“What do you mean?”
“You told me last night you were in love with me. Was that real? Do we even have a shot at fixing this?”
“You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose that,” I tell him my deepest fear. Before Sven, I didn’t have anyone to lean on, anyone to protect me. I wasn’t sure I could trust what he was asking of me, but I also knew in my heart I would be stupid not to find out.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“Forever,” he says immediately, catching me off-guard.
“I’m barely accepting the fact you would want to be with me. I mean, there was a woman in the house naked when I came home tonight.” A woman who looked like she could have been on the cover of Maxim, for God’s sake, I think but leave out. I know I’m pretty. I have been told that my whole life. I have no qualms about my size-twelve shape, but I have curves that take a lot more to cover.
“I have no idea who she was or how she got inside. I haven’t touched another woman since the night we met. I want you, Mags, and no one else.”
“You haven’t been with anyone sin…since we met?” I breathe out, searching his face for any sign of deceit.
“No one.”
I swear I feel my eyes pop out of my head at that comment. Sven is young, wealthy, and attractive. I know for a fact women throw themselves at him all the time. I have been there on more then one occasion when it’s happened, but if I really think about it, he’s not lying. I have not seen him return any of the advances he’s received. I don’t even see his phone light up constantly like it used to when I first started working for him, with names like Bambie and Lexus. I haven’t heard of him hooking up with anyone at the club.
“I’m no good at relationships,” I admit.
“I’ve never been in a relationship, so my standards are pretty low.” He smiles and I shake my head, wrapping my fingers around the side of his neck, needing him to understand how serious I am.
“After I broke up with Wyatt, I did some soul searching,” I say, ignoring the way his nostrils flare at the mention of my ex. “I realized I’ve constantly picked men who couldn’t let me down, because I didn’t have any expectations for them to live up to. Like Ace—I knew he wasn’t looking for anything serious, or Wyatt, who lived hundreds of miles away. I wasn’t invested in them, because I didn’t have to be.”
“Don’t put me in the same category as them,” he flips me to my back, making me squeak as he moves his face above mine. “This is me and you. I’m invested in us, and I expect you to be, too. I won’t let you off the hook or let you downplay what we have between us.”
“I wasn’t—”
“It sounded like you were making excuses for why this won’t work,” he cuts me off, holding my face in his hands. Crap, that’s exactly what I was doing, reassuring him that when things come to an end that it won’t be his fault, that it’s me who isn’t good at relationships. “I’m not saying things are going to be perfect, but the idea of not having you, all of you, isn’t going to work for me anymore. I tried to ignore what I’m feeling, but you got under my skin, permanently branded yourself there without me even knowing it.”
Tears fill my eyes and slide down into my hair at his confession. “This is a lot to take in,” I sob as his fingers slide under my eyes.
“This has been happening for a long time, baby,” he says, gently brushing his lips across mine.
“I know,” I agree, crying harder while clutching onto him. Rolling us to our sides with me tucked into the back of the couch, he presses my face into his chest, holding one hand behind my head, the other wrapped tightly around me. “I love you, too,” I whisper. His body stills and his arms tighten before he lets out a long breath.
“I know, baby.” Feeling his lips at the top of my head, I lean my head back to look at him.
“Are your friends still here?”
“No they caught a flight out before I went to the club last night.”
“That was a short visit.”
“It was just business,” he mutters then searches my face. “Did you sleep?” he asks studying me.
“Yes.” I nod, pressing my forehead into his chest.
“Did you eat?”
“No, I had a Diet Coke,” I say, cuddling deeper into him, feeling myself relax.
“You need to eat, and then I want to take you to the hospital.”
“Why do I need to go to the hospital?” I ask, feeling my muscles grow tight.
“I want them to take some blood so we know what you were drugged with.”
“Oh,” I whisper, tilting my head back to look at him. “You have a camera over the bar.”
