“Please. Please touch me,” I beg him.
“Fuck, you’re gonna be the death of me,” he growls before climbing onto the bed beside me. His large palm cups my cheek as his mouth finds mine. His lips are soft, and the stubble on his jaw is prickly, creating the perfect combination and sending me into a tailspin.
Damon licks at the seam of my lips, begging for an invitation. And when I finally grant him access, he thrusts his tongue into my mouth, devouring me hungrily.
His fingers trail down my face, neck, breasts, belly and then to the apex of my thighs. I open wide for him and gasp at the first touch of his fingers grazing my already wet slit.
When he sticks a thick finger inside of me, he lets out a hiss through clenched teeth when he realizes how turned on and wet I am for him. “Victoria, I’ve missed you so much,” he mumbles against my mouth before claiming me with his tongue, lips and teeth again.
His adept fingers find my clit, and he strums me, bringing me to the brink of an orgasm within the matter of a few minutes.
“Damon!” I cry out.
He pulls back suddenly, panting. “Fuck, I need to feel your pussy wrapped around my cock. I need to be inside of you,” he confesses.
“I want that too,” I tell him, palming his cheek before leaning up to kiss his soft lips.
He stands and retreats to the bathroom, rummaging through his discarded clothes before returning a few seconds later with a condom in his hand. Climbing onto the bed between my spread legs, he rips open the gold foil wrapper and sheaths his cock. I swallow hard at the sight of his impossibly long and thick cock bobbing between his muscular thighs.
Damon lines himself up and then enters me, filling me slowly inch by glorious inch. Groaning loudly, he cages me in under him, securing his weight on his bulging biceps. Our faces are close, and I can see the anguish on his face as he takes his time entering me to make sure he's not hurting me.
Damon feels impossibly thick inside me, and I groan as he stretches me, my fingernails digging into his firm ass as he drives his cock in and out of me in a relentless rhythm.
Wrapping my hand around the nape of his neck, I pull his mouth down to mine.
We kiss slow.
We fuck slow.
But soon it's not enough. Damon is fucking me so gently that I’m almost out of my mind with desire. He’s treating me like I’m made of glass, and I don’t like it.
“Please,” I beg him. “I need you.”
He grits his teeth and continues his torturous rhythm that has me practically climbing up the wall. “When you’re better, I’ll fuck you six ways from Sunday, Victoria. But not now.” He stares into my eyes as he repeats, “Not now.”
Our lips lock into a slow and passionate kiss as his hips slow to a lazy roll.
Okay, so maybe making love is okay for right now. And Damon is right…I’m not totally better yet, and I’m already starting to feel exerted at this pace.
All too soon I can feel the pleasure quickly building up inside of me, and it's not long before I reach the precipice and tumble over, my orgasm unfolding in a rush.
"Fuck yes," Damon hisses in my ear as my inner walls squeeze him tightly.
I cry out his name as stars dance in front of my vision from the explosiveness of it all.
Damon fucks me so deeply then that it prolongs my orgasm until I'm nothing but a quivering mess underneath him. "That’s it, baby," he whispers. Then, he slams into me one final time before he finds his own release.
He stays there, suspended above me, for a long time, kissing me tenderly and sweetly before slowly pulling out and collapsing onto the bed beside me.
Damon pulls me into his arms, and I listen to his racing heart beneath my ear. My breathing is erratic, and I feel like I just got done running a marathon. My lungs ache, but it’s a good kind of ache. It makes me feel alive.
I place a kiss on Damon’s chest before resting my head over his beating heart once more. “You wore me out,” I say with a chuckle as I struggle to keep my eyes open. “Stay with me?” I whisper against his skin.
“Always,” he whispers back before placing a kiss on the top of my head as I fall asleep in his arms.
CHAPTER 20
DAMON
OVER THE NEXT week, Victoria’s therapy works wonders, making her strong – stronger than ever. She’s been eating regular meals, working out, and she looks healthy.
And so damn happy.
It’s been tough keeping everyone in line while trying to take care of my girl. If anyone does dare challenge me, I’ll bring them down just like I did with Giorgio Ciccone, Nolan Farrell and all the rest of their underlings.
This is my empire now, and I intend to rule as I see fit.
After everything Victoria’s been through, I hate to pull the rug out from underneath her feet again, but it must be done. She’s been asking about her father, and I can’t keep stalling and lying to her.
She deserves to know the truth. About everything.
I’ve been dreading having this conversation, but tonight is the night that I will lay it all out on the line and pray and hope that she can forgive me.
After dinner, we sit in companionable silence at the table, drinking wine. When Victoria begins to worry her bottom lip with her teeth, I know something is on her mind.
“Penny for your thoughts?” I offer.
She stares down at her knotted hands in her lap before looking up at me through her long lashes. “Where is my father?” she asks in almost a whisper.
“He’s dead,” I tell her without hesitation.
Tears well up in her eyes as she gives me a nod of understanding. “How…how did it happen?”
This gives me reason to pause. What I’m about to tell her will change everything. Nothing will ever be the same after tonight, and I hate the fact that she might run from me when I need her the most.
