Blood & Marriage (Dark Mafia Romance) (14 page)

I exhaled. There it was again, the duties I needed to
fulfill, no matter how badly I didn’t want to. I straightened up on the bed as
an idea sparkled shyly somewhere at the back of my mind. “Maybe all this
trouble would disappear, if you became the next Don.”

Santo glanced up at me, wide-eyed. “That’s not how things
work.” He started pacing the room again, unable to find a place for himself.
“We just need to get Seth back. The guy’s soft, and unobtrusive.”

But I wouldn’t be brushed off so fast. “I might be wrong,
but after Vincenzo, aren’t you and your father the most important men in the
Family?” It certainly seemed like that, even though I didn’t try to inquire
about the actual hierarchy.

Santo watched me, leaning against a window so clean that for
a second I envisioned him falling out, and my heart stopped. “My father would
not agree to that. I was raised to be the perfect candidate for the next
consigliere
to replace him once he retires. I assure you, Seth will be easy to control. The
only issue is Acerbi, who might try to meddle.”

I stood up slowly. “Why wouldn’t he agree? You’d be
perfectly capable to do this. Much more so than those two brothers,” I said,
and it wasn’t an empty compliment. I believed Santo would make an excellent
leader.

Santo shook his head. “My father wouldn’t agree to support
such a development, and I’d be as good as dead. It’s out of the question,
Lucrezia. You know very well that what we want rarely aligns with what we get.”

I approached him slowly, looking out the window, at the city
beyond. “He’s dangerous, isn’t he?”

“I know my father…cares for me in his own way.” Though
saying that, Santo sneered. “But he gets what he wants. It’s what he does. So I
did the accountancy course, learned standard Mandarin, and got made. It’s not
that I’m…afraid of him.” He tapped his fingertips against the glass. “It’s hard
to explain. I respect him in many ways, and I don’t want to disappoint him. I
don’t want him to think that I failed. That he set me to a task, and I wasn’t
capable enough to complete it.”

I nodded. I understood that Santo’s father would be more
important to him than the woman he’d met only a few weeks ago, but it still
stung to know that he’d rather give me back to another man than fight for us.
Maybe I was being silly. Romantic like a teenager who didn’t yet know any
better. “When I was still a little girl, I loved my father. That was before I
realized how dangerous he was.” Words stuck in my throat, and I massaged it
gently.

My heart skipped a beat when Santo entwined our fingers.
“How did you realize? I’ve met women affiliated with the Family who don’t
realize what their husbands and fathers do. Or at least pretend not to.”

I squeezed his palm hard, and all of a sudden my pulse
quickened, as if I were about to run for my life. “I saw him kill someone.”

Santo took a deep breath and pulled me against his chest. It
didn’t feel like he was taking the opportunity to make a move on me. He was
just there as a sturdy presence to support me. Like a shield that would not
yield no matter what.

I tried to even out my breathing, so that I wouldn’t start
crying again, but the vivid nature of my memories made it so difficult that it
took me a long time to speak again. “Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able
to stop being scared.”

“You will. I will make sure you’re safe,” Santo whispered
against my hair. “I will take Seth back home, get my father on board with this
plan, and make sure Seth understands it means he doesn’t get to touch his wife.
I will make it work.”

It sounded too good to be true. Forcing my husband away from
me was so wrong, and yet there was nothing more soothing than Santo’s arms
around me. I could lie in them forever, completely safe. I should not be agreeing
to this, but I couldn’t find the strength in me to argue right now, even though
what Santo was proposing put us both in permanent danger. He’d eventually be
pressured to marry someone else, and all we could ever have would be moments
stolen from an estranged husband and an unhappy wife. It was selfish of me that
I wasn’t yet pushing him away but, Seth wasn’t here. He was on the run and
would never know what happened in this room.

“I’m safe with you.”

Santo took a deep inhale, and his heart beat fast under my
cheek. He didn’t say a thing, just held me tightly. I didn’t know how long we
stood so close to one another, but eventually I squeezed the hand I was still
holding. “I trust you.”

