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“You were there, weren’t you?” “Yes.” He holds my gaze, unblinking. Waiting for my reaction. “Why?” “Too many people. Too many potential threats. I needed to know you were safe.”
He’s so warm, and being snuggled into him feels like I’m leaning up against a furnace. But even outside that cocoon of body heat, he makes me feel comfortable. Protected. And not only in a physical sense. Secure to say what’s on my mind. Safe to just be . . . myself.
“I don’t like anyone touching my hair,” he says. I suck in a breath. Considering all the pinching, prodding, and squeezing I’ve done while patching him up, I didn’t expect that he would care if I touched his hair. “I won’t do it again.” His eyes lower to my lips, and linger there for a heartbeat. Then, he quickly looks away. “I don’t mind when you do it, cub.”
“It means nothing is black and white, cub. There are just shades of gray.” He looks up and our gazes lock. “Except you.” It’s becoming impossible to keep my breathing under control while he looks at me like this. As if I’m the only person in the world. “And what am I?” “You, my tiger cub, are a ray of light in the absolute darkness my life has become and has been for a very long time.”
“What about those other times, when I did notice you?” “Maybe I wanted you to see me in those instances.” “Why?” “So you could have fun with your friends without worry. And know that nothing would happen to you because I was watching over you, cub.” “Cub? You know my name. Why won’t you use it?” “I heard it by accident. You never gave it to me. I don’t like using things that were never given to me. It’s stealing.” “You have unique principles for a stalker.” I shift my gaze to his lips. “Can I tell you a secret?” “Yes.” I lean forward until my mouth is ghosting over his ear and whisper, “I like
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“I’d like to do much more than just watch over you.” Deep, raspy words crash over me like a waterfall. He takes my face between his palms, and even though his touch is light, I can feel every ridge of his skin. “But some things are never meant to happen.”
“For the light to shine, darkness must retreat. It’s what’s meant to be.”
“Should I give you my number? In case something comes up and you can’t make it?” He looks at me over his shoulder, and it seems as if his eyes are piercing through mine. “Even if all hell breaks loose, I’ll be there, tiger cub.”
For months, I’ve been struggling with the urge to touch her each time we’ve met. Kissing a hand that nursed my wounds was the most intimate contact I allowed myself, aside from that one weakened moment when I could not resist touching her face. It nearly broke me. But, I’ve known that if I let myself go any further, there wouldn’t be a way to go back. I rarely wish for things in life, because I know how seldom I get them. But when I do, the urge to keep them is a maniacal, visceral need. To never let go.
She starts pulling her other hand from mine. Not happening. I squeeze it, keeping my fingers tightly wrapped around hers. “Um. I need that hand,” she mumbles, looking down at our hands. “No, you don’t.” Her perfect eyebrows rise in question. “Because?” “Because you have two,” I growl. This hand is mine. She offered it to me freely, and I’m not releasing it unless it’s absolutely necessary.
I want to move away, afraid I may get addicted to touching more than just her hand, but at the same time, I want to invade her space, press myself against her. My mind is screaming to move back. My body doesn’t listen. I take another step, moving behind her and releasing her hand in the process. The moment is brief, just a split second, but it feels like hours without her touch. The instant I’m behind her, I entwine our right hands again and place my left on the table on her other side. Once I have her surrounded with my body, it’s easier to breathe.
Huge calloused fingers holding my own. His breath in my hair. His scent drowning me. “You said you’re allergic to flowers.” A husky whisper right next to my ear. “And yet, you smell like one.”
“I dream about you, tiger cub.” Whispered words, just before he places a fleeting kiss on my fingertips. “But my every dream is interrupted by an alarm clock.”
“I’m going to a club with some friends on Friday night. Not the safest place in town.” White. Yellow. The crowd dissipates for a moment, allowing me a clear view of him again. His mouth quirks into a tiny smile. “I’ll be there.”
The need to see him again, to feel his body pressed against me, is all I’ve been thinking about for days. Where is he? A gentle caress down my exposed back, and then warm breath across the nape of my neck. “Looking for someone, tiger cub?” I smile and close my eyes, savoring his light touch. “Not anymore.”
“I can’t allow myself to come to you too often.” “Why?” “Because I wouldn’t be able to leave.” Slowly, I turn around and meet his heart-stopping eyes. My heels and the raised platform are giving me quite a boost in height, but the top of my head still barely reaches his nose. “Maybe I don’t want you to keep leaving.” I touch his lower lip. “Light and darkness don’t mix, tiger cub. They cancel each other out.” He dips his head and kisses the tip of my finger. “And I would never dare to shroud your flame.”
