Chapter Five

Domani

"I'm not getting in there," Finley says, looking at me like I've lost my mind. Sunlight catches in her red hair, turning the strands to ropes of fiery copper. "It's probably freezing!"

"It's not." I crouch beside the small spring a short walk from the cabin, filling my hand with water and then lifting it toward her. "Feel for yourself."

She tips her head to the side, eyeing me hesitantly. And then she shrugs and skips forward, skimming her fingers through the water slowly running out of my hand. "It's hot," she says, surprised.

"It's fed by a hot spring underground. It stays this temperature year around."

"Even when it's freezing outside?"

"Even then," I confirm, rising to my feet. "You should soak. It's relaxing."

"You soak in this thing?"

"I have."

"You? Mr. Thousand Dollar Mafia Suit?"

My lips twitch at the doubt in her voice. Admittedly, I don't fit the mountain man persona. I belong out here about as well as a lion in the middle of a neighborhood park. But I've been shot, stabbed, and sliced all to hell. When I've needed to lie low, I've done it out here. And the spring helped soothe even the worst of my injuries.

That's not why I strip my jacket off. It's not why I pile my weapons on top of it, either. She watches me with wide eyes while I undo each button, slowly stripping my shirt from my body.

"You're getting in?" she asks, a breathless hue to her voice that makes my cock throb.

"Mmhmm." I yank my belt free, dropping it beside my clothes. I had no intention of going in until she got sassy with me. Now, wild horses couldn't keep me out of that fucking water. I kick my shoes off and drop my pants.

She cracks, dropping her gaze from my face. Her sharp intake of breath cracks me wide open. "Domani," she whispers, reaching out to me. Her fingers skim my side, running over a mass of scar tissue across my ribcage. "What happened to you?"

"The mafia happened, tesoro." I grab her hand, pulling her into me before she starts something I'm not nearly strong enough to stop. Her hands on my naked flesh are like brands, searing desire into every fiber of my being. I want her more than I've ever wanted anything.

Cristo. I ache. To possess. To consume. To wreck and ruin and destroy. And when it's over, to own. Not master to slave, authoritarian to subordinate, but two souls tied so tightly together they can't ever be undone. She can't exist without me, and I cease to exist without her. I want to own her and be owned by her in a way no one else ever can. There's some primal, instinctive hunger driving that need and fuck. It's overwhelming.

"There are so many of them. So many injuries. So much pain." Her voice trembles.

Is she crying for me?

I tip her head back to see the wet sheen of tears in her eyes. Cristo. She is weeping for me.

"Don't cry for me, amorina. I don't deserve your tears."

"You don't get to decide that, Domani. I do."

I curl my hand around her jaw, running my fingers beneath her eye. Her tears haven't fallen, but I imagine the feel of them on my fingertips anyway. No one has ever cried for me. I don't think anyone has ever found me worthy of tears. This girl shouldn't. I snatched her from her bed in the dark of night. And still, she weeps.

In this moment I decide two things. One, I'll never give her a reason to cry. And two, I'll be a man worthy of her tears.

I pull her flush against my body, slanting my mouth down over hers. I intend the kiss to be soft and sweet, a simple thank you. At least that's what I tell myself. But as soon as my lips touch hers, we ignite in a shower of sparks.

I don't even know which of us goes up first, but we burn together. I growl, plunging my hand into her hair to hold her still. She cries out, clinging to my broad shoulders. I take her mouth as I've wanted to do since I landed beside her bed last night. I lay claim to it, consuming her and that sweet taste.

She bites my bottom lip, her nails embedded in my shoulders as she climbs my body. Her legs wrap around my waist, her pussy aligned with my cock.

"Fuck," I growl, her heat searing me even through her skinny jeans. I want them off her. Now. Want nothing between us but the flames scorching everywhere we touch. "Stop me, mio sole."

"No."

I yank her shirt off over her head, burying my face between her breasts. They're even more perfect in the light of day, her nipples begging for attention. I'm happy to oblige. I turn my head, dragging one into my mouth.

"Domani!" Her hands land in my hair, pulling. She isn't trying to drag me off, though. Not even close. She wants me right where I am.

I bite and suck, leaving a red mark on her alabaster skin. And then I move to the opposite breast, doing the same. "Stop me," I growl. "If you don't, I won't stop, Finley. I'll take you whether you want me or not."

"Don't stop."

Cristo. My self-control shatters. I fall on her like a ravenous beast.

Her moans fill the little clearing, filtering out into the forest beyond. If anyone is nearby, I'm sure they hear her. I don't give a fuck. This is my property and my woman. If they come near, they'll live just long enough to regret their choice.

"Domani, Domani, please."

"Please, what, mio sole? What do you need?"

"More," she whispers through a moan. "I need more."

Who am I to tell her no? She wanted one day to be normal. I can give her more than that. I'll give her utter fucking perfection.

I turn with her in my arms, backing her up against a massive oak a few feet away. Large, flat rocks litter the ground around us, having fallen from the cliff above. I kiss my way down her body, trying to undo her pants at the same time.