Santo licked his lips, and I wanted to kiss him so badly my
own lips itched. “I will make sure you can choose a man you like once the issue
with Seth has been handled. I don’t want you to feel trapped.” But in his eyes,
I could blatantly read that while he was trying to give me an open door, what
he really wanted was to never let me go.

I swallowed, shaking my head. “It’s not that simple. I am
his wife, and if someone found out, nobody could save me.”

Despite his words, Santo’s hands still travelled down my
back and to my hips. “So you want to stay with him? Just because he is a better
choice than Vincenzo?”

I moved my fingers up his chest and clutched at his lapels.
“I
want
someone else.”

Santo let out a low groan. “As far as I remember, you didn’t
want to be my
paramour
.” But he must have known I lost that battle,
because his hands found their way to my ass and squeezed it.

“I don’t. But I still want you,” I whispered, already
leaning in to his lips, with the swarm of butterflies inside me spinning at a
rapid pace. But Santo didn’t just tease me, he was quick to answer all my needs
and leaned down so we could kiss.

At first gently, as if he were afraid he’d spoil the moment
if he were any more intense about it, but then his tongue became increasingly
hungry for exploration, and I could barely breathe when my heart started
racing.

Before I even knew it, his hands crawled under my dress, and
he squeezed my ass with more force. “I could eat you up,” he groaned into the
kiss.

“Let’s see who eats who first,” I whispered back and pushed
my hands under his turtleneck, tracing his strong body. I wanted to memorize
every detail and carry them with me forever.

Santo nipped on my lip, and I couldn’t believe this was
actually happening. Even if nothing worked out later, we had this one night to
gorge on each other. No one was here to rush us or walk in on us. We could
finally take our time.

Though judging by the way Santo touched me and backed me
toward the bed, we wouldn’t be wasting even a moment.

I held on to him, quickly pushing up his turtleneck. I was a
little girl on Christmas Eve, and he was the most impressive present underneath
the tree. He needed to be unwrapped.

Santo grinned. “Just don’t leave any marks. Wouldn’t want
the girls following my Instagram disappointed.” He let go of my butt only to
unzip the back of my dress.

“You will give me the name of your account by the time I’m
done with you,” I said, stalling for a moment when I realized how bold I was.
But he didn’t seem to mind and grinned at me in challenge.

He made a show of finally taking off the turtleneck, and I
bit my lip both at the sight of his muscles, and the masculine scent that hit
me at once. “You will never get it then, because you will never be done with
me.” He pulled on the front of my dress, making it fall to the floor.

Left in my fancy bra, matching panties and stay-ups, I
didn’t feel embarrassed. Santo wanted me, and the way his gaze trailed fire
over my skin made me feel like a sex goddess. “You think so? Aren’t accountants
supposed to be boring?”

Santo leaned back to look at all of me, but I was too busy
ogling him myself. “Not this one,” he murmured and reached out to stroke my
nipple through my bra.

I couldn’t help but smile and push forward, watching a flush
crawl up his chest. “Are you sure?” I teased, placing my hand between his pecs
and tuning in to the echo of his heartbeat pulsing so close to my palm.

“I am positive. Fuck…that first time I saw you, I couldn’t
believe what kind of gold Seth struck without even trying.” Santo slid his
hands up my neck and massaged my jaw with his thumbs before leaning in for
another kiss.

I melted against him, hitting the bed with my calves. His
tongue was so smooth in my mouth I wanted to stretch out and have him kiss me
forever. “He doesn’t deserve me,” I whispered, nipping on his lips and pulling
him closer to the mattress.

“You have no idea how many times I…
thought
of a
moment like this.” Though his sly grin suggested that he meant jerking off. It
made my gaze drift to his belt when our lips parted, and he was already
unbuckling it.

I slid my hands to his pecs, squeezing them gently before
trailing them higher, all the way into his hair. “You made sure I’d think about
you a lot as well,” I whispered, pressing closer until my breasts were flat
against his chest.

“Did I?” He licked the side of my jaw, making me moan. “Must
mean I left a big impression.” The heat of his body was so powerful it was as
if we were both on fire, but I couldn’t wait to get my fingers scorched.

I whined into the kiss and pushed down his pants, eager to
see all of him for the first time. “And now you need to wonder whether it was a
good or bad impression,” I said, rubbing my ear against his hair, and even this
sent tickling sensations all the way to my toes. There was something about
Santo that I’d never discovered in another man.

