Bella shook her head. “I am being a good guest.”
Dammit, she had done all those things, but she really was being nice. Shit, she wasn’t nice, she was a cold-hearted bitch. She killed men, she didn’t even care when she did because they were assholes. Ugh, self-discovery sucked. She looked at him and realized that he had paid attention, just as she had paid attention to the way he did things. She knew he was commanding but not obnoxiously so, he took care of his people as well, but much more than she did. He was involved in everyone’s lives, they knew him, he knew them and she knew this because of the calls he had gotten from people checking on him. She also knew he loved his family, his brothers he was proud of, you could tell by the tone of his voice, and his parents, he was very protective and proud of. Then, she knew they also were worried about him. They called once a day and he always took it. He could be sweet, although not mushy, more caring when he looked at her, she felt taken care of. He also made her heart flutter every single time she saw him. This had never happened before, which made her very wary. But it continued to happen when she saw him take care of Carmi and Bruno like they were his own as well. Everything he did, he did because of who he was, and shit, she liked it all.
“Bella,” Ricco whispered and she looked up and saw while she had been thinking he had gotten closer. “Don’t panic, this can go as slow as you want it. But, I don’t want there to be any doubts about it. I want you, and you want me. We need to see where this goes.”
Bella nodded slowly, and Ricco grinned and said, “Good, now let’s swim, and then we can go back inside and kick our friends’ asses in Wii golf.”
“Or we could let them play and tomorrow we can challenge them, but tonight, is for just us?” Bella whispered.
Ricco’s smile grew bigger and he said, “Yep, we could do that too.”
Chapter Nine
Ricco took her hand and gently tugged her until she was floating with him leisurely toward the middle of the pool. He looked at her face to make sure she was okay with this all. For some reason with her, it mattered more than any other woman he had ever been with and it both scared and excited him. Maybe because he knew if the sex was explosive when they actually made love, he wasn’t going to let her go. The connection between them was to powerful. Like his father had explained when he met his mother, he had instantly known. Ricco could not say that, because even though he was drawn to her, when he first met Bella he thought she was a bitch.
He turned on his back, and Bella floated over him, until their faces were close to each other. He looked into her eyes and saw the passion there. She kept it hidden most of the time, the intensity made him want to sink into her immediately.
“Do you like the pool?” he muttered, looking at her lips.
Bella nodded and wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself up further and then kissed him. She initiated it so Ricco was going to take what she was offering; he wasn’t stupid. She started off slowly, but he had other plans. Quickly, moving his arms around her, he held her tight as he flipped them over so she was on her back and he was over her. He deepened the kiss, making sure to keep them floating while moving to the edge. There was no way he was making love to her in a swimming pool the first time. Especially when they could drown if they lost their heads and forgot where they were.
Bella pulled back when she felt them getting close to the edge and looked him in the eyes and smiled. “Well?”
Ricco looked at her and then looked around—the cabaña. He grinned and pulled himself out of the water and then helped Bella. He held up his hand to her asking her to wait. He walked to the sliding glass door, which led back into the house, and locked it. He didn’t want anyone entering. Then he turned back and prowled toward Bella who was shaking her head and smiling.
“Like that, is it?”
“I don’t want any interruptions when I finally get inside you. The world could fall down and it would have to wait, I have been patient enough it seems.”
Her eyes widened and she whispered, “It has only been a few days.”
“Seems like forever,” he said then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Wow, she thought as he plundered her mouth. Things could not get much better than this.
When they heard someone knocking on the door Ricco had locked, they both groaned and turned to see Carmi and Raph cheering and clapping at the door. He only had one thing on his mind, and that was claiming his Bella so he flipped them off and pulled Bella into a side door that she hadn’t seen. It was a gorgeous room that was fully contained, it held a bar and lounging chairs. However, in the corner, there was a large circular cushioned bed with curtains. Ricco walked toward the bed and set her on her feet beside it, then looked over his shoulder and went and locked this door as well.
“Too many fucking people in this house right now,” he muttered.
Bella laughed as she watched him. Ricco turned and prowled toward her. Her eyes widened and she thought this was what it felt like to be prey. She started to move away from the bed, instinctively wanting to run. His intensity was exciting, sexy, overwhelming.
“I don’t think so,” Ricco growled, suggesting he saw the look in her eyes that she was about to take flight. “We have some things to take care of.”
“Things? That’s what you call it?” she said frowning. This wasn’t just a thing to her, this was something more. She thought he felt the same way, maybe she was wrong.
Ricco shook his head. “You are overthinking. I was merely saying you looked like you were going to bolt, and that is not happening. This is happening, and I am making you mine.”
