Untamed Hearts 1: The Viper (30 page)

“Well, they’re pendejos. All of them,” Marcos assured her. “I want to beat their asses most of the time, but at least they aren’t dealing, right?”

“Right,” Katie agreed as she smiled at him. “I’m proud of you.”

“Don’t be proud of me. I mean, I’m fairly certain the reason I haven’t gotten one inspection is because someone I know has the heat in their pocket. That’s still—”

“Who gives a shit?” Katie argued.

“And twenty percent of all the income goes to a source you really don’t want to know about and—”

“You’re teaching them. You’re helping them. That’s what matters to me.” She reached across the bed and grabbed his hand. “I think it’s what matters to you too.”

“Well, I certainly don’t give a fuck if someone’s paying the police to stay off my ass. I’d give them forty percent for that shit.” Marcos looked at his plate once more. “I’m not perfect, Katie. I will never be like those guys in Garnet, but—”

“I know you’re not like them.” Katie squeezed his hand again. “That’s sorta the reason I moved here. I was tired of Garnet.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “You like dangerous?”

“Is that a statement or a question?”

“It’s a question.” Marcos’s gaze slid down the dip in her T-shirt. “Was Luis really eyeing your tetas? If he was, you’ll probably find out how dangerous I can still be when I kick his ass.”

“I’m assuming that’s the word for breasts. Is it a polite word?”

Marcos shook his head. “Not really.”

“Your aunt said it.”

“My aunt is rarely polite.”

“You two are the only ones I have to rely on to learn Spanish,” Katie said with a laugh.

“I am
so
sorry about that.” Marcos laughed with her. “You didn’t answer my other question.”

“The dangerous question?”

“Yeah.” Marcos nodded as he lowered his gaze to her tits again. “That one.”

“Well, yes, I’d say I’m inclined toward the dangerous,” she said loftily. “But seeing as you’re a teacher now, and I swore off teachers after Grayson—”

“¡Me cago en ná!” Marcos shouted at her. “You did not just compare me to that woman!”

“You know, Marcos, this business about using women as an insult”—Katie used her best teacher’s voice—“I don’t appreciate it. According to your aunt, women are stronger than men, and I’m inclined to believe her.”

“Prove it then, chica.” Marcos held out his hands in challenge. “Prove you’re stronger than me.”

Katie didn’t know why she did it, but she leaned past both the plates and cupped his face with both hands. She brought his lips to hers, and Marcos let her. She kissed him once, just the soft brush of his lips against hers. He tasted sweet like the plátanos, familiar and exotic at the same time.

Then he reached up, fisting her hair in his hand as he bit at her bottom lip. His tongue swept into her mouth when she gasped, and there was nothing sweet about any of it now.

It was hard.

Sexual.

Dangerous.

The rush of desire was almost dizzying. She thought she remembered this part, the way everything stopped existing when she was with Marcos, but her memory hadn’t done it justice.

Then he pulled away, his breath harsh against her lips, his hand still tangled in her hair.

“I
do
love you, Katie. I need you in my house. In my bed. I want you to stay,” he surprised her by saying. “Say yes.”

Katie was breathing heavily too as she looked at his face, studying his light eyes that were liquid with need. “Say yes to what?”

“All of it.” He rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip, making her shudder against her will. “Say you’ll take me back. Say you love me too.”

“I wouldn’t have moved here if I wasn’t willing to take you back,” Katie whispered softly. “Sí.” She touched his eyebrow again, deciding that she could handle a little dangerous. “Yes, Marcos, to all of it. I love you too.”

He sucked in a startled breath, as if he hadn’t really expected it. “Really?”

“Really.” She nodded, giving him a shy smile.

“I still feel like shit for not texting you back.” He glanced away again. “I wanted to. I guess I just felt like you were better off without me. I probably don’t deserve your love. I
want
it, but I don’t deserve it.”

“You can make it up to me right now if it’s bothering you so much,” she said as she tilted her head, admiring him, because he really did look amazing, with those thick, tattooed biceps stretching the sleeves of his shirt. “Now is always a good place to start on the future.”

“You want it?” he asked, grinning.

