The Slayer (Untamed Hearts #2) (51 page)

“Promise me you’ll stop drinking,” she bargained. “Promise that this is the only time.”

“I promise,” he said and then amended, “Unless we have a repeat of what happened today.”

“Oh Jesus,” she moaned, and somehow she realized it was an agreement. “I don’t have the vaguest idea how to smoke.”

She had shot someone today and was probably an accessory to several other brutal murders. The marijuana wasn’t exactly the worst of her crimes for the afternoon.

So she gave in.

Chuito rolled onto his side once more, cupping her face with his free hand. The smell of the pot was earthy, and she couldn’t decide whether she liked it or not, but then he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I won’t make you smoke it. We’ll do it a different way.”

He took another long hit, but rather than blowing the smoke out, he touched her lip again, forcing her to part her lips to him. He breathed the smoke into her mouth, and she coughed, blowing the smoke back in his face, which made Chuito laugh at her.

“Let’s try again,” he said and cupped her face once more. “You’re supposed to breathe in, mami.”

She nodded, because seeing him smile, with those deep dimples making his eyes somehow less intense, was worth breathing in for. “Okay, let me try again.”

This time, when he did it, she closed her eyes and breathed in. It occurred to her that this was sort of sensual in an odd, smoky way. With his lips so close to hers, she started to become more interested in him than the pot.

When he blew into her mouth again, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a billow of smoke. The kiss was soft, with one indulgent sweep when Chuito pushed his tongue into her open mouth, but then he pulled away and whispered, “You’re doing it wrong.”

“I don’t care,” she said and parted her lips again.

Chuito caressed her face, his gaze molten as he took another long puff. Then he leaned in, letting her completely ruin whatever he was trying to do, sharing another smoky kiss. She opened her mouth wide to him, letting him slip his tongue into her mouth with a low groan.

It didn’t last as long as she wanted, and she found herself clinging to his shirt, still trembling and desperate for reassurance that he was back in her arms and they were safe.

“Do it right this time,” he said with a false scowl.

She nodded and then parted her lips again. The smoke wasn’t as big a problem as she thought, not when it let her thread her fingers into his hair and hold his mouth to hers. This time she was the one who tasted him, swallowing his groan of pleasure, because he was certainly one of those men who didn’t mind her kissing him like it was the only thing that was going to keep her from going crazy.

“Okay, try again. I’ll do it right,” she said when the two of them parted breathlessly. “I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you’re not gonna keep,” he warned as he reached past her, grabbing an ashtray out of the box. He flicked ashes into it and then glared at her. “One more.”

“One more,” she agreed, already leaning in.

“And you promise you’ll do it right?”

“I promise.”

She didn’t even wait for him to blow the smoke into her mouth. She just fisted his shirt and kissed him in hot, openmouthed desperation as the smoke drifted around them like an afterthought.

“You promised,” Chuito growled when he pulled back from her.

“It’s right for me. This is right.” She leaned in once more. “This is what I need. This makes me feel sane again. I don’t even think the stupid pot works. I don’t feel anything.”

“Yeah?” He laughed at her. “Maybe that’s ’cause you’re doing it wrong.”

“Maybe,” she agreed and then parted her lips to him again anyway.

She lost track of how many kisses she stole from him, how many billows of smoke were lost to her need. The room was hazy under the beams of afternoon sunlight filtering in as Chuito gave in to what she needed.

He rolled them over, breathing smoke into her mouth and kissing her hotly. He licked her neck as he flicked the illegal cigar against the ashtray and then pulled at her robe, exposing her left breast.

Rather than kissing her, he just blew the smoke against her nipple, making her suck in a breath. She moaned, threading her fingers into his hair once more, not letting go when he did the same thing to her right breast.

He did it several more times, sucking on her tightened nipples after he was done, making her arch and moan beneath him. He tugged at the tie to the robe, shoving it open, leaving her naked to him, and it wasn’t funny, but she giggled anyway.

He lifted his head and quirked an eyebrow at her. “Still not working?”

“Nope,” she assured him, even if she was feeling a little light-headed, because she was sort of enjoying his efforts. “Try again.”

