Ori felt her heart beating hard against her ribs.Oh, I want to. You don’t know how much I want to …but she knew enough about powerful, rich men like Maceo to know that once she gave in to him …
I can’t.
Another time.
She was both grateful and regretful that he didn’t try to persuade her.
Later, after the apartment was clean and she was filthy, she took a long soak, reading her book, then went out to the market to buy fresh fish and vegetables for her supper. While she was cooking she called AJ and was happy to hear him sounding upbeat and positive.
She went to bed early, falling asleep just after ten p.m. It was quiet outside, and she could hear the lapping of the water on the sides of the canal. It lulled her to sleep, but at a quarter of eleven, she awoke with a start. Someone was in the apartment. She could hear them moving in the other room.
She slid out of bed, looking around for a weapon. She grabbed a vase from the dresser and stole to the side of the door, peeking out. She held her breath … but the fear was almost overwhelming, the memories of years ago when her stepfather was creeping down the hall to her bedroom.
Never again.
She drew in a deep breath then and, with a banshee howl, darted for her intruder. He picked her up easily, her size no match for his, and threw her across the room. Adrenaline made her leap back to her feet and she ran at his midsection, hearing a muffledoofas her head connected with his belly.
“Fucking bitch …”
His hands were around her throat then, squeezing, squeezing … until nothing. She could breathe again, and his weight was being pulled off her by someone else, someone shouting— a familiar voice.
Maceo.
The two men struggled as Ori tried to catch her breath. Then, with a roar, Maceo threw the man out into the hallway, and her attacker took off, cursing. Maceo locked the door behind him and came to her, wrapping his arms around her, calming her.
Confused, scared, and discombobulated, Ori let him hold her until she had calmed enough to meet his gaze. Maceo opened his mouth to speak. Instead, Ori, driven by terror, lust, and chaos, pressed her lips to his hungrily. He took her face in his hands as he kissed her, and they only broke apart when they ran out of air.
Maceo, his green eyes full of desire but at the same time questioning, spoke softly. “Are you sure?”
Ori nodded, her body curving around his. In one easy motion, Maceo swept her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Ori didn’t care that she was in her old ratty-but-comfortable T-shirt and shorts combo; all her attention was on the man above her. Maceo pulled his T-shirt off in one easy motion, and Ori saw the finely-honed planes of his body and his thickly muscled arms.
Maceo pushed her T-shirt up, pulling it over her head. And then his mouth was on her breasts, sucking each nipple, teasing them until she was moaning, his hands slipping inside the waistband of her shorts to stroke her clit. Oh god,it was even better than she had fantasized about, the rhythmic stroking of his long, strong fingers making her pussy soaking wet, her skin electrified by his touch.
Her hands fumbled at the zipper on his jeans. She could feel his cock hot and hard against the denim, and when she finally managed to make her trembling fingers free it from his underwear, she stroked the length of it, feeling it shudder and thicken under her touch.
“Ori …”
His eyes were fixed on hers, the desire in them making her head swim. Ori stroked his face.
“Don’t wait, Maceo, please …”
He ripped her shorts from her and hitched her legs around his waist. Ori felt his cock nudge at her cunt then as he plunged into her. She gasped at the sensation of him filling her completely, of their bodies rocking in perfect symmetry, his lips against hers. Right this minute she didn’t care about anything else but being fucked by this glorious, glorious man.
He drove himself into her, both of them delirious with desire, until they both came, crying out, his hands pinning hers to the bed. He barely let her recover before his tongue was lashing around her clit, driving her crazy.
Maceo Bartoli made Ori come four times before he finally let her catch her breath. Panting, she smiled up at him. “That was just a thank you, Mr. Bartoli, for, you know, saving my life”
He grinned down at her. “Well, then, thank you back”
They rested for a while, Maceo’s arm around her, her head nestled on his shoulder. Then he moved away, propped himself up on his elbow, and looked down at her. “Ori … who was that man?”
She shook her head, her smile fading. “I honestly don’t know. I woke up and he was in the apartment. I attacked him first, so I could argue that he wasn’t violent until I was” She sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes, totally at ease with being naked with this man. She smiled at him and touched his cheek. “Thank you, Maceo, really … but can I ask? Why were you here?”
Maceo looked sheepish. “Call me old-fashioned, but knowing you were here alone … it bothered me. So, I just took a late-night boat ride”
“I’ve been alone for a couple of days … did you do that last night too?”
He nodded, looking up at her from beneath his thick dark eyelashes in a way that made her belly quiver with desire. “Forgive me”