“Yes.” She nodded again, but then added playfully, “But I sort of want you to admit that I’m stronger first.”

“You’re stronger than me, chica. I mean that,” he assured her. “
Much stronger
.”

“Okay, then.” Katie couldn’t help the pleased smile that tugged at her lips. “Come prove to me how much you missed it.”

Marcos picked up both the plates and set them on the nightstand, and then he grabbed the back of his shirt, tugging it off in one fluid motion. He tossed it aside and leaned into her, fisting her hair once more and licking at the curve of her neck as if he couldn’t resist it.

She fell back against the bed and arched her back at the feel of his weight over her again. He pulled her shirt down, exposing the curve of her tits, and then licked at them with the same ravenous hunger.

“I don’t have condoms,” he whispered against the valley between her breasts and then licked at the other one as if he couldn’t get enough her. “Like my Tía said, I haven’t exactly been a chica magnet since I left, but we can fool around. I can get you off.” He pushed one hand under her skirt and rubbed a thumb over the line of her pussy through the fabric of her panties. “Does that work?”

“Marcos—” She was going to argue with him, but then he slipped a hand into her panties and touched her. “Oh God!”

“
Así mojada
.” He groaned as one finger slid between her folds and then pushed in. “So wet,” he repeated in English. “You missed me too, cariño. Didn’t you?”

“God, yes,” she panted and then tugged on his hair, because he was still licking and kissing all the exposed skin he could find. “Forget the condoms.”

He lifted his head and frowned at her. “What?”

“You said you weren’t a thug anymore,” she argued.

“I—” He paused as if unsure what to do with that. “I’m still a thug, Katie. That shit lasts a lifetime. I can’t get out of it completely.”

“Do we need condoms?” she asked him curiously.

“Well, no, I’ve been tested since I got into the fight that caused this.” He gestured to his eyebrow. “And Chuito made sure the other guy was tested at the hospital. He was clean, but—”

“You put someone in the hospital?”

“It was an accident. He ended up okay.”

Katie knew she shouldn’t get a thrill off it, but she did, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Dangerous.”

“Sometimes,” he agreed as he tilted his head and eyed her tits.

“I’m on the pill. Forget the condoms,” she said firmly. “Make me yours.”

He sucked in another sharp breath and lifted his head, staring at her as his muscular chest rose and fell harshly. Katie decided she didn’t want him to think about it too much. Apparently three months was a bit too long for Marcos, because she could almost taste the need when she threaded her hands in his hair and forced his lips back to hers. He fell over her and kissed her back, pushing his tongue in and owning her mouth.

Katie’s clothes ended up on the ground really fast, and then she was naked on Marcos’s bed, spread out and desperate as he took his time relearning her body. Sucking on her nipples. Nipping at her hipbone. Caressing her bare thighs. Cupping her ass as he moved down and kissed the top of her pussy, softly, reverently, as if he really did crave being right where he was at that moment. “Eres bella.”

“Gracias.” She smiled as she caressed his hair and looked down at him, thinking he was beautiful too, and she told him, “
Tu eres bello también
.”

“Que linda. So cute,” he said with a grin. “I like the way you say it.”

She groaned. “It sounds bad. Chuito says it sounds bad.”

“No.” He shook his head as his smile widened. “I like accents. They’re sexy.”

“I like accents too,” she assured him.

“I don’t have an accent,” he argued with a frown. “Do I?”

“
Un poco
.” She squeezed her fingers together, showing him that it was small, but still noticeable. “When you’re mad…or turned on.”

“Like now.”

She nodded and caressed his hair again as she agreed, “Like right now.”

“I missed you, chica.” He groaned and leaned down to press his face against the line of her pussy. Then he spread her with his fingers and whispered against the tender flesh, “So much.”

Katie moaned and tossed her head back when he sucked on her clit. The pleasure washed over her like a wave, taking away months of stress and tension. She dug her heels into the center of his back, wrapping herself around him as she just gave in to all of it. The feel of his tongue against her. The stretch of his fingers when he slipped them inside her. The way the ecstasy coiled in the pit of her stomach, making her moan and gasp and bite her lip in fear of his aunt hearing them.

