Illicit Temptations (Tempted Series Book 1) (30 page)

“Mikey—, she started to say
just as I jiggled the doorknob. Bingo.
I turned the knob and pushed the door open for a mobster’s sister, Aunt Gina wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. I made a mental note to bring that up to her at least for the time being with us being here and all I’d like for her to lock the door.

I
felt Nikki’s arms wrap around my waist as I stepped into the dark house. Her lips were just a hair away from my ear as she whispered. “You know it’s not fair
that you’re always ogling my ass when you have a pretty fine ass yourself. I think I’m going to start walking behind you.”

Over my dead, body Princess.

I started to turn around to argue with Nikki that there was no way I was forfeiting my right to walk behind her when the lights flickered inside the house.

“HANDS IN THE AIR OR SO HELP ME GOD I’LL SHOOT YOU!”

My eyes widened as I turned back around coming face to face with a shotgun and the four foot eleven old lady with a big pouf of red hair that was aiming it me.

“Nana! It’s me, Nikki.”

“Who?” Nana said as she dug the barrel of the gun into my hip.

“Ma put the gun down,” Aunt Gina said from behind her. “It’s Nikki and her boyfriend.”

“Nicole?” Nana said, her eyes gleaming with venom as she stared at me. “Then who the hell is this?”

“Nana, it’s me Michael. You remember me don’t you? Val’s kid? I used to rob cigarettes for you back in the day?” I said as I smiled at her, wrapping my hand around the barrel of the gun, hoping that she’d let me take it out of her hands before the goddamn thing went off.

“For crying out loud give me the damn gun Ma,” Aunt Gina said, pulling the gun out of her hands. She took it and propped it against the wall next to Nana the damn thing was half her size.

“Why is she carrying around a shotgun?” Nikki said, closing the door behind her. Great now we were trapped here in crazy town.

“Your father called and said we were under attack so she’s been sleeping with it under her bed every night since,” Gina said looking back and forth between Nikki and me. “I don’t want you two to fret about anything. I’ve beefed up security and alerted some of my neighbors that if they see anything shady they should let me know.”

“That’s really sweet of you Aunt Gina but I think we are just trying to keep a low profile until the dust settles back home, maybe you and Nana can take it down a notch.”

Or seven. These broads were like Sophia Petrillo and Dorothy Zbornack meets Janice and Liv Soprano.

“Sons of bitches shoot up my son’s place of business and think they’re going to get away with it. Bring them over here I’ll shoot the bastards. I’m ninety-three if they throw me in the slammer it won’t be a big deal. I don’t have much longer anyway and it’ll be a fine way to go.” Nana said reaching for the gun again.

“No no no! Nana stop,” Nikki said, stepping out from behind me putting herself between her grandmother and the shotgun that rested against the wall. She looked towards me, for I don’t know what guidance maybe? I shrugged my shoulders, I was tapped out on dealing with crazy, and these two weren’t just crazy they were straight up loons. Nikki gave me a look kind of like the look a woman gave a man she was with signaling them to get their ass in line.

“Okay,” I said with a sigh. “Let’s just calm down here.” I smiled at Nana before looping my arm through hers. “You’re right Nana they’re sons of bitches. We should bring them down here for you to take them out because you’d probably do a better job than that schmuck Jimmy anyway,” I wasn’t even bullshitting her either the old lady definitely had the chops to get the job done. I led her over to the couch and sat down with her. “But your son is doing the best he can and we have to have faith that he’s going to get the job done.”

Nana turned her head to look at me making me feel like she was sizing me up. She was an intimidating little gnome. She poked my chest with her finger. “I remember you. You were the scrawny kid with all that gel in his hair,” she looked over her shoulder to where Aunt Gina and Nikki were before turning back to me and leaning closer. She summoned me with her finger to come closer so I leaned into her. “I’ll slip you a five if you get me a cigarette.”

