Rafe
Ihadn’t slept a wink. I should have been exhausted, but I was wired. I was so close to getting what I wanted–Elena. I had decided that she would be mine from the first glance, yet how to capture her heart and tame her independence had been an unknown. In the end, she had come more easily than I’d expected.
However, it hadn’t been without manipulation. I didn’t feel guilty about it, however. I would do it again, a thousand times over, to drive Elena into my arms, where she belonged. There weren’t many lines men like me wouldn’t cross to achieve our goals, and possessing Elena had become my goal from the first step she’d taken on the stage. That night, she had fallen not once but twice. Once had clipped her wings and made her dependent on me. She’d fallen into my hands, and she would never leave my world now.
I would do everything in my power to make sure she never wanted to.
Giacomo called early on with an emergency and couldn’t come to Elena’s appointment on time. The man was still on his best behavior after the incident with Nicoletta. However, I let him off the hook today, as she only needed her physical therapy, and I was becoming increasingly jealous of anyone other than me putting their hands on Elena. Fuck knew how I was going to watch her take the stage again, being lifted and spun by a partner. But I had promised my angel that she would dance again, and I would keep that promise. Elena would have the life she dreamed of if I had to kill every competitor to make it happen.
“Good morning,” Elena called to me from the kitchen doorway. She was a vision in silky short pajamas with a camisole vest. The strap kept slipping down her shoulder, taking my eyes with it every single time.
“Good morning. How did you sleep?” I asked, sipping coffee and watching a blush fill her rounded cheeks. I could still taste her juices in my mouth.God, she was precious.
She blinked away from me, clearly thinking about last night. “Good. You?”
“Terribly. Giacomo can’t come this morning,” I told her, pouring her a cup of coffee.
“Ok. Shall I do the exercises alone?” she asked, wandering close enough to take the cup and then backing away.
I wondered if she knew how she looked, like a lamb knowing that lingering too close to the wolf would get her eaten. I shook my head slowly.“Why would you, when I’m here?”
* * *
Elena scooted backon the bed and stretched her long legs before her. Her eyes were locked on mine, and her pulse was pounding in her neck. I wasn’t going to work today. I’d already told my assistant. I would not be answering my phone, either. Nothing in the world was more important than sitting here with this woman.
She stretched her slender ankle, and I placed my hands carefully, helping her bend it back and forth, stretching and strengthening it. She was quiet, her brow creased in concentration.
“Does it hurt?”
She bit her lip.“Only a little.”
“Liar,” I accused.
I was coming to being able to read Elena, and she was a tough cookie. She didn’t cry easily or admit defeat. She’d always go down fighting, and I respected that. I respected it a lot. It was just one thing I loved about her.
Loved about her? Damn right. I could admit it. I loved this woman. And last night had used up the last of my restraint. I was done holding back from her.
As soon as we’d finished the exercises, I massaged the muscles of her shin. She sighed, and her head dropped back.
“You’re so damn strong all the time, angel. You can relax with me. You can be hurt or in pain… it’s safe here,” I murmured, stroking my hands in increasingly long movements up her leg.
My dick was wide-awake again and hard as hell. This morning I was still in soft lounge pants and a t-shirt. There was no hiding my desire for Elena, and I didn’t care. I wanted her to take me in her little hand and explore me again. I wanted to put my dick in her willing, innocent mouth until she gagged my name, and then I wanted to sink inside her virgin pussy and make her mine.
“Safe here? In the mafia son’s apartment?” She opened her eyes a little to watch me.
I grinned at her. She never shied away from what I did or asked me to explain or apologize. She accepted me as the twisted, violent man I was. That was a feeling I’d never found anywhere.
“There’s no place in this world that is safer… for you, and you only,” I vowed. I meant every word. I would never hurt Elena, and I would never allow her to be hurt. I would be her protector until the day I died.
My hands stroked further and further up her legs, dipping around to her inner thigh and digging my fingers into those tense muscles. With a sigh of surrender, she parted her legs a little more, letting them fall open so that I could see all the way up to heaven.
I took her knees and pushed them apart a little more, settling myself between them. Her eyes blinked wider in alarm, but she didn’t push me away as I stroked up her elegant, strong muscles. When I reached the edge of her shorts, I let my fingers wander just under the hem. With each massage stroke, I edged further under the hem. Her breath caught in her chest the first time I stroked the velvety hair of her pussy.
“No panties? Was this for Giacomo?” I questioned, possessiveness beating in my chest.
She bit her lip and shook her head.“I usually change clothes before the appointment.”
Her soft confession made me smirk.“Is that right? Why didn’t you change today? Were you looking to get touched there, angel?” I asked, mindless words falling from my lips as I concentrated on the sensation of Elena’s skin beneath my fingers.