Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts)

by Ely, Wendy

  “Hard.”

  “And?” His fingers slid down her arms and finally wrapped around her hands.

  “Dangerous.” Her thighs started to tingle, her panties dampened, while her core yearned for him.

  “What else, baby?” His lips found the curve of her neck, sucking softly.

  “Exciting.” She pulled the trigger. The bullet wizzed into the can.

  “Anything else?” His hands found their way back up to her shoulder, slid down her back, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. He slipped them up her sweatshirt and jerked her bra up, freeing her taut nipples.

  “Forbidden. Dangerous. Have you used this gun in a hit?” She let her head fall back against his shoulder, forgetting about everything but his fingers massaging her breasts.

  “Yes,” he whispered in her ear. “Are you excited?”

  She nodded. “Let’s go inside.” She turned around to press her lips against his. His moan made her ache for him. She wanted him. Now. “I want to make love to you at this majestic place before we hunt down the money.”

  “You got it.” He let go of her and flipped her up into his arms. “Make sure you close the hammer.”

  “I did.” She giggled as he carried her across the snow. She carried the gun in the hand flung over his shoulder. “Be careful. The stairs are slippery. I almost fell down them when I came out here.”

  “Like walk slow?” He pretended to run with her.

  Her scream dissolved into giggles. “One kiss and you act like a crazy man! I’d hate to see you after we have some good sex.”

  “Last night was pretty good.”

  “You haven’t seen nothing yet.”

  She tilted her head to look at him. A second later, his lips pressed against hers with a feverish haste. The hunger for food she had earlier was now an intense hunger for him. Every part of her body yearned for him. Her murmur grew into a moan as his strong fingers slid their way up her shirt and circled her nipple.

  He pulled her to him. His arms reached around her as if he’d read her thoughts, or maybe knew what she desired, and flicked the clasp open on her bra. She shoved her shirt up over her head, tossing it to the floor.

  He grabbed her hand to lead her to the couch. She let her ass rest against the cool fabric. His mouth found her taut nipple and nibbled it gently, then sucked, sending desire pounding its way through her body. Her fingers ran through the short strands of his black hair. She took his dick in her hand and began to stroke it gently. When he moaned against the sensitive skin of her breast, chills swept over her bare skin.

  “I want you,” she breathed against his ear.

  “Take me, Gabi.”

  Gabrielle pushed his sweats down over his hips and watched them drop to the floor before kicking her own jeans away from the bottom of her feet. Her thong panties followed the jeans. Once totally naked, she slid up on the back of the couch and pulled him to her. His lips found hers, and he used his tongue to pull her into his passion. It was hard, wet. Needy. Gabrielle loved every second.

  The head of his dick rubbed against her pleasure spot, sending waves of arousal through her veins. She pulled her lips from his, and moaned. “Oh, Mikolas.” Her breaths came out short and raspy, full of desire. She clung to his body as she neared the cliff of orgasm.

  “Don’t stop, Mik,” she begged. “It feels wonderful.”

  He smiled down at her. “Not yet, honey,” he said. “You want to feel me inside of you, right?” He moved his face close to hers.

  “Oh yes.”

  “Are you sure?” His breath tickled her ear.

  His mouth moved down to her breast and sucked it hard. She clutched onto his shoulders, trying to keep herself from trembling. “Please,” she whispered, her fingers sliding through his hair.

  Mik spread her legs wide as he stood again. His body wedged between them. She put her legs up around his waist, he pulled her to him, letting the thick head of his dick barely enter her.

  “Oh,” she panted.

  “Do you want me stop?” His hands shook as he moved them up to her shoulders. He looked her in the eye.

  She shook her head.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Please make love to me, Mik.” She pulled him to her again in a ground shaking kiss. Before she knew it, he slipped all the way into her, sending her flying over the cliff of ecstasy. It wasn’t too long after hers that he joined her in flight.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The light shining on her face was much brighter than the soft glow of the candle they usually used at night. She peeked one eye open and then snapped them both open. The lamp was on! She patted the mattress behind her. “Mik, look! The electricity is on.” Her hand slid over the empty bed. She sat up to look around. Mik was gone.