And there it was.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said as I slapped my palm to my knees and stood up. My head was suddenly pounding realizing that this was going to be a nightmare. I walked to where Nikki was chatting it up with her aunt and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Excuse us one second,” I said to Gina taking Nikki’s hand and pulling her towards the door with me. “Where are your cigarettes?”

“C’mon, Mikey they’re not that bad that you need to start smoking.”

“It’s not for me,” I said, nodding towards Granny sitting on the couch. “I don’t really want to piss her off so if you don’t mind sharing maybe we can make it through the night without her wielding her shotgun in our faces again, yeah?” I ran my fingers through my hair I was feeling on edge I needed a drink or maybe six.

Nikki glanced over at Gina, who was eyeing us curiously and smiled. “We’re just going to get our stuff out of the car,” she took my hand in hers and pulled me outside of the nuthouse.

I turned around to tell Nikki we needed to get the hell out of there. The ratty motel we stayed in the night before was looking like the fucking Ritz Carlton considering the alternative of staying here with her aunt and her bat shit crazy grandmother. I understood why Victor shipped them off to live two thousand miles away from him the old lady was a liability.

Nikki pressed her hands to my chest, pushing me against the brick front of the house as her mouth crashed over mine. Her lips were soft as they worked mine, forcing me to open my mouth and invite her in for more. Her familiar taste clogged my senses reminding me it had been hours since I had touched her and reminding my body that I couldn’t go that long without her. I grabbed her face taking charge of what she had started and turned her around so that she was the one with her back against the house. I ravaged her mouth, taking everything I possibly could from her as my hands traveled down her sides my fingers gripping her hips as I pulled her against me.

Every thought I had completely slipped my mind as I tried to figure where I could take her to have my way with her. I forgot all about needing a drink or trying to escape crazy town the only person I needed was her she made everything better. How fucking crazy was that?

She pulled away slowly from me taking my face in her hands, her swollen lips curved into a smile.

“How do you do that?” I asked as I stared into her eyes, marveling at the control that she seemed to provide me. For a long time I looked for something to take the edge off, sex, alcohol violence, whatever poison I felt suited me never thinking there was someone out there who could calm me with anything other than just her. It wasn’t even kissing her that seemed to calm me and bring me back down it was just her presence. It sounded bizarre even to my own ears, but having her in my corner had started to give me the balance I needed.

She raised an eyebrow and let out a laugh. “Oh ye who is all about delivering a proper kiss is asking little ol’ me how I did that?”

“I didn’t mean the kiss,” I said, shaking my head dismissively. “How do you manage to give me exactly what I need even when I don’t know I need it?” Her smile faltered as she studied me.

“It just seemed like you needed a breather,” she cleared her throat. “I know they’re a lot to handle and I also know you didn’t sign up for this mess to be my bodyguard or whatever it—“

“Stop,” I said, taking her hands in mine as I bent my knees slightly to be level with her eyes. “I may not have signed up to be anything other than Vic’s nightclub manager, but even if he had never asked me to bring you here if he had never involved me I would’ve come. I want to be the one to protect you from this shit Nikki. It scares the fuck out of me because a part of me knows that I’m not really your best option but the other part the bigger part is determined to do whatever the fuck it takes to keep you safe,” I nodded over my shoulder towards the threshold of hell. “Even if it means hiding out with Janice Soprano and Sophia Petrillo.”

She leaned her forehead against mine and sighed. “You should come with a warning label Mikey because I’m pretty sure you’re going to do all sorts of damage to my heart,” she whispered.