“I do. Zack sent over the video, but it didn’t capture anything out of the ordinary. The only person who poured your drinks was Eva—”
“She wouldn’t drug me,” I say, cutting him off, and his lips brush over mine.
“I know she’s your friend, baby, but everyone is a suspect right now.” He’s right, and that sucks. I like Eva a lot, but she is the only one I remember giving me a drink, and knowing me, I never would have left that drink unattended. “We’ll face that bridge when we come to it, but for now, I want you to eat something so we can go to the hospital.”
“Okay,” I agree as he rolls us off of the couch and takes me to the kitchen, making me sit as he makes me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then he sits with me as I eat it before putting me in his SUV and taking me to the hospital.
“Are you on any kind of birth control?” the nurse asks as another woman places the needle in my arm.
“No,” I tell her, absently noticing the way Sven’s body has gone tight next to mine.
“Are you on any medication?”
“No,” I repeat, watching the woman in front of me place a small cylinder on the end of the needle then let out a ragged breath as the tube fills with blood.
“Have you taken any drugs in the last twenty-four hours that your aware of?”
“No.”
“We should have the results for this test back in the next week. If the drug is still in your system, we will let you know what we find.”
“Thanks,” I tell her then watch her and the other woman leave the room. After putting on my sweater, Sven takes my hand and leads me out of the hospital to the SUV and helps me inside, making sure I’m buckled before going around the front to get behind the wheel. Once we’re halfway home, I look over at him, realizing he hasn’t spoken.
“Are you okay?” Lifting my hand to his lips, he kisses my fingers then says something against them I can’t make out as he drops our entwined hands to his thigh. “What was that?” I ask, studying his profile.
“We didn’t use protection.”
Blinking, I wonder if I heard him correctly then blink again as his fingers tighten around mine. “It sounded like you just said we didn’t use protection.”
“I did.”
“As in condoms?” I ask, and his face turns toward me as he pulls up to a stop sign. “Holy crap.”
“I assumed.”
“You assumed,” I repeat, because apparently that’s all I can do as I study him.
“Fuck.”
“Ditto,” I whisper back then blabber, “The chance of getting pregnant from having sex once is like almost nonexistent right? I mean, that kind of thing doesn’t happen like ev—”
“Four times.”
“What?” I breathe, looking over at him.
“It was four times, not once.” He clarifies.
“Four?”
“Four,” he repeats, turning onto our block.
And I don’t remember even one time. “Was it even good?” I ask without thinking.
“The best I’ve ever had,” he says immediately.
“I was a virgin,” I whisper, wondering how the heck I could possibly be the best he ever had when I had never done it before.
“I know, and it kills me that you don’t remember.”
“Well,” I mutter, having no clue what
to say now.
“I guarantee you will remember the next time,” he says as he pulls into the driveway and shuts down the engine.
Oh wow, okay.
Without another word, he gets out, comes around to help me down, and then leads me inside and upstairs. Pulling his hand when we reach the top landing, his eyes come to me. “That’s my room,” I tell him with a nod of my head toward my door.
“You’re sleeping with me.”
“Um…”
“Sleep, Mags.”
“I…” I mutter trying to come up with something to say.
“Let’s go.” He tugs my hand. I follow him past my door and into his room then into his bathroom where he set’s up his toothbrush for me. Without a word I brush my teeth while watching him watch me in the mirror. When I finish I watch as he uses his toothbrush. When he’s done, he takes my hand again, letting it go when I’m standing at the side of the bed. I watch him kick off his shoes and pull his shirt off over his head. “Come here.” He takes a seat on the side of the bed then drags me to stand between his spread thighs.
“What are you doing?” I ask as he unbuttons my shorts and slides them down over my hips, letting them fall to the floor leaving me in a pair of cotton boy shorts.
“You need sleep,” he mutters, pulling my sweater off my shoulders, letting it join my shorts, and then he runs his hands up my back, under my tank, unhooking my bra.