Bella laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, I just don’t know what to do here.”
Ricco grabbed her, hoisted her over his shoulder, and walked quickly back to where he had put her. When he got there, he threw her on the bed. Bella bounced a few times and laughed.
Ricco began undressing and said, “If you aren’t naked in the next thirty seconds, your swimsuit will be shredded.”
Quickly getting on her knees, she threw the suit off as fast as she could, all the while watching him strip out of his speedo. Oh God, he had the best body she had ever seen. His trimmed and beautiful body had muscles in all the right places. She looked at him, starting from his head, then moved down slowly. When she came to his cock, her eyes widened. Holy hell, he was seriously packing.
“Baby, stop looking at me like that, I want to last for more than a minute the first time,” he drawled and crawled on the bed toward her.
Ricco captured her mouth in a searing kiss that left her breathless. She placed her hands on his chest and began to explore his chiseled body. His skin was soft and it felt as if small electrical currents were running through her fingertips. When she touched him, she could feel their connection. He had been right, this was something meant to be.
He left her mouth and slowly kissed down to her neck. Running his teeth across her neck several times, causing her to shake from the need for him to take her.
Reaching his stomach, she teased him by running her hand gently over his groin, never actually touching where he wanted her. Growling, he flipped her on her back and pulled her hands over her head, holding them with one hand while positioning her, so her chest was pushed out, offering her breasts to feast on.
Slowly circling one nipple with his tongue, and then moving to the other, teasing them until they were beaded and straining toward him, wanting to have his full treatment. After making sure she was writhing under him from the teasing, Ricco looked up at her and grinned, before lowering his head and taking one nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. He rolled the nipple between his tongue and the roof of his mouth until she cried out in ecstasy. Then he moved to the other side and did the same thing. Bella panted and wondered if she could come from just having her nipples sucked.
Moving back up to her mouth he slowly kissed her, swallowing her moans. “Do not move your hands,” he ordered, and she complied so he wouldn’t stop. Fuck this was sexy.
Satisfied that she was going to do what he said, he let her wrists go, and then used both hands to tenderly take both breasts, kneading them, alternately sucking, and biting. She soon was on the edge again.
Then he released her breasts and moved lower. Kissing her stomach and running his tongue around her bellybutton, making sure every inch of her was touched and caressed, soon he was moving between her legs. She could feel the wetness on her thighs and wondered what he thought of her being so wet.
“I love how your pussy is already weeping for me. It is asking for me to kiss it,” Ricco muttered and Bella sighed at the first touch.
Licking her from the front to back, he groaned in approval of her taste. “Like cotton candy. You taste like my favorite candy, I could taste you forever. Now I can have it anytime I want, it even looks like spun sugar.”
Bella screamed when she felt him suck her clit in his mouth. The sudden touch made a small orgasm seep through her. “Please,” she cried, wanting more.
“Not yet, I have not had my fill,” he grumbled and began licking her again. Slowly, lapping at her pussy, licking it as you would a sucker. Circling her clit at each pass but never actually touching her throbbing button again. She felt him insert one finger into her opening, and once again she cried out, pleading with him to give her a release.
Then he moved, slipped another finger into her, and held her in place as she tried to fuck herself on his fingers. In and out, he moved his fingers as he licked her juices that were seeping from her pussy.
“Okay, baby, now come,” he ordered and sucked her clit again and Bella screamed as her orgasm crashed over her.
“FUCKIN’ A, baby, you are gorgeous when you come,” he said and kissed his way back up her body as she tried to control the tingles she felt pulsing through her.
He kissed her. She tasted herself on his tongue, and she almost came again from the overwhelming feeling the taste of them combined gave her.
Ricco spread her legs wide and situated himself between them. Slowly, he pushed into her entrance, and Bella groaned at the invasion. He was the largest man she had ever had sex with, and he filled her full. The friction was almost too much, she clenched with each pass so she could feel it.
“I am gonna fuck you until you can’t walk tomorrow,” he growled and thrust into her with one stroke.
Bella screamed with passion and threw her arms around his neck, trying to keep from being pushed through the wall from the power of his thrusts.
“Come on, baby, come all over my cock,” he whispered in her ear, and she pushed up against him with her thrust. They set a fast, furious pace, and Bella could feel the tingling of a new orgasm building.
“Harder,” she cried and Ricco grunted as he slammed into her, changing his movement slightly, so with every thrust he brushed her clit.
“Almost there,” he cried, raised his head and stared into her eyes, keeping her gaze in a way of telling her she was his. It was almost too much, the connection flowing through them in a way she never expected. Ricco smiled in approval and then thrust one last time hard and emptied into her. She was finally his, he thought.
