Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

AMARA

That night, we tuck Fia into her bed in her new room, one he had apparently set up for her. He even had some clothes picked out. He’s managed to get everything she needs just so she’s not without anything, even for one day.

“Goodnight, baby.” I kiss her forehead before it’s Fionn’s turn.

“Goodnight, princess.” He presses a kiss to her temple. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

I can’t get over how sweet he is with her. How he just fell into this role without missing a beat.

Just as we’re about to leave, she asks, “Are you my daddy now?”

The question completely startles me. How do I answer her? The truth is too hard for a child her age to comprehend.

Fionn, though? He’s not even fazed.

“I am,” he says. “Is that okay?”

My pulse instantly spikes. I can’t believe he just said that without talking to me first!

Fia’s brows tug before she hits him with a bright grin. “Yes. You’re nice.”

He smirks. “Your mother thinks so too. Right, little rabbit?”

He wraps his strong arm around my waist, pulling me to his side. Fia’s vision darts between us, and for a moment, it feels like we’re a family. A real family.

I want to be mad at him for not consulting with me before telling her he’s her father. But I can’t find it in me to be upset. Not anymore. Even if he isn’t her bio dad, he wants to be, and that’s enough.

My own father abandoned me. My mother treated me like shit. Blood means nothing.

“Okay, kid, you need to go to bed,” he says to her.

“Goodnight, Mama. Goodnight, Daddy.”

He sucks in a breath and his eyes fill with unspoken emotion, and that only makes it harder not to care for him. His jaw clenches as he tucks her in with the pale pink blanket he bought her.

“Goodnight.” He chokes on the word.

“I love you,” she whispers.

If he wasn’t already melting, I think he just turned to goo.

“I love you too, Fia.” The look in his eyes….it does unspeakable things to me.

A big, tough man completely weak for a child? Yeah, I’m screwed.

We shut off the lights and head out, and as we do, he stops, running a hand down his face.

“You okay?” I ask.

The muscle in his jaw pulses, his throat tight on his next swallow before he’s staring back at me. “Yeah. I just didn’t expect her to say all that.”

“Neither did I.”

We both stand beside one another, filled with our own emotions.

“I want to adopt her.”

Gaping wide, I’m unsure what to say. Everything is going too fast. Being basically kidnapped. Marriage. And now this?

But it’s what I’ve always wanted. Though that was at a different time, when he wasn’t this person. A criminal.

How do I live with him or allow Fia to grow up in such an environment?

“Uh, well, before all that, I think we need to discuss some things.”

“Like what?” His face and tone harden.

“Um…” I clear my throat, my pulse kicking up a notch. “You know, like what you really do for a living, for starters. I have no idea who you are.” I play with the hem of my shirt, nerves skittering up my back. “And now that we’re married, I have a right to know.”

Please don’t kill me.

His features grow more intense. “You sure you wanna know?”

Our eyes lock, his body moving into mine. The firmness of it pressed up against me brings a rush of yearning unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

“Or maybe you’re trying to find reasons to hate me when every damn inch of you wants me.”

My stomach flip-flops as he pushes my hair away from my face, burying his nose in my neck, inhaling with a slow drag of his breath. Long, thick fingers curl around my waist, pressing his hard erection into me. My breaths grow tight, desire unfurling. His knuckles stroke down my cheek, sending shivers racing up my spine.

“No matter what I tell you, it doesn’t change anything. You’re my wife, and she’s my daughter. You won’t be going anywhere.” His voice is demanding and all-consuming.

Yet those haunting words somehow make me grow slick between my thighs.

“If you want me to take the paternity test, I will. But if he’s her father, he’ll sign over his rights to me.”

I shudder from the callousness.

“And if he refuses?” I breathe.

His smirk can only be described as deadly. “He won’t.”

His lips slide down my throat, teeth gnawing before he trails kisses back up, clasping a rough palm around the span of my jaw. He grabs my ass with his free hand, boring his eyes deep with mine while pushing me into the swell of his thick and hard erection.

“I want you, baby,” he whispers, his voice thick with lust, my body begging for him.

“Fio—”

He cuts me off with a savage kiss, equal parts longing and passion. A growl crawls out of his chest and a moan slips out of mine, our hands everywhere at once. When he tugs on my bottom lip, I let out a cry, unable to maintain any semblance of sanity.

When he slips his hand into the waistband of my leggings, I know what he’ll find.

“Fuck,” he rasps, yanking back, his hungered look spreading tingles beneath my skin. “It’s like your body’s always ready for me.”

When his finger sinks inside me, I let out a silent gasp. “Fionn, someone could see us here.”

He’s got guards everywhere.

His chuckle shoots right into my gut, spreading like wildfire. “Then why did your pussy just clench when you said that?”

