Chapter 1
Raoul
I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life, hurt a lot of people, most who deserved it, but I will never be able to say that I was a good man. I’m still not a good man, but one look athermakes me want to be.
And I don’t even know her name.
I’ve been watching her for some time now, sitting in the corner of the bar and keeping my attention fixed on her as she flits about the place. Denim shorts reveal shapely legs, and her tight white t-shirt lets me see the outline of her black bra. I’m sure she catches the eye of all kinds of men that she might think are similar to me, but I’m willing to bet she’s never dealt with one quite like me.
I’m not just ogling her, either. I can have my pick of stunning women, sleek and sophisticated with lips as red as cherries. Inside, though, those women are dull. Gray. And this girl shines like the sun incarnate. For the first time in my long, violent life, I feel warm.
I know how intimidating I look, but the waitress does the best she can to appear unfazed and cheery, her head tilted to the side and blue eyes wide as she greets me. I’m so lost in those eyes, and the pink, full mouth asking me a question, that I don’t hear what she’s saying the first time around.
“You’re going to have to repeat that, sweetheart. I didn’t catch a word.”
“Oh,” She giggles nervously. Adorably. “I just said my name is Skye and I’ll be taking care of you today.”
“I’m Raoul,” I respond. “It’s my first time here, so I’m putting my trust in your hands.”
It wasn’t a lie, either. I’ve lived in the Canary Islands, on Tenerife, for a little over a year now, and I’ve only recently started to venture out into my new home city of Santa Cruz over the last few weeks. I’ve had to lay low for some time, so some of the heat on me died down, but now that I know I’m truly unknown here on Tenerife, I’m ready to see what the beautiful island has to offer me. I might have to return to Italy one day and reclaim my spot as the heir of the Damiano crime family, but for right now, I’ve made my fair share of money, and I’m more than happy to let my brothers fight over my father’s throne once he passes.
My new trips into the city proper haven’t revealed much to me besides the expected…good food, gorgeous views, and a friendly population of people that had no idea about the killer shark now lurking among them. There hadn’t been any surprises…at least not until Skye, and oh, what a surprise she is.
Small but distractingly curvy, Skye is my type, but besides her body, and the way her tits jiggle under her white uniform shirt when she laughs, it’s her smile that immediately drew me in like a moth to a flame. It’s wide, joyful, innocent, and everything that I’m much too jaded to deserve. Deserving or not, though, I’m going to make it—her, mine.
I’m going to kiss those sweet lips, touch those soft curves, and if I have any say in it, put a baby in her. It’s wild to think this way so quickly, but I can’t help it. My body is drawn to her in an almost animalistic fashion, and it makes me want to see her ripe with child. My child.
“Well, it looks like it’s my lucky day then, Skye,” I tell her, keeping my voice low. “Do you think you could get me a whiskey straight?”
She looks relieved at the simple drink order, nodding so her soft blonde curls bounce around her face. “I’ll be right back.”
The restaurant, called Salt and Breeze, is like so many others in Santa Cruz, built to be half inside and half out, lazy ceiling fans spinning above and circulating the otherwise too-hot sea air. Everything is decorated with worn, vintage wood and locally made decor. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but I’ve been cooped up for so long, that anyplace would do at this point. I never could have guessed a gem like Skye would be waiting for me here. I had sat at the bar, hoping to scope out the type of drinks and food they serve without drawing too much attention to myself, but Skye’s attention is a completely different animal altogether.
Romance has never been my thing, but now I know it’s because I’ve never felt the spark before. From the second I laid eyes on Skye, I knew she was destined to be mine. I crave her, blood rushing into my cock just watching her bend over to take a bottle from beneath the bar. Perky and full of youth, she’s everything I’m not, and it makes me want to have her even more.
I can’t be sure, but I think the chemistry is going both ways, because she keeps stealing glances at me, her lovely sun-kissed skin blushing the slightest bit of scarlet when she sees me looking back. It makes me wonder what else I can do to make her blush like that.
She returns with my whiskey on a tray, her eyes lowered but a small smile on her face. I don’t know what it is about her, but time seems to slow down. It might be the downcast gaze, or the fact that she’s clearly nervous around me, but Skye briefly loses her footing. The glass goes flying off the tray, making a perfect arc before landing in my lap. It’s only two ounces of liquid, barely noticeable. I don’t even flinch, but poor Skye blanches, tucking the tray under her arm and covering her mouth with her hands.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she blurts out, quickly grabbing handfuls of napkins from the table beside her. I think she’s just acting on instinct, but before I can even tell her that it’s okay, she’s crowding into my space, blotting my chest with the napkins while she babbles on, her voice thin and anxious.
“I’m seriously so sorry,” she repeats, “I’m new here, and my boss will kill me if he sees me spilling liquor. He always wants to have these one-on-one meetings whenever I mess up and Ihatethem. But now you must hate me because I–”
I grab her wrists in my hands, causing her to freeze and look slowly up at me, as if she’s only now realizing how close she’s gotten. A slow grin blooms on my lips as I watch her sea-blue eyes go wide, and feel her pulsed pick up through my hold on her wrists.
“Sweetheart, it’s fine. No need to get so worked up.”
“But the cost–”
“Hush,” I cut her off. “I’ll even pay for the spilled drink. If you can give me something else I want, that is.”
It’s like no one else is in the restaurant, just the two of us. I give her the slightest tug, and she stumbles forward, to the point where she is almost flush to me.
“What else could you want?” she squeaks.
I stroke the inside of her wrists with my thumb, her skin is impossibly soft. “Just a date.”
Skye seems perplexed, “You mean like areal date,don’t you?’ Not me coming to your place or anything like that?”