High Stakes (13 page)

“What are you doing? The trail is right there!”

His eyes are blazing. “So what? The risk makes it fun. I’ve never had sex in public.”

I giggle. “Well, me neither, but—”

“But what?” he grins. “Someone might see? Who cares? Let them watch.”

“We might get arrested! Plus, you can’t do all the things you want to out here.”

He looks at me like I’m challenging him. “Oh, I can’t?”

Laughing, I don’t take him seriously when he rips off my t-shirt. I squeal in protest when he balls it in his fist and throws it at least five feet away.

“You’re crazy!”

I’m twisting against the tree, trying to see if there are any people watching. Vince takes the opportunity to reach around my back to unclip my bra. My face burns when it falls down my arms. He takes that too and hurls it deep in the woods.

“Hey!”

“Be quiet,” he growls in my ear as he yanks at the waistband of my jeans.

I’m struggling with the heat of being half-naked with him, and fear that at any moment, someone might stumble upon our tryst in the woods and call the police.

And I’d be hauled off to jail.

For what? Public indecency?

At the same time, my blood gallops through my veins as if I drank too much five-hour energy. His eagerness to fuck me right here in the woods is downright crazy.

It’s also hot as hell.

My jeans and panties are ripped off my body with some difficulty, they’re skinny jeans and they don’t come off easily, but he manages it. Then I’m completely nude, the dappled sun kissing my skin and my nipples contracting as he covers them with his hands, groping and massaging the sensitive skin with his thumbs. His mouth lowers to them and he takes my breast in his cavernous mouth. A wet muscle plays with my nipple, flicking it hard. I arch my body against him and forget all about the world around me. His tongue moves in slow, tantalizing circles and I feel electricity shooting everywhere. I seize his head of hair and pull hard as I gasp loudly, almost screaming as he sucks, leaving my nipple raw.

He sucks hard around my nipple, leaving bright red patches everywhere before he attacks the other breast. Vince grins wickedly as I yank his hair and take high gasps.

“You’re going to alert the whole world to us.”

“Sorry!” I gasp.

“Don’t apologize. It turns me on like you wouldn’t believe.”

Looking down, I can see the outline of him straining against his jeans and I wrap my hand around him. All of a sudden, I hear footsteps and leaves and the blood drains from my face. Vincent laughs at my fear softly, sliding a hand up my thigh. I whisper a warning but he gives me his devil-like grin, sliding his fingers along my soaking clit. They penetrate me easily, sliding up the slick walls and making me moan when I want to keep quiet. He kisses me hard, and gradually I hear the footsteps disappear.

“
Vince, please
.”

His lips fall on my neck. “Oh, now you want me to fuck you? Beg me.” His brown eyes shine with mischief.

“Fuck you.”

Suddenly, he yanks me over his knees and his hands smooth over my ass. I’m completely exposed to the trail, having lost the small protection of the tree.

“Everything’s healed. Too bad.”

Then I hear the sound of his belt buckle flapping through his loops and my heart races.

“No, Vincent.”

He chuckles and I hear him looping the belt in his hand. I’m just waiting for that terribly loud, cracking sound. I know I’ll scream. I know it.

“You’re so disrespectful. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

I tremble as he slaps my ass lightly, his palm kneading my flesh before disappearing.

“Vince, wait—” my voice lifts into a scream as the belt strikes the same spot he whipped days ago. It’s still sensitive.

“Shhh,” he hushes. “You need to learn—”

SMACK!

“To obey.”

It’s so raw that tears spring in my eyes.

“I’m a bastard, how many times do I have to tell you? Still, you treat me like I’m one of the
jamooks
sniffing around your pussy, hoping to get laid. I’m no fucking
jamook
.
I can do anything I want to you
.”

I can’t explain how badly his words affect me. I want to be owned by him. I want him to do anything he wants to me. Even the veiled threat in his voice turns me on instead of scaring me. I grit my teeth as he whips me again, my backside clenching to brace against the pain. Then he pulls me up on his lap and grabs my neck, looking at me with a mixture of amusement and deadly serious calm.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

Is this part of the game?

It doesn’t really matter. There are more footsteps coming and voices.

“Hey, Did you hear that?” Some voices call out in the distance.

