The Power of a Woman: A Mafia Erotic Romance (11 page)

I only needed him.

All of him.

All the time.

“I need to be inside you more than my next breath,” he whispered, carefully climbing on top of me.

My back arched, pressing my chest against his as he sunk balls deep into my sore, wet pussy—swollen from the anticipation and need to come. He ground himself against my clit, pulling a quick orgasm from me. It was exactly what I needed—to come without the humiliation or fear—and I arched deeper, hanging on to it for as long as I could. I knew once the pleasure receded, I’d be left with the aches that our positions amplified, and I needed Stefan to make those disappear.

“Don’t worry, Tesoro. I’ll make you forget,” he whispered as he stared into my eyes. Still seated deeply, he began to move. The sensation of him inside of me…filling me…overwhelmed and yet completed me in one thrust of his hips.

His fingers gripped my waist painfully—but I relished in the pain, knowing Stefan was the one causing it, and wanting more. However, I didn’t push my luck. He gave, and I graciously accepted.

“Say my name,” he demanded.

“Stefan.” I was confused, but played along, trusting him like he’d asked me to.

“Say it again.”

“Stefan.”

“Who are you with?”

“You.”

“Who’s inside you right now?”

“You are.” That’s when I realized his intent. He wanted to remind me, force me to acknowledge that I was with him, not Zeke. I was safe and protected. He would not hurt me, and I had nothing to fear.

“Tell me who you belong to. Who
this
pussy belongs to.” He circled his hips methodically, punctuating his words.

“I’m yours. My pussy is yours.”

“No one else’s.”

“No one else’s,” I repeated his words back to him.

His lips attacked my neck—sucking, kissing, licking. “Tell me you’ll never offer yourself to anyone else ever again. No matter the reason. No matter what.”

This was what I craved—him between my legs, deep inside of me, his demanding mouth on my body. Endorphins dizzily swirled deep within me, making me forget the torment my body had been through for days. “It’ll never happen again. No matter what.”

“That’s fucking right.” He pumped deeper and my eyes rolled back. “Eyes on me, Tesoro,” he said gruffly. Sweat began to bead above his brow, and the sounds we made together were downright primal, carnal. He then began to push into me—harder, more forcefully and steadily—until my pussy began to milk his cock. “Oh, fuck. The way your pussy grips my cock… I will never get tired of feeling that.” He began to move at a blurring speed. His dirty mouth rested against my ear, spewing filth. The kind of filth that lifted me, not degraded me.

He reached down, carefully bending my leg up against my body for a better angle. Pain pinched in my thighs, but the way his hand caressed the ache, as if he knew it was there, soothed it. He ground himself into a screaming orgasm, the soreness in my battered canal bringing me my own pleasure. Instinctively, I reached out to him, needing to grab onto him, to anchor myself to him in some way. I began to free-fall and I didn’t doubt he’d catch me. His eyes met mine and something passed between them. I didn’t know what, though. He removed my hand, quickly kissing it.

“I’ll be right back. I need to clean you up.” He pulled out of me, still erect, leaving me empty and cold.

I felt bereft that he pulled out of me so soon, leaving me insecure and emotional, and it only served to amplify the pains that riddled my body. I didn’t like it at all. However, not being a whiney, clingy bitch, I decided to let it go. I decided I’d think about it later, when I had time alone.

Yet the thought of time alone made me anxious.

After three days, I knew I had to leave Stefan’s penthouse and go home. My father expected me and would send out the search team if they found the shore house empty when retrieving me. And I couldn’t risk anyone finding me with Stefan. Our families were not ready for that yet. Stefan’s dad flew straight home after the news of Zeke’s attack and Stefan’s proclamation of Matty’s debt paid in full. I had asked him numerous times how he could do that without having the money or my brother’s blood, but he refused to answer me. He told me business was business. It angered me. After all I had been through, I was still treated as nothing more than a useless woman.

Ever since bringing me back to his place, he’d methodically cleaned and tended to my wounds. He made sure every injury was cared for. Between the salve, his attention, and the love that burned bright within me, I somehow felt a million times better. I’d never seen him so patient, so careful around me. It did something to me. And it changed something between us.

When Stefan and I first began seeing each other, moments like these were out of the question. Seeking sexual gratification, I’d found myself in the beds of other men—men that proved unworthy of me. Men that couldn’t give me what I needed. Couldn’t deliver the release I’d sought. But then Stefan came along. He reclaimed his control and gave me the kind of pleasure I never knew existed. As if he just knew my body and what to do with it better than I did. The other men had talked the talk, but when I’d let them have my body, they couldn’t walk the walk.

It wasn’t easy with Stefan, though. After all, he was the son of Mick Giannotti. But I hadn’t known that at the time. Six months before meeting him, his older brother—the one molded to be in the business—had been killed. His father recklessly pointed the finger at my family, causing an immediate feud between us. Stefan was forced to come back into the fold, taking the place of his brother, yet with the rival heating up, I had never met, nor seen him. But it became crystal clear who he was the first time we were together. The family medallion around his neck left no doubt about it. And so the hushed and secretive relationship began.

