Fall (Romanian Mob Chronicles Book 2) (4 page)

She smiled slightly and then came forward to snag the condom from between my fingers. She ripped open the package quickly and then rolled the latex down, moving slowly, eyes bright. One knee on either side of me and she hovered above me, and I swore I could feel her heat even through the barrier.

I took a hold of her full hips, and she laughed and then gripped the base of my shaft. Then she lowered herself, centimeter by centimeter, the warm, tight tug of her closing around me even better than I remembered. With a low grunt, she rested atop me, me buried to the hilt. Not an inch separated us, and between the feel of her comforting weight atop me, her warm pussy pulsing around me, I had the fleeting thought I’d found home.

But instead of focusing on that, I let myself fall into the sensations of her above me, listened to her breaths, responded with my own. She snaked her arms around my neck, pressed her face against mine, her sweat-slicked skin, the warm crush of her breasts against my chest both adding even more sensation. And then, our bodies locked, I rocked my hips wildly, tempo increasing as she spun out of control.

When she stilled above me and cried out her release on a husky moan, I pulled her even closer, my cock solid as stone as I filled the latex, wishing there was nothing between us.

E
sther

“
G
et dressed
,”
he
said as he rolled out of bed. “I’m hungry.”

“That was the most romantic dinner”—I looked at the clock—“breakfast invitation I’ve ever gotten,” I said, still lying in bed watching him.

“This isn’t about the romance,” he said as he stepped into his pants.

“You’re right about that,” I said as I eyed him, letting my gaze stroke his body, following the swirling ink that decorated his skin over his chest, down his tight abdomen, lower until it ended and trailed into the darker hair that nestled around the base of his soft but still impressive cock.

And then he turned his back, but not before he flashed a wicked grin. The back view was as good as the front, equally inked, equally muscled, equally arousing. And then that was gone too, hidden underneath a tight T-shirt.

Dressed now, he stalked toward me and then lifted me out of my bed, sheets and all.

“Sorin!” I said, giggling like a schoolgirl as he set me on my feet.

I looked up at him, his smiling eyes, his soft expression making me feel as light as a feather.

“Hurry,” he said as he handed me the clothes he’d grabbed off the floor. I dressed quickly, feeling flushed, and not from Sorin’s lovemaking, though the climaxes he’d coaxed—no, demanded—still had my bones quivering. But instead of thinking of the source of the feeling, I dressed and headed to the foyer where he waited.

“You don’t want to drive?” I asked after I’d locked the door and followed him down the porch stairs.

“It’s a nice night. Let’s walk.”

“It’s after midnight, Sorin. And it’s dark out. Dangerous,” I said, falling into step with him.

“Good thing I have you to protect me,” he replied, flashing me another quick smile.

I laughed, somewhat surprised by Sorin’s display of wit, something I suspected he tried to keep under wraps, and then we walked in silence, the neighborhood dark, quiet, and Sorin apparently not feeling the need to chatter.

It was nice, being with him, easy, much easier than I wanted to acknowledge. So I didn’t and instead glanced at him surreptitiously, taking in the angles and planes of his face, strong jaw looking chiseled out of stone.

“You keep looking at me like that, and I am going to have to fuck you again. And then I won’t get my breakfast,” he said.

“It might be worth it,” I replied.

He didn’t look at me, but I saw the corner of his mouth lift. “It might be. But food first.”

He turned the corner and headed toward the all-night diner.

“What?” he asked moments later after the waitress set a plate in front of him and he’d taken a few bites.

“Ketchup on your eggs? That’s gross, dude,” I said, wrinkling my nose before I took a sip of my coffee.

Other than a faint grunt, he ignored me and continued to eat, the near silence of the diner only enhancing that calm, companionable warmth I suddenly felt.

He wiped his mouth and then dropped his napkin, the motion much more mannered than I’d anticipated from him, almost courtly in fact. “I’ve had my breakfast, Esther,” he said on a husky whisper.

A shiver raced through me at the unsaid implication in his words.

“So you have,” I replied.

I stood and prepared to leave.

I tried to play it cool, not be anxious, but I was fast becoming addicted to him, and though it had been so little time since we were last together, I wanted him again. Desperately.

I exited the restaurant and headed down the block. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Better hurry.”

He made no attempt to speed up, and instead said, “You’ll wait for me.”

His certainty sparked a renewed rush of the desire. I hadn’t thought his brand of arrogant confidence was something that appealed to me, but the little pulse that started low in my belly told me otherwise. Besides, I had never met anyone like Sorin so I had no idea how to react.