He kisses me hard, nipping and tugging, his beastly groans only spurring me on. I want to feel him inside me and get lost in us.

“You wanna get caught, don’t you? You want someone to see how hard I can make you come.”

“I—I…” I can’t seem to speak, drowning in pleasure.

A responding hoarse chuckle rises, and before I can wonder what he’s doing, he’s lifting me up in his arms, carrying me the rest of the way into the bedroom.

With his eyes on mine, he shuts the door with his foot, lowering me onto the bed. His fingers reach for the hem of his t-shirt, the veins throbbing beneath his large, powerful hands as he drags it up, exposing his toned abs. It does nothing to stop the desire from burning hot and raw inside me.

My thighs squeeze as I watch my husband strip.

It’s the very first time since the ceremony that I’ve said that to myself.

He’s my husband. I’m Mrs. Quinn now.

My fingers lower to my core, pressing into my clit through my leggings while he groans, continuing to undress.

“Tell me what you do?” I murmur, hoping he admits the truth while he’s all turned on.

His laughter, husky and deep, has me desperate for him. “What do you think I do?”

Another look at his ripped, tanned body has me forgetting what I was talking about.

He removes his shoes, hands on his belt as he slowly drags it out, and I start to wonder how it’d feel if he used that belt on me. Maybe bind my hands behind my back as he took me.

My face heats up instantly. Where did that even come from? Who am I right now?

“I—I think you’re, uh…”

“Come on, say it, mo ban dia.” His smirk sends hot coals to my gut.

“You’re…um…” My voice trembles. “You’re in the Mafia.” I barely whisper that, like my mind is protecting me from what or who he is.

He laughs until that smile disappears, his face turning dark and haunting, a thick vein in his wide neck jerking.

“And how does that make you feel?” His words creep with an undercurrent of danger, slinking up my skin like a soft caress.

He stalks closer.

And closer.

Like a predator ready to claim his prey.

The belt stretches tight in his large hands as my blood rushes to my head. I drag myself further up the bed, like my body is in fight-or-flight mode, even though I want to know what he’s about to do.

“How am I supposed to feel? It scares me,” I whisper, swallowing down past the dryness in my throat.

He stops right at the edge of the bed, looming over me with his muscular frame and taunting gaze.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.” A single finger drags up the inside of my thigh. “I won’t hurt you.”

His touch makes me shudder. “What about everyone else? The ones you associate with. Would they hurt me?”

“They’d die before they ever laid a finger on you or our daughter.”

A cold shudder drowns me. He would kill them. I’ve watched him do it.

My stomach churns. My husband is a murderer.

“I can see it in your eyes.” His mouth jerks as he winds the belt around the back of my neck, pulling me up to a seated position and towering over me. “You want to run again.”

His smirk is a cold, icy chill.

“But there’s nowhere to go, baby. Not for you. Not anymore.” His hot breath tiptoes across my quivering lips. “You’re mine until the day I die. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” He snakes the belt tight around my neck with one hand, the back of his other stroking across my jaw. “I’ll never let you go.”

Even through the fear, I grow aroused, enjoying his domineering side.

His hand slips into my leggings, and without warning, he thrusts inside me, stilling a moan in my throat. He keeps me captive, finger-fucking me while he fists the belt even tighter. My breathing is shallower, but it only intensifies every other sensation.

“Oh, yes!” I cry out, needing the release so badly, I’ll beg.

Instead, he stops, his gaze menacing.

As he yanks me closer with the belt, his lips skim across mine before he captures them in another earth-shattering kiss. I almost forget how to breathe as he forces me down onto the bed, lowering on top of me, his hips arching between my thighs, his cock nudging into my center.

His fingers tangle with my hair, the kiss turning carnal and forceful, filled with this desperate want. A masculine growl works its way up his throat, my whimpers snaked with the animalistic sounds he makes.

Roughly, he pulls my leggings down, stripping me until his fingers are there, assertive and demanding as they enter me. His thumb strokes my clit until the moans from my lips vibrate over his. He kisses me harder, pistoning deeper like he wants to possess me, take over every inch until I’m his.

The need climbs, filling my veins with burning passion, and when he thrusts into me again, I let go, groaning into his mouth while his own grunts fill with desperation. My toes curl, my nails sinking into his bare back. When my body slows, he pulls away just slightly, eyes crawling with his own desire.

He rises, leaving the belt dangling over my shoulders while he unzips his jeans, pulling the zipper down and sliding out of them. My gaze snaps to his cock peeking through his boxers, which disappear within seconds, leaving him completely naked.

I can’t help where my eyes go, especially when he fists his hard-on, stroking it slow.

“If you keep looking at it like that, I’m gonna force it into that sexy mouth.”

