"I’ve watched Da brain himself on the wall, torture a goddamn Archbishop, and then almost self-immolate—"
"What?" I burst out. "He tried to kill himself?"
"He did. Ma almost did as well," he rasped, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I had to knock him over then drag him down the fucking aisle."
I reached for the hand that was trying to wipe away his fatigue and pressed it to my cheek. "You saved him from himself."
"I did. He called me Aidan as well."
"That’s your name?"
"He calls me Junior." His brow furrowed even further and he let out a nasty-sounding cough. "What a weird motherfucking day."
Even though I knew he was processing something, something he wasn’t comfortable sharing, my lips curved. "Funny how it’s the fact that your dad stopped calling you by your nickname, and not that you burned down a cathedral that was weird about your day."
He scoffed, "You’re not wrong. Jesus. You should run away, kicking and screaming, Savannah."
"You going to let me?"
My heart felt like it stopped beating as he peered at me. Making me wonder if he was trying to find my soul, as if my eyes really were the window to it, then he smirked, slipped his hand away from the gentle clasp I held it in against my cheek, pressed it to the back of my neck and hauled me into him.
"What do you think?" he rumbled, which was when my heart started pumping once again.
He didn't let me answer what I figured was a rhetorical question, but I was relieved anyway.
The second our mouths collided, I groaned with wonder, content to breathe his air and for him to breathe mine. Neither of us were at our freshest, he stank of smoke still and my Valentino suit looked like I'd been rolling around in a washing machine for a few hours, but I didn't care, and I was happy he didn't either.
It meant this was real.
It meant that he wanted me when I looked like a million dollars and when I was doing a pretty good impression of a bag lady. Well, a rich bag lady. This suit definitely hadn't been cheap.
His tongue thrust between my lips, making me sigh as he tasted me, savoring me, sampling me.
I let him, content to feel him against me, holding me, needing me just as much as I did him.
Sighing into his kiss, I reveled in the moment as he stoked the flames of need all while staying true to it.
One hand remained at my nape, while the other roamed down my arm, along my side. The heat from his palm sank into me, warming me up as if I'd been frozen with cold the entire night, and I huddled closer, needing more, needing everything.
As he pulled away, I groaned, sinking deeper into him, but he nipped my bottom lip and rumbled, "Why did you put yourself in danger tonight?"
Dazed, I blinked at him. "Huh?"
He tutted, reached up and dragged my bottom lip down. "Why didn't you come to the safe room with all the other women?"
"Because I'd have been scared otherwise. I don't like being scared."
Aidan tipped his head to the side. "Does anyone?"
"No. But if I can see it, I can understand it. If I can't see it, then I fear it."
"Fucking Isardo. I knew it was down to him. If he hadn't been a lying, cheating piece of shit, you'd never have seen him that day." He growled then dipped forward to press a tiny peck to the corner of my mouth. "But then you wouldn't be here, sitting on this sofa. I'd terrify the living fuck out of you." He released a breath. "I'm not a good man, little one.
“A good man would say that he wished you hadn't seen that, he'd say that he'd spare you that pain if he could, but I want you here. With me. Nowhere else."
"That's exactly where I want to be," I moaned as I clambered onto his lap, trying to be careful so I didn’t accidentally kick his knee.
As I ground into him, he grabbed my ass, molding the cheeks to his grip, making my pussy clench down hungrily, reminding me of how empty I was
"Good," he ground out, reaching up to nip my bottom lip. "You’re gonna be mine, Savannah. In all the ways under the sun." He bit down hard on the soft morsel. "But you’d better start watching out for yourself. My patience only runs so far, little one. I’ll only cut you so much slack because of Isardo," he warned.
A groan escaped me, one that was loaded with want and desire and delight, as I let our mouths collide again. His words filling me with need and lust because I felt his care, his love at that moment.
His hands came up to cup my waist, squeezing there before he dragged up my shirt, and his fingers slid along my waistline, drawing my shirt out from it so he could spread that delicious heat along the small of my back.
Sensation had me shivering, especially when he moved around my waist, finding the buttons that made up the fly, and began to unfasten them. The second he struck gold, we both groaned, and he slipped his fingers between my thighs, making short work of what had to be a difficult task considering how tight the gusset of my pants pressed against his hand. I didn’t question how, just cried out as he found my clit.
"Down here," he rumbled against my lips, "they won’t be able to hear you cry out."
A husky laugh escaped me. "That’s your plan, huh?"
"I didn’t think about this earlier," he whispered. "I’m surprised my brothers aren’t down here too."
"Maybe they’re just not as possessive as you are."
"Doubt it." He arched a brow as he tapped my clit with a finger. "You going to complain about my being possessive? Not wanting anyone else to hear those moans that belong to me?"
I swallowed. "N-No," I groaned, arching my hips so he could get more access to my slit. He took immediate advantage, and I squealed as he drew circles on the nub. "Oh, that feels so good!"
"If you don’t look after yourself for me," he ground out, "then how am I supposed to let you feel good?" His fingers had me wiggling on his lap. "Why should I let you feel good, Savannah? If you make me feel bad by knowing I can’t trust you to keep this beautiful ass safe?"
I groaned again. "You weren’t here. What else was I supposed to do?"
"You really gonna take that as an excuse?" He leaned up and nipped the pad of my chin. "When I’m not here, you listen to my brothers. They’re invested in keeping you safe because I’ll beat the living shit out of them if they don’t."
"I don’t like being kept in the dark," I grumbled, but it quickly morphed into a yelp when he thrust a finger into my slit. It was thick and I was wet, but it still came as a surprise.
"Well, we already agreed that some things have to be kept from you."
I squinted at him. "You think I’m going to go to the cops."
"No. I don’t actually," he said wryly. "I think the more you know, the more trouble you’ll get into."
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"It means you’ll pull that Nancy fuckin’ Drew act and get your ass killed as you hunt for a story. I’m going to have to fill this belly as soon as possible just to keep you busy."
My eyes flared wide as I reared back. "Fill it with what?"