With their son.
His hands tightened around the wheel. “Not the apartment. Home. My house … Our house.”
“I can’t go home with you!” I exclaimed, panic trying to take me prisoner just as swiftly and easily as Adrian had done. I fought it back, knowing that, while this man held the power to eviscerate my heart, he wouldn’t physically hurt me. “If I don’t get home before morning, my family will think something happened to me.”
And after what had happened to Scarlett, I couldn’t blame them.
“Let me worry about your family.” He shot me a quick look, but I couldn’t see much of his face. I felt his gaze on me, though, tracing over every inch of me. Just as he had done at the club. “Ya skuchayu po tebe.”
I had to wrap my arms around myself as my chest exploded with pain. He missed me. I missed him, too, even though I knew I shouldn’t. Even though I knew it wasn’t right.
I had fallen for him too fast, too hard, and if I thought it was some fleeting infatuation that I could get over just as quickly, I was wrong.
So, so wrong.
Chapter 1
Victoria
Six weeks earlier…
I have to see you again.
I heard Adrian’s voice in my head, like a delicious dark whisper, repeating those words over and over again. They were his last words to me the night before at his sister’s club, Iron Hand. They were the only words on my phone, texted in the early hours of the morning, just before I had fallen asleep, so happy that I had felt oddly giddy.
Giddy over a guy; that just wasn’t me. Most of the men I knew either worked for my father or were related to me. I didn’t want a man who was under my father’s thumb. They were too easy to control, and I didn’t want a man who spent more time taking orders from my father than caring about what I wanted.
Adrian was different. I had known that from the moment I had met him the day before, but to see him next to the men my father more or less owned through blood and loyalty, I knew he wasn’t like the street soldiers who did Vito Vitucci’s dirty work. He was his own man, followed his own rules, and didn’t give a damn about what my father wanted.
He had commanded Adrian to stay away from me, just as he had demanded the same of me. Papa had said he was dangerous, a criminal, but I had only wanted to laugh in his face. He was no better than Adrian, not at all.
I wasn’t blind nor stupid. I knew what he did even without having the details of when, where, or even how. The Cosa Nostra ran everything from the drug supply, to prostitution, to any number of other criminal dealings. And not just in New York. My father was the one and true godfather of the entire country, just as he was back in Sicily.
There was no way I was going to listen to him about Adrian, not when the chemistry and pull was so strong. Not when my heart and stomach did this crazy little flip whenever I so much as thought about him.
I hadn’t ever believed in love at first sight; wasn’t completely sure I still didn’t. Whatever this was with me and Adrian, though, was powerful, and I wanted to give it a chance. I wanted to see where it could lead.
The night before, I hadn’t even planned on seeing him when I had taken Scarlett to Anya’s club. Hoped, yeah, but hadn’t expected it. He must have suspected I would seek him out, though, because he had shown up and hadn’t left my side until Scarlett had pulled me out the door and into a cab. But not before he had told me he wanted to see me again, murmuring the time and place in my ear.
I had practically been high on the excitement of getting to see him again so soon on the ride home.
I had woken early this morning, taking my time to get ready, making sure I looked perfect for Adrian before I left the house.
I made up some excuse about more shopping to my brother on my way out, and got a kiss on the cheek and the usual lecture to be careful.
Two guards were already waiting in one of my father’s cars when I got outside. My heart was racing as they drove me into the city.
Last night, I hadn’t gotten the chance to be alone with Adrian, but I knew that wasn’t going to be the case today. I wanted to be alone with him just as much as he wanted it.
Only a few blocks away from the address he had given me the night before, I sent him a text, letting him know I was almost there. My guards didn’t question me when I got out, telling them I was only visiting a friend and that I would call them when I was done. The building was safe enough, and my guards were always more lenient than Scarlett’s because they didn’t have Ciro Donati to worry about.
As soon as I was inside, I watched them pull away, knowing they wouldn’t go far. They were tolerant, but not stupid. If something happened to me on their watch, Papa would kill them. I should have felt bad for deceiving them, but I was too excited to see Adrian to even care.
I crossed to the elevator and pressed the call button as my eyes took in the lobby. There were men in suits behind a desk, watching a security monitor. Adrian must have told them to expect me, because they had both stood when I had walked through the door, then had retaken their seats after I had only given them my name.
The elevator gave a distinct ding as it arrived, and I nibbled on the inside of my bottom lip as my anticipation skyrocketed. As the doors opened, I didn’t bother to look up as I moved to step on. Before I could take more than a step, though, strong hands grasped my hips and jerked me inside.
I stumbled forward, colliding with a massive chest as I reached out to catch myself. The way my body instantly heated told me who it was.
I didn’t lift my head, knowing that what I was feeling would be in my eyes, something I was afraid to let him see.
Behind me, the elevator doors closed, and then the car began its ascent.
Adrian tightened his hold on my hips, pulling me roughly against him as he backed up until he was leaning against the wall.
