All throughout my shift I felt his gaze on me. A few times I chanced to look at him because he was hard to ignore. His attention was either on me, or he was talking to Eric. Annoyance rose inside me when more than a few women approached him at the bar. How could they not? He and his driver exuded a kind of irresistible and dangerous underworld vibe. I doubted Eric was merely his driver. A camaraderie was apparent between them that transcended a boss-employee relationship.
As for my brothers, they mostly left them alone. The bar was hopping, and even the top-shelf whiskey was in demand.
At the end of dinner service and after we finished bussing the tables, the bar was packed two people deep. I managed to squeeze between two Wall-Street types and ducked under the hatchet door to get behind the bar.
“You heading out?” Charles asked.
“Yes. Do you guys need me here tomorrow?” I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, Cesar threw a couple of bills in front of him and stood.
Shit. There was no escaping him.
“Not until the evening,” my brother replied. “Don’t want you to miss any more classes. We’re getting more help tomorrow. Sheila’ll bring them up to speed on the menu. They’re old-timers. So not wet behind the ears.”
Sean appeared beside Charles. “You have your car?”
“No. I took the train.”
“You going to be okay?” He nodded to where Cesar was already by the hallway that led to the exit.
“I can handle De Lucci,” I said with more bravado than I was feeling.
“Call when you get home, got it?” This from Robert.
“Ugh, how did I manage to date in high school?” I mumbled. “Oh, wait. That’s why I was known as one-date McGrath.”
My brothers chuckled letting me know in no way did they regret their overprotectiveness during my high school years. I also know that it was hard for them to let me leave with Cesar, but I wasn’t seventeen anymore.
I marched toward my inevitable fate. Toward the man who had the patience to wait for me all night. The predatory glint in his eyes didn’t escape me, and even when Cesar’s mouth pulled into a smile which was more of a smirk, it only enhanced the feeling that he was a lion who’d finally captured a gazelle that had eluded him forever.
Despite being exhausted, my body engaged for battle.
“I’m not sure what you’re expecting,” was my opening salvo when I passed him and headed down the hallway.
His hand pulled me back. “You’re always running away from me,” he muttered in my ear. “It’s driving me crazy, cara.”
The promise of retribution in his tone made all my appropriate girly parts pay attention. “You don’t look crazy. Although waiting for my shift to be over, I’m impressed with your patience.”
The smile widened. “You’re worth the wait.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “You’re confident you’re going to get lucky tonight?”
We had arrived at the exit, but before pushing through the exit bar, he turned to face me. “You think that fucking you is all that I’m after?”
I inhaled sharply at his blunt statement. “Isn’t it?”
He lowered his head and kissed the tip of my nose before letting his mouth dance above mine without touching it. The scent of whiskey permeated his breath. My skin carried the bloom of sweat from the evening’s work, but had gotten stickier with something internal, something carnal.
“Fucking will be involved.” He stepped back and pushed the exit bar to let me through. “But first, I want to take care of you.”
The Bentley was already waiting outside.
“Cesar … you’re taking me home, right?”
I saw the flash of his grin before he turned to the vehicle to open the door. “Yes, but I’m coming home with you.”
I wasn’t going to argue. I got into the vehicle. The promise of not having to take the train, and all the walking that involved after a challenging day at the pub was enough to ditch my self-preservation for tonight—self-preservation that had nothing to do with my life, but more with lust. Cesar and I had been dancing around sex for a few days. I was afraid to give in because I had no doubt this man had experience in making a woman addicted to him. And what boggled my mind was he seemed addicted to me, too. Was it because I didn’t fall at his feet like what he was probably used to? Would he have lost interest if I’d allowed him into my apartment and let him fuck me?
If I gave in to the lust between us, maybe I could spare myself from developing feelings. He would leave me alone. Just once, I could be with him. Be prepared never to see him again and I could move on. Treat this as my belated rebound fuck because I got dumped by a boyfriend for Vegas. I was certainly long overdue for one.
The drive to the brownstone almost lulled me to sleep. After keeping myself away from Cesar in the car, apparently I ended up leaning into him, or maybe he leaned into me. When he dragged me toward him so my head rested on his chest, I didn’t argue.
I breathed in his scent. His jacket smelled like the bar, but his shirt smelled like a heady combination of his cologne and personal masculine musk. My fingers splayed over his torso, feeling the muscles contract under my hand. I dared to go lower.
“Careful, Ava,” he whispered above my head. “I want to take care of you first before anything else.”
I glanced up at him. Inside the darkness of the vehicle, it was hard to discern his expression.
“Going to run a bath for you so you can relax.” He pressed his mouth to the side of my temple.
“Oh, that sounds good.” Then I laughed lightly. “I’m going to fall asleep before you have your way with me.”
He shrugged. “If it happens, it happens.”
“You’ll let me sleep?” I eyed him suspiciously.
He sighed. “Like I said, fucking you is not all that I’m after.”
I didn’t know how to make sense of our situation, but I was too tired to analyze it. Cesar offered to carry me from the Bentley, but I wasn’t that helpless.
He pulled an overnight bag from the trunk of the vehicle, spoke to Eric, and together we entered the brownstone.
We were silent when we went up the stairs. Silent when we entered the apartment. No words were exchanged when he dropped the duffel and clasped my face between his hands and kissed me.
The kiss started slow, growing intensely demanding. His tongue slipped between my lips and tangled with mine. From my face, his fingers caressed down my neck and then he divested me of my leather jacket, before coming back to skate my sides.
I pushed myself closer. He groaned into my mouth which sounded more like a growl. My action seemed to have emboldened him. Still kissing me, his hands slid under my butt and boosted me on the kitchen counter. This time his fingers tugged my shirt from my jeans and for the first time ever, the warmth of his hand stroked my feverish skin.
