I smiled, shaking my head, my fingers still on her skin. My gaze darted to her lips, the way they curved up in a half-smile despite the anxiety in her eyes. I dropped my hand as if I’d been burned and stepped back, clearing my throat. “I’m going to check everything. It’s been a while since I’ve been down here.”
“Does that mean you don’t have a birthday present for me?”
An image of my head buried between her legs popped into my mind. Not the birthday present she had in mind. I needed to drag my mind out of the gutter. “Not down here,” I got out.
CHAPTER THREE
Stella
My heart beat wildly in my chest as I kept listening to sounds from above. Muffled footsteps sounded on occasion, but the door held fast. Slowly, I made my way over to the sofa and sank down, trying to calm myself. Mauro meticulously checked every drawer of the kitchen and the narrow wardrobe.
The muscles in his shoulders and back flexed as he leaned forward. Scars littered his back from knife and gun wounds he’d suffered over the years as a Made Man. Slowly my gaze dropped to his firm ass and a flush heated my cheeks. I quickly dragged my gaze away when Mauro turned, his brows furrowed in concentration. His chest was chiseled, tanned and a small splattering of dark hair trailed from his navel down into his low-cut sweatpants. It was the first time I saw him without a shirt in a long time. He’d always worn a shirt around me. My stomach warmed.
Mauro’s eyes cut to me and I blushed, feeling caught, as if my inappropriate thoughts were written all over my face. I was glad he didn’t know how I felt toward him. He’d think I was being silly. “We’re well equipped with canned food and a change of clothes. A few days down here won’t be a problem.”
I nodded, then flinched when something crashed over our heads.
Mauro narrowed his eyes.
“What was that?”
“I think they threw over one of the shelves. They might be looking for a safe. Maybe this attack isn’t about us, but about information they hope to acquire.”
Again, I nodded. I’d never much cared for mob business. I’d never gotten a taste of what it entailed—until now. Mauro had been risking his life for years, since he was younger than I am now. Maybe that was why the age difference of five years between us sometimes felt so much bigger.
“Try to get some sleep. I can dim the light,” Mauro said.
I quickly shook my head. There was no way I’d fall asleep now. Adrenaline pumped through my body.
“Why don’t you watch some TV while I try to figure out a way to send out an emergency signal?”
I dropped in front of the TV like a five-year-old, but what else could I have done? My legs were shaking and my brain capacity close to zero. I took the remote and began to mindlessly flip through the channels. But I kept the volume low so I’d hear what went on above our heads, and my gaze kept returning to the trapdoor, the only thing between us and our potential murderers.
That and Mauro. He was a good shot. He’d protect us.
Mauro
I was interested in modern technology, but trying to send out an emergency signal past whatever block our attackers had installed was well beyond my knowledge.
Stella’s eyes kept alternately following me and checking out the ceiling. She was still shaking and goose bumps pimpled her skin. Her nipples peeked through her nightgown in the most distracting way possible.
“Aren’t you cold? You can change into other clothes,” I suggested eventually.
Stella followed my suggestion and surprised me when she put on one of my sweaters. For some reason, the sight of her in my too-big clothes was even more of a turn-on than her flimsy nightgown had been. Damn it all.
* * *
I spent the night and most of the day going over the manual for the keypad and turning on the heat. More to distract myself than for any practical purposes. I sat on one of the bunk beds while Stella had curled up on the sofa, only her shins and feet peeking out from my sweater.
She dozed off twice but jerked up shortly after, her breathing shaky until her eyes settled on me. “Can’t you read beside me?”
I got up and walked over to her, then sank down next to her feet. Stella propped them up on my thighs, and without thinking, I put my palm on her calf. Her skin was soft, warm and now that I felt it, I couldn’t stop thinking how much better it would feel if I trailed my hand up to her sensitive inner thigh or even higher.
I shoved the thought out of my head and focused on the tiny font of the manual. Stella sat up and caught me off guard by turning around and settling her head in my lap. For a moment, I stared down at her caramel hair, half torn between shoving her away because I really didn’t need additional images of her face close to my dick haunting my nights, and tugging my waistband down and sliding my cock into her mouth.
I shifted when I felt the treacherous blood flow down into my groin area.
“Anything interesting?”
“No,” I gritted out. Stella met my eyes, frowning. My sudden tension didn’t make sense to her. “Did you hear something? Are we in danger?”
I was in danger of losing my sliver of self-control, and she of losing her honor.
Something in her expression shifted, as if she knew what I was thinking.
I’d on occasion thought she’d looked at me with more than step-sisterly affection, but had blamed it on my own forbidden desires. Now I wasn’t so sure anymore.
* * *
After an early dinner of a can of cream of mushroom soup and some crackers, Stella slipped into the tiny bath-cupboard. The door was thin and I could hear every muttered curse as she tried to change in the narrow space. I tried not to imagine how she undressed, how she’d look naked.
“Ouch!” Stella muttered.
I chuckled despite the situation.
Silence followed behind the door.
“Can you hear me?”
“Of course, I can hear you.”
More silence. “You have to cover your ears.”
“Stella, I’m not going to cover my fucking ears. I know how it sounds when someone pees, so get on with it and don’t you dare turn the water on to cover up the sounds.”
“I’m not going to pee if you can hear everything!” She turned the water on. I stretched out on one of the bunks, wondering what the attackers were doing upstairs. Undoubtedly trying to get down here. Why hadn’t Father thought of installing monitors down here that were linked to cameras on the premises?
The door opened and Stella stepped out. My heart skipped a beat. What the holy fuck was she wearing? I sat up slowly, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me. Stella was in some kind of flimsy red negligee made of thin silky material. It only reached her upper thighs and clung to her breasts. Fuck.
Stella shifted on her feet, her face turning red under my scrutiny. “Only my mother would choose this as her nightwear for a lockdown situation. The clothes in my drawer are a few years old and don’t fit me anymore.”
I barely registered her words. Most of my blood had left my brain. Of course, I’d noticed Stella’s curves before, but having them shoved into my face like this, it would definitely stir up a whole new onslaught of dirty fantasies I had absolutely no business entertaining.
I pushed to my feet and headed over to the drawer with my clothes, ripping it open with a bit too much force. I pulled out a T-shirt and boxer shorts and flung them at Stella. She barely caught them, her eyes wide in surprise.