I bit my lip in delight. “Want me to tell you what else I need?”
He groaned. “Let me hear it, baby. Tell me exactly what’ll give my cock an even tighter squeeze.”
I leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “A deeper angle.”
On a primal roar that rang sweetly in my ears, he dragged me away from the lockers and threw me onto the wooden bench where his towel lay abandoned and forgotten. Grabbing my hips, he pulled my ass straight up in the air, large hands and thick fingers splaying over my cheeks.
“So ripe and luscious,” he rasped, hands kneading, caressing. “So smooth. Looks like a piece of caramel fucking candy. I wanna bite it…just to see if it’ll taste as sweet.”
“Then do it—”
He did.
His teeth nipped at my flesh, leaving the barest of stings. I knew that any pain Luka delivered, he would soothe away in the next instant. I had nothing to fear from this man except for the possibility of him carving out too big of a space in my life. Embedding myself too deeply in his world. As frequently as I’d been telling myself to avoid exactly that, I still felt it happening every time I was in his presence.
Then his mouth went lower…and lower.
My eyes rolled back, head falling forward, as his lips closed over my swollen folds. The flat of his tongue ran along my soaking slit, briefly dipping inside in a maddening tease. Then it found that bundle of nerves that was throbbing for more attention. He kissed it, loved on it for a few seconds, but it was over far too soon.
He came up with a satisfied hum. “Cheating on my diet here with all this sugar, baby. You are the ultimate guilty pleasure, you know that?”
I groaned in frustration. “Everyone’s allowed a cheat day. Get back down there. Por favor.”
I screamed when his cock slammed back inside me.
“Or I can just make you come this way.”
I nodded. “That works too.”
He started pumping his hips hard and fast until I was sliding forward on the bench, balanced precariously on my elbows. He was so blissfully deep. In fact, I wasn’t even sure how I was taking his size, even at this angle. I was feeling him in places I didn’t even know could be reached.
“And here I thought your tits were the most gorgeous things I’ve ever seen.” He slapped my ass, eliciting a squeal from me. “But the way your ass jiggles as you rock against me, the way your snug pussy is holding on for dear life… We’ve got a new frontrunner for best view in the city.”
“It has to compete against you without a shirt,” I panted. “I’m not sure my ass has what it takes to beat that.”
He chuckled darkly, tightening his hold on my hips. “Knew you’d been looking.”
“Por supuesto.” Of course.
When he growled, I imagined him gnashing his teeth. “I’m burning all my shirts tonight.”
I wanted to laugh, but he started pounding into me so fiercely I could barely breathe. He’d go hard and fast and then slow down. His stamina was staggering, and I knew I couldn’t keep up. I thought I was in good shape, but not compared to Luka’s sexual endurance. Dios, he wasn’t exaggerating about that barbell. It massaged places that wouldn’t normally be given attention. It…ay…it delivered just the right amount of pressure, pressure, pressure—
“I can’t hold on anymore,” I whimpered. “Please, I need to…”
When my hand lowered to my center, he immediately snatched it up and flung it aside. Sounding incensed that I had dared to do such a thing, he bent over me and hissed in my ear, “That’s my job.”
Well, perdóname.
His thumb rubbed vigorous circles around my clit, intensifying the frenzy I was already in. I tried to make it last longer, to draw out the pleasure like he was so obviously doing, but I couldn’t. I wanted to dive head first into that pool of glorious release and submerge myself in transcendent abandon.
“Luka!”
His name burst from me as paradise cascaded over my flesh. It was so intense that my lower muscles seized around him, locking up, until eventually loosening in trembling aftershocks.
“Sweet Jesus mother Christ,” he spat. “I feel all of that, baby girl. So hot and wet. Ah, God, I’m done. Fucking done.”
On a torrent of violent curses, he pulled out and emptied every last drop of his seed onto my back. He spread it around with his tip, like he was drawing a picture. Or writing something.
Marking me.
Branding me.
