Fire Maidens: Rome

by Anna Lowe

  Then he thrust the thought aside. He was not going to squander a beautiful night with Lena in sorrow. He ought to be howling in joy just to hold her now.

  He rubbed his chin over her shoulder, soaking everything in. Lena. The landscape. The stars. That rare feeling of being at peace.

  “Why do I fantasize about biting you?” Lena asked so quietly, Sergio thought he’d imagined the words.

  He gulped. Was she ready to hear the truth?

  “Shifters — lucky shifters — don’t marry. They bond for life with a mating bite.”

  He could have buried his face in his hands, because it came out all clunky and rough. Poor Lena. What on earth would she think?

  Her lips wavered a little, and when she raised a finger, it shook slightly. Still, she moved it to his neck and gently pressed down. “A mating bite. Like…about…here?”

  He stared. How did she know?

  Her neck bobbed, and she took a deep breath. “I keep getting the urge, but I have no idea why.”

  “Instinct,” he whispered. “I feel it too.”

  Her green eyes locked on his, deep and swirly. Glowing, as his were, judging by the heat.

  “Mates, huh?”

  He nodded, hoping she wouldn’t bolt.

  Lena bit her lip. “It’s weird, how everything you say feels like something I already knew. Except I didn’t know — not until now.”

  “It’s instinct, from your shifter side.” He slipped an arm over her shoulders, hoping she didn’t despise his words.

  She took a deep breath. “Something I really have to find out more about.”

  He bobbed his head in agreement.

  “You mentioned the Guardians… Who are they, exactly?” she asked.

  He swung his jaw from side to side. “They’re shifters from Rome’s leading clans. Together, they protect the city. The leader is a she-wolf, Ariana. You’d like her.” He smiled, then soured again. “There’s a dragon too, plus a bear shifter, an eagle, and another wolf. Remo — he hates me, by the way.”

  Lena frowned. “Why would anyone hate you?”

  He glowed at her faith in him, then took a deep breath, because it was time to reveal his past. “Remo comes from a long line of honorable wolves. I come from a long line of criminals.”

  His heart thumped as Lena studied him. Really studied him with those deep green eyes that managed to peer directly into his soul. A place with a hell of a lot of secrets, but he forced himself to let her in. He had to if he wanted a chance to win over his mate.

  Sweat broke out on his forehead, and every muscle tensed as Lena’s expression changed. First, she looked fearful. Then she looked angry, but somehow, not at him. Next, he saw sorrow, and he wondered why.

  “Tell me about them,” she whispered at last.

  His throat was dry, but he did his best.

  “My grandfather ran the leading shifter mafia in Rome.” He gulped, but Lena didn’t flinch. “When he died, my father and uncle — twin brothers — took over.”

  Lena nodded slowly. “And your mother?”

  Warmth and sorrow pushed some of the bitterness out of his head. “She was ten years younger than my father — too young to understand the full scope of the family business when they met. By the time she found out, she was in too deep. Then my father died…” He decided to leave the details of that for another time. “I was seven, and my mother brought me to the countryside — not far from here, in fact — to shelter me from the family. She said she felt free for the first time in years, even though we had next to nothing.”

  Sergio glanced at the tailored clothes he’d stripped out of earlier. They were a luxury he’d dreamed of back then — dreamed of earning honestly, at least. Now, he had the clothes, a nice watch, and even a fancy car — the Maserati he didn’t have much use for in the tight streets of Rome. But the more he’d seen Vicente flaunting such riches, the more he’d started questioning why they mattered.

  Lena stroked his arm as he went on.

  “For a while, my relatives left us alone. But when I was sixteen, my uncle’s mate died, and he started coming around, bringing my mother gifts, telling me he wanted me in the business…”

  His voice went gritty at that point, and ugly images flashed through his mind.

  “Really, what he wanted was my mother. And no one says no to a man like that. But he was called away on business, and…” He motioned in the air. “My mother managed to avoid him for years, moving, making excuses, encouraging him to see other women…”

  He scowled. A mated wolf — even a widower — never strayed from the woman he loved. Not unless that wolf lacked scruples, like his uncle Salvatore.

