Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Rafael

Standing with my back to the wall, I watched the standoff between Ellie and Dante. I don’t know if she realized this, but she had unknowingly ensnared not just Dante, but also me, and it was tearing me apart as I watched the two of them square off like they were boxers in the ring.

I knew I was treading dangerous waters, and I hadn’t even laid a finger on her yet. It was clear that Dante had laid his claim on her, silently declaring that she belonged to him and there was nothing that she nor I could do about it.

It should be simple.

The loyalty I owed Dante ran deep. He was more than just my boss; he was my brother in arms, my mentor, and my best friend. Our bond had been forged through years of trust and countless battles. Betraying him for a woman, no matter how compelling, wasn’t a line I was willing to cross.

But goddamn, she was something else.

My gaze turned to her, and I watched as she challenged him, her stance utterly defiant, her gaze unyielding. With legs for fucking days, she was a force to be reckoned with, a woman who wouldn’t bend to anyone’s will and that made her all the more irresistible to me.

She was beautiful, an absolute vision in the moonlight and I sighed, trying to rein myself in, but my cock was rock-hard, and it was getting increasingly difficult to bear.

Every curve of hers was perfect, from the soft swell of her breasts to the deliciously bitable globes of her reddened ass, to the way her fucking pussy had been so wet it had practically glistened in the moonlight. Even the soft pillows of her lips called to me, plush, perfectly pink, and utterly kissable.

I wanted her.

The more I watched her, the more I found myself grappling with a fierce desire the likes of which I hadn’t ever know before. She was a woman who could stand toe to toe with the fiercest of men, with Dante even, which meant that she was a woman who could hold her own in our dark world, and that was really fucking hot.

It made my cock so damn hard.

This was wrong on so many levels, but the more I watched her, the more I felt drawn to her and the more I knew I was going to fall into her snare.

She was strong. She was brave. She was mine .

The thought slammed into me like a freight train, and I nearly staggered backwards, shocked by the sudden clarity.

No . Fucking no.

I couldn’t be thinking those kinds of thoughts. I couldn’t do that to Dante. She didn’t belong to me. Her ass was bright red because of his hand, and she had come all over his fingertips, not mine.

But fuck, watching him take her in hand had been the hottest thing I’d ever seen, at least until his fingers had dived between her thighs. She’d writhed over his knee like a cat in heat and if my fingers would have been on my cock, I would have come all over my hand just like a teenage boy who’d found his dad’s porn stash for the very first time.

I needed to get out of here before I did something I would regret.

Fast.