“No.” He pulled away long enough to look up at her. “The house is too far. Let me hear.
I need it
.”

Marcos dropped his head back down before she could respond.

“God!” she shouted when he sucked on her clit again.

Then she just let herself go, allowing him to hear what his mouth did to her body. She used her hold on his hair to press him closer to her when she came so hard her legs shook and her pussy clenched around his fingers over and over again.

It happened quickly, but she wasn’t surprised by it.

Lots of things in the fast lane hit hard and quick. Bad things, as well as good things, like falling in love with the last person in the world one would ever expect to need so desperately a move across the country was worth just the chance of capturing it. The only way to survive it all was to grasp the good things when they showed up and wring them dry for as long as life would allow it.

Marcos reached down and unbuttoned his jeans, when Katie’s hold on his hair eased, and she dropped her legs back to the bed in satiated exhaustion. He licked at her tits again, as if he couldn’t get enough of them, as he pushed his jeans and underwear past his ass, freeing his cock so that she felt it, hard and warm between her thighs when he surged up and kissed her.

She kissed him back, licking at his lips, tasting herself on him.

She wrapped her legs around Marcos once more, and he understood the invitation. He took Katie hard, making her gasp out loud at the feel of his thick cock stretching her, this time with nothing between them.

“Coño.” He groaned, and Katie felt him shudder in her arms. “Ay Dios mio, chica. This feels—”

“Yeah,” she agreed as she arched her back, taking him as deeply as she could. “Have you ever—”

“Never.” He sounded breathless with it. “We are
never
using condoms again. Holy shit.”

“You better be faithful, then.”

“Always.” Marcos caressed her face and ran a thumb over her bottom lip until she blinked up at him. His eyes were heavy-lidded with pleasure as he stared down at her and said, “I promise.”

“Okay.”

She ran her hands up the warm, rippling muscles of his back and threaded her fingers in his hair. She pulled him down, letting him hide in the curve of her neck as he lay there, as if needing to just feel her around him.

She didn’t question it, though she knew others might not understand.

But Katie knew to an OG, a promise was everything.

* * * *

Marcos lay on his side, caressing Katie’s long hair that was spread out on his pillow as she slept. Her features looked serene, peaceful; that little smile was tugging at her lips like he remembered.

He could tell her dreams were nice.

Only this time, he was wondering if maybe she might share them with him, if somehow she could teach him how to sleep peacefully as easily as he could teach her Spanish.

He wasn’t sure.

But he did wonder if maybe she had been right, that two negatives really did make a positive, because he liked the way she looked in his bed. He liked that he had her close and didn’t have to worry about all those pendejos in Garnet hurting her anymore.

There were pendejos here, lots of them, but at least Marcos knew he could handle a few Miami pendejos. He’d been doing it this long. Why not for something that mattered?

Hopefully Marcos’s mother really was watching over him. If she was, she would surely watch Katie too, because he honestly didn’t believe he would survive losing her again. As long as they did something with it, maybe it would last until Marcos could go into the ground old and gray with nietos that had Katie’s kind eyes.

Chuito could be the baller.

He was always so much better at it anyway.

Thinking of his cousin, Marcos rolled over and leaned down to grab his jeans off the floor. He pulled them on and then fished for his phone that was still in his pocket.

He let himself out and breathed in the hot, humid air. He looked at the screen of his phone, seeing a text from Chuito from a few hours earlier.

11:30 p.m.

Nothing to say to me???

He smiled and called him rather than text back.

Chuito answered on the second ring. “¿Hola?”

“What do you think I’m going to say to you?” he asked in Spanish.

“I have no idea.” Chuito snorted, sounding amused. “With you, it’s anyone’s guess.”

Marcos was quiet as he considered that. He hadn’t thanked his cousin for getting him out. He couldn’t, not when he knew what he’d done to make it happen. He hadn’t thanked him for the auto body shop either, because, Lord knew, he worked his ass off for it, and Chuito was still getting a cut.

And giving another cut to Nova Moretti.

Though Marcos did fix a crazy number of cars driven by Italians with attitudes. It seemed having an auto body guy who didn’t question shit was just what the mafia needed. Bullet holes didn’t even faze him.