Shadow Warrior

by Feehan, Christine

  He could barely breathe. He hadn’t expected to feel so differently. Everything was different with Grace. Her absolute trust and faith in him. The feel of her skin. The scent of her. The sound of her cries. He found his need of her had grown beyond anything he’d ever experienced. Her body was hot, and the moment he pressed the head of his cock into her, he was surrounded by hot, liquid flames, squeezing down on him, drawing him deeper into that fiery paradise while at the same time, fighting to keep him out.

  “Gattina, relax for me.”

  She was so tight, he doubted if he could move through that constricting channel. He could feel her heartbeat right through his cock. Or maybe it was his, pulsing and throbbing. The sensation of being inside her was both heaven and hell. Looking down at her face, that exquisite, beautiful face, for the first time in his life, he felt overwhelming love. It was all-encompassing and heightened the sensations pouring over him as he relentlessly pushed deeper, feeling her channel gripping and milking his cock. Silken heat wrapped him tight, strangling him. A million hot tongues rasped over him.

  Vittorio threw back his head, but not so far that he couldn’t keep eye contact with her. His hands settled on her hips, as her body opened slowly, reluctantly for him. She squirmed just a little and he caught the faint sheen of tears.

  “Relax for me, gattina. Talk. I need to know what you’re feeling.”

  “It burns. Stretches.” She gasped the explanation.

  He had been pressing steadily, but gently forward. He stopped immediately to give her body time to adjust to his size. “That will subside. This is going to be a little uncomfortable at first, but that will ease once you’re used to me.”

  It was difficult to wait. The feeling was so perfect. Scorching hot. Tight. That pounding pulse, sending a million flames flickering like licks of lightning through his body. He breathed away the need to slam deep, but his fingers tightened on her hips, holding her there when she kept moving. Squirming. Adding to the building need in him.

  “I’m good.”

  He’d never wanted to hear two words more. Still, he studied her face, waiting for the tension to recede. “That’s my girl.”

  She’d never looked more beautiful, with her skin flushed a soft rose. Her breasts heaved, every movement sending a jolt through them, so they swayed invitingly, drawing his attention. He could see her stomach muscles rippling and her thighs tightening with every forward press.

  He wasn’t going to prolong his entry. He waited until she was exhaling, and he buried himself deep, moving right through the thin barrier and claiming her body for his own.

  Grace cried out, pain flashing through her. Instinctively, she tried to crawl away, even though she’d been expecting it.

  “Grace.”

  That voice. Intense. Compelling. Impossible to ignore. She opened her eyes and stared up at his face. He looked like carnal sin. The devil himself tempting her. There was a dark lust in his eyes, etched into the lines of his face, but there was also something else, another emotion that made her body relax for him. The more she relaxed, the more the pain subsided.

  “Just stay still and breathe with me.”

  “It’s gone. It’s okay.” Already her body was going back to responding to his. It was impossible not to feel the heat. The heartbeat they shared. She wanted him to move. She needed him to move. The hunger in her was building all over again, the pressure winding and coiling tighter and tighter, just from looking at his face.

  “Lift your legs. Wrap them around my hips.”

  She liked hearing him tell her what to do. It was so much easier than trying to figure it out. She wanted to feel the sensations he was offering, and she wanted to give him something equally as pleasurable or even more back. She needed him to give her instructions when she really didn’t have a clue. He slid his hand from her hip, down her thigh to the back of her left knee and urged her leg up. He helped her wrap it around him. She followed suit with the other leg and hooked her ankles, so she was wrapped completely around him.

  He pushed forward, burying himself even more. She hadn’t known she could feel so full. So perfect. Eyes on his, she felt him withdraw. She didn’t want him to, but then he surged forward, driving through her tight muscles, the friction over the sensitive bundles of nerves sending fire streaking through her body. She cried out again, unable to stay silent. He smiled at her, looking more like temptation than ever before. She didn’t care, she wanted everything he could give her.