I hear the voices, my blood chilling as Vince tries to suppress laughter.

“I—I’m really sorry.”

“As you should be.”

Suddenly, I’m lifted into the air as he drops his jeans. My legs tighten around his waist as I feel his hardness against me and then he thrusts upward violently. My back scraps the bark as he enters me roughly, his face red as he pounds hard. I marvel at his strength as my whole body shakes with the force of his thrusts. Fingers twist in his hair and I’m moaning in his ear, so loudly I can hear it echo. To silence me, his lips seal against mine and his tongue shoves down my throat.

I’m trying so hard to be quiet, but then Vince groans out loud and the wet smack of his hips against me is so loud, that it hardly seems to matter. He throbs inside me mercilessly. I’m nearly ripping out his hair with the effort of squeezing him and keeping myself silent, and then I become undone. I exhale with a shuddering cry and Vince, his face screwed up as he pulls himself out of me, coming over my stomach.

He lowers me to the ground, his arms trembling as he sets me down and helps me clean my stomach off. I’ve never seen him look so happy. Laughing to himself with a big grin, he retrieves my clothes one by one.

I’m still a pile of jelly, basking in the glow of my orgasm, even my sore ass.

“I can’t believe no one saw us.”

“Well, they definitely heard you.”

The comment makes me blush, and I can’t pull on my clothes fast enough, which are now covered in dirt. The bastard is fully dressed of course, but he enjoys watching me struggle. When I pull everything back on, I stand up and try to brush off the leaves clinging to me.

“We should head back to my place. I’m covered in dirt.”

We walk back to the path and reach the streets in less than five minutes. Vince gives me a guilty smile. “Guess we didn’t walk very far.”

Heading back into campus with him is strange. We’ve never walked through it together. He marvels at the gigantic library in the distance.

“That’s a library? Jesus. It looks like the Capitol in D.C.”

I laugh and take his hand as we climb the stairs to my dormitory. The guard doesn’t even look twice at Vince, who is completely out of place.

He wraps his arm around my waist while I unlock the door.

“Is your roommate home?”

“Nope.” A smile flicks on my face.

Everything in me screams for a shower. Part of me is a little embarrassed by the state of my dorm. My side of the room is a mess, while Maria’s is neat.

“This is where you live?”

“Yeah.”

His tone is unimpressed. I think he expected something much grander after seeing the library. Vince wanders towards my side of the room and hops on my bed. His gaze wanders all over my cluttered desk with the glass snow globe I’ve had since I was five, the blank walls, and the deck of cards sitting there. He picks them up, frowning.

“By the way, I might have found an associate who wants you for his games.”

I’m already stripping off my clothes, eager to jump in the shower, but when he mentions that I stop. “Thank God.”

Darkness stirs in his eyes as he looks up from the cards. “I don’t like it, Adriana.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like sharing you.”

“It’s not like I’ll be sleeping with him.”

He cringes at the suggestion. “I know, but it still bothers me.”

I frown. “And I’m supposed to share you?”

His eyebrows knit together. “What does that mean?”

My eyes bore into his as I cross my arms over my chest. “You know damn well what it means. I know that you’re a player.”

Vincent’s face cracks into a laugh as he doubles over, nearly dropping the cards. “A player, huh? That’s what you think of me?”

Heat flushes my face as I look at him, wondering if I somehow offended him. No, he looks amused. Slipping off my bed, he moves close to me in one stride, close enough to make me tremble under his hot gaze.

“Is that what’s bothering you? I haven’t been with anyone else. I don’t have any plans to, either, not while I’m having so much fun with you.” He smiles. “I gotta be honest, though. I’m not the type who gets tied down.”

Looking in his eyes, I know that he means it. Deflated, I nod towards the floor. Wearing nothing but underwear, I stand on my toes to kiss him. I feel his smile under my lips as he kisses me back. I think he’s starting to realize how much I like him, that he might just know how bad I have it for him.

I decide then to give it back to him. The pen I stole. Biting my lip, I pull back and open the drawer with all my stolen crap. He gapes at me as I grab the pen and place it in his hands.

“How the fuck did you get this?”

“I’m so sorry. I stole it from you the night we met.”