Santo smirked and grabbed my hand, only to guide it to his
already stiffening cock. “Judging by the way you’re ogling my dick, Lucrezia, I
think it was a good one.” He blew air at my ear, and I went red at how
straightforward his words were, but they were also true. His whole body was a
treat to look at. Muscular, but not as big as Seth’s, and where Seth’s charm
was rough around the edges, Santo was sleek and suave.

I curled my fingers around his cock, and it felt so alien in
my hand, even though it was also warm, and alive, and it pulsed in my hand
already. I gave it a gentle pump, watching him despite the burning hot flush I
could feel in my neck and face. “I didn’t get to see much of you yet.”

Santo slid his hands up my body and cupped my breasts.
“Because I’m greedy, and I was too focused on your perfect body to be showing
off. These,” he squeezed my breasts a little harder, “are my wet dream. Sometimes
I imagine you riding my cock and them hanging over my face so I can tease them
with my tongue.”

I moaned, rubbing my face against his warm chest. His body
smelled so intensely of something I couldn’t quite grasp, but it was as
addictive as looking into Santo’s eyes. My breasts were small, and while I
liked that when it came to clothes, it made me insecure to know that so many
men preferred them bigger. Clearly, Santo didn’t mind my size.

I smiled at him and reached back to the opening, pulling out
hook by hook until the bra was ready to go off. I already regretted I had to
let go of his cock to do that, but the wave of excitement I saw roll over him
more than compensated for that.

As soon as my nipples were free of the bra, Santo pushed me
down to the bed, and his mouth was over my bared breast. The slippery hot
tongue teased me mercilessly, and he grabbed my wrists, holding them down
against the bedding when I wanted to reach into his hair.

He kneeled over my thighs, and I was so exquisitely trapped,
all I could do was moan as each stroke of his tongue sent a shiver down to my
pussy.

My body arched toward him, already begging for whatever
pleasures he could unleash on me. Stretched out like dessert on a plate, I knew
that, for him, I was the nectar he’d been waiting for, and I wanted to let him
drink until he was completely sated. In a way, his touch felt almost better now
than it had the first time, because I knew what to expect, and couldn’t think
of anything more delicious than connecting with him.

I stole a glance at the dark cock arching up between his
muscular thighs. His hair down there was as black as on his head, but not as
thick as Seth’s had been. I was pulled right back to reality when Santo bit the
underside of my breast gently, making my hips buck. My excitement was already
seeping into my panties, and I couldn’t wait for him to slide his cock into me.
Hold me tight and fuck me naked so I could see his muscles at work.

I freed one of my legs and wrapped it around him, pulling my
foot up his ass, all the way to his muscular back, but my hands were still
trapped in Santo’s grip. I found excitement in this prison. It allowed me to
measure my strength against his, and knowing how much advantage he had over me
made me rock my hips with arousal. He could have had me many times if he’d
wanted to, but he’d respected my earlier rejections, and that sense of
security made me completely relaxed to the sensation of our skin rubbing
together.

He sucked on my nipple and pulled on it with his lips. “Spreading
legs for me like a good girl?” Santo’s voice was raspy, and the way he watched
me told me everything about his lust. His big sturdy body would be on top of
mine soon, and I found the wait agonizing.

I thought he’d be letting go of my hands, but instead, he
just changed position to secure both my wrists over my head with one hand,
while the other went straight between my legs, tracing my panties, and rubbing
my pussy. “Wet already…”

I whimpered, somehow raising my lower body on just my heels.
“Yes...oh, God, Santo.”

He buried his face in my neck, rubbing his evening stubble
against the sensitive skin like a cat. The sensation made my pussy twitch with
excitement, and I moved my hips against his hand to receive more pressure.

“You’re so pliant only for me, aren’t you?” Santo pulled
down my underwear enough to slip his fingers between my, already slippery,
labia. The way he ran his thumb over my clit made me shudder, and the sight of
Santo above me only fueled the fire between my legs. Everything was perfect
about him. From the dark hair and piercing eyes, to the wide shoulders and
stiff, thick cock.