Twisted Desire

by Laura Dunaway

  Wanting to stay sober, I shook my head. “No, no, thank you.”

  SanRisa lifted her glass, not even waiting to be asked. The server filled it and left the room. She took a long sip, and a part of me regretted turning the wine down.

  “Well, when Roman is mad, you better watch out,” she told me. “Whatever she said, she will pay for it.”

  That’s what I was afraid of.

  Roman came back then, without Fiona. He rubbed his hands on his pants, then planted a large smile on his face. “Please accept my apologies, ladies. It seems as though Fiona has come down with a headache and begged to go straight to bed.”

  The pounding of my heart told me that was so not the case, but there was no way I’d question it.

  “Sorry to hear that,” SanRisa replied, a half smile on her face. “She did seem a little off tonight, if I may say so.”

  Roman sat down and took a hold of his glass. “She did, didn’t she? Well, I gave her some pain medication. I’m sure she’ll be fine in the morning.”

  As we continued to sit there, I didn’t talk as I listened to them. It seemed as though SanRisa and Roman had a long history together. Just as I was about to give in and ask for another glass of wine, a large thump sounded at the door, making me and SanRisa jump in our chairs. Roman immediately stood up and started to walk to the door, but before he took more than a few steps, it opened, and Tag and Theo tumbled inside.

  Chapter 17

  The first thing I saw were Penny’s frightened eyes, and it took all I had not to go to her. Roman demanded our attention. Theo stood up, limping to a chair.

  “What happened?” Roman asked, clearly not pleased.

  “It’s nothing,” Theo replied. “I just twisted it.”

  “Everything went well,” I informed him.

  I felt Penny’s gaze on my back, making me start to tap my foot. Roman nodded and continued looking at Theo. “Let’s go to the other room.”

  Theo and I followed him, turning to face him as he shut the door. Not being able to go straight to Penny felt like a dagger in my heart, but I had a job to do. Roman followed in behind us and sat at his desk, folding his arms on top of it. “Talk.”

  Theo nodded to me to start. I explained how we’d arrived at the warehouse and found only one guy sitting on the ground in front of the main doors. He stood up, and after conversing for a few minutes, let us inside. We walked to a back room and saw the shipment on a table. What surprised me, though, was the girl sitting beside it.

  “Girl?” Roman asked.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  Roman squinted his eyes, tapping his fingers together. “Well, who was she?”

  “Said we only need to know her by the name Jamille.”

  Roman cursed under his breath. He obviously seemed to know who the girl was, but I didn’t ask. If he wanted us to know, he’d tell us, and the faster I could tell him what went down, the faster I could get to Penny.

  “What happened, Tag?”

  I went on to tell him about how she told us all about the goods and asked us to tell him hello. It was a smooth job; we got in and we got out. We didn’t learn anything more about the girl.

  “What did she look like?” Roman asked, a nerve twitching on his forehead.

  “Curly blonde, chin-length hair, bluish-green eyes, very tall.”

  He cursed. “How old would you say she is?”

  I glanced at Theo and then back to Roman. Shrugging, I said, “I’d say twenty-one, twenty-two.”

  “Excuse me a moment,” Roman said, abruptly getting out of his chair and storming out of the office.

  Theo and I looked at each other, having no idea what was going on. “What the hell was that about, man?” I asked him.

  He shrugged. “I have no idea, but whatever it is, it’s got him pissed.”

  When Roman hadn’t come back five minutes later, I headed to the door. “Screw this,” I told Theo. “I’m going to go see how Penny’s doing.”

  Theo got up and followed me the best he could. It was too bad he didn’t have an awesome story to tell about his twisted knee. The guy was getting old as he twisted it while carrying one of the boxes of our shipment. I’d give him shit about it for a long time to come.

  I walked out of the office, and my eyes immediately found Penny’s. She was still sitting at the dining table, talking with some chick. It hit me then that the other chick from earlier wasn’t with them anymore.

  I walked to Penny and knelt down in front of her. Her scent assaulted me, and I barely stopped myself from groaning at how good it was. She looked so damn good, I couldn’t resist putting my hand against her cheek as I asked her a question.

  “How are you? Did things go okay while I was gone?”

  Her eyes turned tender when she looked at me, and also relieved. I fought the urge to kiss her. “I’m okay now that you’re back. I was so scared something would happen to you,” she whispered so no one else would hear.

