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He took a step back, leaving my body cold and bereft of the hard planes that had pressed against it. He let our hands fall between us as he stepped off the elevator and pulled me out with him. I stared at the big hand enveloping mine as we walked down the long hall to the door at the end.
The moment I stopped in front of my hotel room door, he dropped my hand and reached for my hips. Instead of pulling me to him, he pushed me back up against the door, crushing me with the weight of his body until I could feel every groove of the grain in the wood behind me.
“Nico,” I breathed.
His lips captured mine, demanding obedience once again. When I parted for him, there was no teasing this time. His tongue met mine, sliding in and out like a promise or a warning of things to come.
I reached for him as that thought sent a fresh tidal wave of arousal coursing through my veins. I grabbed onto his shoulders like I could use him to hold me upright even though he pressed his body so hard against mine, I couldn’t have wriggled out if I’d wanted to. The muscles of his shoulders flexed and bunched beneath my grasp, hinting at the hard planes and rippling muscle I’d find beneath his clothes.
He tore his lips away and lunged for my neck, forcing my head back and leaving my throat exposed for his onslaught. He kissed his way down my neck as I explored every inch of his arms and back I could reach. Every so often, I could feel the slight nip of his teeth against my flesh, and I had to squeeze my thighs against the throbbing arousal that had already left me soaking wet.
“I want to hear you screaming my name, Raven, not whispering it,” he said against my skin then continued his path down lower to where the neckline of my dress exposed just the upper swells of my breasts.
I held my breath, silently hoping he’d move lower. The backless dress didn’t allow for a bra, so the only thing between his mouth and my bare flesh was a thin layer of fabric. But just when I’d thought he might, he leaned away, just enough to meet my eyes.
“I want you n—”
Ring. Ring.
“Fuck,” he cursed.
He kept his body pressed against mine as he retrieved his phone from inside his jacket.
“What?” he snapped, then continued to run his lips along my flesh in a teasing trail across the neckline of my dress.
I couldn’t make out more than a faint murmur from the voice on the other end of the line. After a moment, Nico shut his phone off and groaned against my skin.
My whole body sagged with disappointment because I knew what was coming.
“I have to go,” Nico said, kissing a fast trail up my neck and then settling his lips over mine one last time.
I’d expected a brief parting kiss, but once again, he threw me off-balance when he wound his fingers in the hair at the nape of my neck, holding me still while his tongue explored every inch of my mouth.
Then he released me without a word, turned, and strode away, back toward the elevator. But instead of pressing the button to call it up, he bypassed it and threw open the door to the stairs next to it. And then he was gone.
Only then did I notice the middle-aged couple standing outside their door at the opposite end of the hall. Their hands were twined together while they stood there staring at me.
My cheeks grew hot as flames as I scooped up my purse I’d dropped on the floor at some point. With shaking fingers, I dug out the key card to my room and disappeared inside, slamming the door shut behind me.
I sagged against the door, hoping it would help to cool my overheated body. But the wood grain against my skin reminded me too much of the way Nico had me pressed up against it on the other side. I pushed away from the door, when I realized what an absolute idiot I’d been.
I dropped my purse onto the coffee table then padded down the hall to the bedroom and flopped back on the bed, most definitely not thinking about what could have happened right here. I was the one who was supposed to have been doing the seducing. I was supposed to be the one getting a Costa wrapped around my finger. And the Costa wasn’t supposed to be Nico Costa.
I squeezed my eyes shut and proceeded to beat myself up over my stupidity for the next twenty minutes. Eventually, the truth slipped through. Nothing had happened, not really. I’d made a mistake. It wasn’t like I was the first woman to fall victim to Nico’s appeal; I was sure of it. All I had to do now was learn from my mistake and not let it happen again.
I couldn’t help but wonder how the night would have gone if that phone didn’t ring.
Chapter Twelve
Nico
I was going to murder everyone—the guy who called me and the guy who murdered Abruzzo. The guy who sold him his gun. Hell, the guy who worked in the factory that had made the gun.Everybody.
I was soclose; every thrum of the throbbing in the middle of my pants was a reminder of where it wanted to be instead.Yet here I was, driving away in the opposite direction because some son of a bitch had to murder some guy’s family then burn his house to the ground. The meathead couldn’t have done it the other day, or even waited until tomorrow.
Someone was going to pay for this.
I pulled up behind the club, parked right outside the exit, and stormed in through the back door. Gabe paced back and forth behind the wall, looking more frazzled than I’d ever seen him.
