“Do you like burned bacon?”
He understood the question for what it was. Defensive. An attempt to hide. “I like finding out about you,” he said softly. “I like knowing you can’t cook, that your apartment looks like a bomb went off in it, and that you wear a Calamity Jane T-shirt to bed. I like listening to your music and fucking you in a filthy office and an even more disgusting dive bar. You’ve awakened the beast, bella. I won’t be denied.”
“Promise me you won’t overreact.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “You do have a tendency to overreact in certain situations.”
Overreact? He was always in control, prided himself on remaining calm in difficult circumstances. “What situations?”
“Kidnapping me. Beating up the Wolf in my office, fucking me in a restaurant just because I mentioned I was interested in what you were like in bed.”
Nico gave an irritated huff. “You don’t tell a man you want to get him into bed, and expect him to spend the rest of the evening thinking of anything else.”
She glanced down at his cock, now fully erect. “I guess that means I’m in big trouble now.”
“I want to see you. I want to see everything, your body, your ink, and your sweet curves. Show me who you are, or yes, there will be trouble.” Part of him hoped she wouldn’t undress so he could wrestle her into sweet submission, earn the reward of a body made for sin.
“Everything?”
“Now.”
“Fine.” Mia pulled off her shirt and toed off her socks. Nico drank her in, from her slightly tanned skin, to her beautiful breasts, the curves enhanced by the beautiful ink to the soft down of curls between her thighs. His gaze dropped to her long, lean legs and the flowers inked across her foot.
“Feet too?” He kneeled down to press a kiss to her instep. But what he saw made him recoil. “Dodgers fan?”
“Stay calm,” she warned. “I saw the Giants’ pennant in your office.”
Nico lifted an eyebrow. “Of course the Giants. They lead 1210 wins to the Dodgers’ 1184, eight World Series and twenty-three pennants versus the Dodgers’ six and twenty-one. You’re rooting for the wrong team.”
“Am I?” She tried to pull away but he held her foot fast. “The Dodgers have won the National League West fourteen times compared to the Giants’ eight.”
“I’m taking you to a game,” Nico said. “I’ll convince you to cross over to the dark side. You’ll find it’s the more profitable side to be on.”
She laughed, a soft throaty sound that made him feel warm all over.
“I already crossed over to the dark side when I got involved with you. And why do I think your interest in baseball isn’t entirely because you have a love for sports?”
Unabashed he laughed. “I might know a bookmaker or two.” He also knew some players, not just in baseball but in other sports as well. He had a couple of fixers on his crew who bribed young college basketball players to shave points by missing baskets to yield the greatest profit for their Toscani family fans.
“Such pretty feet totally ruined with Dodgers’ ink,” he teased. “We could have it removed.”
“You touch that ink, and I’ll remove something you are definitely going to miss.”
Chuckling, Nico pressed a kiss to her instep. “I like these flowers.”
“They match the ones on my boots.”
He kissed his way up her leg, delighted when her breath hitched. “I wanted to fuck you in those boots from the moment I saw you in them.”
“I thought you were afraid for your life since I was holding a gun to your chest.” She dug her hand in his hair as he pushed her legs apart.
“My thoughts turned after you dropped the gun.”
“When you thought I’d just murdered all those men?” Her teasing voice hitched when he pressed a kiss to her mound. “I didn’t realize violence turned you on.”
“I like it rough. Not violent.”
“How rough?”
Nico looked up, his gaze assessing. “With you, last night was as far as I will go.”
*
Mia had suffered a lot of abuse, but sex with Nico had been a revelation. The chase was exciting. Giving herself over to Nico, letting him take control, aroused her in a way she had never imagined before. She didn’t feel less of a woman for giving in; she felt more simply because she knew that if she told him to stop, he would. She’d never felt that kind of trust with a man before. That kind of safe. Empowered.
But he hadn’t given her everything. He hadn’t let the beast free. His impressive self-control extended to the bedroom, too.
Her mouth watered at the thought of Nico, raw and unrestrained. She tugged gently on his hair, urging him to stand. “So you would go farther? Rougher? If you didn’t think I would break?”
“I wouldn’t want to hurt you, bella. In any way.”