  I started to stroke her cheek with my thumb. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I wanted her again. We needed to go back to her cabin so we could be alone. Roman could go to hell.

  I stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of her chair. She gave a little yelp of surprise, catching her step to stand next to me. I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her close.

  I looked over to Theo and caught his eye. “I’m taking Penny back to her cabin. Please tell Roman he can reach me by my cell if he has anything else.”

  Theo nodded, staying seated at the table. The lady at the table started to say something, but I just walked off, Penny beside me. I couldn’t care less what she had to say and could care even less who she was.

  I just wanted to be alone with Penny.

  We reached the elevator and when it opened, I dragged her inside and pushed her against the wall, my lips slamming against hers. Her arms immediately wrapped around my neck as she gave a low moan, her tongue delving into my mouth before mine had a chance to. I pressed my hands against the wall on each side of her head, slanting my head to deepen the kiss. Our tongues danced together as if our lives depended on it.

  I wanted her, needed her, again. Again, and again, and again.

  “Tag,” she said against my lips.

  Pushing her against the wall, I shoved my hand into her hair. “Hmm?”

  Turning her head so she could talk, I just did the next best thing and started kissing along her jaw, down to her neck.

  “Aaahhhh,” she breathed out. “I can’t concentrate when you do that.”

  I smiled against her delectable skin. “That’s the point, querida.”

  I felt her hands push on my shoulders, making me step back. I looked at her, wondering what was so important that she had to stop. Her eyes were heavy with desire, making me grin. “What is it, Penny?”

  “What happened tonight? Where did you go?”

  I took a deep sigh. There was no way she could know anything about the job. No way I’d put her in any danger, let alone break the honor of the cartel, no matter how much it annoyed me.

  “You left me,” I heard her whisper.

  My head jerked up to look at her. I brushed my hand through her hair, then cupped her cheek, my thumb going back and forth on it. “I know, and I’m so sorry. I had no idea Roman was planning that. It killed me having to leave you with him.”

  “I hate him, Tag,” she told me, making me feel even worse.

  “I know, querida, I know. Me too.”

  Her eyes looked straight at me then, and it felt like they were piercing my soul. “Do you really?” she asked.

  Part of me was baffled that she’d ask, but another part understood. Even though we’d just been together in the most intimate way possible, I was still working for him, her abductor. She was still going to be so confused, torn.

  “Yes, Penny,” I answered. “To be honest, I always have, but that’s all I want to say about it right now. I don’t want to think about him or the cartel, just you.”

/>   “What about me?”

  The elevator had reached our floor, and the doors had opened. I took her hand and led her to the cabin. Unlocking the door, I let her inside and followed. I immediately removed my jacket and threw it over a chair. She stood in the middle of the room, looking up at me, the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.

  I walked toward her, stopping right in front of her but keeping my hands to myself. She still looked at me, clearly wondering what my next move would be. Still not touching her, I bent my head a bit, looking right at her.

  “You, Penny Santoro,” I started, keeping her gaze on me. “You are a gift from heaven.”

  Her face started to flush, and her eyes looked down to the floor, her lashes fanning her cheeks. I put my finger under her chin and lifted her face to see me. “I’m breaking all kinds of rules even talking like this, let alone what happened earlier, but I don’t give a rat’s ass. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and to be honest, it scares the shit out of me.”

  She smiled as she continued to look at me. “I don’t know what to say,” she began. “I feel things too that scare me, especially with being kidnapped and kept on this boat, having no idea why. The last thing I’d ever expect would be to fall for the guy assigned to watch over me, but it happened, and I’m not sure what to do with it.”

  Her words made me shudder. She was falling for me. It made me feel too many things. Happiness, fear, hope, to name a few. What was I going to do with this, with her?

  When she started to back away from me, her face showing even more fear, my hands shot out and grabbed her, pulling her into my arms. “It’s okay, querida,” I soothed as I ran my hand up and down her back. “I was just absorbing what you said. Thank you for telling me. One thing that will help us is to always be honest with each other, okay?”

  I don’t know why I was spewing off these words of so-called wisdom, but I meant every one. The one area I wouldn’t be able to be open with is my job with the cartel. I’d never put her at risk; the less she knew, the better. Plus, if she knew that her father was the cause of her abduction, I don’t think she’d fully recover. She idolized her dad; though it blew me away she was so oblivious to what he really did.

  She nodded against my chest. “Okay, but I know you can’t, or won’t, tell me about what you did tonight, what you do for Roman period.”