“He asked me to come here,” I start. “We talked about rescuing you. He gave me his empire and the name of the man he sold my sister to…and then I ended his life.”
My words take a while to sink in, but I can see the myriad of emotions running across her pretty face as the realization of what I’ve done finally hits her. “You…killed my father?”
“He was dying, Victoria. He would have been suffering from the cancer eating away at his body.” She glares at me like I’m a worthless piece of shit, and it pisses me off. “He deserved to die for what he did to my family,” I tell her, pushing the bitter words out through clenched teeth.
“I know he wasn’t a good man, but he was the only family I had left!” she exclaims. “You know what it felt like when you lost yours. And now you’ve taken my father away from me!”
Her words are like a dagger straight to my heart. All this time I had been so focused on my vengeance that I never ever considered that I would be taking away Victoria’s last and only family member…even if he did deserve to die.
Shaking my head, I tell myself that it’s too late to talk about what ifs and could have beens. What’s done is done. Nothing will bring any of our loved ones back.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. It’s the only thing I can say at this point. “I’m not sorry for what I have done, but I’m sorry that you have to suffer because of my actions.”
She shakes her head and stands up from the table. “So all of this is yours now?” she asks, waving her hand around the room. “It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it? And now you have it.” Glowering at me, she says, “And I’m supposed to be what, your live-in maid or something?”
I scoff at her words. How can she even think I would treat her any less after everything we’ve been through? “Victoria, you are my queen. I want you to rule beside me, not underneath me.”
“How can you possibly ask that of me after what you’ve done?” she exclaims, her voice on borderline hysterics. “You shot me! You killed my father! What else have you lied to me about? What else are you keeping from me?” She paces the room, muttering under her breath and
shaking her head. Suddenly, she stops, and her blue eyes meet mine. “The man in the park who attacked me. Tell me that was really one of Nolan’s guys and that you didn’t hire him.”
Fuck.
“You were pulling away from me. I needed some way to get you back before it was too late,” I blurt out. And it’s after the words leave my mouth that I realize I said the wrong thing. I want to take back everything I just said, but it’s too late now. The damage is already done.
Victoria takes a step backwards. Her hand is trembling as she lifts it up to her lips and gasps, “No.” Shaking her head vehemently, she whispers, “No, no, no.”
“Victoria, let me explain –.”
“I think you’ve done enough explaining, Damon.” She throws her hands up in the air and lets them drop to her sides. “Oh my god, I’m so stupid!” she cries out before slapping her palm to her forehead. “You were there at just the right time…” Tears track down her pretty cheeks right before she delivers the final nail in my coffin. “I will never forgive you,” she whispers before turning on her heel and storming out of the room.
I remain seated until her footsteps disappear up the steps and then I hear her bedroom door slam.
And the sound of that door closing signals so much more than her shutting me out of her room.
She’s shut me completely out of her heart. And deep down I know there’s no way for me to fix this.
CHAPTER 21
VICTORIA
AFTER THE FIGHT with Damon, I spend the next few days eating my meals alone in my room, sulking. I’m still reeling over the onslaught of information Damon confessed to, and I feel angry and betrayed. But more than those two emotions, I feel heartache the most.
My soul is aching for its counterpart.
Even after all that Damon did, I still love him and miss him so much that it physically hurts. Maybe I’m the biggest fool in the universe, but the heart wants what the heart wants.
Still, I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. And so, for right now, I need space. More space than this house is providing by having him sleeping across the hall from me.
I’ve been driving myself crazy by listening for his footsteps every morning when he gets up and every night when he goes to sleep. Last night, I heard him stop outside of my door. He even knocked, but I pretended to be asleep.
Yeah, I need to get the hell out of here before I go completely insane with worry and regret.
I think a little space is just the thing we both need right now.
So, on the third day of ignoring Damon, I pack a small bag of clothes, ready to move back to my apartment.
I make it as far as the front door before I’m stopped by an armed guard. “Mr. Romero has us on strict orders that you’re not allowed to leave the premises, Miss Ciccone.”
I glare at him in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me,” I hiss under my breath. Turning on my heel, I stalk into Damon’s office without knocking.
He’s on the phone, and he abruptly ends his call when he sees me barreling into his private space. His eyes dart from my face down to the bag in my hand, and his expression morphs from surprise to anger in two-point-five seconds. He stands up, folding his arms across his chest in defiance.
“Your men have been ordered to not let me leave?” I ask incredulously, hoping that it’s not true.
“Yes,” he says, confirming my worst fear.
I’ve been a prisoner in my own home for far too long. Hell, I wasn’t even allowed to have friends when I was a little girl, let alone ever have a sleepover or go to the movies. I refuse to be kept in this house under lock and key again.
“I want to go back to my apartment. I want to leave,” I say, stressing the last word.
“You’re not leaving this house, Victoria. Your apartment isn’t safe. And I won’t put your life in danger,” he informs me sternly.
“So you’re just going to keep me here like some kind of prisoner?” I shout.