“Do it,” I husk, wanting him to be rough with me.

His hand stills mid stroke. “What was that?”

“Do it.” I say it louder. “I want to suck your cock.”

Yeah, I definitely don’t know what’s happening to me, but I don’t want it to stop.

“Fuuuck,” he growls, squeezing the crown of his erection. Then, suddenly, he grabs both ends of the belt and tugs me. “Stand up.”

I quickly follow his instructions and get to my feet, waiting for his next command.

“Take off your shirt.”

My body shudders, nerves taking over. But I do it.

When I drop it on the floor, his heated gaze drags down my curves until goose bumps wrap around every inch.

He points to the floor. “On your knees.”

My heartbeats quicken, my nipples pebbling.

With bated breath, I lower myself. He snaps the belt tighter in his grasp, popping my chin up with his other hand until I’m forced to stare into his murky eyes. His thumb strokes my lips, jaw clenching.

“Suck me, wife.” His tone is soft, yet dangerous, with an edge to it that leaves no room for arguments.

What if I don’t know how to do this? I haven’t done it that many times. The last time was forever ago. But I want to do this. I want to make him feel good.

With a nervous breath, I gradually lower my lips around the tip, licking around his piercings, cold against my tongue. When he mutters a curse and hisses, I continue, taking more of him into my mouth.

“Oh fuck, that’s it.” He fists my hair as I take him halfway.

His width and size are more than I’ve ever had, but I take as much of him as I can, licking and sucking my way down.

“Come on, baby girl, let me hear you gag on it.”

My core aches at those dirty words, and I hollow my cheeks, taking him deeper. He snaps the belt tighter, thrusting his hips toward my mouth until I’m swallowing him whole. My eyes water and my throat burns, but I enjoy it.

The sounds he makes, knowing I’m doing that to him… I don’t want to stop.

He lets go just enough to allow me some air, working himself in and out of my mouth. “Fuck, baby, you’re too good at this.”

His fingers tighten in my hair while his words embolden me. I begin moving faster, grabbing his balls to squeeze them.

“Good girl. Just like that.” His gravelly tone oozes with erotic intensity, his cock throbbing on my tongue.

I know he’s close, and I can’t wait to taste him. But before I can do that, he tugs me backward by my hair.

“Get up.”

My brows knit in question.

“When I come, it’ll be inside that perfect cunt. Not wasting a drop. Not when I want my baby growing inside you.”

A chill rolls up my body. I don’t even have time to fear the implication of his words. His eyes scorching into mine, he tugs my chin in his palm, feathering my lips with his thumb.

“I’m gonna fuck you and fill you up, and I’m gonna do it over and over and over again. Because I can. Because you’re mine. My wife.” His features fill with an aura of control. “And I will never let you forget it.”

My heart pounds as he pulls me up to a standing position.

“You remember your safe word?”

“Yes.” I nod. “Cranberry.”

A smirk cracks at the edge of his mouth. “Good girl. Now bend over.”

When I just stand there, he chuckles, husky and wicked, before he’s flipping me over on the bed, pushing my face down and my knees up.

“Jesus, you’re drenched.” He strokes me lazily, sinking in and out of my wet center.

I let out a moan, wanting to press my knees into one another, but he keeps my legs wide apart. The belt is in his firm grasp as he winds it around the front of my throat, tugging on it like a leash as he pushes his cock into me, a little at a time.

“I can’t be gentle. Do you understand?”

I nod, glancing at him from over my shoulder.

Without warning, he rams inside me until I choke on a cry, clawing the bed, tender and aching. But he doesn’t stop. He only goes faster, sliding out and slamming back in with fervor. With need. With possession.

The kind a woman never forgets.

His eyes are demonic. A man who knows nothing else but this.

The feverish way he takes me, sweat beading on his forehead, biceps flexing as he bends my head backward… It’s all too much, yet not enough.

He captures my lips once more, taking me in a brutal kiss.

My ass drives into his pelvis, and he spanks it hard while the pain only makes me want him more.

“Oh God.”

“Not God. Me. Your husband.” With my hair in his fist, he lowers his ear to mine as he takes me deeper. “Say it. Tell me who I am.”

The words are like fuel to the fire until I feel it happen, the clawing of an orgasm, needing it badly.

“My husband… Please, please…”

“Tell me what you need.”

“Please, please, make me come.”

As soon as I say it, he turns even more beastly, grunting as he rams faster. Deeper. I touch myself, needing the orgasm like I need my next breath.

When he pistons inside me this time, I cry out his name, my body soaring so high, I never want to come down.

“Yes, that’s it.” A husky moan escapes him as his fingers replace mine, rubbing my clit with intensity. “Squirt for me.”

