Page 21 of Mafia and Protector

Why on earth had I let my mother choose? I should have picked my nightwear out for myself, choosing the least sexy items I could find.

When I couldn’t delay any longer, I returned to the bedroom. Rafael ran his gaze down my nightdress before heading into the bathroom. I heard the water in the shower run and ten minutes later he came back freshly washed and dressed only in a pair of black boxer briefs.

I looked at him for a couple of seconds and it was impossible not to notice his body. As he stalked toward me, muscles rippled across his tall body, defining his torso, arms, and legs and emphasizing his total power. His body was mostly tanned, like he was outdoors a lot, and hair and scars adorned his chest.

I could see the familiar Società tattoo on his arm—depicting a beating heart with the Società name emblazoned across it. I followed the sandy hair on his chest as it trailed downwards and disappeared into his boxer briefs, my face flushing as I darted my eyes away.

I was already laying in bed, with the covers pulled up to my chin. He walked toward me and turned off the lights, except for the two nightstand lamps. Why was he leaving the lamps on?

I laid on my back, looking at the ceiling and praying that he would turn off the lamps and go to sleep.

Instead, he reached for me.

Leaning over me, he caged me between his thick arms and his dark navy eyes stared at me. I felt myself hold my breath, trying to freeze time, trying to stop what was about to happen.

Then, very slowly, he stroked the back of his knuckles against my cheek. I averted my eyes and looked anywhere but at him.

He bent his face down to kiss me.

“What are you doing?” I blurted out, my voice unnaturally high.

“What do you think?” he smirked.

Maybe he just wanted a kiss and that was all. So this time, when he moved his face toward me, I let him press his firm lips against mine. I didn’t respond, fighting the bile threatening to come up my throat.

My spine was ramrod straight. I could do this—it was just a kiss, I told myself.

His mouth played with mine, trying to get a response out of me, but I kept my lips clamped shut. His proximity was overwhelming my senses. My nostrils filled with his scent—soap and a trace of cologne overlaying something manly and dangerous. I held my breath, trying to close my mind and shut him out.

His tongue caressed my lips and I tried to push him away, but I had no strength in me. My hands were clammy and froze when I felt the fierce muscles of his bare chest under my fingertips—muscles that could hold me down and force me.

I hadn’t been given a choice that day in the clinic. The choice had been ripped from my body and from my soul.

I wouldn’t let that happen again.

I knew what my duty was tonight—to my husband, to my family, and to the Società. I knew what I had to do tonight, and I was making the choice to give myself over to that duty.

As long as it was my choice, Rafael couldn’t hurt me.

I wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt me ever again.

As I gasped for breath, his tongue slipped inside my mouth and stroked the sensitive nerve endings there. I gave myself up to the moment and let his mouth coax me into submission.

I heard him groan and I tried to ignore his hardness pressing against my thigh.

His hand moved and slipped inside my silk nightdress, cupping my bare breast, and the feel of his fingertips on my naked skin made me instinctively shove against him.

“Get away from me!” I cried out.

CHAPTER 7

RAFAEL

I looked down at Jessica, irritated at her return to childish games.

She was being coy and playing hard to get, but I wasn’t in the mood for this again. I had already had enough of her games earlier in the day.

The sight of her in her silky nightdress, the thin fabric clinging to her breasts and highlighting her puckered nipples, had made me painfully hard—just as would have been her intention when she picked out the flimsy nightwear.