Three Months Later
This was a bad idea. What was I thinking? I stared back at the lights of the log cabin. When Dom said he needed to take me to a remote area to fulfill my fantasies and I could scream to my heart’s content, I imagined a cabin in the woods. Not this palatial three-story log cabin in the middle of a peach orchard in Bumfuck Georgia.
I was panting hard, and it felt like I’d been running for a while. I didn’t have a phone. I was wearing a light jacket, T-shirt, sweatpants, and running shoes.
What if I got lost? I eyed the edge of the forest that loomed in front of the orchard.
Granted, I’d been implanted with a new tracker. Still, I depended solely on Dom to find me. Besides his phone, he was probably using night-vision goggles to track me. That stalker. He enjoyed this game as much as I did, if not a little more. The brisk December air inflated my lungs as I slowed my strides. It was why Dom picked the South for our little game where the average temperature was in the fifties at this time of the year. We were lucky because a cold front was rolling in later this week.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with the De Luccis and Rossis a week ago. A huge blended affair and it was a blast. Harriet was also invited. After this trip, the Christmas season would be in full swing. My mind was spinning at the number of invitations to parties and galas coming through Dom’s mailbox. Unlike last year, when we hid our clandestine affair, this time there would be no hiding, and I was going to be the woman by Dom’s side.
The past three months was a whirlwind of activities. After taking the NCLEX, I immersed myself in Dom’s world, but he’d also involved himself in mine, accompanying me in my visits to Harriet, and lending his support in facilitating background checks to the planned staff expansion at the Delphine Assisted Living Home.
I inhaled deeply and took a tentative step into the forest. Evergreens and pines stood as sentinels in between skeletons of trees. Dried leaves and fallen branches crunched beneath my feet.
Moving deeper into the forest, I felt better about not being lost. The lights of the cabin shined like a beacon through the soon-to-be-winter foliage. I should have known Dom wouldn’t risk anything that would endanger me.
A rustling of leaves had me spinning around and my heart clogged my throat in renewed fear. Not that I feared squirrels, but surely he had no control over other wild creatures. The negligible light of the new moon filtered through the ghostly branches and I tried to think of birds besides owls that hunted at night. I liked owls. Right?
Skittering near the trees had me spinning around again.
I almost called out Dom’s name.
But that would defeat the purpose of—
What was that?
A shadow ghosted through the trees. That was too big to be a man, right?
Shit. Were there legends of Bigfoot in Georgia?
Soon, all I heard was labored breathing. Mine.
Run.
That was what Dom ordered as he leaned over the balcony of the log cabin when I was on the patio that led to the orchard. He was shirtless, his broad shoulders and muscled pecs on display, wearing black jeans that made him so lickable and sexy, I wanted to call the whole thing off and fuck right there.
But delicious orgasms awaited good girls who ran.
My feet picked up the pace. The jacket was trapping the heat in my body. My senses became hyper-aware. Excited, I shed the outer layer, surrendering to the freedom of the night. The area between my thighs felt swollen, and my nipples were hard and sensitive against the bra.
The cabin lights were getting fainter, and the forest was losing light.
I stumbled over a jutting piece of tree root, but didn’t fall.
I straightened and paused.
In front of me stood Dom.
Or I hoped it was Dom.
The man was wearing a mask similar to the ones medieval executioners wore. It covered his entire head and neck.
My heart rate quickened.
Danger. Fear. Arousal.
Without another word, I sprinted to my right.
The crashing behind me let me know he was chasing me, getting closer. Shit. Shit. My heart pounded. Oxygen depleted. When I reached a small circular clearing, I struggled in which direction to go, but before I could take another step, he tackled me from behind.
We fell, and I tensed for impact, but he switched our positions and took the brunt of the fall.
Still, air left my lungs and my whole body lit up in fight-or-flight. To giggle or scream.
I jabbed my elbow behind me.
He grunted and flipped me over, my wrists pinned above me. How the hell does he do that?
