#3 —Chapter 9
LIANA
I bucked against his strength, but it was like pushing rock slabs. My breath hitched as he wheeled me toward a blank wall. I was too aware of his brutal power. He could strangle me by squeezing me too hard, but Vinn had other ideas.
“Put your hands on the wall. Bend over.”
The impersonal words lashed my mouth with unbidden heat.
“Too soon, don’t you think?” I rattled off, my nerves haywire. “Usually guys start with dinner and drinks before jumping into foreplay.”
“You’re just like your goddamned brother.” Vinn plastered my wrists above my head, his weight buckling my knees. “Impulsive. Hotheaded. No sense.”
“You’re the one ordering me to bend over.”
I should shut up.
But I relished his punishing grip. Vinn never lost his temper. He seethed. I still remembered the flare of indignation across his brow those few times I’d disobeyed him, but this was something else.
Vinn had no reason to grind against me. His thigh brushed my hip, and a jolt seared me.
“You push me to the brink.” His words blasted my ear. “I should rip off this dress and parade you outside. Leave no doubt who you belong to.”
“My brother would have a problem with that.”
“He can go fuck himself.”
His palm slipped through the side slit and stroked me. My senses leaped to life at the hands roaming my curves, though I could’ve thrown myself off a cliff for my body’s response. His touch hardened as he groped my bruised skin.
His roughened voice interrupted my gasp. “Did you think I’d overlook that little shit? I’ll kill him for touching you.”
“He didn’t.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“Liar. I saw his arms around you.”
I twisted, intending to slip from his loosening grasp, but his glare riveted me to the spot. The jealousy caught me off guard. Vinn and I were barely friends.
My heart pounded. “Why the hell do you care?”
“Because I’ve marked you as mine.” Vinn pulled the fabric off my thigh, continuing his leisurely caress. “And, petulant brat that you are, you mean something to me. You’re decent most of the time. You’ve done things for me that nobody else has.” He paused for a moment, as though to dwell on them. “I don’t know what happened to the sweet girl who doted on me, but I want her back.”
Now he wanted me?
He’d never known me. He didn’t want the messy, complicated version of me. The girl who exploded when she didn’t get her way. I’d always been difficult, but I’d toned it down in front of Vinn. He missed the girl who worshipped him, never questioned him, who did anything for his attention. I’d immersed myself in distractions, hoping the routine would camouflage the deep ache of loneliness.
Pathetic.
I choked out a laugh. “The Liana who waited on you hand and foot is gone, and good riddance.”
“Bring her back to me.”
The torment of his presence ate at me. A terrible bitterness crushed my heart. “No.”
“Yes.” His sensual touch slid to my waist, igniting sparks. “If I’m faking a relationship with somebody, it’ll be with a girl who plays nice in public. Not a vindictive woman who brings her exes to the party.”
He’d said some infuriating shit, but that bothered me the most.
“James is not my damned ex.”
He paused, his breath tickling my neck. “Bringing him here was a big mistake, Li.”
His painfully light fingers teased me, as though he knew how much I’d suffered, and he intended to make me beg.
I won’t. “What will you do about it?”
“I have some ideas.”
The taunt sent a thrill down my spine.
Slick flames wrapped my stomach as his hands cascaded down my shoulders, rippling over my curves. He seized my dress and pushed it over my hips, dragging a hiss from my teeth.
“No underwear,” he purred. “Was this for James, or for me? Did you want to be prepared?”
“I hate to pop your overinflated head like a bubble, but that has nothing to do with either of you. A thong would show under this dress.”
“You wanted to look hot for me.”
My jaw dropped. “You are so delusional.”
He gathered the flesh under my ass and pinched brutally.
“Fuck-ow!”
“Can’t help it,” he murmured, his thumb drifting close to my pussy. “You’re so inviting, with your tight ass shining with my handprint. I never in a million years pictured myself doing this.” He traced the fullest area of my butt, sighing. “Now it’s all I think about.”
His hand unstuck from my cheek, and my skin prickled in anticipation.
SMACK!
Heat bloomed over my skin with the loud crack. Just as before, the shock of it ran through me. An indignant part of me demanded justice. He should pay for the humiliation, but the shame stinging my cheeks was not because Vinn spanked me.
It was because I liked it.
I enjoyed the pain, his possession, this demeaning position, even his unhinged violence. He’d transformed from an ice giant to a red-blooded man. His blows radiated inside me as though he claimed my soul, too.
Warmth shot to my pussy as he cracked his palm on me, his movements less brutal and more playful. He seized handfuls of me, squeezing, swatting. He made delicious groans that dipped in my throat. He stopped, soothing the burn with a caress.