I grab a handful of his shirt, scrunching it in a tight grip as if that would hold him here. With me. I want more. More than these stolen moments. My body yearns to be close to his, the same way my mind yearns to know more about him.
“I wouldn’t mind sharing your darkness. You just need to let me in.” I lean on his chest and inhale his scent. “I’ve never been afraid of the dark, demon, because sooner or later, daylight always follows.” “Not always, my beautiful shining star.” He drops a kiss on the top of my head. “Your friends are coming.” I stare into his depths as he steps away. “Don’t go.” “I won’t. Not until you’re safely home.”
I can’t dismiss how they seem to fit together. Both young. Blond. The guy’s clothes appear to be of good quality, pricey. He might be a student, like her, on a path to becoming something great in life. A lawyer. Or maybe a doctor. Not a man who kills people for money because it’s the only thing he knows how to do. Like me. My eyes remain glued to them as I take a step back. I don’t fit. Not me. Not a low-life scumbag who can barely read at grade school level.
Without looking away from the bastard, my demon asks, “Did he hurt you, cub?” For a moment, I’m taken aback by the tone of his voice. It’s steady, as usual, but infused with so much brute force that he sounds like Death incarnate. “No,” I choke out. “But he tried.” “Go back to your friends.”
He killed him for me. “Why?” I ask. A light touch of a finger at my chin, tilting my head up. “I’ll annihilate anyone who dares to touch a hair on your head.” His deep voice is infused with so much menace. “No one. Nothing will ever do you harm. I thought you understood that.” No. Not really. But I do now.
“What if someone else bothers me tonight, and you’re not there?” I call after him. It’s a pitiful attempt to make him stay, but I’m working with the only thing I have. “I said you won’t see me. Not that I won’t be there,” he says just before turning the corner. “No one will touch you on my watch, tiger cub.”
Every time he lets me see him, each time he comes by, I fall for him a little more. And every time he leaves, my heart aches. Little by little, without a conscious thought or even an effort on his part, I’ve fallen in love with a man who is still very much an enigma to me.
“Are you okay?” I ask. He bends his head and locks his eyes with mine. “You’ve invited me into your home.” There’s a strange quality to his voice, a hidden meaning to his words, but I’m not sure what it could be. “Yeah. Why? I mean, you’ve been here before. Several times. Or did you forget that I gave you stitches at my dining table last week?” “No. But I came to you then. This is different.” “How so?” “It just is.”
But if I can choose, I’d pick June second.” I suck in a breath. My heart swells while my demon keeps me pinned with his eyes from the other side of the table. The day we met. “Why?” I choke out. He switches his gaze to the plate in front of him. And just like that, his walls are back up.
She probably thinks that inviting me over was nothing special, completely oblivious to the consequences of her actions. An invitation into her home. Another part of her to which she granted access. There’s no going back now. She can’t revoke it. It’s mine.
I want to kiss her so damn much. And more. I want her to be mine, body and soul. My tiger cub. My twinkling star. Am I really selfish enough to drag her into my darkness? I can’t. Could never do it. Never. But I’m taking the kiss that she offered. For someone like me, it’s more than I deserve. A small yelp leaves her lips when I grab under her thighs and lift her onto the counter. Seizing her chin, I tilt her head and capture her eyes, wide and gleaming, with my own. “Another piece of you, mine now,” I growl. “You can’t have it back.” I slam my mouth to hers. Hard. Taking. Claiming every inch
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I want all of her. Not want—need. Like air. Like the blood flowing through my veins. Each beat of my heart, it’s hers. For nearly a year, every cell of my being has been hers. It might be just our lips that are touching, but she has etched herself onto my soul. I kiss her again. Stealing her breath away. It feels as if I’ve been drowning, and it’s the only thing that gives me life. Again. More. Never enough.
I want to lay myself at her mercy, beg her to take me despite the wreck of a human being that I am. Maybe she would, but it wouldn’t be right. Because I need all of her, but in order to get it, I’d have to offer all of me in exchange. Every sin. Every dark deed. A fair trade.
Two weeks without seeing my girl. I don’t know how I’ll ever survive being apart from her for so long. Short periods now, mere days, I can hardly manage. But more than that? Weeks? I might go insane. At times, I feel like I’m already dead, but then I come to see her, and it’s as if life flows back into my soul. I live for my stolen moments with her—it’s the only thing that keeps me going.
“I need flowers that don’t have any pollen. My girl is allergic.”
Inside is a bunch of red tulips. Butterflies invade the pit of my stomach as I approach and crouch in front of the flowers. Next to the pot, on the floor, is a beautiful silver card. Its glossy, satin-like elegance is in complete contrast with a barely readable note scribed in red ink. No pollen I cover my mouth with my hand and stare at the tulips.