  Of course, that had played in his mother’s favor, at least for a while.

  “I did bit jobs for the family business, staying out of the dirty stuff as best I could, looking for a way out. But a family like that… There is no way out. Not without dying — or killing someone.”

  Lena’s throat bobbed, but she continued to stroke his arm, asking for more.

  “Finally, my uncle called me in, saying it was time for me to step up. He demanded my mother stop avoiding him too.” Sergio grimaced. Did Lena really need a play-by-play of what had happened next? No, he decided. “He and I argued, and then we fought. I killed him.” He gulped, not from regret but from how Lena might judge him. “I had no choice. And I thought it would end there. But an unwritten law makes the winner the new boss, and I didn’t want any part of that. So, I left.”

  Lena’s voice was a whisper. “For the French Foreign Legion.”

  He nodded, holding his breath.

  “What about your mother?” Lena asked after a pause.

  His heart swelled. Typical Lena — seeing the full picture, caring about innocents caught up in circumstances beyond their control.

  “Everyone left her alone after that. She moved to Calabria, where she still lives.”

  His threats to rip apart anyone who dared bother his mother had ensured her safety, but he’d share that detail with Lena some other time.

  Lena exhaled as if her own mother’s life had been on the line. “Thank goodness for that. What about the rest of the family?”

  “Without a clear leader, the infighting started. That gave the Guardians a chance to intervene, and eventually, the whole business fell apart.”

  As usual, Sergio felt no joy or relief, just regrets. So much fighting, so many lives lost or wasted. For what?

  Freedom, his mother might have said. The chance to go home.

  But Rome was his home, and as a Monserratti, he’d been banished for life — until his big chance came along.

  He frowned, and his inner wolf growled. Vicente.

  He hated the idea he owed that bastard anything, including the chance to come home. But it was true.

  He swallowed hard, forcing himself to meet Lena’s eyes. None of that mattered right now. Only Lena did. His mate. The only chance he really needed in life.

  “So, now you know what kind of family I come from. Criminals.”

  Lena studied his eyes a moment longer then cupped his face. When she spoke, her voice was quiet yet fierce.

  “You are not your family. You are a man of honor.”

  Relief washed through him — the kind a criminal might feel in front of a jury. He swayed on his feet for a moment, wondering at the unfamiliar burn in his eyes.

  A man of honor. He’d always striven to be that, but as a Monserratti, it had always seemed impossible.

  Lena wrapped her arms around him, and for the first time ever, he let himself be held instead of doing the holding. He squeezed his eyes shut, wondering how he’d ever gotten so lucky.

  Finally, Lena pulled away, but her hands remained tight around his.

  “Your family doesn’t matter any more than mine does,” she whispered. “Right now, all that matters is figuring out what to do next.”

  He nodded. She was right. He had to keep her safe.

  “So…” She tapped the kitchen count
er, thinking. “The Guardians. If they protect the city, why don’t you trust them?”

  Because I don’t trust anyone, and no one trusts me, he might as well have said.

  Lena trusts us, his wolf murmured happily.

  She did, and that terrified him. One misstep, one misjudgment, and Lena could face a horrible fate.

  He started haltingly. “Usually, the Guardians mean well.”

  Her eyebrows jumped up. “Usually?”

  “They’re old and very traditional. Machiavellian, almost.”

  Lena paled. “The end justifies the means?”

  He frowned. “Not quite, but they consider things on a higher level. It’s like most of the officers I served under. Sometimes, they have to sacrifice a few foot soldiers for the greater good.”

  Somehow, that had never really bothered him. That was just the way it was. But if he pictured Lena as that foot soldier…

  His wolf growled inside. Never. Not her.

  “So, no Guardians. At least, not now,” Lena concluded. Then she forced a thin smile. “We have each other, though.”

  His cheeks stretched. “That, we do.”