“Sven,” I whisper to the top of his head.
“Just sleep, I promise, baby.” He kisses my stomach then reaches under the strap of my tank top to slide my bra straps down my arms. He pulls each of my hands out gently before coasting his up my stomach, under my tank, making my muscles tense as he grasp the front of my bra and pulls it out, dropping it to the ground.
Okay, that was hot…seriously hot, I think, as the space between my legs tingles.
Standing, he puts his fingers to the button of his jeans then pushes them down and kicks them to the side. My eyes automatically go to his waist then drop to his very aroused manhood.
Holy cow.
“Not tonight.”
Lifting my eyes to his, I swallow then squeak as he pulls me down with him into the bed and adjusts us until my head his pillowed against his chest. Tugging the blankets over us, he then reaches over, picks up the remote for the light, and hits the button, turning the room dark.
“Sleep, baby.”
I want to tell him I’m not tired or that there is no possible way I will be able to sleep, but my eyes grow heavy, and before I know it, I’m asleep exactly where I want to be.
Chapter 6
Sven
Truth be told
Lying with Maggie in my arms, her soft breathing letting me know she’s asleep, I squeeze my eyes closed. It’s not safe for her to be with me right now, but the idea of her being anywhere else is enough to drive me mad. Paulie Amidio, the mob boss for Lacamo, is sure to put two and two together with Kai’s sudden return to life and Paulie’s son being dead. Regardless of the fact his son was going to take him out, he will want revenge for his death. I trust Kai and Kenton. I know both men want to put an end to Paulie’s rein of terror, but until he’s taken out and his power extinguished, no one is safe, including Maggie. And that’s not okay with me, which means I need to take every precaution necessary to make sure she stays safe.
Pulling her closer to me, her warmth settles into my skin helping me drift off to sleep.
Waking to the soft, warm woman in my arms, her ass cradled against my thighs, my hands full of her curves, and the scent of her in my nose, I regret that I have to get up soon. All I really want to do is roll her to her back and listen to her breath hitch, like it did every time I slid into her. I wasn’t lying when I said she’s the best I’ve ever had. Her body alone is enough to bring me to my knees, but the way she looks at me, the way she says my name, and the feel of her skin against mine all give me something I didn’t know I was missing when it came to sex. Something I didn’t care about before her, an intimacy that made being with her almost unbearable.
My possessiveness when it comes to her is an emotion I never expected to experience firsthand, and nothing could have ever prepared me for it. I knew I wanted Maggie when I first met her, but after feeling my first bite of jealousy, I knew what I was feeling for her was more than just infatuation and lust. I knew I would do everything within my power to make sure she never looked at or touched another man again. I knew I would do whatever necessary to make sure she was mine. I just didn’t realize the walls I thought I built up around myself were nothing compared to the walls she has around her. She guards herself so closely, never allowing herself to be vulnerable for anyone. But I won’t accept anything less than all of her. I want her—no, need her—to feel for me what I feel for her.
Turning in my arms, her face goes into my chest and my eyes drop down to see if she’s awake, only to find her eyes closed, her dark lashes resting against her cheeks, her mouth in a soft pout. Kissing her forehead, I wrap my arms tighter around her and rest my chin on top of her head. I’m not happy about the shit I have to do today, but knowing what could’ve happened had I not shown up at the club when I did has had me on edge since yesterday afternoon when I woke with her in my bed with tears of confusion and horror in her beautiful eyes.
Regardless of the fact things worked out in my favor, someone is going to pay for what’s been done. Then I have the issue of figuring out who the fuck the chick was in my house last night, how she got in, and who sent her. If Maggie wasn’t Maggie, that whole fucked up situation could have lead me to losing her before she ever realized she’s mine, and that is not okay with me.
Hearing her moan my name as her legs move restlessly against the sheet, I pull my head back to look down at her and watch as her nipples press against her tank top and her legs twitch again. Running my hand down her side and over the curve of her hip, I pull her closer, hearing her moan once more.