  Vittorio began to move in Grace, one hard surge after another, watching her carefully, seeing the buildup, the tension winding through her as each hard stroke took her closer and closer to the edge. Deliberately, he didn’t tip her over. He kept moving in her. Letting himself go just a little, enough that his body felt the way she clamped down on him harder, like a vise, surrounding him with that hot silk, wrapping him up and squeezing until he thought his head might come off.

  Little sounds escaped her throat, becoming louder and longer as he pumped into her, testing her a little more with each hard thrust. The sounds turned to aching sobs of need. Her nails bit into the comforter as she fisted it. He wished those nails were in his back. He loved the sight of her, breasts jolting with each surge. Her little body undulating as he drove deep into her. Her eyes shocked. Dazed. Dark with her own desire. Her mouth open, breath escaping in ragged pants. Just the sight of her nearly took him over the edge.

  He stood above her, her hips in his hands, his legs adding to the strength of each surge into her. Streaks of fire danced up his back, roared in his belly and rushed down his legs. Her body gripped his cock like a fist. Squeezed. Milked. Scorching hot. His breath exploded out of him and he took her over the edge.

  Her body paused for one moment in the brutal milking of his and then the fireball hit, a giant wave of pure flames roaring through him, through her, sweeping them both up into its path. His cock jerked hard, over and over, as her sheath constricted and strangled his shaft, the heat nearly too much, but only adding to the incredible fierce beauty of the moment.

  “Fucking paradise,” he whispered and let himself go with her over the edge.

  He was flung far out somewhere he’d never been before. There was only Grace and the passion washing through him. Every cell in his body was alive. Every single nerve ending was on fire. The sound of her cries was a kind of music playing in his head, reaching the crescendo as his seed rocketed deep into her.

  The entire time, he kept his gaze on hers, forcing her to stay with him. To look at him. He wanted to see that beauty steal over her face. He wanted her to know he was the one giving her that feeling of utter euphoria. He needed her to know who he was—her man. Her lover. The man she trusted to always take care of her, have her back, give her everything.

  Her eyes moved over his face. A little shocked. Very dazed. Incredibly sexy. She knew. He saw the knowledge there. He was her everything just as he needed to be. There was so much more, but theirs was the kind of relationship that had to build slowly and come from a place of trust. Little by little he’d introduce small things to her to see what she liked or didn’t like, what she could accept or not. He knew he was embarking on the adventure of a lifetime and happiness elevated the endorphins pumping through his body.

  Vittorio felt his legs turning to rubber, and he slowly allowed his body to reluctantly begin to withdraw from hers. He was still semi-hard and the action triggered another huge quake in her, so that for a moment her body gripped his, refusing to give him up and squeezing down hard on his most sensitive part. It felt like paradise all over again.

  Vittorio collapsed over her, reveling in the way his body shuddered and jerked, giving her every last drop of his seed. The hot splash triggered a multitude of aftershocks so that her body bit down hard time and time again, strangling him, prolonging that feeling of utter paradise. He’d been careful, gentle even, and he’d still come harder than he’d ever come in his life.

  He pressed his body deeper into hers, giving her his full weight, ba
sking in the feeling of her small body beneath his much larger one. The feelings of conquest and possession mixing with love were a heady combination. Those traits were deep in him and she accepted him without judgment. How could he not be in love with her?

  He kissed her eyelids and trailed more kisses down her cheek to the corner of her mouth. His tongue teased the seam of her lips until she opened, and he caught her breath and swallowed it down. Her breasts were heaving beneath the crush of his chest, but she kissed him back, one arm sliding around his neck, while she simply put her other hand on his rib cage.

  He took his time, kissing her long. Kissing her hard. Moving from gentle to rough. He let her take his weight longer, mashing her soft breasts into his chest and resting his hips in the cradle of hers. She didn’t fight him, didn’t try to get out from under him although her air was restricted. She relaxed into him, her body seemingly melting into his. He lifted his head to frame her face, watching her struggle a little to breathe, but pulling in air determinedly. She had given herself to him and she was still doing so. Reluctantly, he eased his body off of hers, so she could breathe properly.

