Bound by Temptation (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles #4)(34)

“At times, but nobody can always be happy.” He was silent for a moment. “What makes you happy?”

“I don’t know. This, but I know it’s fleeting.”

Romero’s chest rose and fell under my cheek until I was sure he’d fallen asleep. “Happiness often is. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it while it lasts.”

***

Deep down I knew I needed to stop this madness. If someone caught us, both our lives would be ruined. But I couldn’t. Whenever I was near Romero the sorrow that had rested so heavily on me in the last few weeks seemed bearable. Everything seemed lighter and more hopeful.

I eased the door open. As usual the lights were out but the curtains weren’t drawn so the moonlight illuminated the contours of the furniture and showed me my path toward the bed. I closed the door without a sound and tiptoed across the room. Romero wasn’t asleep. I could feel his eyes following me as I slipped under the covers. He lay on his back, his arms propped up behind his head. I couldn’t make out his expression. He waited for me to put my head on his chest so he could wrap his arm around me. He’d never made the first move but tonight I didn’t just want to fall asleep beside him. I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted, but definitely more. I was glad for the dark when I got up on my knees and straddled his hips.

Romero tensed beneath me and sat up, his palms flat against my shoulder blades. “What are you doing?” he murmured, a quality to his voice I’d never heard before.

“I don’t know,” I whispered before I lightly brushed my lips over his. I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I’d expected, definitely not the one I got. He flipped us over so my back was pressed into the mattress and he was hovering over me. He wasn’t holding me down but his body caged me in, his knees between my legs, his arms beside my head, his upper body over me. Romero everywhere. God, and it felt good. Maybe there should have been anxiety and trepidation. We were alone in his bedroom, and if I called for help I’d get in more trouble than when I let him do whatever he wanted. But I wasn’t scared of Romero. Maybe I was stupid not to be. I knew what he was capable of. He was a killer. And he was a grown man, who’d had many women before me who delivered when they offered their body to him. Everyone always told me that playing games would get me in trouble one day. Maybe tonight they’d be proven right.

Despite this my body reacted to Romero’s closeness. My center tightened in anticipation, of what I wasn’t even entirely sure, and heat pooled in my belly. For a long time the only sound in the dark was our rapid breathing. “Lily,” he said quietly, imploringly. “I pride myself on my self-control, but I’m a man, and not a good one either. So far I’ve tried to be a gentleman. I know you’re sad and lonely, and I didn’t want to take advantage of you. But if you go the next step and offer more, then you can’t expect me not to take you up on that offer.”

“Maybe I want you to.” My heart pounded in my chest as the words left my mouth.

Romero brushed his lips over my temple, the barest touch that made me tingle. “Do you even know what you’re offering, Lily?”

I hesitated.

Romero released a long breath, kissed my forehead and began to pull back.

I gripped his shoulders, even through his t-shirt his heat seemed to scorch me. “Sometimes when I’m alone I try to imagine how it would feel if you touched me.”

“Fuck,” he breathed. And then he kissed me gently before pulling back again. Even my hands couldn’t stop him this time.

“Why are you pulling away?”

“Lights.”

“Lights?” I said nervously.

“I need to see your face.” The lights came on and I blinked against the sudden brightness. He lay down beside me but he kept one arm around my waist. “When you imagine my touch, do you ever caress yourself?” he asked in a low voice.

My eyes widened a fraction and heat crept into my face. Romero cupped my cheek and traced the blush there. “Tell me,” he said.

I lowered my gaze to his chin. “Yes,” I admitted in barely a whisper. What would he think of me now?

Romero pressed his nose into my hair. “Fuck.”

“You said that already.”

He didn’t laugh like I’d expected him to. He was very quiet. His hand on my waist tightened when he raised his head and fixed me with a hungry gaze. He brought his mouth down on mine and I parted my lips for him. His tongue slipped in and everything around me seemed to fade to nothingness as I tasted him. It wasn’t our first kiss but it felt like something else entirely, with me in bed with him, with nothing to stop us. His kiss was fiercer. There was no hesitation or surprise this time. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth, then my tongue. He sucked it lightly, and I wasn’t sure how it was possible that I felt the motion all the way between my legs.

“Is this okay?” he murmured against my throat and all I could do was nod. Aria and Gianna always called me a chatterbox but with Romero words so often failed me. His lips lightly traced the skin over my collarbone, then his tongue slid out to taste me. His mouth moved even lower to the edge of my camisole. His fingers traced the fabric and his lips followed the same path. I arched my back, wanting him to move even lower, to do more.

“You told me I should find out how you taste everywhere. I’m very tempted to do it,” he murmured. He peered up. His eyes had a predatory look on his face. The only expression that had ever come close was when he’d been down in the basement with the Russians. There was something dark and unhinged in his brown eyes, but this time I wasn’t afraid. “What do you want?” he asked roughly.