A shadow moved and when I looked up, a man, more of a boy really, stood in front of me.

“Give me your money, bitch.”

S
orin

I
saw
the
figure standing in front of Esther and then the one who stepped beside her, effectively blocking her in. Trouble, I could tell, and the anger at seeing her in that vulnerable position was not surprising, but the worry that came with it assuredly was.

I sped up, put my hand on her shoulder, ignoring, at least for the moment, the thrill of satisfaction that spread through me when she, seemingly on instinct, reached for my hand.

It was nice, Esther reaching out to me for comfort, and even though she may only have done so because I was the only option, I liked it anyway.

The circumstances, however, were not good.

I’d never had to stoop this low, robbing women in the dark of night, but I knew the type who did. Another man might be worried; there were two of them after all. I wasn’t though, had been in much more dangerous situations with a regularity that had all but numbed me to danger. The men who’d accosted Esther had more cause to be worried than I did. I wondered if they were smart enough to figure that out.

“Yours too,” the one in front of Esther said, gesturing toward me.

Guess not. I thinned my lips when I heard his voice. He was Romanian, I knew that for sure, was probably clan and definitely outside of his territory. I’d take that up with his leader later. It was a fortunate thing Esther was here, or I’d take it up with him right now.

A quick glance at Esther showed she looked surprised but didn’t seem that afraid, a fact that made me surprisingly proud. I tightened my grip on her hand and set off.

The one in front of Esther stepped into my path, glaring up at me. I released Esther’s hand and narrowed my eyes at him. He swallowed thickly, but didn’t back away. He couldn’t do that and save face because stories of his cowardice would run rampant in his clan.

“You’re very far from home. You should run along,” I said.

He pulled himself to his full height, narrowing his eyes at me. “Why don’t you make me?” He would have been convincing if not for the little stutter that tripped out with the last word.

“
ştii cine sunt eu
?” I said as I pushed him.

His eyes widened with shock, but he quickly recovered. “You’re a dead man if you don’t give up the money,” he replied in our native language.

If I wasn’t so pissed, I would have laughed in his face, but I settled on my second impulse.

The blow came faster than he anticipated, and I made clean contact, the low
thud
of my fist against his face surprisingly loud in the quiet of the night. The kid stared at me disbelieving, and then, on a low growl, he swung wildly.

I caught his fist, twisted his arm until I heard the sickening snap. He cried out and fell to his knees.

“This is what you do? Rob women?” I asked, punctuating the question with a kick to his ribs, the feel of his chest caving against the weight of my kick, sending adrenaline coursing through my veins and filling me with satisfaction.

He grunted and I kicked him again.

“Sorin!”

I turned at Esther’s cry and then ducked as the other lunged at me. I caught him with a punch to the stomach, slammed him to the ground and then delivered three swift kicks. Only Esther’s sharply inhaled breath stopped me. I turned to her again, saw the haunted look in her eyes.

“Get the fuck out of here!” I yelled at the two boys. “Now!”

They struggled to their feet and then set off, moving as fast as they could. I watched as they left, using the seconds to gather myself. When I finally turned and looked at Esther, her expression was one I’d never seen from her. It was closed off, flat, I had no idea what she was thinking. And worse, I found that it mattered. Very much so.

Long moments passed until I grabbed her hand and started to walk again, tightening my grip when she tried to pull away, ignoring the twitch that hit me when she did, not wanting to acknowledge what it meant, wishing she was coming to me and not pulling away.

The walk back to her house was so different than the one that had come before it. I could feel her wariness, her question, her confusion. But I didn’t address it, didn’t say anything until we reached her house, using the time to collect my thoughts and turn over the fact that I even cared how she was reacting.

“Does that happen a lot?” I asked when she stood in front of her door.

“Watching my…whatever you are beat the shit out of some dudes? Can’t say it does,” she said.

Just as I’d suspected. She’d seen what I’d done as beating the shit out of two guys and not as what it truly was: protecting her. I’d need to make sure she understood, but first, I wanted to settle the matter of security. I narrowed my eyes at her and then shook my head. “People try to rob you?” I looked around, taking in the neighborhood with new eyes. She shrugged.

“It’s the city. Depends.”

“But guys like that, are they around much?”

“Guys like that?” she asked with a little arch of her eyebrow, the unspoken
like you
ringing loud and clear.

I nodded, but the reaction didn’t even hint at the feeling that roiled inside me. I didn’t like it, the judgment, the distance that I now felt.