I inhaled deeply, loving the mixture of bergamot, neroli, and a blend of citrus that made up his cologne. His smell was addicting, and I found myself repeatedly inhaling deeper.
It wasn’t just the scent of him that was messing with my breathing. It was his closeness, the way my blood was starting to simmer, then boiling with a need I had never experienced. It was the way his touch made my heart race, and the ache that began to throb between my legs.
I could feel the change in his breathing, as well. The way his deep inhales stirred my hair, how his chest lifted and fell with each rough breath. His reaction made me bolder.
I slowly lifted my lashes until I met his gaze. Those dark eyes burned into me, making me dizzy with a need I didn’t know was even possible.
“H-hi,” I whispered, leaning into him, loving the feel of his body against mine.
“Hello, kotyonok.” He lowered his head, grazing his lips over my jaw while contracting his fingers on my hips. “How is it possible that I missed you so much when I only saw you last night?”
“I wish I knew,” I told him honestly. “Because I missed you, too.”
He growled a curse in Russian under his breath, lowering his head closer to mine.
“Adrian,” I moaned, twisting my fingers in his shirt. I could taste coffee and mint on his breath, my lips already tingling from wanting to feel his lips against mine.
When his lips touched the corner of my mouth, I couldn’t hold back the whimper that escaped. His touch felt so good.
He moved his hands then, one going around my waist to anchor me to him, while the other went to the back of my head. He tangled his fingers through my hair, pulling the locks tightly and angling my head the way he wanted it. I thrilled at the slight pain from the way he pulled my hair, my body coming even more alive.
The elevator began to slow, but neither of us noticed, too caught up in each other …
The sound of someone coughing behind me made me jerk in surprise, and Adrian lifted his head almost angrily.
“Anya,” he gritted out. “What do you want?”
I carefully turne
d my head to look at his sister who was standing casually outside the elevator.
“I thought we had a meeting to discuss the new addition I wanted to put onto the club.” She shrugged. “Sorry, I must have gotten it wrong.”
His fingers dug into my side, almost as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it, before he exhaled harshly. “No, it’s my mistake. I forgot. Can we discuss it later today?”
“If that works better for you, then sure.” She moved into the elevator, and Adrian reluctantly released me, but took ahold of my hand and pulled me out of the elevator.
“Good seeing you, Victoria,” she said with a smirk as the elevator doors closed on her.
I couldn’t even remember how to use my voice, but it didn’t matter. She was already descending.
I turned my attention to my surroundings, finding that we were already inside his apartment. The elevator had opened right into his living room, making me wonder if this floor was locked to everyone else, or if anyone could walk right into his home.
Before I could ask, Adrian pulled me back into his arms, seeking my lips.
I was falling head first. It wasn’t smart, but I didn’t care.
“Fuck, you taste good enough to eat,” he said with a grunt, lifting me off my feet with just an arm around my waist. His strength made me dizzy, and his desire for me stole all rational thought from my head as I got lost in his kisses.
One second we were standing in the middle of his living room, and the next we were both landing hard on his couch. I moved my legs so I was straddling him, combing my fingers through his hair, not knowing what else to do with them. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to touch every square inch of his hard body, to explore every single tattoo he had inked forever into his skin. But I had no idea what he would like, what would feel good, and I desperately wanted to make him feel just as good as he was making me feel. But I was afraid I would only turn him off with my clumsy caresses.
My hair kept tangling around us, and he repeatedly pushed it away as he kissed a path from my lips to my jaw then down my neck until he reached the tender flesh where neck met shoulder. There, he sunk his teeth in deeply, marking me as his.
The noise that left my throat didn’t sound like anything that had ever come from me in my life. It was part pained, part sheer desire, and one hundred percent his.
My head fell back, leaving my neck exposed for him to do as he wanted.
While he attached his teeth and lips to my neck, his hands were everywhere. With one hand, he cupped my breast, squeezing and massaging, causing them to ache and swell in the confines of my bra until it felt like they would burst out of the cups. His other hand was on my ass, gripping my flesh through my dress and underwear, his long, thick fingers so rough I knew he was marking me with bruises the shape of his fingers, just as easily as he was my neck with his love bites. That wasn’t all those fingers were doing, though.
With each squeeze, my dress rose higher and higher until my panties were exposed.
With my dress now up to my waist, I could move against him easier, rocking my lower body against the ever-growing evidence of how much he wanted me.
His cock strained against the confines of his dress slacks, threatening to burst through the seams of the expensive material. I rubbed myself against the thick length, my breath coming in choppy little pants as I drove toward something I had never experienced.
“That’s it, kotyonok,” he breathed at my ear. “Come on my cock. Fuck, you are so wet. You’re soaking through my pants, making my dick weep from wanting to be inside this wet little pussy.”
I had never heard someone talk so dirty, never thought I would like it, but it only spurred me on. My hips rolled instinctively, finding the right rhythm and pressure that would give me exactly what my body was begging for.