I didn’t know what to say to that because like everything else Nikki’s words split me in half. The logical half of me tells me that I should shut this shit down before I did hurt her. I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend and when her aunt introduced me to Nana as Nikki’s boyfriend, I nearly had a stroke but then the stupid as fuck part of me told me I liked the sound of it. I liked being the man in Nikki’s life despite knowing I wasn’t capable of giving her anything she deserved. I could love Nikki that wouldn’t be the problem because when I love I love big, but it seems like whoever is on the receiving end of my love is always destined to be torn away from me. I accepted my fate a long time ago knowing that I was meant to live this life by myself. It never bothered me before in fact, I was relieved by the solidarity, but that was before Nikki. She makes me think I can be good. She makes me think I could be the man that loves her like she is supposed to be loved. She makes me completely delusional. That’s when I realized that she too should’ve come with a warning label.

It had taken a few hours for us to settle into Aunt Gina’s house, but once we convinced Nana that if we needed her help we’d call on her it was smooth sailing from there. I forgot how crazy they could be. Aunt Gina was a bit more subdue than Nana as it was she was only interested in getting laid apparently. Something I didn’t want to discuss anymore. Not ever. Nana was a hand full though she cursed like a truck driver and I had a sneaky suspicion that she was packing more than just a shotgun. She was a sly little old lady, but Mikey just kept feeding her cigarettes so he wouldn’t have to deal with her he was raking in the dough too. She’d
slip him a five dollar bill each time he palmed her another stogy. I was out a pack of cigarettes, but Nana was quiet and Mikey didn’t look so out of sorts anymore.

Aunt Gina showed us to our rooms I won’t lie, I was a little disappointed that Mikey, and I weren’t sharing a room, but I didn’t question anything, seeing as how I wasn’t sure what my father had told his sister. My room was down the hall from Mikey’s and he was right next to Aunt Gina’s. I think she has the hots for Mikey I caught her checking him out a few times batting her false eyelashes and puckering her collagen lips. I’m not sure if Mikey noticed or not the poor guy looked like he wanted to sleep for a month.

He also looked pained that we wouldn’t be sharing a bed either, but I planned to change that. I opened the door to the room I was in and scoped out the hallway. The house was dark, but I learned earlier that didn’t count for much around here so I quietly tiptoed down the hallway, careful not to let the floorboards creak underneath my feet as I made my way to Mikey’s room. I slowly
turned the doorknob and poked my head inside the darkened room. Mikey was laying on his stomach in the center of the bed snoring his body twisted in the sheets that were riding low on his bare ass. I closed the door
softly, leaning against it as I took in the sight of him.

I stripped out of my clothes and padded naked across the room to join him in the bed. The thing was there was no room for me to just lay beside him and seductively wake him. He was sprawled across the full size bed hogging up all the room. I kneeled onto the edge of the bed and leaned over him as I pressed my breasts against his back and nuzzled his neck running my tongue along his skin.

“Dear Lord, please be Nikki and not Aunt Gina,” he groaned into the pillow.

I laughed against his skin throwing one leg over the side of him so that I was straddling him.

“So you noticed she has a bit of a crush on you,” I said my fingers traveling the length of his back. I wanted to kiss every inch of him, but first I wanted him on his back because there was so much more to appreciate from the front. I slapped his ass playfully as I lifted my hips. “Flip over.”

Mikey turned onto his back, his groggy eyes widening slightly as his gaze traveled the length of my naked body. I didn’t feel bashful in the slightest welcoming his heated stare as it ignited a fire inside of me a fire that burned only for him.

“Pretty hard not to notice when she tried to tuck me into bed wearing a nightie and made it her business to flash me a little boob,” his hands reached up to cup my breasts tweaking my turgid nipples between his fingers. “Poor lady should only know I only have eyes for these tits.”

He leaned forward, taking one of my nipples between his teeth. He nipped at my delicate flesh before he soothed it with his tongue. His open mouth traveled across to my other breast where he inflicted the same sweet torture on it making my breasts feel heavy with need and my nipples hard as rocks. I could feel his erection come to life underneath me and I rubbed myself against it
teasingly. The friction of his dick against my pussy had me nearly begging him to fuck me, but I remembered this was my seduction. My game my rules. I wasn’t about to let Mikey take charge when I wanted to be the one who was in control.