“You
stole
from me?” He sounds angry, but his voice cracks with laughter. “Do you know how crazy I’ve been, looking for this thing? It belonged to my father.”

I’m burning all over. “I’m so sorry, Vince. Sometimes I can’t help it. I would have returned it to you earlier, but I was scared of you.”

His hand clenches over the pen, which returns to his pocket. His shirt lifts and I’m surprised that he doesn’t have a gun. A smile spreads over his face. “You’re not scared of me anymore?”

“No, you’re not even carrying a weapon.”

He grins as he bends over and lifts his pant leg, revealing a pistol strapped to his ankle.

“Do you bring it everywhere?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Vince shakes his head. “Because of who I am, Adriana.” He gives me another unsettled look as he pats down his pockets. “I still can’t believe you stole from me.”

The way he says it makes me squirm with guilt. “I’m not a bad person, it’s just a bad habit. I can’t help it.”

“I should belt your ass until you bleed.”

With a wolf-like grin, he grabs my waist and pulls me towards him.

* * *

Sunday is lonelier than usual, because it’s the day I usually have dinner with Maria’s family and she’s still not back. Instead, I spread the huge course catalog over my legs and try to figure out which classes I’ll register for.

That would, of course, require picking a major. It’s something that still eludes me after all this time. Growing up, I entertained the notion of becoming a policewoman. I wanted to find those responsible for my father’s murder. Justice. Revenge. It’s all the same, isn’t it?

Anyway, I figured out long ago I didn’t have the right temperament to become a cop.

Besides, I’m a criminal now.

Fear pricks all over my skin as I realize how deep I’ve sunk into this job. It was only supposed to be temporary, but things changed. I spend more time looking up ways to become a better dealer and poker strategies than focusing on my future at Columbia.

I was so eager to get ahead that I never let myself stop and think about it for a moment. How am I supposed to know what I like when I’ve been working all my life? Every single available moment was spent earning another dollar. And it still is.

Shoving the huge book aside, I pull my laptop over my knees and browse the Internet. Checking my mail, CNN, the local news.

Long Island murder had mafia links

Carmine Calautti, 23, was gunned down outside a deli store, police said Monday.

Calautti is suspected to be a low-level associate of Giacomo Vittorio, boss of the Vittorio family.

It’s proof that the Vittorio-Rizzo feud still rages, sources believe.

“This was a retaliation,” a source said. “Calautti stole a truck of suits in Jersey that was under the protection of the Rizzo family. They’re sending a message to the Vittorios that anyone who encroaches on their territory will be dealt with ruthlessly.”

Calautti had a lengthy criminal record, including several counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

My heart thumps a dull beat behind my chest as I click away from the page.

One week ago.

Was that what caused Vincent to leave so quickly after he received that phone call?

A hollow feeling opens somewhere in my chest, somewhere close to that horrible emptiness that blew open when my father died.

I don’t know what to do about it.

My mind feels like a vice by the time midnight rolls around, and I’m tossing in bed. When Vincent’s face swims in my head, I feel a chill like a cold finger running up my spine. My sheets feel constricting and I throw them back, leaning upright and my bare feet hitting the cool floor as I step into the darkness that I fear so much. I run quickly into the bathroom and flip the light switch, my pulse racing.

It’s really quite pathetic to be so old and still be afraid of the dark.

Splashing water over my face, I grab the hand towel and pat it dry. I wince as I look at my reflection. Sunken eyes, pale skin, puffy cheeks, and hair in desperate need of a brush. I grab my brush handle and attack my head with it, obsessed with making it look better even if I’m only going back to sleep. A sound creaks through the living room that makes me freeze in the middle of brushing my hair. I listen hard, hearing nothing but the slight buzz of the light and the traffic in the street outside. Still, I turn off the light and make a dash for my bed, for the safety under the covers.

The clip of shoes on the wooden floor makes me scream and a brutal, male hand grabs my wrist. He yanks me into his body and smothers my scream with his hand. I elbow his side hard, but it’s like elbowing a brick wall. It glances off his rock hard body and then he wraps his arm tight around me, so that I can’t struggle. I inhale a shrill gasp, hearing his heavy breaths in my ear, feeling the strength of his body that’s impossible to overcome.
I’m going to die.