  The black shadows looming around the corners told her it was still dark outside.

  She found him sitting on the couch with a book clutched in one hand and a mug of hot cocoa in the other. He looked up at her and smiled.

  “I’m so hungry,” she said.

  He set his book on the coffee table. “I was going to make you a late dinner, but the food is spoiled. The fridge should probably be cleaned out before we leave this morning.”

  She shook her head. “I’ll do it. Is it still snowing?” she asked as she went into the bedroom to grab some clean clothes. A warm shower sounded so wonderful to her but it would have to wait until after the nasty fridge was cleaned out.

  “I think the snow has stopped, but the ground still looks slick out there. Gabi, please be careful.” He had already gone to the kitchen and was rustling around.

  It seemed like the snow level had gone down some but she shrugged and figured it was probably wishful thinking on her part.

  The garbage cans were behind the cabin. She had seen them while playing the snow. She pulled the plastic rubber can off the wood platform. A metal handle stuck up from one side with hinges on the edge of the other. Excitement tingled through her.

  She dragged the garbage can a few feet away from what looked like a door and then tried to pull it open. No lock was visible, but she wasn’t able to lift the door. She moved the second can from the other half of the wood. Grabbing the handle, she put one foot on the other side of the wood and pulled up with all her strength. The door creaked open, revealing the dark hole that went underneath the cabin. It looked like an old cellar, but she didn’t have to go down to know what she’d found. The vault.

  She took the garbage can with her as she went back to the cabin. “Mik! I found the vault and I need a flashlight,” she said as she went into the cabin. She put the can in the kitchen where Mik stood, clearing out the cupboards.

  “What, Gabi?” He kept his back to her.

  “I found the vault. It looks like an old cellar under the house. I haven’t gone down there yet, but it has to be where the money is.” She started rummaging through the drawers but didn’t find any. A candle, that’s what she’d use. She took a new one out of the box and grabbed the lighter they’d been using when they didn’t have electricity.

  Mik stood up from the couch. “No. Don’t go down there, Gabi. You have no idea what you might find. Let me go.”

  She spun around to face him. “I can do this.” Her hands gripped her hips.

  Mik shook his head and reached out to her. “I don’t want you going, but if you insist, at least let me get some clothes on.”

  She planted a kiss on his lips and then smiled. “And I need to face my fear of the dark. This will help.”

  His face stated twisted in a frown. “What about dead bodies?”

  “No way.” She let out a small laugh.

  While Mik rushed into the bedroom, she went to the door. She didn’t want to wait another second to get out of there.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Gabrielle pushed the cobwebs away and groaned. She had been right on one account to Mik, but so had he when he told her she shouldn’t be going alone. Why did she feel compelled to go instead of waiting the few extr
a minutes for him to dress? Because she had to get over her fear of the dark.

  She held a candle out in front of her, so she could search the walls enclosing the staircase for a light switch. Surely with a cabin designed as grand as this, her father would have put some sort of lighting down there. She walked clear to the bottom of the stairs before the frayed string brushed against her cheek. A deep breath escaped her lungs as if she’d found her lifeline. She gave it a yank, and light filled the large room with shelves lining the walls. Toward the back of the room was a door.

  She blew the candle out and set it on the small table in the corner by the door. Fear of the dark shadows started creeping up. She pushed the feeling back down into the pit of her stomach. “I’m okay. Nothing bad is down here,” she said to herself. She pushed the code she’d memorized into the key pad, listened to the two beeps, and watched until the green light blinked. The click of the lock made her anxious.

  She stared at the door. Should she go in or wait for Mik? It was as if it was calling to her. A grim smile crept on her lips. Her heart pounded in her ribcage. Too late to turn back now. Fear rushed through her veins and even though her gut screamed at her to stop, she put her hands on the door.