“Baby,” I whisper against her ear, only to have her whimper. Then her body stills and my head dips, finding her eyes open on me, a deeper honey color than I’ve ever seen, giving me an inkling of what she was dreaming of. “You were dreaming.”
“I…” She squeezes her eyes closed and her chest heaves.
Rolling her to her back, I wrap my hand around her calf and pull it up around my hip. Kissing her mouth, her cheek, and then her ear, I whisper, “What were you dreaming about?”
“I don’t remember,” she murmurs her lie as her hands slide up my sides and her head dips back into the pillow, allowing me access to the curve of her throat.
“You do,” I tell her, dragging my tongue up her throat, and then ask, “Was I doing that?”
“No,” she moans, and I grind my erection against her.
“Hmm, what about this?” I coast my hand up her thigh, along the curve of her waist, and cup her breast, running my thumb across her nipple. Her back arches off the bed and her eyes open to meet mine.
“I…I don’t remember,” she whimpers, raising her hands to my shoulders then one smoothly up the side of my neck, into the back of my hair. Lowering my mouth down onto hers, I kiss her bottom lip then slide my tongue across the seam of her mouth as I pinch her nipple between two fingers. I use her gasp to slip my tongue between her lips, touching hers. Moaning into my mouth, I side my hand up then down under her tank and cup her breast in my palm.
“Oh, God,” she cries into my mouth as I roll her nipple.
Kissing down her throat, I bend my head and pull her nipple into my mouth, sucking hard, loving that my marks are still there. Her legs lift and wrap around my ass, and my free hand moves between her legs, sliding over her panties, feeling the wetness on the material as my fingers pass over it. Pressing my cock into the bed, I raise my head to look at her then slide along the inner seam of her underwear, and groan when my fingers slip through her slick heat.
“You’re so wet, Mags, so fucking wet for me,” I praise, gliding my finger around her clit, causing her hips
to buck.
“Sven.”
“I’m right here.” I pull her nipple back into my mouth then move to her other breast and do the same.
“Please,” she cries while my fingers glide down, one then two, entering her and feeling her clamp down on them like a vise. “So tight, so fucking hot.” I rise up, taking her mouth again, freeing my cock from my boxers, and move her panties to the side to slide the tip over her clit then down, putting just the head inside. Pulling back, I watch her eyes go half-mast and listen to her breath hitch as I press fully into her, gritting my teeth against the exquisite pleasure of having her wrapped around me. Leaning back on my knees, I pull her forward to tug her top off over her head then lean forward again, pulling out then sinking back in.
“Jesus, fucking, heaven.” Wrapping my fist around her hair, I tilt her head back and take her mouth again.
“What…?” she whimpers as I pull out of her and sit back on my calves.
“Shhh,” I hush, sliding her panties over her hips and down her thighs, dropping them to the bed. I kick off my shorts and move between her legs again, wrapping them over my arms, then dip my face to pull her nipple into my mouth, sliding into her at the same time. Releasing her nipple with a pop, her hands wrap around my shoulders and her head falls back onto the bed while her eyes slide closed.
“Look at me, Maggie,” I demand, and her head tips down, her eyes meeting mine. “So beautiful, baby, you’re so fucking gorgeous taking my cock, taking all of me,” I praise her, sliding out then back in slowly.
“Faster, please,” she whispers, running her hand down my chest and over my abs.
“Just like this,” I whisper back, focusing on her face.
I swallow when her hand wraps around the side of my neck and her gaze locks on mine while her eyes fill with tears. “Don’t cry.” I drop her legs then my forehead to hers, never losing eye contact as I sink into her slowly, sliding my cock along her walls, feeling them ripple and tighten around me.
“Oh…” she whimpers, bringing her legs higher around my hips, forcing me impossibly deeper.