Why did I like that? I shouldn’t appreciate the idea of a man claiming me or thinking he owned me in any way. Especially not after what happened in my last relationship. But I couldn’t deny something felt oddly right about what Luka had just done. Warm liquid spread through my veins, comforting me. Making me feel strangely…whole. Like I was somehow…at home.
But this wasn’t my home.
How in the world could I even look at another man now? Had that been his goal? To make it impossible for me to even consider another man being capable of replicating what Luka had just done to my body and mind? To convince me that every other male on the planet surely paled in comparison to Luka Rossetti?
If so, job well done.
I couldn’t even fathom anyone else making me feel the way this man did.
And with that realization, my worst fears were realized.
“I’m not so sure about this, Luka.”
Cat’s shaky voice both amused and humbled me. The woman could turn into a sexual goddess at the drop of a hat, then morph into an adorable, self-conscious girl-next-door with the flip of a switch. I had to constantly remind myself that despite her sometimes jaded, world-weary outlook, she was still just twenty-three. And I suspected she’d seen more in her life than she had yet to tell me.
Something had been missing from the story about her sister’s disappearance. I didn’t know what, but Cat had been holding back. I knew it with every fiber of my being.
I’d have her secrets.
There was no other option.
“I wouldn’t bring you if I wasn’t sure about it, Cat.”
For about the fortieth time, she adjusted the tissue paper inside the small bag she was carrying. “But this is your family. I’m not sure it’s even appropriate that I be there.”
That ridiculous statement had my feet stutter-stepping on the sidewalk. We were about a block away from my parents’ brownstone in Prospect Park. The chilly February temperature wasn’t too brisk, so we’d decided to walk to their place from the gym.
“Why the hell wouldn’t it be appropriate?” I barked.
I forced myself to calm the hell down when she flinched at my harsh tone. “I’m living in the apartment above your gym. I’m teaching pole dancing classes at your gym. And I’m a—” She cut herself off, exhaling heavily. “A stripper. I doubt your mother would appreciate you bringing a girl like that home to meet her.”
Mm, yeah, can’t take hearing that.
I walked her backward until she was flush against a brick building at the mouth of an abandoned alley. Off the street enough that I could say what needed to be said without our fellow citizens overhearing. I dropped the bag I’d been holding that contained Lexi and Nico’s baby shower gift and caged her against the wall with my arms.
“I don’t want to ever hear you talk about yourself like that again, understand?” I said through gritted teeth. “Stop acting like you’re not good enough for anyone above gutter trash. You’re insulting both of us when you say shit like that, so just stop. Any man would be lucky to bring a woman like you home and would see it as a fucking privilege.”
Which I did.
I was far from being an old hand at bringing girls home to meet Mom, so I wasn’t entirely sure how this was supposed to go. I’d never had a steady girlfriend before, so I didn’t even know how to be a boyfriend. If that’s what I am. The fact that it had taken Cat some serious, hardcore convincing to come today suggested that I shouldn’t jump the gun on labeling whatever we were. I was getting the distinct imp
ression that if I dropped the “G” bomb on her, she’d hightail it out of the city so fast she’d leave a dust trail behind her.
Which both offended and infuriated me.
Patience. You’ll get her there.
“There are just a lot of things I can’t talk about.” She waved her hand in a nervous gesture. “You know, about where I come from and Luciana… I don’t want to be rude by deflecting their questions.”
I put my hand up, stopping her. “I’m way ahead of you. Believe it or not, my parents are used to their sons showing up with mysterious women who like their privacy. But they respect our judgment. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. From any of them.”
When her little body squirmed against me, every single thought bouncing around in my skull turned dark. In the most sexually forbidden, erotic way possible. Now was not the time to fuck her in a dirty alley. The idea sounded fantastic, but we had some place to be, and we weren’t exactly hidden from view. But the day before, in that locker room…
Hottest, tightest fuck of my life.
She was unbelievable. The passion, the desire, the uninhibited way she told me exactly what she needed and wasn’t afraid to demand it in graphic detail. I had never been with a woman like her in my life, and couldn’t imagine having anything less than her now.