“Gotcha,” he rasped.
“Fuck you.”
“Soon.”
He jackknifed to his feet and dragged me by my wrists a few feet farther.
“Let me go!” I screamed.
“You’ve been a bad, bad girl.”
In a blur, both wrists were locked to hooks on the ground.
My breasts rose and fell as my exhalations escalated in anticipation. I yanked at my wrists, but the cuffs bit into them. I was tied down and helpless.
“You fight and you’ll hurt yourself.” He stood over me. In the dim light, I could already see the shadowed bulge of his erection.
“Damn you, let me go!” My voice was turning hoarse as I clawed the forest floor covered with leaves and soft earth.
“Nah, I don’t think so. I have plans for you.”
A knife gleamed in his hand. And before I could scream again, I heard the ripping of my shirt. Soon, my bra joined the shredded fabric. He straddled my lower belly. Captured my neck with his fingers and squeezed before trapping my cry with a bruising kiss. He released my neck, and arousal saturated my core. So wet, I felt it trickle down at the juncture of my thighs. He palmed my breasts as I kicked my legs and wiggled my ass. Then he lowered his head and tongued my nipples. Goose bumps erupted over my skin. Tweaked up and unbelievably horny, I squeezed my thighs together to control the ache to come. His mouth resumed teasing my nipples as I continued to fight him, refusing to say the word that would stop this.
Because I wanted his domination.
I wanted his possession.
“Get off me,” I croaked. I was quickly losing my voice.
He trailed kisses down my belly, alternating with stinging bites. I heard more ripping as he exposed my pussy to his eyes.
Without warning, he stabbed two fingers inside me and I cried out.
He pumped vigorously, without gentleness or care. He was taking. Taking. Taking. “Hot damn, you’re dripping all over my fingers. You crave my cock, my little slut?”
“Bastard!” I spat.
He chuckled and shoved a third finger in. His fingers were thick, and the roughness with how he plunged them in and out made me wetter and wetter. “Liar. I can’t wait to stuff your pussy with cock, but it’s a sin to let this all go to waste.”
The first swipe of his tongue was pure torture. He kept me on the edge. Alternating with nipping the insides of my thighs instead of giving me what I wanted—persistent rhythmic pressure. I moaned and yelled in frustration. He shoved my thighs apart and one leg was still encased in my sweatpants. I had no idea how he sliced it with his knife. His lips clamped down on my pussy as he feasted and teased me closer to the edge before he backed off again.
That asshole.
I arched my back and bucked my hips. My wrists strained against the cuffs. He didn’t want me grabbing his head to shove his face to where I ached.
“Please.”
He stopped eating me. His head came up. His hands were on either side of my thighs, keeping me shamelessly open. I imagined the predatory glittering of his eyes.
“Please what?”
“Please make me come.”
He used the heel of his hand and massaged the tip of my pussy. Pressure mounted. The addictive buildup before the crashing wave. And when he shifted his heel to my mound and used his mouth again and sucked, I exploded. I screamed. Pulses and exquisite ripples of pleasure swallowed me whole.
I struggled to breathe. My back stiffened and my toes curled.
Oh my God.
I couldn’t take anymore. I started sobbing.
“Stop. I can’t take anymore.”
“Ah, baby,” he rasped. “Yes, you can.”
He continued assaulting my pussy with unrelenting strokes and suction. Multiple orgasms were a curse and a blessing. At this moment, I wasn’t sure what camp I fell on, but it wasn’t up to me.
Dom squeezed every orgasm out of me until I was hoarse from crying.
It was only then that he gave one last lick and rose above me. His hand loosened something behind his mask and tore it off. I could make out the shadowed outline of his angular features and imagined his dark eyes, so yes, mask or not, he maintained a sinister air.
“I didn’t say carrot cake,” I whispered. Carrot cake was our safe word.
“I know,” he rumbled. “But I’m about to fuck you, and I don’t want you imagining anyone else but me.”