  He’d been extremely careful of her shoulder, keeping his weight off that arm, but he narrowed his eyes, watchful to make certain she wasn’t in pain. Finding no sign of discomfort, he kissed her neck, teased with his teeth, scraping back and forth before biting down. She yelped, and he instantly soothed the mark with his tongue. “You’re perfect, Grace.”

  Her eyes shone up at him. That dazed, shocked look was receding slowly. “That had nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. I had no idea I could feel like that.”

  He kissed his way to her throat and then over the curve of her right breast. “That was just the start, bella.” He licked along the upper curve and then pressed a kiss there. “There’s so much more I have to show you.”

  His teeth scraped back and forth along that inviting curve. He watched her face. Felt her agitation as her breasts rose and fell in anticipation. She knew. She was waiting for it. Holding her breath. Needing. He slipped his hand between her legs and bit down gently. Her back arched, thrusting her breasts up like an offering. Hot liquid seeped from her body to his fingers. Her hips bucked. He licked at the mark he left there.

  “I can’t believe something can feel that good,” she whispered.

  “There’s so much more,” he reiterated. “Let’s get in the tub. I don’t want you sore.”

  “Can we go out to the hot tub after I clean up a little?” She looked ruefully at the smears of blood and semen on her thighs. “I’ve been wanting to get in it since I first saw it. I love the idea of going out at night and sitting under the stars.”

  He considered how tired she was. There was no way he would ever be able to keep his hands off of her if he sat with her in the hot tub. Warning her was the best policy. “Honey, if we go out to the hot tub, I’m going to be fucking your brains out. There’s no way I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you.”

  She gave him a siren’s smile. “I would hope not.”

  She hadn’t even winced at his language. He loved that she let him be who he was, no matter what. If anything, his choice of words sent another flush of heat spreading through her body. Her breathing was elevated all over again. He loved her beyond words.

  Vittorio slipped off the bed. “Just stay there.”

  “I’m kind of a mess.”

  “I like you lying there, legs sprawled apart, a mixture of the two of us running down your legs. You look as hot as sin. I especially like seeing that I’m your only. I want to keep it that way. I had no idea I could be so primitive, but suddenly I am.”

  She put her uninjured arm across her eyes. “I can’t believe the things you say to me.”

  He turned back to her, one hand on the doorjamb leading to the bathroom. For a moment his heart stood still.

  “Or the way they make me feel,” she continued, without looking at him. “I want you in me all over again just because you said that.”

  “That’s going to happen sooner than you think.” He wet a cloth with warm water and after rinsing himself off, took the cloth to her. “Lie still and let me get this for you.”

  “I can do it.” She started to sit.

  Vittorio put a gentle hand on her chest. “I want to clean you. Later, I’ll teach you how I’d like you to clean me.” Again, he kept his gaze steady on her face. Her eyes never left his. “I’m going to be asking so much of you, Grace. I have to be able to feel as if I’m giving you back as much or more.” It was a confession, plain and simple. He took great care to be gentle as he wiped away the evidence of her innocence.

  “I don’t see how you could possibly ask more of me than you’ve already given.”

  “I’m asking for your trust in all things. That alone is worth any price. I’ll ask for things in our bedroom that might frighten you at first, but that’s where that trust needs to come in. You have to know that I’ll take you higher each time but never go so far that you can’t handle it. I also will have to talk to you about things regarding the Ferraro businesses, and you’ll have to accept them and never speak of them to another soul outside our immediate family.” He watched her face as he referred to the one thing he feared the most.

  In the bedroom, he could reward her ten times over for her trust in him. It was the revelations as to what he really did for their family that he was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle. His shadow and hers had become entangled in spite of his efforts to keep them apart. Although, truthfully, he hadn’t tried that hard. He knew if she rejected him, the consequences to him would be dire. She would simply forget the things he told her, believe he had proclaimed her his fiancée in order to take care of the bills and her until she recovered and then they would break up. He would lose everything—including his ability to ride the shadows.