Bella and Ricco collapsed and panted. “Fuckalious,” Bella said breathlessly.
“Where in hell do you come up with this shit?” Ricco laughed.
“Carmi,” she said and laughed.
Rolling to his side, he pulled her to him and buried his face in her neck, kissing her softly. Slowly, the exhaustion of the last few days pulled them both under.
Just before dropping off, Bella whispered, “Finally, someone who understands me.”
Ricco smiled and pulled her closer. This was how it should be, he thought. Well, except for the threats and attempted murder that is.
Chapter Ten
Ricco looked into the mirror when he got out of the shower and knew tonight Bella would be in his bed. After what they had shared in the cabaña, there was no way she was going to be sleeping anywhere but with him, for a long time. He had never felt this possessive about any female before, which to him meant Bella was his and his alone. He was planning on calling Don Marco later this morning. He was going to give him a heads up about his intentions. He could pave the way with Bella’s father. Their match would be important in their world. The two families were both powerful in their own right, together, a power that would go unmatched.
He thought about Bella’s reaction. She would be surprised. They had only begun their relationship, but Ricco didn’t give a shit. Their coupling had been explosive. He wasn’t going to give her a choice, she was his, and she was remaining his until they figured whatever this was out. Someone knocked on the door, Ricco pulled on his shirt and yelled, “Come in.”
Raph opened the door and said, “We found where they are staying.”
Ricco nodded and followed him down the stairs and into the office where everyone, including Carmi and Bella, were already at. Polo said briskly, “The Mirage just called, they said a group of men with leather cuts checked into the hotel yesterday. They took up twenty rooms and the manager said so far they have all remained in their rooms. They will let us know if they leave.”
Ricco nodded and looked at the rest of the men in the room. “So they are coming.”
Bruno nodded and then pointed the map on the wall. Raph and he had already been pouring over the perimeter to see if there were weaknesses and where they were. There weren’t many since he had so many back-ups. If someone made it past the first one, there were four more to catch them.
“There is really only one side they could come at us on that would catch us off guard. That is from the desert. We don’t know how smart they are, but assuming they have some intelligence, that is the way they will come. There are two roads, both are access roads which we can put sensors on. Not much traffic normally since they both lead to this property, only the service workers would be there. So, thinking they will come that way, we have three places we can hole up in and that is really it until they hit a thousand yards from the back of the house. Essentially we either try to take the fight out farther from the house, or we use the house as cover and pick them off as they come in,” Bruno said.
Ricco walked to the map. He knew it like the back of his hand and even as he thought about the landscape, this was the desert. Making them hump it in two miles by foot, they would be exhausted in this heat, hell even at night it was still hot. So, they would have that going for them. Also, the girls, even though he didn’t want them in the fight at all, he was realistic. They were sitting right here and he knew if he said they would need to remain in the house both women would defy him. Add that to Maria and Lucia both being firearm trained, a plan began to form in his head. He stared for a few minutes before turning and nodded.
“Tonight at dinner, we hammer out the details, the vault needs to be checked and weapons brought into the house. Also, there are a few other surprises we can give them, we just need to see where we should do it. We make our stand here, in the house. Since all of the women are more than familiar with weapons, we station them at the windows on the second floor, two men will stay with them in the house, the others will be stationed in the cottages and the back part of the property. We can go and scope out places in a while.”
Carmi and Bella looked at one another, Carmi looked like she was going to argue but Bella shook her head. She knew her friend, she would want to be in the mix, not on the second floor, but tough shit, she was injured. She was more worried about Maria and Lucia; Bella was going to suggest the two older women were put into the safe room she knew for a fact was around in this house somewhere. Ricco had told her about it, she knew it was in the basement, but still, she hadn’t seen it.
Her father was going to be pissed, the calls these last few days had become more and more difficult. He already sent men to her hotel. They had arrived yesterday, and she knew they were making sure the place was more secure than it had been before. Her manager had called and made sure the changes were okay. Bella had approved them, but then called her father
and made sure he knew that was the only interference she would allow. It had turned into a pissing match, but Bella had won, especially when she told him if he interfered too much, she was going to work for another casino.
They talked strategy while she thought about business. What would happen when they were home, and basically, how was she ever going to tell her father about Ricco? She knew he still held out hope she would marry one of the guys he continually pushed at her. She wouldn’t, mostly because not one of them was her match. They were followers, none of them had been a leader in anyway. Bella would never marry a man who let her lead him around by his nose. She had too many things to worry about, she didn’t need another. She wanted someone who would take the load off her when she came home. Someone who would respect what she did during the day, but would make sure when she was off work, she was taken care of.
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