“Maybe a little more than usual. People have talked about different faces in the neighborhood. A few robberies, some car break-ins,” she said.

I tucked that piece of information away for later. I’d have to talk to Vasile about it, see which clans were letting their young ones get out of control. I looked at Esther again and she crossed her arms over her chest, her body language telling me to stay away. A warning that I should have heeded, one that I should have welcomed. But I didn’t, not at all.

She stiffened when I pulled her body to mine, but when I slanted my lips over hers, she opened. I slipped my tongue between her lips, kissed her until her breath came out in short little pants, and then I broke away. Her eyes were warm, but her brows were pulled down, her face tight.

“What, Esther?” I said.

“You broke that guy’s arm,” she said, brows dropping even further.

“So?” I shrugged.

“So?” she echoed. “That’s not normal.”

“I’m not normal, Esther,” I said.

She exhaled hard, thinned her lips into a grim line. “Thanks for breakfast, Sorin.”

I had been dismissed.

She hadn’t yet learned I wasn’t one to be dismissed. I grabbed her face between my hands and then kissed her slow, deep, hard, stroked my tongue against hers, fucked her mouth like I would have her pussy.

When I broke away again, she panted hard, had her hands wrapped around my forearms.

“We’ll talk later,” I said.

S
orin

“
W
e need
to
have a chat with Clan Constantin,” I said to my brother the next day.

“Anything I should be concerned about?” he asked.

“I was at Esther’s.” I stopped at his raised brow and then continued. “Some guys tried to rob her.”

“Clan?”

“Yes, and Constantin is the closest.”

“That’s out of their territory,” he said.

I nodded. “It is, and that’s why we need to talk to them. They may try to find us first,” I said.

“Why would they do that, Sorin?” he said.

“I fucked them up, broke one of their arms,” I said.

“And he was trying to rob Esther?”

“Would have, probably worse if I hadn’t been there.”

“Why didn’t you kill them?” he asked.

“She was there.”

He nodded his understanding, something that didn’t surprise me at all. Vasile would have done the same, worse, in my place. “At least they got a little of what they deserved. I’ll set something up. They need to understand that kind of shit won’t be tolerated.”

“I’d like to be there, deliver the message personally.”

He nodded and then said, “Why were you at Esther’s?”

“You’re managing my social calendar now?” I said, feeling strangely protective of my time with Esther, not wanting to share it with anyone, including Vasile, the one person I shared everything with.

“Esther is on your social calendar?” he tossed back.

“You have a problem if she is?” I asked. I would have understood if he had, but I didn’t like it.

“That’s Maria’s godmother, Fawn’s best friend. You will treat her with respect, Sorin.”

“You lecturing me?” I said. It wouldn’t be the first time, probably not the last either, but the idea grated nonetheless.

“Do I need to?”

“Vasile, we’re both adults. We both know the score.”

“Respectful, Sorin,” he said.

“I heard you the first time,” I snapped, letting my anger get the better of me.

But Vasile just assessed me with his cool, unrattled gaze. “Good,” he finally said.

“Besides,” I said, lightening the moment, “you’d sic Fawn on me. I don’t want that.”

He laughed, something he’d done more of since he had met Fawn than he had in his entire life before her. “You and Esther. Not your usual, but I can see it.”

“There’s no ‘it’ to see, Vasile. We’re just fuc…” I trailed off, seeing the censure in Vasile’s eyes. I supposed I understood. Esther was important to Fawn, which meant she was important to Vasile. But still. This wasn’t anything more, couldn’t be.

“Right,” he said after a moment, but his knowing expression told me he didn’t believe me.

E
sther

I
t had been
days since I’d seen Sorin, something, I reminded myself almost constantly, that was a good thing. I’d had no illusions about him, knew that even if I didn’t have details, he was a brutal, dangerous man. And so I tried to focus on that, trying to ignore the fact that he’d acted that way because of me, something that grew harder, the more thought I put into it.

I was strong, independent, had never had to rely on anyone to take care of me, protect me, especially not a man. In truth, my ability to do those things myself had been clear to all, so clear no one had ever even tried.

Which was good, I told myself as I stood in front of the paint mixer, creating just the perfect shade of sage for the waiting customer. Yes, it was very good that men respected me, recognized that I, more than anyone else, was responsible for myself. Could take care of myself.

My brain nodded along, practically screaming “Amen,” about as close to righteous as it ever really got.