So he tried again.

And again.

And again.

Until she was giggling and gasping with pleasure, and she knew she was upset, but she sort of forgot why. All she knew was Chuito’s mouth felt really good, and he looked so beautiful, with his big strong arms and cut body.

She tugged at his shirt, trying to pull it off him. “Let me see you. I like your muscles.”

“Ay Dios mio.” He laughed at her, and some of the tension seemed to have slipped out of him somewhere along the way too. “You’re fucked-up, mami.”

“No,” she argued but tugged at his shirt again anyway. “They’re so pretty. You’re so pretty. You make me wet.”

“Really?” he asked as he took another drag off the cigar and leaned up to blow the smoke into her mouth. This time she breathed in just because. “Tell me about it. Tell me how I make you wet.”

“Oh my God.” She moaned and tossed her head back as she thought about all the times she had lain in her bed fantasizing about him. “I love looking at you. I love it so much. I love feeling you against me. I used to stay awake at night just touching myself, thinking about what it would feel like to have you over me like this. Feels so much better than I thought it would. Maybe that’s why I could never have an orgasm. I didn’t know how good it would feel.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked as he put out the cigar in the ashtray. Then he slid a hand down between her legs. He slipped his fingers between her folds and groaned. “Coño.”

This time when he captured her lips, there was no smoke to get in the way, just the two of them, and it felt so lazy, so incredibly decadent. It was as if everything had slipped into slow motion, and she couldn’t imagine a better place to be than right where she was.

Somehow they got Chuito naked, and her robe ended up on the floor. Then all that beautiful, hard, and warm skin of his was pressed against hers. Alaine had never felt softer for him than she did right then as Chuito spread her legs and took her with one hard thrust that had her crying out even though there was music in the background and voices everywhere.

It didn’t matter.

None of it mattered.

All that mattered was Chuito moving in her. Loving her. Making the nightmare of this morning turn into a dreamy afternoon fantasy. She clung to him as she came hard, her entire body shaking, making her realize just how desperately she needed this. To actually touch the beauty. To feel the pleasure. To remember that life wasn’t wholly mean.

She pulled Chuito down with her, until the last of the tension left his body, and they were sweaty and breathless in the wake of the ecstasy. She wanted to do it a thousand more times, and she told him that, but he just kissed her and said, “We have time. I promise.”

“Really?” she asked, knowing how much a vow like that meant to Chuito. “You’ll make sure we have lots of time?”

“Lots,” he promised. “An eternity.”

“You’ll repent?” she asked him hopefully when he pulled out of her. “You’ll make it last forever.”

“I’ll make it last forever.” He sounded strangely solemn despite the lazy lull to his voice. “I owe you forever, mami.”

He held her while she drifted, because her body was so very heavy, as if every ounce of energy she possessed had just been drained out of her. It didn’t feel like such a bad thing, because she had been living off pure adrenaline since Tino had pulled that Ferrari out of Jules’s driveway.

Garnet seemed so far away now.

A part of her realized she might never really get back there.

That happily ever after was officially dead.

But as she fell asleep, she had the thought that maybe there were different happily ever afters. Not as pretty and easy as people like Jules or Wyatt got, but it was still there, because as long as she had Chuito…

She was happy.

Chapter Forty-Five

Alaine wasn’t kind of asleep. She was dead to the world, completely wiped of energy as little puffs of breath hit Chuito’s arm while she rested. He watched her sleep, studying the way the tears had made her eyes puffy and the sex left a flush on her cheeks that took a while to dissipate.

Chuito was blitzed for the first time in years, because her little protest caused him to smoke way more than he planned to get the shake out of her hands. Now, even if he didn’t want to leave her, all he could think about was the fact that he hadn’t eaten in a very long time.

He would seriously kill a motherfucker for food.

So he finally had to roll away from her and gently slipped his arm from beneath her head. Alaine didn’t even move in protest. Seeing just how exhausted she was, he decided to do the fight-with-covers thing and get her snuggled in the bed.

He got dressed and packed up his mother’s shit, because he knew she would probably want it back. Then he stood there, staring at Alaine, knowing he should feel something more than the deep admiration and adoration that welled up and swallowed him with emotion.

