Page 48 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

“You feel so fucking good,” he muttered, working his way deeper within me with each mind-blowing stroke. “So goddamned perfect.”

“Please,” I begged, “please.” No longer sure what I was asking for, just that I needed this man, more, closer, harder, I didn’t fucking know. “Please!”

“Open your eyes, Sofia,” he commanded, his voice no less firm for its gentle softness.

When I did, all I could see was—no, I wouldn’t name the emotion, wouldn’t let it be anything more than affection in the heat of the moment.

He wrapped his fingers around my throat, careful, so fucking careful, not to disturb the bruises that Sergio had left there, tightening his grip slowly. “Do you need to safeword, baby?”

“No,” I gasped as my vision narrowed to the beautiful man on top of me, pounding in and out of me.

“Fuck, you’re so goddamned perfect,” he repeated,lowering his lips to mine as he pumped into me, licking against my mouth until I parted my lips and let him in. Our tongues tangled together in sync with our hips as together, we drove higher and higher.

“Eyes on me, baby,” he reminded me as my eyes closed with pleasure and need.

He reached between us to rub his fingers over my clit, holding my eyes the entire time, drowning me in the depths of his emotions, refusing to let me hide my face and pretend I wasn’t feeling anything, his fingers tense around my neck, restricting my air supply, but not quite cutting it off.

His hips sped up, and I whined and writhed, meeting each stroke with my own, desperate to fall over the cliff. When he squeezed my throat, I died and went to fucking heaven, clenching around him as the stars in my vision detonated and faded to black, and I collapsed against the bed, sucking in deep breaths when he released my throat.

Nick sped up, working me through the aftershocks as he followed me. “Sofia!” he cried out, never looking away from me, the intensity of his gaze like molten gold pouring into the cracks of my soul and filling them, healing me.

He dropped on top of me, pressing his cheek into mine as we breathed deeply, our bodies sweaty and replete. “Fuck, woman,” he finally said, kissing my cheek before lifting up off of me.

I immediately wrapped my legs around him, holding him tight. “Hold me for a little longer, please,” I said, not quite willing to say goodbye to this magnificent man who’d done exactly as he promised, made me forget about everything but him and his touch for a few moments.

He laughed quietly. “Let me take the condom off, and then I promise I’ll hold you all night.”

My eyes flew to his. He kissed my nose, then gentlyextracted himself from my barnacle-like grip before tossing the tied-up condom in the trash.

Did he really want me to spend the night? I hated how uncertain I was, how all the parameters of my relationships had changed in a single week, not that they hadn’t moved ludicrously fast before, of course.

“Stop thinking so hard and get under the damn covers,” he commanded, exasperation in his tone.

I ignored him, swinging my legs out, only for him to stop me with a hand on my shoulder. “Sofia?”

“I just need to use the bathroom.”

He nodded toward the ensuite. “I didn’t tie you up because I didn’t know how you’d feel about it after—” He stopped. “I didn’t know how you’d feel about it, but I’m not above locking you up to keep you in here with me tonight.”

I melted. How did he always know what I needed to hear from him?

When I didn’t respond right away, he tilted my face up to his with a finger under my chin. “Safeword?”

I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

A few minutes later, he wrapped his body around mine, a protective shield between me and the world, and I let myself drown in his strength as I drifted off to sleep.

21

LORENZO

My earpiece crackledas Dante gave his orders. One of the girls at the club had come crying to José last night about a friend who’d disappeared. The trail led us straight to this warehouse.

José’s man cut the padlock off the gate to the property, and we slipped in, one by one, ghosts in the eerie predawn light. His reconnaissance showed little to no security. Either the intelligence was bad, and the warehouse was, in fact, abandoned as the owners had reported to the city, or someone wanted to keep a very low profile.

Our crew stationed themselves outside each of the doors to the building and a minute later, I heard the quiet pop of a silencer followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground. We burst inside, quickly disarming the three men guarding a dozen girls locked in cages.

One took off toward the back door, only to discover José’s menacing figure blocking the exit once he opened it. José clocked him in the head with the butt of his gun and the man collapsed to the ground.

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