Page 48 of Vicious Redemption

I shiver beneath him, and as the strength comes back to my arms, I wrap them around him, pressing my fingers into his muscular back. Our heavy breaths mingle, warming the air between us.

The tension builds deep in my core, and tingling pleasure zips up my spine. “I’m going to come,” I gasp as the familiar sensation floods my body with warmth.

Leo’s hips rock into me more adamantly now, and as the tendons in his neck strain, his muscles bunching and flexing with breathtaking strength, I know he’s right there with me.

“Oh god!” I gasp, and he grunts as he slams inside me.

Hot cum pours inside me as my walls throb and pulse. And the heat of arousal in Leo’s gaze turns my insides to mush. Our simultaneous release is so insanely erotic. But watching the euphoria in his eyes is out of this world.

My aftershocks continue to roll through me long after he’s stilled, his cock buried in my depths.

Pressing the sweetest of kisses to my lips, Leo eases out of me. And when he collapses onto the bed beside me, I scoot closer. Pulling me against his side, he holds me as we catch our breath.

I rest my cheek on his chest, running my fingers through his soft chest hair and savoring the way his skin feels with my senses so heightened.

“Well?” he asks after several silent moments. “What did you think about being tied up?”

The question is soft, almost playful even, and it warms my chest. “I liked it… a lot,” I confess. Then I tip my chin up to meet his eyes. “Why were you so adamant about not doing it before?”

Conflict flickers behind his hazel gaze and his brows press together, confirming it. “Our relationship is just so different than any I’ve had before. I’ve never cared for another woman as much as I care about you. I’ve never worried I might push things too far because one woman was just like the next for me. Then you came along. And we didn’t exactly start off on the right foot, so once I realized how badly I screwed up, I didn’t want to do anything that might set us back. I didn’t want to introduce any kind of play that might make you feel more trapped than you already are…”

The pain in his voice breaks my heart, and I rise onto my elbow so I can look him more fully in the face. “I don’t feel trapped, Leo,” I promise adamantly. “At least not in our marriage. Yes, I might hate being confined to the house, but I want to be with you. And I trust you.”

His eyes soften, and he pulls me close, to kiss me passionately. “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he murmurs against my lips. “You’re quickly becoming the center of my universe.”

His words melt my heart, and I claim his lips, pouring all my love and devotion into the kiss. Then I snuggle close to his chest once more, nestling into his arms. And I’m asleep before my eyes can even fully close.

23

LEO

Memories flood back to me as I stand inside the cottage on the outskirts of my family’s vast property—the fateful day Tia went wandering in the woods and happened upon me executing one of the Valencia men who thought they could skim off the top and I wouldn’t notice.

My eyes scan the trees through the window, like I might find her hiding there, waiting for me to commit my next atrocity. But not today. I’ve tasked Trudy with keeping Tia fully occupied and within eyesight for the entire day—even if it means allowing Tia to get her hands dirty.

My lips twitch with amusement as my trip down memory lane takes me to those first few days of marriage, when I found Tia elbows deep in the dirt alongside Old Man William and his wife, who I pay handsomely to maintain the gardens. My wife is a force to be reckoned with.

Which is exactly why I stand here, in the old cottage that has seen countless deaths, waiting for Johnny, Rasco, and their soldiers to deliver to me the Guerra men who were just released from PPD custody first thing this morning.

Though it goes against my principles and instincts to do so, I intend to grant Tia’s family mercy in the hopes that a show of faith will ease the tension in our quickly crumbling alliance. And it’s the perfect time to do so.

Tia’s cousin Maury will be among them because the official statement says his prints weren’t matched to any of the guns my men apprehended at the ball. And seeing as it was the word of my disgraced men against the Guerras, the push to convict was not overly strong.

“Get your fucking hands off me!” someone snarls on the far side of the front door, alerting me to their arrival.

A second later, Maury himself is the first man through the door, as Johnny uses the guy’s head to open the door when he proves unwilling to cooperate. And though I’m not here to escalate the situation, I can’t help but smile as Tia’s cousin releases a spew of curses in Italian that could make a sailor blush.

He’s going to have a lump on his head tomorrow.

“Morning, boss,” Johnny greets me as several more men file into the room.

And when the Guerra men see me standing, waiting for them, watching with a steady gaze, fresh panic flits across their faces.

“Fuck,” Maury grunts as he’s forced into the lineup before me. And though he seems determined to keep a stoic expression, I can see the sweat break out across his brow.

“Gentlemen, how kind of you to join me,” I say casually, smirking.

I scan their ranks, gauging the different reactions to their situation. I’m pleasantly surprised to find most of them look ready to shit themselves. That’s good. Fear is how I’m going to get my point across if I intend to grant them mercy. Not to mention, I always enjoy the sense of power it gives me to make a grown man cry.

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