Vinn’s hips jammed into mine. A growing hardness pushed against my sore ass. My senses short-circuited. I breathed hard as his hands seemed to search for pleasure points-ass, thighs, hips, stomach. He touched me everywhere, stroking a path so sinful I couldn’t breathe.
I staggered through a fog of ecstasy, palms slipping.
“I didn’t say you could move.”
He shoved them where they belonged, and then he eased my bra aside to tease me. The rough pads of his fingertips were surprisingly tender as he followed the swell of my breasts, playing with my swollen nipples. He seared a line down my abdomen and into my thigh.
Oh my God.
He groped my hip, reaching into an intimate space. The shock doused me in liquid heat as two fingers traced my clit. They were barely there. He brushed me. Then he danced about in a slow stroke.
I slacked against the wall, panting.
He slapped my clit, tearing a groan from me.
“You knew what you were doing when you wore this fucking thing. You flaunted that asshole in front of me, knowing I’d fly into a rage.” His growl darkened as his hold bit into my hips. “You’ve blown the lid off my self-restraint.”
His hands were harsh, but they gave me a sense of protection. His raking gaze made me clench everywhere. I struggled to stay calm. My determination collapsed like a crumbling rock inside me.
I couldn’t take this anymore.
I lurched toward the door.
He yanked me back. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I’d dreamed of being trapped in his arms. It didn’t help that I fit perfectly in the crook of his head and shoulder. A thrill shot into my battered heart as I scrambled for an exit strategy.
“Vinn, you’re not doing yourself any favors.” I forced my lips into a stiff grin, cobbling together words that’d stop him. “Michael’s outside.”
“We’ve already talked. He won’t be a problem.”
“You told him we were together?”
“I said what I needed to get him out of my way.”
He turned me around and thrust me against the wall. Vinn’s mouth brushed the pulsing hollow at the base of my throat. It triggered a wild swirl in the pit of my stomach.
“Vinn, I want you to let me go.” I raised my voice to a shout. “Vinny!”
“Thought that was the other guy’s name.”
My whirlwind thoughts couldn’t make sense of anything.
Oh, yes…I’d taunted him with that, days ago.
“Wonder where he’s from,” Vinn mused as he leaned in, smiling. “Allston. Hyde Park. Dorchester.”
The neighborhood he grew up in.
“He’s not you.”
He patted my cheek. “Sure he’s not, honey.”
“I feel nothing for you.”
“Liar. You went out with that jamook just to piss me off.” He jerked toward the door. “The college boy with a major crush on you.”
“What right do you have to be jealous?”
A war of emotions raged within me as he dragged my hair behind an ear.
“The fact that you want me means I own a piece of you.”
“Vinn, that’s not true.” The words were weak, even to my ears. “Please leave me alone.”
“Not a chance in hell.”
He moved in, angling his head. His full mouth molded to mine. He was like crushed velvet, so soft and sensual that my skin burst into flames. It was tentative, a kiss worthy of a Hallmark romance, and my mind reeled.
Heat fanned my cheeks. This was like a daydream, so euphoric it couldn’t be real. I swam through a haze of desire and confusion.
Would I kiss him back?
I hesitated, my insides tearing apart.
Then I slid my hands up his chest. I anchored on his shoulders, lifted on my toes, and pressed my lips into his. It was like dipping into a spa after a long, cold night. Sweet and clean, like mint. Hot. Dangerously silken. My nerves buzzed with need. It was so right to be held by him. I wanted to offer him all of me, my neck, my hardening nipples. He indulged, nipping under my jaw before a wet heat soothed the sting.
The stars had aligned.
Vinn Costa was kissing me.
His mouth returned, crushing me with harder strokes. He cupped my face as I released tortured sighs. Perfect. Better than my imagination.
I couldn’t believe it.
The teenage-girl crush I’d buried alive clawed to the surface, bursting forth like champagne bubbles. We exchanged slow, drugging kisses, and then Vinn’s forehead rolled over mine. His luminous eyes flicked open. A burn settled into his tan, spreading to his chest.
I’d seen him make out with countless models, but none of them had seemed to give him pleasure. I thought he was dead inside-the fact he wasn’t sent a shockwave through me.
We separated as though struck by the same lightning.
He definitely wasn’t dead. The proof thudded against my hand and slicked my palm where I held his neck. He stared at me with a silent question. He was a man who’d finally noticed me.
He grasped my chin. Then he fused his lips with mine. He seized my hips, shoving me backward.
A wall hit my back.
I gasped at the impact, forgetting the shock as he crushed me over and over. He smothered the sounds I made, even the pathetic, small moans when his tongue dove in. He slipped down my waist and cupped my bare ass. A groan broke from his lips.
Jesus.
This wasn’t the tender stroke I’d imagined, complete with a confession that he’d always loved me. Vinn’s feelings were anything but loving. The kiss deepened into something carnal. Biting. He sucked me like I was candy.
