his hard jaw and then rubbing his rough cheek against her. “A little late for apologies, don’t you think?” His sardonic gaze flickered around her prison before settling back on her face.

  She could barely breathe, let alone keep her thoughts straight when he touched her like that, yet she knew she had to force her brain to work. This man was brutal, intelligent and deadly. She was way out of her depth and completely alone in the world. There was no one that would miss her if she disappeared forever. Except, perhaps, for her friend that was now in the clutches of the Mexican cartel. She needed to use her head and get out of this with her principles intact.

  She raised her chin and said in as clear a voice as she could manage, “No. I don’t work for organizations, only for myself. What I’m sorry about is that you’re the kind of guy that won’t take no for an answer.”

  His fingers tightened painfully around hers. She tried to jerk her hand away, but he refused to let her go. His eyes blazed down into hers for a moment and she feared he would just give into the fury and get rid of her. She knew Ivan wasn’t used to denial of any kind. He could buy, bully and steal anything he wanted. He was one of the most powerful men in the world.

  Well, he couldn’t have her.

  He reached for her so quickly, she thought a blow was coming and cried out. Instead, he sank his hand into her sable hair and jerked her head back until her face tipped up toward his. She gritted her teeth against the pain. His eyes flashed in cruel approval. Her chest lifted and dropped as she breathed rapidly, standing stiffly against her kidnapper.

  “What is your name?” he demanded, his cold, dark eyes searching her face as though he could pull the answer from her.

  She wouldn’t to give him anything. She would lie to him, give him one of her aliases. She hadn’t said her real name in years, preferring to bury herself under layers of false identities. When the last of her family had died, so had her real identity along with any sense of belonging. She opened her mouth to give him one of her most used names, Pari, but she must have hesitated too long. Or maybe he saw the flash of dishonesty in her eyes.

  Suddenly, he seized her by the throat, lifted her off the floor and slammed her down on the bed. The fluffy quilts softened the blow to her back, but he came down heavy on top of her, straddling her flailing limbs. She would have screamed, except he was choking the breath right from her body. His actions were so swift and precise she didn’t stand a chance. He had her arms and legs completely pinned and her throat in a tight grip that she knew would leave bruises later.

  Tears rushed to her eyes as she stared up at her cruel captor. He didn’t even look angry that she had been about to lie to him, just slightly irritated, as though he expected it and was put out at having to mete out discipline.

  “You don’t want to lie to me,” he said, his deep voice glacial.

  A tear escaped from her eye and ra
n into her hairline. She nodded. She could feel his erection pressing into her belly where he was straddling her. He wasn’t completely unaffected by their little struggle, but he didn’t seem to notice or care. Neither his actions nor his expression indicated he was about to ravish her. Or maybe that was wishful thinking?

  He eased his grip on her throat and gave her an expectant look.

  She licked her lips and whispered the name she hadn’t spoken in six years, “Jaya.”

  Genuine satisfaction suffused his features, giving his angular looks a softer cast. “Victory,” he said.

  He didn’t mean that he was victorious over her. Her name meant victory in Hindi. And somehow, he knew that. Though she hated him with every fibre of her being, a small part of her couldn’t help but be impressed.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  His eyes cut to hers. “You think you will be victorious, little hacker?”

  She glared up at him, hating the way he played with her. She was ill-equipped to deal with a man like him. He was sophisticated, a world traveller. An international criminal and an arms dealer. She might be international in her own way, but she lived in basements and cellars in tiny towns, in places no one ever heard of so she could stay off the radar, hiding from people like this psychotic villain.

  “You tell me,” she snapped, arching her back in an attempt to dislodge him. He was so much bigger, all she managed to do was buck her body up into his and show him the curve of her full breasts against her T-shirt. “You’re keeping me in this dungeon for no good reason. Either let me the fuck go or let’s get on with whatever this is! Because I’m telling you right now, I won’t be working for a criminal like you.”

  He raised an eyebrow and chuckled at her audacity. She got the feeling it was a gamble with him. Either he would laugh at a person’s hastily spoken words or he would take offence and murder them swiftly and without remorse. He rolled swiftly off the bed, leaving her where she lay. He watched her as he adjusted his clothing, the amusement fading from his face.