“You are the only person I can count on. Massimo is in prison. Elmo is gone. Zara is . . . well, you know. There’s only you. And I . . . I’ve made some bad choices, Nera.” He’s looking down at his glass as he says it. “Some really bad choices. And if the Family finds out, everything I’ve worked for would crumble into dust.” I stare at him. My father would never work against the Family’s prosperity. Cosa Nostra is his life. “What bad choices?” “I allowed Camorra to invest in our casino business.”
“He won’t hurt you,” he says. “I had a serious conversation with him, and I made certain he’s aware of what will happen if he dares to lay a hand on my little girl.”
“I don’t want to lose you, too.” He lifts his hand and strokes my cheek. “I’ll tell Alvino that my daughter is no longer an option open for discussion.” “Will he make problems for you?” “Don’t you worry. I’ll handle my own mess.”
We reach an intersection where he could easily turn around, but he keeps driving straight. My hand slips halfway inside my purse, and I can feel the phone under the tips of my fingers. “It’s hard. Starting a new job,” I say casually. “Have you made any friends? Did you ask Teobaldo to show you the ropes? He’s been working for us for more than a decade.” “Yes, he was very eager to give me the basics.” “That’s great.” My pulse skyrockets. There is no Teobaldo working for my dad.
Another intersection, another missed turn. It looks like we’re heading out of the city. I grip the phone and slowly pull it from my purse, just enough so I can see the screen. I have Zara on speed dial, and I only need to click the button. Both my hands and legs have started to shake. “I really wouldn’t do that if I were you, Miss Veronese.” My head snaps up. Holding my gaze in the mirror, the driver pulls a gun from his holster and places it on his lap. “What do you mean?” I try to play dumb, even though I know I’m busted. “Alvino’s orders were quite explicit, Miss. No harm is to come to you
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Since I made my first kill, my hands have never once trembled. There has never been a situation that made me feel unhinged or even slightly agitated. “THE FUCKER HAS MY TIGER CUB!” I roar as I hit the steering wheel with all my might. I’ve been following the dark navy sedan for over two hours. From the moment they didn’t make that turn leading to Nera’s after dropping off her friend, I knew something wasn’t right. When the vehicle started heading out of the city, it became clear that my girl had been kidnapped. I don’t give a fuck by whom or why. Their death sentence has been signed.
He opens his mouth to say “I do” just as a single, sharp bang rings out. Alvino’s head jerks back. His legs fold beneath him, and he starts falling backward, pulling me along. I find myself sprawled over him on the floor—my face just inches from his wretched one, gaping at the big hole at the center of his forehead—when gunfire explodes.
My angel of death. My salvation.
“Floor it,” my demon barks as he snatches the gun out of my hand and shuts the door. “Go directly home.” “I’m not leaving you,” I scream through an open window. “I need to do a cleanup here, and I can’t do it if I’m worried about you.”
“Does it still hurt?” He gestures with his chin toward my leg. “You were gone for two days, and you ask about my leg?” I whisper with a shaky voice. “I spent hours staring at my door, waiting for you to appear. A piece of me died each time I heard retreating footsteps in the hall. They didn’t stop, didn’t draw near. It wasn’t you. Two days. It wasn’t you.” “I had to take care of some things first, before coming here.” I spring off the couch and brush away my tears with the back of my hand. When did I start crying? “I thought something happened to you! I thought you were dead! And you had to
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Life. His lips on mine feel like life itself.
“I’m so, so sorry.” “I’m not. The alternative wasn’t an option. I won’t let anything bad happen to you as long as I live.” “But you also won’t let me get any closer to you than a kiss?” “If I do, there’s no pathway back for us.”
“It doesn’t change how I feel,” I say as I caress his cheeks with my thumbs. His eyes flare, and in the next instant, I find myself crushed against the wall, with his hand gripping my chin. “And what is it that you feel?” Leaning closer, he presses his forehead to mine. “Tell me.” “Excitement, while I wait for your arrival. Happiness, when you finally decide to show up. And sadness, every time you leave. I feel joy when I stumble upon the little gifts you leave for me, when I find them around my place.” I reach out behind his back and pull away the hair tie holding his braid as I continue.
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“Do you know what demons do to their victims?” The rough timbre of his voice penetrates the silence, making me shudder. I smile and squeeze my legs around him even tighter. “What?” “They consume them, tiger cub.”
“I’ve been dreaming about this moment for so long.”
“I’ll have your scent on my mind each time I think about you, cub.” One more deep breath, and then he tears my panties off.
“My Nera. You are so damn beautiful,” he purrs, slipping his hands under my behind.
“I wonder, should I finish you with my mouth”—he slowly lowers my ass down onto the counter—“or with my cock?”
