The poor waiter became the butt of a lot of our jokes, which he never knew, because we kept slipping into French and Italian. Bella could keep up with me and soon our conversation was punctured with more and more long spells of us laughing our asses off.
A few times, I noticed other patrons glancing over at our table, and I wondered if maybe we’d had just a tad too much to drink.
Damn, Bella was trouble, just as I’d first thought. She was not only smart, worldly, and well-traveled, but now I was realizing, sharply comedic to boot. Her personality drew me like a moth to the flame, while lighting up her gorgeous face, and expressing itself in her curvy figure.
I could have sat there all day.
Once I realized that, I knew I’d have to tread lightly from here on out. The last thing I needed in my life was to end up like Axe with a ball and chain. Perfect for him, but for me? Not so much.
We were expanding our reach and about to make the Capestrana family name the toast of the town. A woman as distracting as Bella would only derail that.
No matter how tempting the picture of her on my arm in a backless, gold dress was.
I had to take a giant step back…
Starting tomorrow.
Chapter Six
Bella
Sinking further into the squashy passenger seat of Colt’s truck, my eyes began to drift closed. Between shopping, and the gallon of wine I drank, I was dead on my feet. So when Colt insisted on driving me home, I didn’t fight him too much.
It was almost ten o’clock at night, the sky dotted with sharp stars that scoffed at city lights, and a smooth R&B song was slipping from the speakers. Colt was singing along under his breath, and I smiled to myself, shaking my head. Eyeing him sideways, I saw him glance over, and he sang the next lyric a little louder.
“I just wanna see your body move in different ways / All I wanna do is come close to you…”
Damn, Colt wasn’t half bad. Voice was kind of like the drip-drip of dark hot chocolate.
Yum.
“Who’s this by?” I asked drowsily. I could’ve fallen asleep right then and there.
“Tory Lanez. Best artist to come out in the last five years. Song’s called Say It. You should get it and check ‘im out. Maybe make up choreography for it,” replied Colt, glancing over at me again, and smiling. “Hey, Rabbit, don’t fall asleep on me now.” Reaching over, he tugged on the ties of my boot. Then he slid his hand up, laid it high on one thigh and left it there.
That warm pressure snapped me awake immediately. Suddenly, as though my mind caught up to what my body already had realized, I saw this situation from Colt’s eyes.
Made out in a dressing room, had lunch, went shopping for hours.
Was now driving me home.
His mind was already in my bedroom.
Something told me that Colt had probably never not been invited up before. That he was used to getting his way when it came to scoring.
Well, isn’t that too bad, ‘ cause it’s not happening tonight, I told myself.
But even that firm little voice in my head sounded uncertain.
Swallowing, I had the sudden urge to insist he drop me off at the next street corner and run the rest of the way home. His hand was one thing, warm on my thigh, the fingers just barely moving in soft circles, but Colt’s presence was another altogether.
There was just something about him that overwhelmed my common sense.
Me, Bella Ruffino. Tough bitch who’d navigated through childhood all on her own without hands-on parents to guide her. I’d backpacked alone, hiked and biked and held my own in the toughest cities in the world. Now here I was, brought low by a Capestrana.
I was almost incredulous at the thought, a bit bruised ego-wise even, but I was also smart enough to know that I didn’t think I could resist him tonight.
Not after this day, where Colt had somehow taken me outside of myself. He’d figured out a way to draw a circle around just me and him, making the rest of the world seem far away. Instead of being on opposite sides in the midst of a Mafia vendetta, we’d been two people enjoying ourselves, and having real, vibrant talks. Instead of secretly plotting revenge, and learning his weaknesses, I’d eagerly discussed food, music, and travel with him.
I’d actually laughed. Not only that, I’d made him laugh and it had felt so good.
Biting my cheek, shame whiplashed through me. I failed my family today. Once again, I’d forgotten who our families even were to one another.