My body on the other hand…

It was a traitor, to me, to women, to peace. Okay, so maybe that was a touch hyperbolic, but still, as much as my brain and my upbringing said I should have been horrified, disgusted, ashamed, my body had other ideas, ones that were unsuitable for the hardware store, unsuitable for anywhere that didn’t have me and Sorin alone and uninterrupted.

And as much as I didn’t like that, wished I could have been detached, could have used that incident to finally put an end to the desire that apparently had my brain melting, I couldn’t. And I didn’t know what to do about it.

“Here we go,” I said as I removed the can of paint from the machine and stirred it with a wooden stick.

“That’s not exactly what we had in mind,” the woman said, her face turned down.

“Yeah, it’s more like avocado than sage,” her husband added.

I huffed but at the last second managed what I hoped was a patient, friendly smile. “Why don’t you paint a little here and see how it dries, and I’ll load the rest of the order,” I said as I handed them brushes and small sample canvases.

That seemed to placate them, so I moved down the aisle to gather the raw wood and whatever other crap they planned to buy.

“Need a hand, Ms. Esther?”

I glanced up from my task of wrangling wood and turned to look at the owner of the smooth, baritone voice. Brown eyes that sparkled with mirth and mischievousness flashed at me.

“You offering?” I replied.

“Depends,” Michael Smith, a local contractor and regular customer, said.

“On what?” I said, keeping my voice stern but light.

“On whether or not you’ll go out with me,” he said.

I frowned, but he just smiled. “That looks like a no. How do I get to yes?”

“So this is a negotiation?” I said, only belatedly realizing how flirtatious I sounded.

“Sure. I can be persuasive,” he said, eyes gleaming.

But my traitorous mind, which had only moments ago been on my side, betrayed me and filled my head with images of Sorin who certainly wouldn’t negotiate and yet still managed to be persuasive. I looked at Michael again, who watched me patiently, and I gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach my heart.

“Michael, I…”

“I know, getting familiar with customers is bad news.”

“I could lose my job,” I said, pointedly ignoring the fact that Sorin and not my job was at the forefront of my mind. “And who said I was getting familiar with you?” I added on the next breath.

He laughed, the sound smooth, one that would have ordinarily gotten a reaction from me.

I waited, waited some more, but there was nothing.

“Michael, I—”

“Miss! Miss! We need more paint,” the couple called as they looked over at me and Michael, seeming none too pleased. I had no idea why. I thought the paint color had turned out lovely, but the couple’s matching sour expressions told me they disagreed.

“Duty calls?” Michael said.

“Yeah,” I replied distractedly, trying to focus on providing great customer service in the face of what I could see would be a challenging couple.

“So let’s try. I’ll give you a call sometime?” Michael said.

It was tempting, an offer I wouldn’t have thought twice about a month ago. The words hovered on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t say them.

Sorin, the memory of how I felt when I was with him, wouldn’t let me.

“I’m sorry, Michael,” I said, shaking my head.

“Fair enough,” he replied. “But I might try to change your mind.”

I nodded, but I barely paid him any attention, too preoccupied with trying to figure out why I’d turned down an opportunity I would have once jumped at. Or rather, accepting the fact that Sorin was the reason. That thought churned in my brain as I said good-bye to Michael.

I doubted I’d be able to solve this problem here, so I focused on the couple as I retied my apron, an attempt to buy me time to uncover the wells of patience my grandmother had always said lived deep,
deep
inside me.

“Miss!” the man called.

“Sure, fine,” I said, waving at Michael and then plastering the biggest, fakest smile on my face, determined to keep this job for at least a month no matter what.

“You want more a mint color?” I said as I walked toward the couple.

E
sther

“
Y
ou okay
, E?” Fawn asked.

I started, not realizing until then that I had drifted off. Then I looked at her, seeing a wariness on her face.

“I’m good. Just tired.”

“Any particular reason?”

“I’ve just been working. Hard for once,” I said, waving my hand, hoping she bought the excuse and didn’t ask questions about Sorin that I had no desire to answer.

“And that’s all?” she asked.

I sat up, leaned toward her. “Did he tell you?” I asked, voice sounding frantic even to my own ears.

“No, but you just did.”

And then she had the nerve to smile like I had just given her a giant ice cream cone.

“You’re tricky…”

I trailed off and then laughed. In truth, I had been dying,
dying
, to talk to Fawn about him, and she just saved me the effort of having to broach the topic.

“How could you tell, by the way? I need to know if you’re just smart or if I’m obvious.”