  And there it was.

  “Shh… let’s not discuss that tonight okay? The last thing I want to think about is him and my job. When he assigned me to watch over you, I wasn’t happy about it at all. It felt like a demotion or something. But— listen to me, querida,” I pleaded with her when she tried to free herself from my arms. “But once I saw you, got to know you, I realized it was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

  She stopped moving, going completely still. When she finally raised her head to look at me, the look on her face about sent me to my knees. She looked so happy, it blew me away that it was because of me. She affected me so much, in ways no one ever had before. I was about to say more when she suddenly dropped to her knees, making me look down at her in confusion.

  When her hand went to my zipper and started to undo it, her intent became crystal clear. “Querida,” I moaned as she inserted her hand into my fly and wrapped it around my cock. “What are you doing, sweet girl?”

  I heard her chuckle as she stroked me, up and down, up and down. “Isn’t it obvious, baby?” she asked, just as she took me out of my briefs and placed a small kiss on my tip. My body jolted at the simple touch, my hands threading through her hair.

  She continued to stroke me, and it felt like absolute heaven. “Oh, querida,” I moaned again, barely able to think. When I felt her warm, sweet lips wrap around me, I almost lost it right there. I threw my head back as she began to suck on me, her tongue circling me over and over.

  “Penny,” I hissed when she started to cup my balls, massaging them gently as her mouth pleasured me. “You feel so damn good, sweet girl. So. Damn. Good.”

  She didn’t say anything, just started to suck harder, taking me deep into her throat. I opened my eyes and looked down at her on her knees, her head bobbing back and forth over my cock. The sight of her lips wrapped around me, her hands stroking my balls made my approaching release build even harder, making me start to shake.

  “Shit, querida. Shit, shit, shit. I’m gonna come—let me go,” I cried, warning her in case she didn’t want me to explode in her mouth.

  She didn’t move, only hummed an “Uh-uh” from deep in her throat, and the vibration of it made me shoot my load straight into her mouth, over and over. My hands held onto her head tightly when my body started to spasm as my orgasm ripped through me, making me groan from within the deepest part of my body.

  She released me once I was done and wiped a fist across her mouth. The fact that she swallowed my every drop amazed me. Penny Santoro never ceased to amaze me.

  I dropped to my knees in front of her, grabbed her face between my hands, and crushed my lips to hers. My tongue darted in her mouth right away, hoping to let her know what I was feeling in a way my words couldn’t at the moment.

  I was in love with Penny Santoro.

  Lord help me.

  Chapter 18

  The next few days saw us pretty much in bed. Roman had texted Tag a few times, but for the most part, he left us alone. When Tag wasn’t distracting me with his kisses, his tongue, or his beautiful body, it didn’t escape me that it was a little weird considering he’d just sent Tag off the boat a few nights ago. I tried asking Tag about it, but each time he’d kiss or touch me in a very distracting way, making me forget all about it.

  I’d just gotten out of the shower and was getting dressed when I heard a commotion outside our door. My eyes darted to Tag’s. “What’s going on?” I asked, scared.

  He immediately jumped off the bed, dressed only in a pair of jeans after he’d taken his shower. He grabbed his gun from the bedside table and headed for the door. Cupping my cheek, he pressed a kiss to it. “Stay here. Don’t open the door.”

  Before I could respond, he opened the door and stepped out, shutting it behind him. I finished dressing and sat on the bed, rocking back and forth. There were a few voices, and while I couldn’t make out what they were saying, by their tone I knew it wasn’t good.

  Tag’s voice was one of them, and knowing he was possibly in danger sent tears rolling down my cheeks. Please don’t let anything happen to him, I begged, pulling my knees to my chest.

  I froze when a certain voice stood out amongst the others. It was female, which was more than unusual. What made it even more unusual was the fact I recognized it.

  I lifted myself off the bed and padded to the door, pressing my ear against it. I concentrated so hard I thought a blood vessel would burst, trying to hear it again. While the male voices were still talking, I never heard hers again.

  There was no way it was her, I told myself. No way. Turning around and sinking to the floor, my back against the door, my body started to shake.

  Kimberly.

  When the door started to move, I cried out and scooted out of the way. Tag came in, and when he saw me on the floor, his eyes took on a huge look of concern. He slammed the door shut and dropped to his knees, his gaze on me.

  “What happened? Are you okay?”