He tore his mouth away. “Fuck. I promised to take care of you and here I am attacking your mouth.”
With my heart still hammering against my ribs, I breathed, “I’m not complaining.”
His mouth twisted wryly. “Be right back. Don’t move.”
Cesar grabbed his duffel from the floor and disappeared into my bedroom. I heard the rush of water. He was serious about running me a bath, but now he left me with this ache between my thighs.
When he emerged from my bedroom, something visceral changed in his bearing. His gaze was heavy-lidded, and he approached me … stalkingly. “You’re such a good girl. I was expecting to see you defy my instructions and I was looking forward to turning your ass red.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “If you think spanking is my kink, think again.”
He threw back his head and laughed. I couldn’t help admiring the strong tanned column of his throat. The kind of bronzed skin that didn’t come from a bottle, but hours spent under the sun. Pulling me from the counter and still chuckling, he yanked the shirt over my head. “Kick off your shoes,” he murmured by my ear.
“You know we can do this in the bedroom right?”
“Somehow it’s sexier to do you in the kitchen.”
Wait. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. “So we fuck first …”
Still chuckling, he tsked. “You’re so talkative when I’m trying to seduce you.”
“But I—”
His mouth came down on mine, shutting me up. When my arms circled his neck and my fingers tangled in his hair, digging into his skull, he grunted his approval. He unzipped my jeans and yanked them under my ass before he held me close, letting me feel the ridge of his erection. With his trousers and my panties the only barrier between us, I felt every inch of his arousal. Somehow he got my jeans tangled at my feet and he stomped them off, freeing me from their confines.
“Here?” I breathed against his mouth.
“I want to see you,” he murmured, dropping to his knees so he was eye level with my panty-covered pussy. He slipped his fingers on either side of my bikinis and tugged it down to expose my bare mound. “Fuck me.”
“I’d rather you fuck me,” I said with a nervous giggle.
“You make it so difficult to do the right thing.” Still focused on my pussy, he inserted a finger inside me. “Wet already.” He stroked, and then added a second finger. I undulated my hips to the pleasurable fullness stretching me, and he massaged my pubic bone with the heel of his hand while he continued to finger fuck me. “You’re sucking me so good, cara,” he groaned. “I can’t leave you like this.”
“No, you can’t,” I moaned.
At the first lash of his tongue, my hips convulsed. A fire raced down my belly and pulsed below my navel making me wetter. “Ahhh…”
“You’re so responsive,” he growled against my pussy, lifting one leg over his shoulder. I fell back against the counter, trying hard to brace myself on my elbows. My breaths came quick and ragged. Cesar descended into a frenzy, ravaging my tender flesh without mercy. Sucking on my clit, driving broad fingers in and out. I muffled my cries at the back of my fist, almost delirious. I came so hard, I saw stars. Cesar kept going, unrelenting in his attack between my legs. I didn’t know whether to chase the next lash of his tongue or twist away from the most intense sensation ever.
But he gave me no choice.
With a firm grip on my hip and thigh, he kept me open to him. I was reduced to a blubbering mess by the time he gave one final swipe with his tongue before lowering my leg. My ass slid from the counter. My limbs couldn’t support me and threatened to send me to a heap on the floor, but he kept me up. The rip of a foil packet brought me back to my senses.
“The bath …” I managed to whisper.
“Water’s set to low,” he muttered. “We’ll have to hurry. I’ve lost all control.”
The blunt head of his cock swiped at my pussy lips, and I shuddered. “Oh shit. I’m still sensitive.”
“Quick and hard, cara,” he warned. “Need to take the edge off.”
He wrapped my left leg over his hip and punched forward.
I gasped. He was big, and despite how wet I was, my pussy fought against him.
He gave a strangled groan. “Merda. You’re fucking tight.”
He inched forward, and I tried to relax. Tried to exhale or inhale, I wasn’t sure anymore. My inner muscles seemed determined to deny him entrance.
“Let me in, cara,” he growled.
“I’m trying …”
“Don’t wanna hurt you.” His forehead sank to mine. “Just relax.”
I wanted to yell at him that he was too big. But that was too cliché. And he was arrogant enough as it was.
“I am relaxing,” I gritted.
He withdrew and punched in again. “Fuck, that feels so good.” Rocking back and forth, he finally seated himself to the hilt. “Fuck, fuck … you feel like heaven, cara.”
“Cesar… the water…”
His eyes flashed. “I’m buried balls deep and all you can think of is the bath?”
My mouth curved. “Well, I got mine … oh my God!”
The bastard withdrew and thrust upward so deep, my whole body jolted, sending molten heat scorching a path from my clit and spreading to the tip of my fingers and toes.
As though he’d branded me.
Fisting my hair, he tilted my chin up. “I can give you more.”
And with our gazes locked in challenge, he proceeded to show me. He reared back and drove back into me hard. He maintained a fierce grip on my hair, so I couldn’t look away as he pounded into me in a merciless rhythm. Our lips would brush, and I tasted whiskey and impending heartbreak. Cesar took me higher and higher, and it was only when I fell apart in his arms that he let me look away. I cried out and shattered in his arms even when he ruthlessly plundered me over and over. There was no hesitancy, no second guessing, no gentleness in his touch. It was as though he knew how to work me, to command me, make me a slave to his fucking.
On a silent snarl, he bared his teeth, before a groan took over and he buried his face at the crook of my shoulder. I bore his weight—it felt like a surrender—but it didn’t take long for him to recover. I was swept up in his arms and he marched us to my bedroom.
