Page 25 of Mafia And Taken

CATE

‘I wouldn’t have anything to wear otherwise.’ Jesus, what had made me say that?

And why on earth hadn’t I protested more about him sharing the bed? The knock to the head I’d suffered must really be getting to me, or at least that was what I was telling myself.

Suddenly, I didn’t feel so comfortable with him in the bed. While I was only twenty-one, he was twenty-six, and he would definitely be experienced.

As a man in our world, he was free to sleep around with as many women as he liked, and I knew every Made Man made the most of that freedom—it was only the women that were supposed to stay virgins for their wedding night.

He had tugged me onto his chest and molded me to his body. Despite his hard muscles, it was surprisingly comfortable as I rested my head against his shoulder, feeling my tension ease slightly as he stroked my hair.

I could feel his heavily muscled body stretched out beneath me, and it gave me an unwelcome reminder of his brute strength, making me shiver.

He tightened his arm around me as if to say that there was no escape from him, and I couldn’t steady my breathing—it was coming too quickly.

I wished I was wearing more clothes. Alessio’s t-shirt reached mid-thigh, but the fabric had ridden up in bed, putting most of my bare legs in contact with his body.

I tried to turn over in his arms so that I could put some distance between us.

“What’s the matter?” he growled.

“Nothing. I’m too hot. You’re like a furnace.”

He let me turn around in his arms, and I tried to scoot away from him a little, but he just moved behind me and slung his thick arm around my torso and pulled me back into his firm body again. Even worse, he slung his leg over the top of my thighs. His hold felt too tight and way too intimate.

The darkness was suffocating me, and his presence was tormenting me.

Without being able to see him, my senses were heightened, and I felt every breath he breathed and every movement he made.

I felt the coarse hairs of his legs as they pressed against the back of my thighs. His breath felt hot and heavy against my neck.

His arm was tucked firmly under my breasts, and every slight movement from him against them made my nipples ache and sent frissons of electricity from my breasts down to my core.

I detected something else, and it made me hold my breath for a few seconds—I realized I could feel his erection digging into my back.

It was rock hard and felt huge—the thought completely unnerved me. I had never been this close to a man before, and I never thought this was how it would happen—while I was held captive by him.

My mind was racing, and my heart was beating too fast.

Although I had complained that he was too hot, I didn’t think it was his body heat that was making me feel so clammy and flustered. Something else was generating a heat within me—within my core and within my breasts.

And I felt something else—embarrassment and shyness that he was making me feel like this. And confusion.

“Relax, cara. You don’t have to be afraid of me.”

I hesitated. “I don’t?” He had sensed my unease—I hoped that was all he had picked up on.

He pressed a kiss to the back of my head. “Nothing’s going to happen tonight. Now, go to sleep. You need your rest.”

This was confusing me even more, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. I lay still and waited for him to fall asleep first.

As the minutes wore on, however, I couldn’t stop sleep from misting over my mind, and eventually I must have fallen asleep.

And that night, I had no more nightmares.

CHAPTER 10

ALESSIO

---