He scowls at me. “I’m protecting you, Victoria. So, if you’d rather go out on your own and get kidnapped by the Farrell family again, then be my guest.” He waves his hand toward the tall windows and sneers, “Brody Farrell is still out there, and he’ll do anything to get revenge for his family. He won’t stop until you’re dead. And trust me when I say your death won’t be a quick one. He’ll be trying to prove a point this time.”
Memories of my kidnapping come flooding back to me, and I stumble back, gripping the wall for support. When Damon steps forward, I put my hand up, stopping him. “Don’t.” I can’t bear to have him touch me right now, because I might just crumble into a million little pieces.
His emerald eyes narrow as he stares at me. “I’m keeping you safe. That’s all I can do right at this moment. And I won’t fuck that up too.”
His words have so much more meaning behind them than he’s letting on. He feels guilty for what happened to me, but not all of it was his fault. Who could have predicted that Nolan Farrell would exact revenge on me for his son’s death instead of my father?
“Damon,” I start, but he doesn’t let me finish.
“We’re done here, Victoria,” he says harshly, waving me off and retreating back to his desk.
Anger wells up inside of me. Just when I was going to say something profound…tell him that I appreciate him for saving me…he dismisses me like I’m some nuisance that he can’t wait to get rid of.
I wait, thinking he’ll talk to me or even just look at me again, but he simply stares at his computer, annoyingly clicking on something.
I grow angrier by the second until all the frustration and overwhelming anguish I have felt from the past several weeks pours out of me like a rushing waterfall. “I hate you!” I blurt out without truly thinking before I opened my big, fat, lying mouth.
That statement gains his attention. His large hands grip the edge of the desk as he glares at me. “Thank you for clearing that up,” he says, his voice eerily calm. Then, he turns his attention back to his computer without a second glance to me.
Backing away towards the door, I scamper out of the room with tears in my eyes. Once inside my room, I toss my bag to the floor and throw myself onto the bed with dramatic fashion. I hate myself for what I said to Damon, but I don’t hate him. In fact, I love him so much it hurts. I love him so much that it’s slowly killing me from the inside out knowing that things may never be right between us again and knowing that I might lose him forever.
And by professing my hate for him to his face, I might have already lost him.
CHAPTER 22
DAMON
IT’S LATE THAT night when I go to bed. Victoria’s words are still reeling inside of my head as I ascend the stairs.
She fucking hates me.
Not that I can really blame her. I mean, I shot her, hired a man to attack her in the park and killed her father.
Any sane person would hate me.
But it doesn’t make her words hurt any less. No, they completely fucking gutted me.
As I approach my room, I hesitate and instead venture across the hall to Victoria’s room. Having her so close but feeling this emotional cavernous distance between us is killing me.
Slowly, I turn the doorknob and quietly enter her room.
“No,” I hear her gasp.
I’m about to turn around to leave, but then I realize she’s having another nightmare.
“Please! Stop!” she begs.
Approaching her bed, I stare down at her, wrestling with her sheets, determination etched on her beautiful face. I can’t help but notice the lamp that’s shining brightly beside the bed. She’s mentally scarred from that bunker they kept her in, too afraid of the monsters that could be lurking in the dark.
My hands clench into fists. This isn’t the first time or the millionth time I haven’t thought about what I would do differently. Nolan Farrell wouldn’t have died such a quick death, if I had to do it all over again. I would have made him suffer, and I would have made Victoria watch. M
aybe then her nightmares wouldn’t overtake her mind every night.
Victoria’s breathing becomes panicked, and I know she’s having the same nightmare she always does. The one where she can’t breathe because they’re drowning her.
Unable to stand by and watch her suffer in her dreams, I climb into the bed and lay beside her. Gently stroking her cheek, I call out her name until her eyes snap open.
When her beautiful blues meet mine, she practically leaps into my arms. “Damon,” she cries, her tears dampening my shirt.
I hold her, smoothing my hand down her back as I comfort her. “Shh, just a dream. You’re okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”
Her small hands curl into the fabric of my shirt, pulling me impossibly closer as if she’s trying to climb inside of me to stay safe.
Stroking her back until her breathing evens out, I tell her, “Go back to sleep. I’ll stay here and watch over you.”
Eventually, she falls back to sleep. And I stay up until dawn to make sure another nightmare doesn’t overtake her. But with her in my arms, she sleeps peacefully and the demons stay at bay.
When the sun begins to shine through the windows, I gently place a kiss to the top of Victoria’s head before slipping out of her arms and going back to my own room to get a few hours of sleep before starting my day.
Her scent is all over me as I climb into my own bed, and it takes me a while before sleep finally claims me. My dreams aren’t filled with monsters. No, my dreams are filled with Victoria – her laugh, her smile, her happiness.
And when I wake up sometime later…I’m alone…and completely and utterly miserable.
CHAPTER 23
VICTORIA
THE NEXT DAY I spend most of the day in the gym running my frustrations out on the treadmill. I’ve been feeling better physically; but mentally, I feel like I’m falling apart.
Damon woke me up from another horrible nightmare last night. The bad dreams have been coming more frequently now, and they leave me feeling rundown and angry, so damn angry. Angry at the fact that I’m not even safe in my own dreams at night. Angry that I’m letting those cowards win even though the fight with them is over since they’re dead.
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