  He reached for her hand and helped her to sit. Immediately she stroked her hand down his belly as if she had been waiting to touch him all along. Her fingers lingered low and his cock reacted, jerking hard, letting her see how appreciative he was of her touching him.

  “I like being yours, Vittorio. I’m very aware it won’t always be easy. I can see it on your face sometimes that you would insist on your way at times, and I might not like it.”

  He nodded, more aware of the heat from her breath spreading over the sensitive head of his cock. She sat on the bed, her thighs still spread wide, and he was standing inside them. If she tilted her head up, her mouth was exactly where he needed it to be. Without conscious thought, he shifted even closer, so he was facing directly toward her. Immediately her gaze dropped to his cock, her eyes widening.

  Her hands came up to cup his sac, driving the breath from his lungs. First her thumb stroked and then the pads of her fingers with exquisite gentleness. “I had no idea you were so soft here.”

  “I like that I’m the only man you’ve ever touched intimately, Grace.” He rested one hand on top of her head, careful not to put any pressure on her, no matter how much he wanted to. At the stroke of her fingers on his balls, his cock was hardening all over again. “If you keep that up, we’re not going to make it to the hot tub.”

  “Really?”

  Her tongue darted out and moistened her lips. He had to suppress a groan. She was sexy without trying. Her gaze shifted from his growing cock to his eyes.

  “What would we be doing instead? It has to be something very impressive in order for me to give up a night in the hot tub under the stars with you.”

  Her teasing voice and the look of growing hunger was as sensual as the flush on her skin and the stroking of her fingers. He wrapped his hand around one of hers and squeezed gently, showing her how to roll and caress his sac. Then he took her fingers and stroked his shaft before wrapping them in a fist at the base and pumping up and down while squeezing hard.

  “I’d want to stay right here and have you learn to suck my cock just the way I like it. Your mouth would be tight and hot and your tongue would lash and dan
ce, until I was so hot I’d have to pull out and take you again.”

  “Why would you have to pull out?”

  Her hand had picked up the rhythm he showed her and he let go. She didn’t hesitate or falter. Her gaze was fixed on his cock while she worked him.

  He fisted her hair, tugging a little until she looked up at him. “You aren’t ready to swallow yet, that will come with time. I want you to enjoy every single thing we do together. Sucking my cock is fantastic for me, but only if you love doing it. If you’re not getting anything out of it, bella, it takes away from my enjoyment.”

  “No matter what, I’ll love it because I know it makes you feel fantastic.”

  His heart threatened to beat right out of his chest. She meant it. He could hear lies. All riders could hear lies, and she absolutely meant what she was saying.

  “Do I get a choice on what I’d like to do?”

  His throat nearly closed. “Yes.”

  “Then I’d like to stay here and see how much of you will actually fit in my mouth. You’re really quite intimidating, but on the other hand, you’re beautiful. I’ve never thought a man was especially beautiful until I saw you.”

  Red silk spilled from either side of his fist, a fiery cascade of her long hair, a perfect handle for him to guide her.

  “Use your tongue. Don’t worry about going slow or fast or doing anything right. Just explore. I consider your body mine. I want to play. I want to make love to you. I want to fuck you so hard neither of us can breathe. I hope you get to a point where you feel the same about me. My body belongs to you alone. All of it. It’s yours to explore. I’m hoping you can’t stop touching me any more than I can stop touching you.”

  Grace seemed to take him at his word. She let go of his shaft and caught his hips, urging him closer to her. The moment he stepped right up against the bed, she leaned in to kiss his belly. Her hands stroked his rib cage, fingers trailed over the ridges of his abdomen. He found himself holding his breath. Waiting. Anticipating. She was naturally sensual, although he could see she didn’t have a clue she was. Her featherlight kisses trailing down his belly had him sucking in his breath as one of her hands cupped his balls again, fingers working his sac very gently.