“Surprisingly, it was just a wild guess. You didn’t tip anything off, but something was troubling you, so I went for the first option.”

“Okay. Good.”

“Why is that good?” she asked, seeming genuinely curious and not at all judgmental.

“Because I wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. I mean this is nothing. Nothing. Just crazy chemistry. That’s it. It’s nothing.” I punched my fist at the air emphatically, hoping to convey how serious I was. Because I was not taking this thing with Sorin seriously, especially not now. It wasn’t even a thing actually. Was it?

“So it’s nothing. So why the consternation?” Fawn asked.

“There…there was an…incident,” I said, the warmth that always suffused me when I thought of Sorin displaced by the memory of his face twisted with rage, and the cries that boy had made when he’d kicked him.

She sat up, but I nodded and she calmed.

“Nothing serious. Well at least not for me. But we were…” I trailed off again, not exactly sure how to explain that Sorin had been in my home that late in the evening. But then I shrugged. It was Fawn; I shared everything with her for decades.

“We’d…hung out, and after we went to grab some food. On the way back, these dudes tried to rob us.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “What did he do?”

“Kicked the crap out of them. I think he broke one of the guy’s arms.”

I met Fawn’s eyes again and then gave voice to the far-off thought that had been weighing in my mind, the one that came up whenever I thought of what could have happened that night. The moment stretched, and I finally decided to share my fears with Fawn. “The thing is, I believe, suspect anyway, that it would have been much, much worse if I hadn’t been there.”

I’d glanced away but looked at Fawn again. I was certain she’d gotten the implication, but my words hung in the air. As did my guilt. I wasn’t sorry about what had happened to them, not really, and though reason told me I should have been repelled by Sorin, by what I knew he could have done, I wasn’t. That was what was eating me up inside.

“It may have, Esther,” she finally said. “I’m not going to lie to you.”

Her response simultaneously surprised me but didn’t. Fawn was one of the most kindhearted people I’d ever met, but she was also a realist, one who didn’t lie, even to herself. I waited for her to continue, but when she went quiet, I prodded her. “What?”

“You were there, were at risk. Vasile, Sorin, they take that very seriously,” she said, her voice somber.

“Take what seriously?” I asked, curious as to what she meant. Sorin had his own kind of intensity, but he didn’t strike me as the type to get too worked up about much.

“Any risk to what is theirs. They have to respond. Can’t allow that to stand.”

“I’m not theirs. His,” I finally said. But my statement was far too slow for my comfort. I should have rejected it immediately, not let it hang, lingering there like there was some truth in it. Like I wanted there to be truth in it.

“Does he know that?” she asked.

“Of course. This is just… Whatever it is. He doesn’t think of me like that, and I certainly don’t need him…hurting people on my account.”

And I didn’t want that. But even more, I didn’t want to consider the possibility that he might care.

“He wasn’t, not on your account, not entirely. But either way, whether he’d acknowledge it or not, he was responsible for you so he had to respond. He’s clan, his honor demands it.”

I rolled my eyes and then collapsed against the couch. “Honor? Clan? Are you serious?” I said on a short laugh.

I waited for her to join me, but she didn’t, so I looked at her, my laughter fading when I glimpsed her serious expression, no hint of any irony or humor present at all. A shiver raced through me.

“You’re for real about this, Fawn?”

“Deadly. And you should be too, Esther. This is serious, about life, yours and his. You need to understand that.”

I knew Fawn well enough to know that she wasn’t speaking lightly, but I couldn’t quite process it. Sure, the Petran brothers were not like the men I came across every day, but life or death? I wasn’t certain. I shrugged.

“It’s not really. I mean, we’re just messing around. It’s…”

“Nothing?” she said.

I nodded.

“It’s not nothing, Esther. Do you understand?” she asked, deadly serious.

“Yeah,” I said. Fawn kept her eyes locked on mine.

“I do, Fawn. I get it.”

“Good,” she finally said. “You have to go into this with your eyes open.”

“I’m not going into anything,” I said, though my voice lacked conviction. I more than halfway suspected I was already in.

“You are. And if this is some casual thing, you have to understand the stakes, so think about it, okay?”

I nodded and then went quiet, lost in thought, trying to reconcile what I knew, what I’d seen, with how Sorin made me feel. I was coming up short.

“What is it?” Fawn asked a few minutes later.

“I guess… I mean, I’m not a total moron, so I know they,” I waved a hand, “you know. But this is…a lot.” And should have been enough to send me running away. Should have, but it wasn’t, and I didn’t know how I felt about that.