If I had the breath for it, I’d laugh. What came out was another gasp instead. “So…possessive.”
“Damn right I am.”
Then he plunged inside me. I was slick as hell, but taking Dom’s massive cock in one stroke was still a challenge…and a thrill.
He gripped my face, not letting me look away as he pounded into me savagely.
My hips squirmed and my arms strained as my fingers clawed at the ground as much as the cuffs would allow. When he let go of my face, one hand seized my throat and squeezed.
“Come,” he ordered.
“I…” I choked. I can’t. I can’t.
“You can. One more.” His fingers tightened, cutting off my air.
His dark eyes pierced into me. “You turn me into a fucking animal, Sloane.”
He withdrew completely before surging into me, at the same time freeing his clasp on my throat.
The whoosh of oxygen triggered an unexpected euphoria, and a powerful orgasm, so deeply rooted inside the millions of nerve endings of my pussy, detonated. My eyes squeezed shut and stars exploded behind my lids.
“I’m coming so hard for you,” he growled.
God, so was I.
“So hard, baby.” A low, guttural grunt vibrated above me as Dom rammed inside me and stayed. I felt him pulsing. I clenched around him.
He groaned a fractured “Fuuckkkk.”
And I could only moan weakly. I’d never come with such intensity, and I’d had the best. It was as if I’d surrendered the last of my inhibitions, and my body gave up its secret of a transcendental sensual experience.
Because this was more than about fucking. Here, in these dark woods, stripped of everything else except our primal needs, I felt our souls touch.
Vaguely, I heard the clink of metal. Dom had released my wrists and started massaging my arms. Needles shot through them as circulation returned.
He caressed my cheek. “You okay?”
I couldn’t move.
I was done.
“I’m speechless.”
He was panting, but I saw a flash of teeth. “Yeah, that was insane, baby.”
My body left the ground. I was floating. No. Dom was carrying me. “How does a hot tub sound?”
That was the last I heard before I fell asleep.
The cabin was quiet when I woke up. It was the morning after Dom stalked me in the forest. Soft light streamed through the windows of this colossal log cabin. I barely remembered getting into the hot tub and Dom’s aftercare. I was so relaxed. I clambered out of bed, straight into the bathroom to freshen up. If I thought last night was a dream, the red welts on my wrists proved otherwise. The minor scratches on my arms and legs and the bruises from Dom’s bites were evidence enough about how feral our game unfolded.
I went to the kitchen. No sign of Dom cooking or coffee brewing. Admittedly, I was a little miffed. Where the hell was he?
I made myself a fresh cup of coffee and started sipping. After a few minutes, one of the side doors opened. I lifted my gaze in anticipation.
No sign of Dom.
Dammit. I was still recovering from last night and was not ready to play scary movie that ended in sex with the stalker. Besides, it was bright as day.
“Dom, I’m not in the mood,” I grumbled in case he was lurking around.
Ginger jumped on the counter, startling me.
I forgot we brought her with us and I didn’t even think about her this morning.
Bad momma.
But my saliva dried up, coffee forgotten, when I spied the sparkling diamond ring dangling from a white satin ribbon around her neck.
“Oh my God.”
“You said you had to like the person you had sex with,” Dom’s low voice said from the open door. He stood there, doing that leaning thing against the jamb.
Moisture gathered in my eyes, but I was too frozen to speak.
He approached. “So I asked permission from the one creature you said must at least like me.” Dom picked up Ginger. Feline purring began. “I think she approves, don’t you think?”
“I think so,” I croaked.
“So, Sloane Scott, after last night, I’m sure you more than like having sex with me—”
I laughed.
“And you’re the only one who puts up with my overbearing, arrogant ass, not to mention I’m in love with you. So hopelessly in love with you, I can’t imagine a world where you’re not mine. Because, baby, I’m totally yours. Heart, body, and fucking soul, I’m yours. So, Firecat, will you marry me?”