  Lena smiled once more, filling his soul. Then they stood by the window, staring out into the night.

  Time ticked by, and Sergio couldn’t help but tune in to Lena rather than the landscape. More with every passing moment, because that was so much nicer than contemplating evils, uncertainties, and doubts. He closed his eyes, relishing the perfect fit of her body against his. The steady rise and fall of her chest. The smooth curve of her hips…

  “Shifters sound like people,” she murmured after a few minutes. “With all the good and bad.”

  He nuzzled her shoulder. “You could say that.”

  She looked up at him and leaned closer, letting the soft flesh of her breasts press against his chest.

  “Except shifters have mates, and you’re mine,” she whispered.

  He nodded breathlessly, afraid to scare her away.

  He should have known better, though. Lena might not know it, but she was a warrior at heart. Even if she felt fear, she trooped on, undaunted.

  “So, it’s my shifter side giving me all these animal instincts?” She ran a hand lightly down his back, teasing as far as his tailbone before tickling upward again.

  His wolf wagged its tail.

  “What instincts?” he bluffed.

  “Oh, you know.” Her voice dropped, as did her hand. “All the naughty stuff. I keep wanting to touch you.”

  A wave of heat raced through his blood. “Touch me? Where?”

  “All sorts of places.” She slid her hands down his ass, then circled around the front.

  It was all he could do to bite back a hungry hiss when she cupped his cock with both hands.

  “Funny how instinct works,” he murmured.

  Talking shouldn’t have been such an effort, but it was hard with Lena stroking his shaft like that. His blood rushed south, but all Lena did was tut-tut.

  “The worst thing is, I keep wanting more.”

  Well, he was giving her more to hold, that was for sure.

  “The things I fantasize about doing with you…” She shook her head ruefully.

  He sure as hell knew what he wanted to do to her. The only issue was deciding where to start from among all the options dancing in his head.

  “You never know,” he managed. “I could be thinking the same thing.”

  Her eyes sparkled and dropped to his groin. “Well, I guess I should give it a try, then.”

  “I guess you should.”

  He wasn’t sure what to expect, but it definitely hadn’t been Lena dropping to her knees and opening her mouth. Seconds later, he had his back to the wall, his eyes closed, his mouth moving in silent groans of pleasure.

  The circle of her lips was heaven, and the pressure of her tongue drove him wild. That, and the little humming sounds she made. He threaded his fingers through her hair, forcing himself not to pull hard. And a damn good thing, because Lena did plenty of pulling of her own. Her hands kept busy too, stroking exactly where he needed it most.

  Eventually, she released him with a little pop and glanced up. “Was I right?”

  His mind went totally blank. What was the question again?

  She cupped his ass. “Were you thinking the same thing?”

  “I am now.” The words came out in a growl, and he guided her back to where she’d left off, succumbing to sheer pleasure for a while. The kind that emptied his mind and loosened his joints. So loose, his knees nearly buckled when she sped up.

  But Lena was doing all the work, and he was coming awfully close to his breaking point. It took all his self-discipline to signal a stop and tug her back to her feet.

  “No good?”

  “Too good,” he growled, claiming her mouth with his.

  His wolf roared in triumph at the taste of himself on her sweet lips.

  He’d had a vague plan of drawing things out and making her howl as he worshiped every part of her body. But lust got the better of him, and he maneuvered her over to the wall. There, he lifted her until she wrapped her legs around his waist. Then he inched forward, leaning his full body weight against her.

  “There’s a perfectly good bed over there…” Lena tilted her head, chuckling.

  He shook his head. The bed wasn’t enough. Not for the raw, raging need she’d set off.

  “Perfectly good wall here.” He rapped it with his knuckles. “Okay with you?”

  If she’d said no, he might have died, but her hurried nod gave him the green light. He didn’t just jump off the starting blocks — he leaped, devouring her with his next kiss. One hand was enough to hold her up, and the other went on a hurried tour of her body, making sure she was ready for what he had in mind. He pinched her nipples and circled the nub of her clit, making her cry out. Then he hoisted her higher, notched his cock against her, and paused, locking eyes.