  “Do it,” she ordered herself. Her sneaker hit the bottom of the door, sending it flying open. It hit the back wall with a loud bang. Oops.

  She walked over to the shelves and lifted one of the boxes out to peek inside. It was full of guns. She sucked in her breath. Her hands trembled as she moved to the next box. Another filled with guns. They didn’t seem to be in any particular organization. Machine guns were piled on top of small handguns. Row after row she went until she reached another door.

  The room was dark, so she grabbed the candle off the table and patted her pockets for some matches. Hopefully there would be a light in there, so she wouldn’t have to rely on the very dim glow of the candle. She looked around for a hanging string but found none this time. She sucked in her breath and walked all the way into the large room.

  This room had shelves lining the walls as well. The difference was instead of boxes, there were small plastic bags stacked one on top of another. In the center of the room sat the table with an industrial size box of bags matching the ones on the shelves. She edged closer to the shelves. Her eyes didn’t want to focus to the darkness, forcing her to pull at some more cobwebs and walk even closer. She held the candle over the plastic. It looked like money, but it couldn’t all be hundred dollar bills.

  She picked up the small plastic wrapped bundle and sure enough, it was cash. The entire room was lined with shelves. Each shelf was stacked solid with cash. No way could this be real.

  “Gabi?” Mik called from somewhere near the first door.

  “I’m back here.”

  Heavy footsteps approached, letting her relax a tiny bit.

  She closed her eyes and opened them, expecting to be some other place but she wasn’t. She was still inside the room filled with money.

  “Did you find the money?”

  “Yes.” She took a deep breath and tried to calm her breathing.

  “Are you okay?” He came into the room.

  Her hand covered her mouth. She had known her family was involved with illegal activity but didn’t know to what extent. Since her father hadn’t given her permission to come up to the cabin, she was in a huge amount of trouble. Hopefully he didn’t believe in murdering his daughter as he did other people.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Johnny’s plan was finally going his way. The poisoning hadn’t worked and neither did the set-up at the warehouse, but fuck, he was going to get Enrico and whoever else got into his way. He had to. A lot of money would be in his hands while gaining a new status. Too much rode on this hit. He couldn’t fuck it up again.

  Following them had worked this far. He had been a short distance behind them when he had spotted the ugly white vehicle turning up the mountain road. A sheriff’s car, with lights flashing, cut Johnny’s rental car off. He’d pulled to the side of the road to wait a few minutes but didn’t get a chance to move the car before both vehicles drove passed him again. He’d found the van parked in the hotel parking lot. It was going to be easier than he had thought.

  With the snow slowly melting, it wouldn’t be too much longer before they tried to make it up the mountain again. He could take out the three guys right there in their room but he wanted to locate the vault. The only guys who knew the location lay sound asleep now in the hotel room. The idea of all of the Family’s money made his hands itch. He figured it was loaded with cash—cash that would set him up for a long time. There was going to be a murder up there at the ritzy cabin plus a robbery. He had his gun ready to shoot all of them. Every single one of those assholes. Oh, how sweet it would be.

  ****

  Gabrielle hurried into the chilly bedroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around her, finding Mik sitting on the foot of the bed. “I’m glad you’re ready. It’ll only take me a few minutes and then we’re out of here.”

  His gaze slid over her bare shoulder as he reached a hand out to her. “Come here.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “Nope. I need to get dressed.” She tossed the towel onto the chair and grabbed a fresh pair of panties. After sliding them up her hips, she slipped into a t-shirt.

  “Gabi,” he said, never taking his eyes off her. His hand connected with hers, guiding her over to him.

  “Damn, Mik. Are you always going to have the ability to seduce me like this?” Her legs straddled his legs as she pressed her mouth against his.

  “I sure hope so,” he answered, his voice gruff against her kisses.