“Oh, Dom.” I rushed to hug him. Surprisingly, Ginger stayed put and enjoyed getting mushed between us. “Yes.”
Dom let out a fractured exhale. “Thank God.”
I pulled away, and my brows furrowed. “You had doubts I was saying yes?”
He set Ginger down and untied the ribbon, unknotted the ring, and slipped it on my finger. “Let’s just say I’m never sure about you. Why do you think I proposed in this isolated cabin?”
I laughed with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. “What? You were going to keep me here until I said yes?”
Dom caged me against the counter. It was an aggressive move, but I was busy admiring the ring. It was a huge oval diamond with little diamonds scattered around it, but what impressed me the most was the inlaid settings.
“What do you think?” he murmured against my mouth.
My earlier annoyance with him fizzled because I was very much in the mood again. “You put a lot of thought into this ring.”
He nuzzled my ear while rocking into me with his hips. He was hard. “I wanted to make sure you won’t have to take it off when you wear gloves.”
And that was why I adored this man. He was meticulous and thoughtful to those he loved. A nurturing man was hot as hell. I whispered, “I love you, Dominic De Lucci. I would be honored to be your wife. Take me away and make love to me.”
“I thought you’re not in the mood.” His eyes heated.
“Well.” I hooked my arms around his neck, did a little hop, and wrapped my legs around him. His hands cupped my ass. “Seems like you’re an expert in changing my mind.”
Christmas
Dom
The De Lucci mansion was bright as fuck. The women went on a shopping spree for new Christmas lights. Also, there were not one, not two, but three Christmas trees in the mansion, fully decked out with different themes. It was Christmas Day and everyone had just finished exchanging presents.
Like Thanksgiving a month ago, there was a lot to be thankful for this Christmas.
Luca found Natalya. They flew in with Elias and their entourage to spend Christmas Day with us. They were staying for three days. They’d just spent two weeks in Paris. Something about December being the rainiest month of the year. It didn’t make sense, but I had stopped making sense with husbands and their obsession with their wives.
Sandro and Bianca announced they were pregnant without waiting for the requisite twelve-week wait before sharing because both were over the moon with the pregnancy. Baby would be due in August next year.
And since that kind of put the pressure on Nico and Ivy, they declared they were not in a hurry to add to the family despite grumblings from Uncle Cesar and Aunt Ava. The two seemed happy to remain the cool aunt and uncle for now. Although Nico once told me he was too selfish to share Ivy with a kid yet. In a way, he made sense.
Pop made a full recovery from the cardiac contusion he sustained months ago.
Lucy was moving back to New York to my parents’ delight and conflicting feelings on my part. She was determined to live on her own and bought Nico’s old apartment on the Upper East Side. She said she might work as a paralegal or take the bar. I wouldn’t put it past my sister to use her return as a smokescreen for an altogether different reason.
And finally, of course, my engagement to Sloane. We broke the news to my parents and Harriet first.
Pop and Ma were thrilled. Ma couldn’t wait to start wedding preparations and was sending a flood of bridal magazines and websites to Sloane, so I had to rebuke my mother—gently, of course—to let this holiday craziness pass first.
Speaking of Harriet, she and Sloane visited Billy’s grave this morning. So yes, it wasn’t all joy, but the melancholy didn’t last long. Harriet was part of this family and was currently being entertained by the girls who shared her interest in true crime.
I sighed. All was well in the De Lucci, Moretti, and Rossi crime family.
“You look disgustingly content.” Luca approached and handed me a coquito. The drink made of Puerto Rican rum and cream was the preferred Christmas drink of the De Luccis over the classic eggnog.
“I could say the same about you.”
Luca chuckled and exhaled the same contented sigh I expressed earlier. “What a difference a year makes.”
“Yeah.” I took a sip. “Thanks, by the way.”
My uncle raised a brow. “I’m sure you’re not referring to the drink.”
I grinned. “No. Your advice last year.” New Year’s Eve seemed so long ago. “About making a choice and protecting it.”