Somehow, I manage to strip them and her shoes from her, leaving her in nothing but a tiny pair of panties. They aren't the same ones she wore last night, but they're every bit as innocent. On her, the simple fabric is sexier than lace.

I kneel at her feet, staring up at her in rapt devotion. Yeah, I could spend the rest of my life right here, just like this, and die the happiest motherfucker on the planet at the end of it.

"Domani," she mouths.

I throw her legs over my shoulders, burying my face between her thick thighs.

She cries out, grasping at the tree and my head as if she's afraid I'm going to let her fall. As if she has to worry. She's right where I want her. She isn't going anywhere. I run my nose along the wet spot in her panties, breathing her in. Her heady scent swirls around me, feminine and pure.

I flick my tongue out, dragging it along the seam of her panties. She tastes as good as she smells. Better. I growl, dragging her panties to the side with my tongue as a bolt of lust rips through me. I need her coming on my tongue now. Cristo. I can't fucking think until I know what she sounds like when she's falling apart for me.

I spread her legs wide and gorge myself on her. I'm not careful with her. She isn't delicate. I fuck her with my tongue, my hands digging into her thick thighs to hold her still. Her cries of ecstasy fill the clearing, bouncing back from the treetops. Every single one hits me like a shotgun blast, demanding I give her more and more.

I take everything she has, stealing it from her as if it's mine to take. We both know it is, whether she's ready to admit it or not. Her soul, her heart, every inch of her fucking body. They belong to me. I'll leave my marks and my brand all over them. She won't eat or sleep or breathe without thinking about me.

That's her future now. I'm her captor. Her lover. Her world. She doesn't need to see beyond me. I'm all that exists for her.

I thrust my tongue into her tight little fuckhole, using it like a cock to get her off. She rocks against me, riding my face as if she can't help herself. She's a hot little thing, chasing pleasure like it's her job. Right now, it is. It's the only thing she needs to worry about.

I pry her cheeks apart, allowing me to go deeper. I taste her cherry on her, so ripe, so sweet. I want it. It belongs to me.

"Domani. Oh my god."

She's close. I know she is. Her inner muscles flutter around my tongue as she rocks against my face, mindlessly chasing the high.

I grind my nose against her clit, using every part of my face to get her there. I need to see her coming. I need to feel it. Need to revel in it. Fuck. I just need it.

I slip my hand between us, wedging it between her cheeks to play with her perfect little asshole. She shouts when I press against the tight ring of muscle, not trying to breach her entrance but adding one more sensation to the mix.

It's enough.

Her legs clamp around my head, her hands locked in my hair. She soaks my face as she goes off, coming hard. I groan, loving every fucking minute of her surrender. Victory is sweet. It tastes like cherries.

She's still trembling when I drag her down into my arms and rise to my feet. I stalk toward the edge of the spring and wade in. The hot water swirls around my feet and then my legs. I wade deeper, not stopping until it's chest deep.

"Kiss me, mio sole," I order, locking her legs around my waist.

She obediently lifts her lips to mine, offering them up eagerly. I devour her, my cock aching where it's wedged between our bodies, trapped against her slick heat. One small shift and the head is right there, nudging against her entrance.

"Stop me," I growl, knowing she won't. Knowing she can't. She's as caught as I am, tangled in a fucking web that might strangle us both. No. It won't. I won't allow that to happen. One way or another, I'm keeping her, and I'm keeping her safe. I'll kill whoever I have to kill, destroy whatever I have to destroy. But this right here—her and I—this isn't some Romeo and Juliet bullshit.

"Domani." She breaks our kiss, lifting her gaze to mine. I can't read her expression. Too much swirls there. But I get lost in her eyes and the hope growing like tiny flames deep within. Every time I look, those flames are brighter, as if her faith has grown stronger the longer she's away from Cillian and that fucking house of horrors.

"Finley," I whisper.

She places her hands on my shoulders, determination flaring in her eyes. Understanding dawns, but it comes a moment too late to stop what she's doing. She slams herself down on me. My hands close around her waist as my cock breaches her little hole and her heat surrounds me. Her hymen tears. We both feel it.

She cries out in pain.

I growl her name in fury and then kiss the sting from her lips. "Foolish little principessa."

"I'm sorry," she whimpers. "I w-want to feel it."

"Feel what, mio sole?"

"Alive."

I grab her hand, pressing her palm to my heart. "Do you feel this, Finley? So long as it beats, you're alive. You don't have to hurt yourself to feel it. I'll make sure you know every minute that you're still breathing. You'll know joy and laughter and freedom. So long as my heart beats, you'll live."

"I like the way it hurts, Domani."

Cristo. She's going to be the death of me. I know it. It won't take her uncle or Mattia or anyone Rafe Valentino sends after me. Being with this girl will finish me off when nothing else ever could. She's a beautiful, complex puzzle, each piece revealing another startling truth. This one may be the most profound of all. We're not nearly as different as I thought, angel and devil. She craves the dark and all its violent delights, too.

