Chapter 5

“I have to go,” Ben said at exactly midnight.

No kiss on the cheek. No bear hug. No goodbye.

Just Ben with a stone-faced expression, a gun he had gotten from somewhere tucked into the back of his pants, and a swagger that didn’t quite fit him right. It was as if Ben lived this entirely different life after midnight, a life that I would never truly believe was his.

I sank into the bedsheets, watched him walk out of the bedroom, and listened to the front door slam closed. We were fucking screwed for the rest of our lives. There was no way we’d get out of this one. I didn’t need an expert to tell me that.

Instead of falling asleep, as I should’ve done, I rolled over and grabbed my rabbit vibrator from the nightstand drawer, slid it inside of me, and turned it on. I needed something to help me relax. Those glasses of Afterglow were strong, but they hadn’t done it for me tonight.

My eyes fluttered closed, and I tried to focus on something other than Ben and his problems because thinking about them would just make it hard for me to come and relax for even a moment. I took a deep breath, letting my toy vibrate against my clit. Waves of pleasure rushed through me, pushed me higher, closer to that edge.

Stomach tightening, fingers tugging on my nipples, breath quickening, I moaned softly.

My thoughts wandered from sweet nothingness to him, Cristian Ricci, the cutthroat mob boss who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of me tonight. The way he had walked around his club, down the hall, through the alleyway like he owned the entire world and everything in it.

He was a devil—maybe the Devil himself.

I arched my back, turning the vibrator up another setting.

Just as I was about to let today’s worries go completely, my phone rang.

It was probably Ben, calling me to see if I was still angry with him for ruining our lives. I tried to ignore it, but it kept ringing and took me out of my state of mind, so I slammed my finger on the Answer button and held the phone up to my ear.

“What?” I snapped.

“Roxie,” Cristian said through the phone, his voice so deep that I couldn’t forget it. “Still awake?”

My breathing hitched. “How’d you get my number?” I asked breathlessly.

I should’ve pulled the vibrator out, should’ve turned it off, should’ve stopped tugging on my nipples when I answered the phone. But I couldn’t … I fucking couldn’t. His voice, his words, that gruff expression on his face earlier.

Turning the vibrator up a setting, I closed my eyes. The vibrations came quicker and louder, sending me closer and closer to the edge. I threw my phone beside me and turned it on speaker.

“What do you want, Cristian?” I asked.

He paused. “Are you touching yourself?”

“No,” I breathed out, slapping a hand over my mouth.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Ben was my fiancé—my fiancé—my damn lying fiancé.

I shouldn’t be lying in bed and thinking about another man. I shouldn’t be pushing my hand between my legs and wondering what Cristian would do if he were here with me. I shouldn’t be fantasizing about him so much.

Everything about him screamed danger, yet my body couldn’t seem to cool off hours after I had last seen him. The way his eyes locked on mine. The way his lips curled up just a few centimeters. The way he looked at me like I was going to be his one of these days.

“What do you want, Cristian?” I repeated when I knew I wouldn’t moan aloud.

“I’m at your door. Answer it.”

I turned off the vibrator. “You’re at my door?”

The phone went dead.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

After tossing my vibrator onto the dresser, I pulled on one of my robes and hurried into the living room, not even bothering to turn on the light. When I opened the door, the hallway was empty, bright white light filtering into the room. I stuck my head out the door and looked from side to side. Nothing but the stench of alcohol and piss coming from the apartment diagonal from us.

Someone’s hand wrapped around my wrist from behind. Cristian yanked me back into the apartment, shut the door, and pressed me against it, his breath in my ear and his body against mine.

“Wearing this for me, Roxie?” he asked, his fingers trailing against my bare collarbone and pushing the Aerie robe just over my shoulder, letting the moonlight glisten against my skin.

My breath caught in my throat, and I nearly had a heart attack. “What the hell are you doing in my apartment?” I asked through clenched teeth, trying hard not to stare into those intense eyes or feel how his knee was slipping between my legs, making my robe spill open just a bit more.

“I came to see you,” Cristian said, his eyes wandering back up my body to my face. His lips curled into a soft smile, eyes so dangerous. “But you were busy pleasuring yourself.”

I swallowed hard. “I was not.”

He chuckled and rested his hands on the door, next to my head, trapping me in. “Your nipples are hard, Roxie. You were either playing with yourself or you’re really excited to see me here.” 

His gaze flickered down to them as I pulled my robe tighter, so he couldn’t see my breasts. But my nipples, they were still piercing through the thin material, still aching to be touched.

After brushing his fingers up my arms, he growled lowly. “If I don’t leave soon, I’ll end up tugging on them, principessa.” He drew his nose up the side of my neck and stepped closer to me, his chest pressed against my breasts.

I sucked in a short breath, my chest rising and falling, nipples grazing against his chest. Pleasure rushed through my body, and I let out a small moan. It felt too good. It shouldn’t.

“Oh, principessa, don’t fucking do that to me,” he said, grasping my chin and pinning me to the door. 

I needed him to touch me so bad—so fucking bad. He slid his knee higher between my thighs until it reached my core and blew an unsteady breath out through his nose.

“You should go,” I said. “Now.”

After giving me one last long look, he pulled me away from the door, opened it, and walked out into the hall. His jaw twitched, as if he would snap at any moment and take me, throw me up against the wall, and ruin me.

I didn’t think I’d let him … but I hadn’t thought I’d think about him when I touched myself earlier.

I shut the front door on him, hurried back to my bedroom, shoved my vibrator back up into me, and thrust it into my pussy over and over and over. Pretending like it was his knee grinding against my throbbing core again. Teasing me with all that body heat. Making me … making me come.

A rush of pleasure shot through my body, leaving my legs tingling in delight. I sank into the sheets, feeling my pussy pulse over and over again and trying so desperately to think about anything other than the devil’s intense brown eyes.