Sworn enemies. Mongoose and cobra. Why couldn’t I keep that in my head when he got close?
Looking out the window, I tried to ignore how my traitorous body was melting under his touch like wax and attempted to gauge how close we were to my apartment.
Racking my slowly-numbing brain, I also tried to figure out how both to play coy, and get him to realize he wasn’t getting any tonight, while not shutting him down completely for the future.
I needed to retreat a little, re-evaluate, and plan my next move.
And, more importantly, I needed to get out of this damned car.
If I hadn’t sent him a thousand different signals today, this would be so much easier. I should’ve gone home after lunch. I shouldn’t have even gone to lunch! That close call with Mrs. Tarillo had shaved years off my life. And of course, every time I thought about diving under that table, my cheeks went hot while panic boiled in my gut.
What if she’d seen me? What if Colt knew something was up and was now just biding his time?
My imagination conjured up an image of what Colt’s face would look like if he knew who I really was and it hit me like a slap.
Flinty-eyed, his smile cold, as Mrs. Tarillo warmly welcomed Emilio Ruffino’s little girl back to the States. I’d have probably been found floating in the East River tomorrow. Or parts of me, at least.
Any of the lingering lethargy from the meal and wine faded, leaving me so wide-awake, I wondered if I’d ever sleep tonight.
I shifted uneasily in the seat without thinking. Colt gently let go of me and a little huff escaped my lips before I could stop it. Silently, I prayed he would interpret that as displeasure, not as the relief it actually was. Suddenly the memory of our kiss forced its way forward and my thigh tingled where he’d been holding it.
I seriously need to get out of this car.
It was like I’d inadvertently become the rope in some game of tug-of-war between two sides of myself and I wasn’t sure which side I wanted to win.
Once I was away from his damn scent, which was making my mouth water more than the food from that bistro, I’d be good. At least Colt was interested in me and I’d taken the first steps towards gaining his trust. He didn’t know who I was. And all I needed was some space.
The battle may have been lost, but the war was far from over.
A war Colt didn’t even know he was in, never mind that he was going to lose it.
I was so caught up in the storm of emotions buffeting my overtired brain, I didn’t realize we’d parked and that Colt had already hopped out until his car door slammed behind him.
Oh no.
Popping my door open, Colt extended a hand, and helped me out.
“Thanks,” I said quickly, tugging myself free. “I-uh, had fun today. Thanks again for the food and the ride and everything. I’ll see you Monday at rehearsals!”
Please go home.
“You’re welcome,” said Colt, as he closed the car door, and it chirped as he locked it.
“Oh, Colt, you don’t have to walk me up. I’m fine from here.” I glanced around, a little embarrassed at the humble, lopsided brick building looming in front of us. His truck alone looked like it would pay for every apartment’s rent in there. For the next fifty years.
“Bella.”
I looked up, saw the stubborn line of his jaw, and sighed. Lost cause.
“This ain’t the greatest area. You bet your pretty ass I’m walking you all the way in.” He glanced around, his lip curling a little, as thoug
h ready to throw down with anyone who came into his line of sight. “Maybe I should take you shopping for a new apartment next.”
“Oh, uh, well, this is just temporary…” I trailed off as Colt began walking up to the building. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I trotted after him, wincing as my toes pinched in my boots.
All I wanted was to be in my PJ’s, with a locked door between me, and this insistent, persuasive, and pain-in-my-pretty-ass, six-foot-two alpha.
Colt stood close as I fumbled with the keys at the outside door. His smell was driving me wild, and I bit my lip, remembering the sculpted feel of his back. The pressure of his lips on mine. The hard bulge swelling between his legs.
Finally, I got the key in and we entered. Colt’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, and I could tell he was refraining from making a comment, though his appalled face said it all. The hallway was poorly lit, full of burned out lightbulbs, the tiled floor was cracked, and the elevator had a forsaken, horror-movie kind of look to it.