With my chest pressed to the mattress, I writhe in a pleasure-filled coma while he continues to possess me, roaring with a growl as his release fills me.

“Don’t waste a fucking drop,” he demands with ragged breaths before his body stills.

But he doesn’t move. He stays that way, while the belt falls from his grasp.

Gently, he takes space behind me, his cock remaining seated inside. He brings his head down, hovering behind my ear.

“Just thinking about my cum inside you, making our baby, makes me wanna fuck you all over again.” His words are gruff and tantalizing, causing me to let out a moan.

I’m barely able to catch my breath as he presses a kiss to the back of my head.

My pulse spikes, even as I fight not to be affected by the sweet gesture. “Are you going to stay like this the whole time?”

“Mm-hmm. Until I’m sure your body has taken every damn drop of me.”

“You’re crazy.” I let out an exhaustive sigh.

“You keep saying that like it’s a bad thing.”

A laugh bubbles out, and I slide in closer. “In some stupid way, I’ve missed you. Even though we really never knew each other.”

The confession shocks me, but it’s the truth.

“We knew enough, mo ban dia.”

My stomach flips at his endearing tone.

When he gently cups my chin and brings his mouth to mine, I feel it: the reasons why I shouldn’t want this slowly coming undone.

FIONN

“What am I supposed to wear to bed?” she asks, nestling against my chest.

I tuck her hair behind her ear. “Nothing. That’s the point.”

“I’m serious.” She shakes her head playfully. “I have nothing here. I swear you planned this.”

“Of course I did.” I chuckle. “Why do you think Fia was the only one I bought clothes for?”

She gasps, smacking me on the chest.

“Wanted you in my clothes until you get yours tomorrow.”

“Is that so?” She pops a brow. “I’m supposed to walk around the house with your clothes on until they get here?”

“Mm-hmm. Pretty sure my shirts would be long enough to cover you.” My fingers slink up and down her spine, not wanting to stop touching her for as long as I live.

“You’re probably the craziest man—no, not man, person—I’ve ever known.”

“Ah, here we go. The insults that are not really insults.” Grabbing a fistful of her ass, I press her closer, kissing her nose. “Promise to have your clothes tomorrow after breakfast.”

She sighs. “Fine.”

Looking away from me, she runs a circle on my chest. Minutes pass, and she remains silent.

“What is it?” With a finger, I pop her chin.

“I don’t know if I can do this. I—” Her brows tug. “I wanted you for so long. Wanted to see you again. Wanted to know if you’d still want me. Want Fia. But now, seeing this, how you live… I—I can’t…” She swallows harshly. “My life hasn’t been pleasant.” Tears form in her eyes, and that makes me want to erase all the hurt she’s been carrying. “My father left when I was around two, or so my mother says. And her? Well…” She snickers. “She was no more a mother than a stranger.”

Her lashes flutter, her gaze distant like she’s thinking about the more painful times.

“I had to raise myself because she was too busy fucking a new guy every month or getting high to care about me.”

Another pained laugh escapes while every part of me wants to rip out her parents’ goddamn throats. How fucking dare they hurt my wife?

“I wanted so badly for her to be my mother, but she never was.”

Moisture builds in her eyes, until it overflows. I’m there to wipe her tears away, thumbs rolling under her lashes as she sighs.

“That day I came back home, after I left you, I found out my dog, Max, was gone.”

“What?” My mind starts coming up with ways I can help.

She nods. “You would’ve loved him.” Pain fills her eyes and it completely unravels me. “He was a golden. She said he escaped from the hole in the fence but I never thought that was true.” Her voice breaks while anger builds in my chest.

“I think she did something to him.” She sniffles, completely broken. “Every day, I keep hoping he’s alive and happy somewhere. But I’d do anything…” She pants. “I’d do anything to have him back.”

She curls around my chest and cries, shuddering against me.

“Hey, hey, baby. I’ve got you.”

I can just imagine how much this hurts.

Minutes drift until she’s pulling back, wiping under her eyes.

“Anyway, I don’t know why I just told you all this, except to say my life has been shit and I don’t want more of it. And you doing what you do, it scares me.” She places a hand over my cheek, and it’s like with every touch, she makes me fall even deeper. “I can’t go back to that kind of life. I don’t want Fia to have that either. It’s what I fought like hell to escape from.”

Her courage makes me proud. “I’m not your parents. I’d never leave you or hurt you. It won’t be that way.”

“You can’t promise me that.”

“I can.”

My lips lower to hers, kissing her softly, and I’ve never been this way—soft and nurturing—except with her. “Let’s get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow if you’d like.”

She nods, her exhales warm against my chest.

I turn the bedside lamp off, holding her silky body against mine. Though I can’t seem to fall asleep—not for hours—thinking about her dog and what I can do to fix it.