  “Hello?” A dreaded voice rang out in the cabin.

  Her lips froze on top of Mikolas’ with her eyes wide open in shock. Why had her father come here? The mumbled sounds suggested there were more than just him in the living room.

  “Oh, shit,” she said, jumping off Mikolas. She glanced at the door and then back at him while whispering, “This can’t be happening. Tell me I’m dreaming, Mik.”

  “You’re not dreaming, baby,” he whispered.

  She grabbed her discarded pants and slipped them up over her pink thong. Not worrying about a bra, she tossed on a t-shirt. “Stay in here. I need to tell him I’m with you so he isn’t surprised. Besides, if he freaks out, it‘ll give you time to run and we’ll meet up in town.”

  The bedroom door creaked open enough for her to pass through and then quickly shut behind her again to cut off any view of the bedroom. Her father stood outside of the door with one hand tucked in his shirt, probably ready to pull his gun.

  “It’s okay, Dad.”

  “Gabrielle, what are you doing here?” her father questioned.

  The two guys standing behind him relaxed a bit but Gabrielle figured they were never really allowed to be totally at ease. At least Mikolas’ father hadn’t joined Enrico on this trip.

  “Didn’t Mom tell you anything?”

  “You said you were going on vacation with a friend.”

  “Mom wanted me to leave because of your death threat. She told me about your cabin. I came here with a friend. I just didn’t tell you I was coming here. A friend is with me.”

  She wished she had put on the bra. One of the men, a new associate of her father’s, ogled her breasts. Lucky for him, her father hadn’t seen or Rif would be a dead man.

  Her arms didn’t do much to guard the scenery her breasts were providing to the men. “Can we talk privately?” she asked her father.

  He snapped his fingers. “Outside. I need to talk to my daughter.”

  The men hurried out the door, giving Gabrielle a chance to relax her arms. “I need to tell you something really important. I hope you’re not upset.”

  “Has anyone hurt you?” his father demanded to know.

  She gave a small laugh. “No. Can we sit down?”

  Gabrielle followed her father over to the leather couch. He sat against the soft cushion and put his feet on the coffe
e table. Gabrielle marveled at the fact that her father could furnish his house with tables that cost a few grand and then put his dirty shoes on them. But then again, money wasn’t an issue for him.

  “What’s going on? Where’s your friend?” he fired at her as he took the gun from his waistband and set it on the couch between them.

  “In there,” she said, pointing in the direction of the bedroom.

  “What did you say her name was?”

  She sucked in her breath and slowly let it out. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m not here with a girl friend.”

  “What? You have a man here with you?”

  “Yes, Dad, and it didn’t start out the way it looks to you right now.”

  Enrico grabbed the gun again and rested it against his thick thigh. He glanced back at the bedroom door as if he would be ready to shoot any man who walked through it. And he probably would.

  “How did it happen?”

  “I’ll tell you, but you have to know who’s in there first.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He waved the gun in the air like it was his third hand. “Tell me.”

  “Only if you promise me two things.” Gabrielle sucked in her breath with anticipation, ready for him to explode.

  Even though Enrico was the Don of the Mafia, one thing was for certain. He never broke a promise to his wife or daughter. Gabrielle couldn’t remember a time when her father told her something and hadn’t come through with it.

  “Shit, Gab, just tell me what it is. I don’t have time for this bullshit.”

  She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest as she shook her head. “Not until you promise you’ll listen to my whole story and you won’t kill the guy no matter what.”

  His face twisted, leaving deep creases between his eyebrows, his mouth formed into a frown. He remained silent as he set the gun back on the couch. After a few moments he muttered, “Fine. I’ll listen and I won’t kill him.” The frown set even deeper into his face.

  “It’s Mikolas.”

  Enrico jumped to his feet, grabbing his gun in the process. He was quick for an almost fifty-year-old. “You better be talking about another Mikolas and not Mikolas Russo.”