Maybe a little guilt.

Or horror.

But he figured that shit would come back and slap him in the face tomorrow. So he left her there and walked down the hallway, wincing at all the noise.

A party was really the last thing he wanted to deal with.

He wasn’t sure how word got out that fast, but it seemed like everyone he knew in Miami was there. He found Luis first and told him to guard the bedroom door. He took a page out of Nova’s book and offered to pay him enough money to make Luis more than happy to miss the party. Then, as Chuito made his way through the crowd, he noticed that everyone seemed obligated to stop him and pat him on the back. The women kissed his cheek. He was feeling suffocated enough that he would’ve turned around and crawled back in bed with Alaine if he weren’t so damn hungry.

Every single one of them said congratulations.

So when he found his mother in the kitchen, cooking and talking to Nova, he just asked, “What the fuck, Mamá?”

She turned away from the stove and said in Spanish, “You’re getting married.”

“Oh yay,” he whispered when she hugged him, because he had forgotten. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to marry Alaine; it was just the circumstances sort of sucked. “Who told you that?”

“It’s an engagement party,” Nova offered, also speaking Spanish, as if by default, because he had likely been speaking it all afternoon. He leaned against the counter, eating a bowl of
mofongo con chicharrón
. “This is excellent, Sofia.”

“Gracias.” His mother gave Nova a pleased smile and went back to cooking.

“I need some,” Chuito said as he gestured to Nova’s bowl. “If it’s my party, I deserve whatever you’re making for it.”

His mother laughed, as if she knew the real reason why he was hungry. “Have fun?”

“Oh my God,” he said as he handed her the box. “Where did you buy that? I’m fucked-up, Mamá.”

“I have a friend with connections,” she said dismissively.

“Do I want to know what sort of friend?” Chuito asked because he was too blitzed to stop himself.

His mother turned and arched an eyebrow at him.

Nova laughed in amusement. “Friends with connections are the best friends to have.”

“Yeah, I know. Why do you think I’m friends with you?” Chuito growled at him and then gestured to the stove. “Food.”

“I sorta want some of whatever’s in that box. I’ve had a bad day too,” Nova said with another laugh, clearly not taking the jab personally. “What happened to the fighting?”

“I figured I’ll have other shit to deal with for the foreseeable future,” Chuito said as he gave Nova a pointed look. “You caught me between contracts. Lucky you.”

“Really?” Nova asked in surprise. “Even after today?”

“Especially after today.” Chuito took the bowl his mother offered him. “But you got to deal with my agent, ’cause he’s gonna freak the fuck out.”

“Sure,” Nova said as if dealing with other people’s problems was second nature. “That means something, Chuito. Thank you.”

“Yeah, well, I figure I owe your brother. This party could’ve been a wake.”

His mother turned and hit his arm. “
¡Muchacho! Estas loco?
Don’t say that.”

“I’ll say it if I want.” Chuito took a bite and groaned, having forgotten until this moment just how amazing his mother’s cooking was. “
Ay carajo, Mamá, que rico
.”

“Good?”

“Holy shit,” he said and took another bite. Then he looked back and forth between his mother and Nova. “I guess you’ve met.”

“We’ve met,” his mother said as she turned and gave him another smile. “He’s been helping since he got here. I need more Italian friends if they all help like he does. So efficient.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” Chuito held his hand up to the party. “Take your pick.”

“Yeah, take your pick,” Nova added with a smile. “You know, it’s funny, but I’ve been saying I need more Puerto Rican friends. Odd coincidence.”

“We’re the best kind of friends,” his mother assured him but then turned back to Chuito. “I’m not happy about the fighting, though.”

“It’s temporary,” Chuito said, hoping he was telling the truth. “His brother did save Alaine’s life. He saved mine too.”

“Then why is he so sad?” his mother asked.

Something about that hit Chuito in the chest, because if his mother noticed Tino was upset, it must be bad. “Where is he?”

“He is currently self-medicating.” Nova sounded a little broken all of a sudden as he looked at his bowl. “It’s sorta his way of coping.”