“And if another insult leaves your lips, I’ll hold you in contempt of court.”
I watch Justine for several long seconds, knowing she has the gall to fight more, but also aware she won’t. She isn’t backing down because she’s a coward. It’s because she knows angels can fly no matter how heavy the burdens on their shoulders are.
Chapter Five
The judge’s gavel has been hammered, my men have been stood down, now only a devil and an angel remain in the ultimate battle of supremacy. I’m on the verge of victory. Not only can I taste it on the tip of my tongue, Justine hasn’t stop wiggling in her seat since we commenced our commute from the courthouse to her apartment building over twenty minutes ago.
Nerves aren’t making her a hot mess.
I am.
The thrill of the chase is running through my veins thick and fast. I’ve never experienced a desire like this before. Usually, the excitement heating my veins cools long before I’ve coerced the woman I’m chasing into my bed. That isn’t happening this time around. It is growing more profound with each second that ticks by. Not even the official processing of charges I have no intention to face dampened it. My cock is heavy against my zipper, pleading for early release. He’s acting as if one taste of Justine’s cunt won’t be enough. That it will only have him craving another, and another, and another until the focus I was forced to shift years ago returns to what it once was.
When Rico died, my life became about nothing but the bratva and the ties needed to keep our sanction strong. My actions tonight arenothingclose to that. I’m tiptoeing on a fine wire, willing to risk it all for a woman I didn’t know existed only hours ago.
If today wasn’t the first time I’ve felt a pitiful thump in my chest, I’d call off the game now. Alas, stupidity is like a muscle. It strengthens with use.
The more I tell myself the risks aren’t worth it, the more ravenous my cravings become. I want this as much as Justine, I just refuse to hide behind the fear that we’re walking headfirst into a tornado. I’m encouraging its destruction, honing a quality I was nurtured to love as a child. Whatever we’re creeping toward will most likely destroy me, but you must chase chaos to dance amongst the stars.
I suck an undignified whiff through my nostrils when Justine says for the fifth time this evening, “It was an accident. I meant to put down your address, I was just—”
“Flustered.”Like the hue your neck gets every time you bust my stare.“Don’t be ashamed,Ahren.You have good instincts. You should be flustered. Scared. Praying to the gods you’ll survive me.”Because by the time I’m done with you, you’ll no longer know right from wrong. You’ll know nothing but me.
The arrogance heating my blood augments when Justine’s knees curve inward. The scent of her needy cunt has me praying the sheriff’s department will hurry the fuck up and finish their scan of her apartment building so we can get our all-night rager started.
I’m going to break more than records this long weekend, and I’m not the least bit confronted by the idea.
As my eyes glide over the budded peaks pressed against Justine’s shimmery blouse, I imagine my cock sliding in and out of her pillowly lips. She has a fuckable mouth. Her top lip is tilted slightly upward, her straight teeth are minus the cat’s incisors every guy hates, and she’s a nose breather—all good indicators she knows how to give fantastic head.
I’m certain Justine’s thoughts are as wicked as mine when our knees brush during one of her many squirms. As her breathing shallows, she struggles not to flutter her eyes shut. We’re barely touching, but the energy teeming between us is so headstrong, she appears on the brink of climax. Her cheeks are flushed, her lips are parted, and the undeniable glint of lust is in her eyes.
My suspicions are confirmed when the scent I’m sucking in like an addict doubles. She’s hot and ready for me, her cunt’s wordless begs for me to take her as desperate as my cock’s plea to sink into her heat.
While fighting the urge not to claim her right now, I growl, “Soon,Ahren. Very soon.”
If the ambiguity in my tone doesn’t reveal our plans for tonight, I’m certain the locking and holding of our eyes will. My thoughts are far from innocent, and Justine is more than eager to explore them. She’s hot all over, both excited and conflicted. She wants this, but something is holding her back.
If I was raised to put others before myself, I’d strive to eradicate her hang-ups before rocking her world, but since my upbringing was far from moral, I’ll fuck her first then act as if I have a clue about what being a gentleman entails.
The pink tinge creeping across Justine’s neck reaches her cheeks when the side door of the transportation van slides open. Pretending the guards can’t smell the heady scent of lust lingering in the air, she races for the lobby of her building, believing distance will break the tension binding us together.
She’s horrendously wrong. Not only does it continue to crackle during our ride to her floor with parole officers and an elevator attendant, but it also hisses during the short walk from the elevator bank to the door of her apartment.
“Watch it,” I growl in Russian when Justine is barged out of the way by a parole officer as eager to get inside her apartment as I am her panties.
My torso keeps Justine on her feet, but I’m still not fucking happy. Granted I’m as confused about my motives tonight as my crew, but I do know one thing: immediately and without hesitation, I’ll butcher any man who dares fuck with Justine—myself included.
While mentally jotting down the officer’s badge number, height, hair-coloring, and any other fucking trait he has so my men can track him down as fast as he’s destroying Justine’s home under the guise he’s ‘searching for dangerous weapons,’ I shadow Justine to the side of her living room.
Her steps are shaky, as if worried I will hate her domain. I don’t. Her apartment is dated, but it suits her well. Its shell is solid and reliable. It just needs someone to highlight its good points.
I’m no builder, but Rico taught me the benefit of fixing things from the ground up. It takes more effort than demolishing it and starting again, but more times than not, the dividends far outweigh the input.
Usually, his logic is only applied to business projects I’m endeavoring to get off the ground. This is the first time I’ve considered using them on a person.
“Nice.” I mutter through quirked lips. “Small as fuck, but nice.”
Justine’s smile reveals she took my comment as intended: playfully.