  Ready?

  Ready, her glowing gaze promised.

  One quick thrust was all it took to send him into heaven. They both gasped, and he stayed there for a moment, steadying himself. Then he rocked away and pumped forward a second time, making Lena howl.

  It was raw, hungry sex unlike anything he’d experienced before. Brash and possessive, with him stamping his scent all over her. Every move and every scrape of his teeth marked Lena as his.

  Everything but the mating bite, but someday…

  Someday soon, his wolf hummed, focused on the special spot on her neck.

  Lena held him tightly, making him burn with the best kind of heat — the kind that erased the world’s problems and bonded two people as one.

  “Yes,” she cried, clamping over him.

  She shuddered and came wildly, but he didn’t let up, hammering right through her first orgasm and into the second. Then he came too, with his lips curled in a silent howl of triumph. She was his mate, and no one would ever come between them.

  Never, his wolf growled.

  What was more satisfying — the sweet release of his body or the sensation of Lena melting in his arms? Or maybe the way she murmured her way into a series of deep, licking kisses, marking him the way he marked her?

  It was amazing. A revelation. Proof that life could be better than anything he’d ever imagined as long as he had his mate.

  Finally, they both slumped, panting and puffing.

  “You…” she mumbled. “You…”

  You are amazing, he would have filled in if he could speak. You, Lena, not me.

  She smiled, reading him like a book. And for the first time ever, he shut off his defenses and let her turn to any page she wished. Those X-ray vision eyes of hers reached deep into him without shying away from what she found. Eyes that nearly made him want to talk about things he never admitted to anyone. Eyes that begged him to let her be part of his life, and for him to be part of hers.

  Which was funny, because he was the one who wanted to beg.

  Please, Lena. Let me be
part of your life.

  He ran a finger down her cheek, then leaned his forehead against hers.

  “Amazing,” she breathed, making him want to strut around and preen. Then she sighed and touched his neck. “I still want to bite you, though.”

  He laughed so loudly, the sound echoed off the walls. “I want that too.”

  Lena sighed. “But I suppose a couple of responsible adults would sleep on it for a night.”

  He chuckled. “Just one night?”

  She snuggled against him. “If I make it that long.”

  He held her close. No matter how tempted he was, there would be no mating bites before the right time. For now…

  The gem pulsed from under the pile of discarded clothes, and they both glanced over at the same time.

  Fire Maiden, his wolf breathed.

  Lena must have sensed him getting ready to say as much, because she held up a hand. “Zitti.” Shh. “Not tonight. No talking, at least.” A tiny smile formed on her lips. “Take me to bed, wolf.”

  He burst into a smile. “To…sleep, or other things?”

  She made a show of thinking it over, though her body was already calling to his. He could scent it, see it, feel her body heat against his.

  “I guess we’ll see,” she teased.

  He lifted her and walked to the bed, then set her down gently and started kissing her belly.

  “I guess we’ll see,” he echoed as her body arched under his.

  Chapter Ten

  “Lena.”

  Sergio touched her shoulder gently, but she rolled away, mumbling in her sleep.

  God, she was beautiful. If only he had time to sit and quietly marvel at her now.

  “Lena.” He tried again.

  It was all his fault, keeping her up half the night with all the fun they’d had in bed.

  And on the wall, his wolf murmured dreamily. In the shower…

  Okay, so maybe it hadn’t been all his fault. His intentions in the shower had been innocent, while Lena had been the one turning up the steam.

  Destiny, his wolf mumbled.

  A snort sounded from the doorway, where Marco stood, hurrying him along. “Destiny will kill you both if you don’t get moving.”

  Sergio had nearly slept through Marco’s insistent knocking on the door a few minutes earlier — he had drifted that deeply into a world of blissful warmth and peace. But then he’d leaped out of bed, ready to fight to the death to keep Lena safe. A good thing it was a friend, not a foe, at the door.