I hadn’t just fucked her.
She’d fucked me. Like, really fucked me.
I was done for other women. All other females in the universe were dead to my dick. Because only one could get it hard and aching anymore. Much like it was right then, stiffening against Cat’s leg. As amazing as the locker room sex had been, I’d sworn to myself that the next time would be gentler, in a bed. I didn’t want her to think this was all about quick fucks on our lunch breaks for me. Cat deserved more care and consideration than that.
But all of that tended to fly out the window whenever she acted like she couldn’t care less about a bed. Whenever she encouraged me to make it as rough and sweaty and obscene as possible.
Her eyebrow notched up when she felt the hardness against her inner thigh.
I shrugged. “Can’t help that. It’s nothing new. I’m just not hiding it from you anymore.”
“And I’m not asking you to.”
Like the exasperating little minx she was, she thrust her hips into me.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “You know, we can give Nico and Lexi their baby gift anytime.”
She smiled. “Keeping you from your family on such an important day is certainly not going to win me any points.”
Wait, did that mean she wanted to win points with my family? I felt a weird pang in my chest at the thought.
“These are the kinds of family events that my má says are sacred,” she added.
Her face fell at the mention of her mother, so I covered her mouth with mine. I didn’t want to see her sad today. Ever since I met her, she hadn’t smiled enough, hadn’t laughed enough. And for good reason. But today, I wanted to give her just a microscopic bit of normalcy amidst the foggy chaos her life had been over the past several months.
Her silken lips slid over mine with sensual confidence. I had already memorized how her full upper lip fit against mine, how wild it drove her when I lightly sucked on it. The fact that she was letting me do this out in public was not only a gift, but a step in the right direction.
I didn’t know where this road was taking us.
I just wanted to keep traveling down it until we hit dirt.
Then we’ll just go off-road and make our own path. Together.
Yeah, I needed to get my shit together before my brothers saw me like this.
Having distracted Cat from her melancholy, I pulled out of the kiss. Something I wouldn’t have thought myself capable of mere days ago. But now I had the promise of Cat’s body waiting for me once we were alone, so I could be patient. Sort of. Besides, I was learning that with her, the buildup could be its own form of foreplay.
“Enough groping me, woman. At least try to restrain yourself from attacking me when we’re around my parents.”
Another goal accomplished. Making her laugh.
“Who attacked whom, corazón?”
Grabbing her hand, I dragged her behind me as my long stride ate up the rest of the distance to their brownstone. If I saw her pressed up against that wall for one more second, all ripe for the taking, I’d rut her like a wild animal during mating season.
“Keep talking that Spanish to me, baby girl, and you’ll have to use your pepper spray on me.”
She scoffed. “Says the man who told me how beautiful I was in Italian when I answered my door earlier.”
I grinned to myself. My parents took our family heritage seriously and had insisted on teaching all of us Italian from a young age.
I squeezed her hand tighter. My chest hadn’t felt so light, so free of complicated emotions in…maybe ever.
“Pick up the pace, bellissima. We’re going to be late.”
They were having a girl.
Nico hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, but he’d been secretly hoping for a girl. Same with Mom—a.k.a., the over-the-moon nonna-to-be—who had been clutching her rosary non-stop, praying relentlessly for more estrogen in our ocean of Rossetti testosterone.
“What the hell are we supposed to get this kid for her first Christmas?” I looked around the sunroom, where Lexi and Nico had been opening their gifts. Scattered wrapping paper and bows in every shade of pink you could imagine littered the floor. “She’s got enough diapers, clothes, and toys here to last her until she’s five.”
Nico huffed. “Shows how much you know about women. We have six bedrooms and I still don’t think there’s enough closet space for everything this baby supposedly needs.”
Yeah, he sounded really annoyed about that. As he pseudo-complained with a grin on his face and a wistful lilt in his voice.
