“I knew it was you,” she announces between licks. “Instead of scaring me… it made my belly ache with need and my skin hot. Like this—”
I clench my back teeth and hiss when her lips fully encircle the crown.
“You failed the test,” I bite out, trying so damn hard to keep it together. “Looks like Dré won’t see you during his visit to Colombia. You’re not ready to leave Blackwater.”
Cupping my balls, she sucks one into her mouth. I can’t help the shiver it gives me, or the raspy groan scraping out of my throat. My balls tighten with fire, the ache to bury myself inside of her so deeply ingrained in my psyche that no one, not even my brothers could stop me.
The excruciating need to have her eats me up until I’m choking on the lust she’s feeding me.
“What if I win?” she asks between sucks. “Would you let me go to him?”
I close my eyes and try to breathe. “Next time.Ifyou win…”
Her skin brushes mine and her hums vibrate through me. While I’m a slave to her mouth, she suddenly unhands me, jumps to her feet, and in the same pulsating heartbeat, a long blade digs into my jugular.
“In the real world, Giovanni Souza, your throat would be sliced from ear to ear, and I’d leave you on the floor for your family to find.”
Standing here with my dick out and a knife to my throat, neither of us expecting my next move.
17
INDIA
My hand trembles, making the blade next to his corded throat quiver. Being this close to him and holding a degree of power over him gives me chills.
I swallow hard and tighten my grip on the handle. Adrenaline courses through my veins, making my lungs work harder.
A large hand snakes between us and suddenly I’m aware of a deep, gravelly rumble that moves through my soul like a thunderstorm.
Giovanni Souza is laughing.
While I’m lost in disbelief, he skillfully takes control of my hand, squeezes the bones, and the knife drops away. I hear it clatter to the tiles underfoot.
In a blur, his arm hooks my shoulders, and he lowers me backward. Both of us quickly sink. Meeting the floor, I wince from the coldness, my arms visibly reacting with goosebumps.
He stares into my eyes, and I completely forget he’s a stone-cold assassin.
“Jesus, baby.” Tingles rush over my scalp. “I think I’m in love with you.”
I suck in sharply, shock making the blood swoosh in my skull. Lying under him, I blink wildly. All of my words have deserted my brain.
Last night, when he’d told me I was his weakness, I knew that applied to anything a man like him had to protect from his enemies. His son––his family.
We’re chess pieces on a black and white board, and he’s securing all the key players. But falling in love? André had said it wouldn’t be possible even if I’d wished for it to be true.
“Say that again,” I whisper, my emotions bursting out of my chest.
He fixes me with a molten look and secures my arms above my head, binding my wrists together with the chain and fastening it to the brass foot rail attached to the island. The weight of his body bearing down on my pelvis feels like home.
“What should I say?” Giovanni teases. “Nowhere is safe.” He picks up the knife and pricks the forefinger on his opposite hand with the point. “You should be more alert and not hesitate.” The blade slides beneath the buttons on my pajama top, each one of them popping off as he moves from bellybutton to breasts. “Or you can’t fuck your way out of danger?”
Satin slips sideways, gliding off my tingling skin like torn wrapping paper. His chest heaves when I arch my spine to push up my breasts.
“Physical fights aren’t always the best way to win a battle. I studied my opponent,” I tell him. “I saw what he couldn't hide and used it to my advantage. I rolled the dice and chose a different plan of attack. Next time, though, it will be different.”
“You fought dirty, baby,” he tells me with a low growl, taking a full sweep of my prone position. “So, fucking dirty.”
It makes me shiver with satisfaction and longing. My eyes catch his. The solid bond between us undeniably strong. Inky pupils spear me, his gaze revealing a truth that whispers right through me too.
