Page 24 of Wicked Games of Desire

“I’m sorry, Ricky.”

“You lost your mom when you were young, too,” he says like that makes it okay. I never told him my story, but he knows it. He knows everything about me. They all seem to. His eyes run over me, landing on my legs, but he’s not checking me out this time. He looks concerned. “You’re bleeding. You must have reopened the wound while running. What the hell were you thinking, baby doll?” I hear the frustration in his tone, but he’s not going to yell at me like the other two would.

I sigh heavily. “That I was seconds away from freedom, Doc.” I shake my head, still disappointed I failed. Anyone in my situation would have tried the same.

He takes my hand, squeezing it. His eyes meeting mine, something in them chills me to the core. “Harley, stop trying to run, please. You’re not our prisoner, you’re safe with us. It’s an evil world out there, and you won’t survive alone.” I feel the depths of his words. He believes every one of them.

“Why?” I whisper, my voice shaky, my eyes pleading with him to tell me what’s really going on. I can see how serious he is, and it makes me believe him, but I need some real concrete evidence as to what is going on before I listen to him.

“Head up to your room. I’ll grab the disinfectant and a fresh bandage,” he says, changing the subject.

My stare turns icy at his dismissive manner with me. Why the fuck will none of them answer my questions? But I don’t argue this time. I’m too tired to even bother again tonight. I walk to my room and kick off my shoes, slumping down on my bed. My leg stings like a bitch. I’m not surprised it’s bleeding.

Closing my eyes, the events of tonight flash back through my head like the scenes of a movie playing out. Tonight didn’t go the way Iwanted at all, but maybe I got a small step closer to working out what’s going on.

Licking my lips, I find them swollen from Alessandro’s brutal kiss and wonder what he and Maddox are dealing with. Is it the same threat they are trying to protect me from? Is he going to come back here tonight and finish what we started like he promised? Tell me all his secrets? I can only hope so, because being kept in the dark is making me feel crazy.

“Lie on your stomach,” Ricky calls from the doorway, and I flinch, too caught up in my thoughts to hear him enter my room.

I turn over onto my stomach, sinking into the cozy comfort of my soft bed, resting my tired head on the plush pillow. One good thing about this place is the luxury linen. It feels divine under my tired, sore muscles. He shoves my dress up so he can get to the wound. I can’t help but grimace when he uses the antiseptic and shifts my head to the side so I have his gorgeous face to distract me. He’s laser-focused on fixing me up. His face is perfection, deep in concentration. He would have made such a good doctor.

“Why aren’t you a real doctor?” I ask, not able to keep my curiosity to myself.

For a split second, his eyes meet mine, then he’s back concentrating on his task. “I chose to work for the Morettis instead,” he says more seriously. I feel his words like a hit to my chest. The pain in them, the heaviness. Why would he ditch his dreams to work at the casino?

“You would have been an excellent doctor.” I don’t know what possesses me to compliment him, but it’s true, and I feel like he should know it.

His lips twitch up at the sides, and I know he needed to hear my words of encouragement. He takes the sticky back off the bandage and recovers the wound. A couple of hours without the covering was all Igot, but that’s my fault. His hungry eyes scan my body, and I’m sure from this angle he’s got a clear view of my ass with the short dress I have on.

“Do you get your kicks out of fixing me up after you did this to me?” The words slip from my tongue before I can stop them.

His brow shoots up and our eyes meet. “How fucked up do you think I am?” He finishes up, and I roll back over so he’s not staring at my ass anymore.

“About as fucked up as me. I like you looking after me. I shouldn’t when you’re the one who did this to me.” My cheeks flush as I gaze back at him, feeling all warm and tingly suddenly.

“You know I didn’t do this to you. The man who did is dead.”

I gasp, covering my mouth at his revelation. I remember his gun going off, but I was in a blur of pain at the time. I hadn’t realized he shot the guard. “Is he?”

“He couldn’t follow direct orders, so that’s on him.” He really was trying to protect me down in the caves. Maybe he has been all along. I look up, and finding him watching me, my teeth sink into my bottom lip and I smirk back at him.

“You shouldn’t enjoy me looking after you,” he says slowly, but I can see how much the thought really turns him on.

“Similar to how you shouldn’t have been all hot and bothered when you and Maddox walked in on Alessandro manhandling me at the club. But you were. I could see it in your eyes,” I whisper, knowing I’m crossing a line, and unlike Alessandro, I have no idea how Ricky will react.

His piercing blue eyes scan my body, and he swallows nervously. I know he’s trying to fight his attraction to me, but it’s there. Something about little old me gets the doc all hot and bothered, and I’m here for it.

“Go on, Ricky, don’t pretend like you don’t want to jump my bones. We both know what’s going on here.”

“Fuck it,” he growls, climbing onto my bed and knocking me down with him. His lips press to mine in a rush.

I didn’t think he would take the bait, but I wanted him to.

So desperately, I needed him to.

I run my hands through his hair, tugging him closer as we share an intense, devouring kiss. Everything else fades into nothingness. Where I am, why I’m here. All of it. I’ve craved his lips on me since Christmas Eve when he held me and told me I was safe. I really am all kinds of crazy. But right now, I don’t care. I just want him to take away the emptiness inside of me. Make me feel alive for as long as he can.

His hands roam over my body, cupping my breasts greedily, before sliding down my dress and under my short skirt. Grabbing my ass, he pulls my body closer to him. He’s hard, and I rise my hips to meet his, wanting to feel him, needing him to release all this pent-up frustration. His hand slips lower between my legs, cupping my pussy, and I let out a desperate breathy moan.

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