Adrian pulled my dress up until my bra was exposed. Then he pulled the cups down before burying his head between my breasts. He inhaled deeply, as if savoring my scent, before capturing one of my painfully hard nipples and sucking it against the roof of his mouth.
I gripped his shoulders as I cried out at the unexpected pleasure.
“So close, my beautiful Victoria. So fucking close.” He sucked the other nipple deeply into his mouth, practically swallowing my entire breast in his eagerness to taste me.
“Oh, God,” I moaned, burying my face in his neck as I held on tightly to his shoulders, never once stopping the way I was moving against his hardness. “Adrian, I’ve never …” I couldn’t finish. I couldn’t even fucking breathe as the release snuck up, taking me as its prisoner.
I felt him go still under me as my entire body melted into a puddle in his arms. I was trembling from the force of my orgasm, my panties soaked and uncomfortable as I let him hold me.
Long minutes passed while he stroked my hair back from my face. I felt the slight tremor in his fingers, yet he didn’t move to continue our frenzied lovemaking.
As I got control of my trembling limbs, I lifted my head. “Adrian?”
He kissed my lips, but it wasn’t the mindless, starved kisses I had loved. This one was tender, so beautifully gentle it brought tears to my eyes.
“You’ve never?” His voice was low and hoarse as he continued to struggle reining in his overpowering need. Between us, I could feel just how hard he still was.
Pink filled my cheeks, but I didn’t try to lie. “No. This was my first time doing anything like this. I … I’m … I haven’t …”
He stopped my embarrassing flow of words with a kiss still as tender as it had been mere moments before. “I’m glad. You have no idea how glad.” He brushed his nose over mine, then slid down to my jaw, then to my ear. “I have thought about killing any man who came before me. No lie. All night, I thought about nothing but how many men have come before me, and I wanted to murder them all in their sleep.”
“Adrian,” I chided him with a roll of my eyes. “You have to know that, what I feel for you, it’s all new territory for me.”
“Just as what I feel for you is to me,” he admitted. “Which is why I am fighting the green monster of jealousy so hard right now. But knowing I was the first to make you come apart like that, that I will be the first man to ever get to feel what your drenched pussy will feel like as I fuck you until neither of us can walk for days, I can’t help feeling smug. And proud. Proud that you have chosen me.”
I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth at his confession.
Still, he didn’t try to touch me with the passion he had before I had lost control so completely.
“Then, why did you stop?” I finally whispered when he just sat there, looking up at me like he was trying to memorize every feature of my face.
His eyes darkened. “Because, when I finally slide deep inside you, kotyonok, it won’t be some fumbled frenzy where I’m so lost in the feel of you I can’t remember to make you feel good.” Adrian kissed the tip of my nose. “Have patience. When that does happen, there will be no leaving my bed until we are both completely sated.”
“Impossible,” I muttered, and his brows lifted in confusion. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
His gaze turned predatory. “You shouldn’t have said that, kotyonok.”
Chapter 2
Adrian
I could almost feel every tick of the clock, as if it were screaming at me, telling me that my time with Victoria was running out. I wanted to lock her inside my home—lock us both inside—and never let her out of my sight.
Less than twenty-four hours I had known her, yet I felt like I wasn’t alive without her near me. She had unlocked something deep inside that I hadn’t even realized was waiting to be set free, something that was just for her.
I had never been much for company. When it came to sex, I had my fun, got what I wanted, then got the fuck out of there. When it came to business, I did what needed doing, and then turned that part of myself off so I could sleep through the night. I didn’t have friends, had neve
r had a girlfriend. I trusted no one, with the exception of my sister. Even then, I still held myself back.
After what had happened to Taras, I couldn’t let myself get close to Anya. I kept her at arm’s length, but it was the same for her. Our brother’s death had affected us both.
That wasn’t the case now.
What was it about Victoria that made me want to sit and just listen to her talk, watch her as she moved so gracefully? Even the way she ate was graceful.
She wasn’t meek; that much I already knew. There was a fiery passion just simmering behind her brown eyes, waiting to be unleashed on the world. That she was Vito Vitucci’s daughter was a bonus. It told me that she could handle my world. A world that was dark and dangerous, and full of boogie men who would scare a woman who wasn’t strong enough to handle herself.
I knew Victoria could handle it. I had seen the way she had taken charge the night before when Anya’s security had tried to pat her down before allowing her up to the VIP. If I hadn’t seen red at the thought of some other fucker’s hands on what was mine, I knew she could have handled the brainless oaf.
There was no woman in all of creation who could have been more perfect for me than my little kotyonok.
We ate lunch in my kitchen. Salad and sandwiches that my housekeeper had made for me that morning before I had given her the rest of the day off. I hadn’t even been sure if Victoria would come to me, but I had wanted to be prepared so we didn’t have to leave once she did arrive.
After she was fed, we went back into the living room, and I pulled her down onto my lap as we sat on the couch. I didn’t dare kiss her again. I didn’t trust myself to stop at just kissing. All the same, I couldn’t keep from holding her, touching her in any way I could.