But there's a difference between pleasurable pain sought in carefully defined parameters and that pursued without compunction. If she wants it rough, I'll give her that. But it'll be on my terms, when she's in the right headspace. Not here and now. She needs to learn to appreciate pleasure before she delves into pain. She's had far too much of one and not nearly enough of the other.

"You'll like the pleasure too, mio sole," I purr, gathering her long hair up in a loose fist to tip her head back. I drag her bottom lip through my teeth, smiling when she shivers in my arms. "Are you ready to take more?"

"Y-yes."

"Do it. Slow, this time, Finley. Torture me with that sweet cunt before you take me to heaven with it."

"Domani," she moans, her eyes darkening. She does as she's told, though, slowly sliding down on me. She takes me inch by inch, dragging it out until I'm ready to snap. It's exquisite torture, the kind of heaven a man like me won't ever deserve. But I'll fight like hell to keep it anyway.

She moans as she takes me, her head thrown back and her mouth parted in bliss. She's a vision of ecstasy, so goddamn beautiful I can't take my eyes off her. If anyone is out here, I know they can't either. But they can't see anything except her face and the tops of her breasts bobbing out of the water. The rest of her is hidden from view. I feel her, though, every inch of her body gliding against me as she takes me deeper and then deeper still.

By the time her ass comes to rest against my thighs, I'm not sure which of us is closer to breaking. Me? Her? Both of us? The need to move, to fuck and take and consume is overwhelming.

"Please," she sobs, clawing at my shoulders. She draws blood. I fucking love it.

"What do you want, tesoro? What do you need?"

"I need you to fuck me."

"No."

She sobs wordlessly, clawing me again. Drawing blood again.

"You know what I want, Finley."

"M-my soul."

"Yes." I smile. "But your secrets will do for now. What were you dreaming about in the car?"

"You."

"Mmm. What was I doing to you? Why were you saying my name?"

"This," she gasps. "You were doing this."

"Talking to you?"

"Fucking me. You were fucking me!" she shouts, lightning crackling in her eyes. "You slipped into my bed, put your hand over my mouth, and took what you wanted. And I loved it!"

There it is. The truth we've both been denying all goddamn day. Part of me wanted to take her…and part of her knows she would have let me. It's twisted and fucked up and wrong on every level there is. But it's what's been festering under the surface since she woke up in my bed.

She isn't afraid of me because her soul recognizes mine. I took her from her uncle because mine recognizes hers. We're two sides of the same coin, and that coin was forged under the cover of night.

I'm the thing monsters fear, hunting men like my father, those who take what they want and leave destruction in their wake. But for her? I'm no better than he is. She's a survivor, refusing to bend to men like her uncle, those who love the pain they cause. But for me? She'd surrender and love every minute of it.

We crave the same twisted thing—the one goddamn thing we shouldn't. Whatever that says about us, it's out in the open now. And there's no taking it back. I'm not sure I would even if I could. I'll bare my soul to this girl, let her see every ugly corner. It won't change a damn thing. When the dust settles, she'll still be mine.

I know because she's here right now, wrapped around my cock and writhing.

She's mine. I know it. She knows it. The fucking universe knows it.

I press my lips to her ear, giving her my truth. "I wouldn't have had to tie you to your bed to keep you there, Finley. When I was taking what I wanted, hell itself wouldn't have dragged you from my arms."

She cries out, her cunt clenching around my cock. I lift her off and then drop her. The water splashes around us. Her moan ripples through the clearing. I do it again and then again.

"Fuck." I drag my lips down her throat. "We may not leave this spring today, mio sole. I don't want to leave your body."

"Then don't. Stay inside me until I can't remember what it feels like not to have you in me, Domani. Stay right here forever."

Forever. Now she's speaking my language.

I chase her lips with mine, pulling her into a deep, languid kiss. We fuck the same way, deep, lazily. As if we've got all day. I take my fucking time learning her body, what makes her shake, what makes her beg. She comes for me again and again, moaning, pleading, screaming.

When I know she can't take much more, I give her what she really wants. I clamp my hand down over her mouth and take what I want. I fuck her hard, pounding into her as she claws and fights, pretending like she wants to get away. We both know it's only an act, though. Every time she starts to slip from my arms, she flings herself back into them, as desperate to remain in them as I am to keep her there.

I crane her head back, watching her face as a powerful orgasm rips through her. It knocks her breathless. Her eyes roll back in her head. For a moment, I think she may have passed out, but I hear her muffled screams of ecstasy against my hand and know she's wide awake…living her best fucking life on my cock.

I drag her down onto me, holding her there as the force of her orgasm rips my own from me. My seed shoots down my shaft, spilling into her. I'm not wearing a condom, and I doubt she's on birth control. Our lives are fucked six ways to Sunday. But in this moment, I send up a prayer that it takes root and grows, tying her to me in this way, too.