I sighed as we approached the elevator. Usually I took the stairs, but there was no way my exhausted, battered feet were making it up seven flights.
As we waited for the doors to open, I again made a half-hearted attempt to get him to go.
“You really can leave, Colt. I’m okay. Thank you, but this is too much.” What I really meant was, You’re too much, but close enough. “It’s been a long day and you still have to drive all the way home.”
“My grandmother would never forgive me if I didn’t walk a girl to the door,” Colt retorted with a lazy smile. At that moment the elevator doors rumbled open. “See, even the elevator knows a losing argument when she sees one.”
I forced out a laugh. “Well, thanks,” I said as we walked inside and the doors creaked back closed. Standing together in that dim elevator was making my blood whoosh through my body at alarming speeds.
Each floor seemed to pass with excruciating slowness.
Damn it all to hell that I had to live in this cheap-ass place. Even after most of his personal assets were seized, my father had left me enough money in a legitimate trust fund that I could’ve lived in a Manhattan penthouse if I wanted, but I didn’t think that quite fit the image of a “struggling dancer” shaking her ass for tips in an underground club. So I’d grabbed the first clean, top-floor apartment I’d seen.
And now I was stuck in this sketchy, snail-like elevator with Colt.
As though taking offense to the very idea, the lights in the elevator flickered, then blinked off for a moment. My spine prickled as they came back on. But we were almost there, passing six, headed toward seven.
Was it my imagination or was this fucking elevator slowing down? Something reverberated under our feet, then the whole box grinded to a stop and the space went black.
This couldn’t be happening. I’d been praying to get some space and now it was like my worst nightmare coming to life. Not only did I not have space, but we were stuck together in a dark, quiet little room. Colt’s scent and dark, sensual presence filled my senses and my skin prickled.
Heart pounding, I realized both of us were holding our breath.
Again, I had the sensation of being tugged between two extremes. Wavering on some thin, fragile line. Pushed. Pulled. Flipped upside down.
And suddenly, all the reasons I wasn’t supposed to touch him skittered away. Something snapped deep inside of me. Always quick on the draw, it was like Colt knew it.
“Bella.”
My name was nothing more than a low groan and, a second later, we were all over each other. Picking me up with ease, Colt had my legs around his waist as he crushed his lips against mine. Stepping forward, he pressed me against the cold metal wall, and hiked my dress up. His hands gripped my ass and he ground against me, his cock straining against his jeans and hitting me in just the right spot.
“Jesus,” muttered Colt, breaking the kiss with a gasp. “Fucking finally. I was just about at my breaking point. I want to taste every last inch of you.”
Yes, please yes, I thought helplessly.
I couldn’t take this powerful need anymore either.
The sweater material was so stretchy that he managed to tug it down to the point that my cleavage and half my bra was exposed. His teeth, followed by his tongue, scraped across my collarbones, and the swells of my breasts. Reaching up, I ran my fingers through his hair, moaning as he kissed my neck again. His five o’clock shadow pricked the sensitive skin and heat flashed between my legs.
Then our mouths met again, tongues fighting, and I was digging my fingers into his shoulders under his jacket, then his shirt. The darkness was supercharging our frenzy somehow. It was like we couldn’t get enough of each other, with each touch increasing our want, and our need to learn each other’s bodies. Leave no ridge, no curve, no piece of skin untouched or untasted.
Colt shrugged off his jacket and I let out a whimper as he tossed it. He hiked my dress up to my waist and I squeaked when the cold metal hit my bare back. But Colt warmed me up, his hands roaming up and down my body, as he let out a rough, sexy sound that, on its own, would have made me wet if I hadn’t been already. My skin was becoming feverish, my mind spinning, and back arching.
Sweat dripped down my neck. Colt’s skin was becoming slick, too, as I explored his hard stomach under his shirt. He groaned into my mouth, then our teeth clinked hard as we kissed with more and more urgency.