But from the very beginning, our relationship was never anything more than sexual. I desperately craved his demanding attitude and controlled nature in the bedroom. Being the eldest in an Italian family, especially one where the mother had passed, everything fell onto my shoulders. The house, taking care of Matteo, keeping up appearances for my father…all of it had been up to me. And then, once I’d received the education required of me, I was handed the books. Daddy had legit clubs and bars all around town. They were his cover for the drops. While he took care of the paper bags in the hidden safes beneath the bars, I was in charge of the legal finances and running the businesses. Sometimes, a girl just needed to let loose and be fucked—hard.

I wasn’t sure of Stefan’s reasons for his controlling nature, considering he’d never opened up to me before. But I could see in his eyes that his need was born from the same place mine was—family. So when we started this thing between us, that’s all it was. Straight up fucking. However, at some point, my feelings changed. His never did. Or at least he made it appear that they didn’t. It wasn’t until he showed up at Scarface’s apartment that his underlying feelings began to show themselves. And those three days he’d spent tending to my wounds, to my needs, to
me
…it left no room to question his feelings for me any longer.

However…it was evident that I was still nothing but a woman in his eyes.

I couldn’t win no matter what male I dealt with. I would always be the wrong gender.

Stefan drove me back to the shore house so that I could wait for the car that would take me to my father. He leaned in for a kiss, but when I backed away, his eyes turned hard and cold.

Rejection stung like a bitch.

“I hate how you still see me as weak,” I proclaimed.

Stefan pulled away, acting as if I had slapped him across the face. His anger and defensive behavior were written all over his rigid expression. “That’s not true.”

“Well, you don’t see me as an equal. You won’t even tell me what happened to my brother’s debt—a debt you never even told me about to begin with.”

“I told you it was taken care of. What more do you need to know?” His fury spilled out with every word, covering me with an iciness I wasn’t sure how to deal with.

“After what I did to save him—”

“It was the stupidest thing you could’ve done,” he said angrily, interrupting me.

“Regardless, I was the only one willing to sacrifice anything. Not my father. Not my brother.
Me
! Stupid or not, I was the
only
brave one willing to put my own life on the line for someone I love.”

“And it just proves that emotion drives women; it leads them to make stupid decisions.”

“And if it were you? Would you rather I just sit back and make the ‘smart’ decision of doing nothing? If it came down to saving you…what would you want me to do?”

There…right there, in his eyes, I saw realization flash.

“Stupid or not, emotional or not…I did the only thing I could. Because I will not sit back and watch someone I love suffer. Even if it means I may die in the process. I will fight until my heart no longer beats in my chest for the ones I love.”

“I paid it off.”

My eyes opened wide in shock. “You? How?
Why
?”

“I learned a long time ago to never depend on my father’s resources. I’ve been building my own empire. Smarter than his. And it will be bigger than his.”

Hearing him speak with such power, such demand…it did something to me. This was a man ready to take the helm and lead, and he was a man I’d follow anywhere. Knowing he wasn’t a lackey like many of the guys his age in this life, was such a turn on.

“And when the time is right, Tesoro…we will rule that empire. And then
you
will be feared. Not the other way around. Men like Zeke will cower to you while you’re by my side.”

“Is that what you want or are you just saying that to appease me?” I tested.

His eyes hardened and his lips thinned. I could tell that the level of patience he once held had waned. “Have I ever told you anything to
appease
you, Tesoro? Have I ever given you a reason to question my word?”

I should’ve given in. I should have stopped while I was somewhat ahead. But I didn’t. I spoke my mind without care of the argument it would cause. “Yes. When you told me not to worry about my brother. I feel certain that was to appease me, and make me back down.”

“To
protect
you!” he screamed in the tight space of the car, his tone shrouding me like snow in an avalanche, chilling me to the bone. “I told you that to protect you, nothing else. Not that it did any good.” He mumbled the last part to himself, beneath his breath, but I heard it all the same.

“And what would’ve happened to him had I not taken a stand?”

Stefan leaned over the console and took my face in his hands, cupping my cheeks and sending warmth raging throughout my body. “I really wish you would stop referring to your foolishness as anything but. To answer your question, I may have my reasons for the decisions I make or for the things I will ask of you, but I would
never
allow anything to happen to your family. You need to trust me.
In everything
.”

I nodded into his palms and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. His scent overpowered me—woodsy and manly with a hint of spice and sex. I wasn’t one to back down or cower to anyone, but he had a way of softening my edges. He cooled my fires and calmed my storm. “I do trust you, Stefan.”

His lips softly grazed mine before he backed away, causing my eyes to open. “So this plan of mine…are you in? And before you answer that, I need to make things very clear to you. By saying yes, you’re agreeing to follow my lead. No matter what. No questions asked. My plan…my rules. It’ll take a lot of trust, but I promise you, you’ll be by my side in the end.”

“How exactly will I be by your side if my voice will be muted?”

“When climbing a mountain, Tesoro, you have a leader—a guide—and then you have the single-filed line behind, trusting the person in front. But once you reach the top, you line up side by side and admire the view. I need you behind me going up…but once we’re standing on the top, you will be right next to me. Only you.”

I nodded, no longer questioning him. I didn’t need to because he had my trust, my heart, and my soul. He hadn’t steered my wrong yet, and had given me no reason to believe he would.

The only thing I needed to do was quiet down my inner feminine voice, and allow him to speak…for now.