There was no angst.
No second-guessing.
I was on fire. My pussy throbbed. I clutched his collar and met him, stroke for stroke, bound to this savage harmony. I kissed every inch of him in case this never happened again. I sucked his bottom lip, and he gripped the backs of my thighs and slid up, cupping my ass. He hoisted me up the wall. He gyrated into me, rolling his very hard cock against me.
He bit me, soothing the hurt with his tongue.
I groaned.
The sound seemed to snap him out of our frenzy. He backed away with a low hiss, looking half-mad with lust. A bright flare sprang into his eyes. He blew a stream of air.
My heart exploded with need and anguish. I couldn’t disguise my body’s reaction to him, and now he’d have more ammunition against me. I ran toward the door and seized the handle.
Vinn slammed it shut with his foot. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“After we mauled each other like that?”
“I don’t want to see you again.”
His gravelly laughter made me flush. “You sure as hell pick an odd way of showing it.”
I had to shove my confused thoughts in order, and I couldn’t do it if he touched me. The stitching of my life had unraveled. It was his fault.
I needed him to stop touching me.
I headed out, but he caught my waist. “Vinn, please.”
His finger curled under my chin, and an electric shock scorched my body. “Come home with me, and you’ll get anything you want.”
My pulse skittered. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Why not?” The electricity of his touch became a lightning storm as he traced the fullness of my mouth. “I think we’ll work out our differences better in bed. So you might as well come over.”
This was too much.
I wouldn’t say yes, but my heart squeezed at the what-if.
I’d pictured losing my virginity to Vinn. Even now, I liked imagining him shattering the last of my innocence. It dangled in front of me like a rope. If I dared reach out…
“I can’t.” I swallowed hard, stepping back. “This is too sudden, and I’m not-I don’t-we’re not a thing.”
“We are as of now.” Vinn scooped my hand and kissed it, making me feel like a rose blowing apart in the wind. “Fake. Real. It doesn’t matter.”
It mattered to me.
My throat tightened. “No.”
His voice raised sharply. “Why?”
I slid away from him and strolled to the door, trembling. “I don’t owe you an explanation.”
“What’s the harm in taking it further if I’m already dating you?”
“We’re not dating,” I seethed. “Fake or otherwise.”
“Yes, we are,” he snapped, blocking my way out. “It’s not up for negotiation. This isn’t about me.”
I gave his boner a pointed look. “Really?”
“Liana, you’d hate being with a biker. You think I’m harsh? Just wait until you’re a sweetbutt.”
“Come again?”
Vinn hesitated before answering. “A girl that’s passed around by club members. Yeah. They have a name for their whores.”
“And you don’t with your comares?”
“That’s not the same. I don’t like my women fucking other men. I tolerate it, but I don’t invite guys to touch what’s mine.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not marrying him.”
“He’ll take the decision from you. You don’t understand what they’re like.”
“You hate them. They hate you. Werewolves hate vampires and vice versa. I get it.” I sighed, bored with the conversation. “I read Twilight.”
“I don’t know what the fuck that is.”
“It’s a joke. I’ve listened to Daniel and Michael complain about bikers my whole life. I’m sure they do the same with us.”
“Their culture is sick. We cross the line here and there, but we don’t traffic women and kids. We’re not involved in anything so fucked up.”
“Yeah, you’re an angel. Right up there with Mother Teresa, canonized for your huge cock. Saint Dick.”
He stood over me, hands on his hips. “Liana, don’t start with the smart mouth.”
“You won’t scare me into a relationship with you, fake or otherwise.” I crossed my arms, the warmth from his kiss gone. “I’ll take my chances with the biker.”
Vinn could barely contain his rage. He jerked his shoulder in an irritated shrug. “You’re just trying to piss me off.”
“No, I’m not,” I snapped. “If I have to marry someone, why not him?”
“Are you crazy?” The force of his yell blasted my ears as he rounded on me, snarling. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”
I flinched from every syllable. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“I’ll do whatever I damn well pleased, you annoying brat. Is there one thing you can do without aggravating me? What is wrong with you?”
I lunged for the door, and he kept tossing me back like a rag doll. “Get out of my way!”
“Not until you start making sense.”
“I see no difference between my choices. He’s a gangster. You’re a gangster. And also-I don’t want your help!” I screamed brokenly. “I’m sick of you. I’d rather marry him than pretend to be with you.”
Vinn’s eyes flashed and dulled over. He seemed to stare through me, but I knew I’d hurt him.
He’d hurt me, too.
I’d spent every waking moment trying to heal from what he’d done.
“Li, I will only say this once.” His graveyard voice spread ice through my stomach, his dark face set in a vicious expression. “You are mine.”