My attention was drawn to the other side of the room where all the girls were crowded around Lexi as she opened the gift from Cat and I. Part of it was practical stuff—swaddles, onesies, burp rags, etc. But the item they were “awing” over was the one Cat alone had contributed. A tiny beaded bracelet, made specifically for babies to ward off mal de ojo, or “evil eye”, in Latin cultures.
“I know it sounds like a silly superstition,” Cat said as she explained the bracelet’s purpose to Lexi with the cutest blush on her face. “But my brother, sister, and I all wore one when we were infants, and we were hardly ever sick. At least, that’s what my má claims.”
Lexi fingered the small pink and ivory-colored beads of the tiny bracelet, smiling widely. “I love it, Cat. That’s really thoughtful of you.”
“Plus, it’s never too early to teach her how to accessorize,” Jasmine chimed in, making all the girls laugh.
I watched as relief crossed Cat’s face at Lexi’s acceptance of her gift. In fact, she had relaxed more and more over the course of the afternoon as she bonded with all the girls, Gia and Roxy specifically. It started the moment Cat met Mom and handed her the gift she’d made just for her.
“It’s probably stupid,” Cat had said to me on the walk over. “Handmade gifts are considered cheap these days, aren’t they?”
I’d shot her an admonishing look. “They’re considered thoughtful and meaningful.”
When Mom opened the gift with a curious smile, her entire face had softened with affection.
“It’s a gardening apron,” Cat had explained, referring to the crochet apron with multiple pockets. “Luka said you enjoy working in your garden, and I thought this might be more convenient than carrying a tool caddy around everywhere.”
She’d winced in what had looked like humiliation.
Until Mom pulled her in for a tight hug.
Then Cat had hugged my mother back, fiercely. When they separated, her eyes had been noticeably watery, something she’d frantically tried to hide.
“This is wonderful, Cat,” Mom had said, holding the apron out for her inspection. “I can’t imagine how
long it must have taken you.”
Cat had ducked her head sheepishly. “I’m a night owl and an early worm, so I have a lot of time to spare.”
She was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
“I got a call this morning from the state prosecutor’s office,” Bryce Connelly said in a low voice, jarring me back to the present. He spoke lowly, so only us guys on this side of the sunroom could hear him. “And you’re not going to like it.”
“Not like what?” Dad asked sharply from the wicker chair he lounged in.
“Santi Gabbiano’s trial has been moved back another month.”
We all released simultaneous curses under our breaths.
“What’s the problem now?” Cris spat, his gaze flickering over to his wife before returning to us. “Last time, the defense team tried getting some bullshit past the judge about Santi not being fit enough to stand trial due to his physical health.”
Bryce’s face was grim, raising my alarms. “Well now, it’s the witnesses for the prosecution. They’re being threatened, and some are retracting their statements.”
“They were warned about the possibility of threats,” Rome pointed out, his finger peeling back the label on his beer bottle. “They’re all under protection, aren’t they?”
Bryce nodded, his face looking wan. “They are, but they’re not the only ones being threatened. The prosecution team have all received death threats. Including the lead prosecutor.”
“Carmen LaMacchia?” I asked.
Another grave nod from the detective.
His expression was understandable, considering that was the woman he looked at with far more in his eyes than professional courtesy.
“That means he’s got to watch his back behind bars for another month,” Ace spoke up. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Raphael tries to knock him off. After all, Santi did go after his Boss seat.”
“Speaking of Raphael,” Dad cut in, “where are we on the trafficking situation?”
I threw my arm across the back cushion of the wicker sofa. This position gave me a better angle to stare at Cat. “My win last week gave me an in with a Romanian named Ivanov.” The man in the white suit. “Ace ran his name through some international databases. He’s been on Interpol’s short list of suspects for international sex crimes, but they’ve never been able to get enough evidence on him. The only thing he’s ever been charged with was operating an illicit massage parlor in Bucharest, but he somehow managed to avoid conviction.”
Glitter and Greed (Brooklyn Brothers #4) Page 18