“It seems we Morettis have a lot to learn about the consequences of power.” He nodded to Ma. “How’s Lottie? Is she giving Sloane a hard time?”
“Nope. What happened to Pop was her wake-up call.”
“She and Lucy appear to be okay. Which is expected. Lucy is a well-rounded girl.”
I nearly choked on that. “You would say that. Your stubborn niece can do no wrong in your eyes.”
“She’s not stubborn, she’s strong-willed,” Luca said, but he had a smirk on his face.
“Who are you two talking about?” Sera asked. She and Matteo joined our huddle.
“Luca Junior,” I deadpanned.
“Our dear cousin,” Matteo said. “Uncle Paulie is trying to recruit her for our legal department.”
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “She doesn’t like structure, routine, and has a problem with authority. Makes me wonder why she studied law.”
“She wants to make sure we have free legal representation when everyone bails on us,” Luca said with a trace of humor. “She may shun her Moretti side—”
“The criminal side?” Sera deadpanned.
“It’s there, trust me, it’s there,” Luca murmured.
“How’s it going with the Russians?” Matteo asked my uncle.
Luca’s face darkened. “Let’s enjoy Christmas and not worry about the Russians.”
We changed the subject. Luca and the Moscow mob were butting heads again, which was why I was keeping an eye on the New York bratva. That was one reason I had reservations about Lucy moving back to Manhattan, even if that had been my objective for years. As expected, Tomlin was shanked in prison. As for Vivienne, she was under house arrest awaiting trial for attempted murder. There were no links to the other victims, but Anton’s attempt on my family had enough witnesses. The Tomlins were finished. No matter the outcome of the trial, I was going to make sure the rest of her life would be a living nightmare. No one came after my family and expected to escape unscathed.
Ma and Aunt Ava announced dinner, so I walked over to where Harriet and Sloane were chatting with Bianca.
“Are we talking about serial killers again? It’s Christmas. Give it a rest.”
My woman grinned at me, confirming what I suspected.
“What is this fascination with serial killers?” I murmured as Sloane rose and gave me a quick peck on the lips.
“Hmm, that coquito sure tastes yummy.”
“Answer the question,” I said in mock sternness.
“Oh, don’t be a buzzkill, cuz,” Bianca grouched and stood.
“Our mothers called for dinner.” I helped Harriet to her feet and put her hand on my arm. “Your escort, my lady.”
Harriet beamed at my flair. Sloane and Bianca rolled their eyes. What? I was in a good mood. All my family—safe under one roof.
“I got her.” Bianca grabbed Harriet’s hand on my arm and transferred it to hers. “We’re continuing our conversation and theories at the table. She’s sitting beside me.”
“True.” Harriet let my cousin lead her away.
“Looks like I’m not Harriet’s favorite person anymore.”
“Does it matter?” Sloane teased, hugging my torso. “As long as you’re mine.”
I shot her a devilish grin. My gorgeous soon-to-be wife. I couldn’t wait. I watched my family file into the dining room. Sloane tugged on my hand, but I had other ideas.
I led her to the other exit of the sitting room that opened to the grand staircase.
Sloane’s eyes widened, partly in horror, but mostly amused. “We don’t have time.”
“Well, I don’t have the patience to sit through a three-hour dinner and wait to be inside you.”
I practically dragged her up the stairs.
“You were just inside me this morning.”
At the top of the stairs, I turned her in my arms. “I’m addicted to you, baby.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Same, but they’ll be looking for us.”
I spotted Nico dragging Ivy across the foyer to the opposite end of the mansion. My cousin glanced up briefly and smirked.
“They’ll understand.” I crowded Sloane into the pink-frilled powder room.
“Dom,” she started to gasp, but I silenced her with a ravenous kiss.
Thank fuck, she was wearing a skirt. I slid her panties aside and pushed my fingers in. Soaked.
“I love you,” I growled before I slammed inside her.
And with a constant hunger for this woman, I showed her how she would always be my one and only choice.