Colt’s hands found my breasts, rolling the hardened nipples between his fingers. Then he pinched. Tugged. I cried out in his mouth, and he closed his teeth over my bottom lip, making me arch even more.
When we broke apart, both of us gasping, his name fell from my lips in a desperate plea.
“Colt.”
And I knew there was no turning back.
Colt
I left the fucking condoms in the car.
The second Bella said my name in that sexy little moan, that was all I could think. That and how I’d underestimated how distracting she was.
Since when was Colt Capestrana caught without a rubber?
But I was stuck now. Literally.
“Colt,” Bella whimpered again, her hard nipples rubbing against my palms, and I caught a deep whiff of her scent. All I wanted was to make her come like she’d never come before. I didn’t want her murmuring my name. I wanted her screaming it. I wanted to make sure she remembered this. Remembered me.
I said a silent prayer for strength and, releasing her luscious tits, I let my fingers smooth down her stomach. So fucking soft. I let her legs slide to the floor and then bent down and laid a kiss on her lower belly. Her ab muscles jumped beneath my mouth and I groaned.
Then I slid my hands down to her juicy ass and squeezed. She arched against me as I dipped my fingers into the waistband of her tights and slid them down. I yanked her boots and tights off in one motion, praying to God the elevator would stay stuck.
Bella let out a sharp gasp as I straightened and spread her legs wide for me. She hooked one of them back around my waist even tighter this time, her heel digging in my ass, and it was all I could do not to yank down my zipper and bury myself deep.
Pinning her in that position with my thighs, I sucked on her nipple and tugged her panties aside. Excitement raced up my spine. Back and forth, back and forth, I teased the outer folds of her pussy. She was already so wet.
“Dark, mad magic, Rabbit,” I whispered into her ear as I slid a finger into her wet heat. For a second, she froze and then she bucked against me, burying my digit deeper. The feel of her tight channel closing around me made the blood rush to my ears and my cock pulse with need. “You like that?” Sliding in another finger, I flicked that little bundle of nerves with my thumb, and she let out a squeaky mewl. “I got something else you’ll like, too.”
Keeping her pinned to the wall, I pinched her clit with my left hand and captured her mouth again as I twirled my right hand fingers in a little deeper.
Bella gasped into my mouth and I took the opportunity to domin
ate her tongue. A hum sounded in my throat as I closed my eyes to picture the scene I couldn’t see in the darkness. My frame pressing her half-dressed, gorgeous body to the metal wall. Her red hair falling into her eyes. Her plump breasts bouncing. And her wet little slit, filled with my hard, calloused fingers.
Her silky folds were even more delicious than I’d imagined and my cock raged inside of my pants.
Pulling my mouth away, I groaned, “You feel so fucking good, Bella.”
She grabbed the front of my shirt, panting. “Don’t just play with me, Colt, fuck me.” Her voice was low, sexy, and commanding.
God, I wanted to. But if Mama Ange would’ve killed me for not walking a girl to the door, she’d have castrated me for sleeping with one without a rubber. I was a lot of things, but I was no deadbeat dad and I wasn’t ready to become a father or put Bella into a position she might regret. I struggled to find my mental center and pushed aside the need clawing at me, instead focusing solely on Bella.
I began pumping in and out of her with my right hand, rubbing her clit with my thumb, and used my left hand to fist into her hair. Her curls were so soft and I tugged her head back to bare her neck to me. Then, as I nipped along toward her jaw, she cried out, and dug her fingernails into my shoulders as though trying to steady herself.
“Please, Colt.”
“No, no. I don’t think so,” I rasped out. Giving her hair a good final yank, I captured both of her forearms in one swift motion, and pinned her arms easily above her head. “This is all about you, Bella. Come for me, Rabbit. You know you want to.” My fingers moved faster, plunging in and out now, long deep strokes meant to drive her wild. She shuddered against me and my cock wept. “Yeah, how’s that?” I demanded, jaw clenched as I found my own need.
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