His Target: A Dark Mafia Romance Page 11

  With Zeno, I have more power. He’s like a battery for me, enabling me to do things that I could never do on my own. I can move past this rest area, but it will be nice to visit it as a landmark, symbolic of my struggle to get away from homelessness. I’ll be able to leave the fear and hurt behind.

  The sky is dark grey as we pull off the highway, the clouds overhead burnt like charcoal. It will rain soon, but I hope that by that time, we’re already back in the car, rolling down the highway.

  I’ll be able to sleep in the rain. I’ve always loved it.

  “Let’s be quick here,” Zeno says, looking up into the sky. “There’s a storm coming.”

  “I’m sure I won’t last long,” I reply, alluding to other, more naughty adventures I could have at the rest stop.

  Zeno raises an eyebrow, his voice husky, almost a rumble in his throat. “I’ll join you. The road from here is long.”

  “Good idea,” I say, my heart hammering in my chest already.

  I’m completely soaked through the flimsy lace panties I have on. I have half a mind to bring a new pair with me to change into, but I feel embarrassed by how aroused Zeno makes me. I want him to know, but at the same time, I don’t want him to realize how much I crave his body pressed close against mine.

  A flurry of sickening emotions rises in my stomach as we come to a stop in the empty rest area parking lot. This place is abandoned, no longer maintained by the city. There’s graffiti over half the building, and it’ll be a miracle if any of the toilets still work.

  But I’m not here for the toilets.

  I pull my feet out of Zeno’s lap, feeling the details of his erection through his pants as I drag them across the smooth grey fabric. He stiffens every time I move, and his cock jerks wildly in his slacks, begging to be let out. I bite my lip and step out of the car.

  The air is electric. The current of the storm runs through me like lightning encompasses the earth already. I wouldn’t be surprised if my hair were standing on end, electrified by the incoming foul weather.

  The ground already smells of petrichor, despite the rain not having hit the mulchy earth yet. A small gust of cool wind sends the crispy cinnamon leaves on the ground spinning like a miniature tornado.

  Little specks of dirt rush against my ankles. I didn’t bother to put my shoes back on.

  There are a million things I should be worried about. I should have my fists balled up, a scowl on my face as I demand to know why trouble follows Zeno everywhere that he goes. I should be asking him how he ended up saving me from men he probably knows. I should be thinking of ways to get away from him, but I’m not.

  At this moment, I feel free from worry, and that’s never happened to me before. I’ve had the weight of anxiety squeezing the muscle fibers of my body until they formed knots in my shoulders for my entire life. I’ve never been able to relax… until now.

  I gulp the thick wet air into my lungs, tasting the earth as Zeno lights up a cigar next to me. The rich scent of tobacco and smoke drift through the space between us, slowed to a crawl by the thickness of ozone.

  It’s afternoon, but it looks more like night as the sun struggles to shine light through the thick black clouds. We’re in for a hell of a storm, but not before the storm breaks between Zeno and me. That one threatens to be even more aggressive than the one nature has in store for us.

  “I trust you can manage yourself,” Zeno says, staring off toward the shoddy rest area building as he puffs smoke into the air.

  “Sure, but didn’t you say you would go too?”

  I look at him, staring at the lovely profile of his face. His nose is prominent, as is his chin, but it’s the low brow that gets me. It’s as though he’s permanently brooding, deep in thought about something else.

  Zeno finally looks to me with a smirk. “Are you afraid of going alone?”

  I shrug. “No, but I figure we don’t want to waste time with the rain coming.”

  “We’ll be fine. I’d like to enjoy this smoke outside. It gets stuffy in the car, and I won’t be able to roll down the windows once the rain starts,” he replies.

  “Fair enough,” I say, cursing inside my head at his unwillingness to play along. I have no clue what I’d do once I got him in the privacy of the rest area, but I also am afraid to go alone. I don’t trust empty buildings.

  I walk from the car, my pink socks quickly picking up dirt and twigs from the sidewalk as I stroll toward the tan rest area building. It’s a single floor, squat, and no larger than the space of two small bathrooms. There probably isn’t even a vending machine inside.

  The doors to the building don’t roll open like most of the modern ones. You have to pull these, and part of me expects them to be locked.

  They aren’t. I’m able to enter without issue.

  The interior of the building is surprisingly warm. I guess the windows let in enough sunlight to heat the place, and nobody ever opens the door to let it out. It’s like a car in the summer, but not quite as hot. It’s pleasant if I don’t think about it too much.

  I might as well pee while I’m here.

  I move to the bathroom, pushing the swinging door open and waiting a full five seconds before the fluorescent tube bulbs flicker on with a harsh blueish-white light. This place gives me serious creeps, but it’s no worse than some of the places I’ve had to sleep. In fact, if I had to choose between here or back on the streets, I’d be fine with making this building my temporary home.

  Thank god I have Zeno, though, because I wouldn’t really want to live here. The spiders have made their home in the corners, years’ worth of them, pilling webs on top of webs to the point where the corners sort of just… disappear.

  I open a stall and relieve myself, cleaning up with the last of the toilet paper available. I’m surprised that there is any.

  I finish, but I decide to wait here until Zeno comes looking for me. Maybe then I can get some more intimate time with him. You would think that spending ten minutes inside of a gritty old rest stop would be enough to put me out of the mood, but my horniness knows no limits. The unsavory nature of the building just encourages the nasty, dirty side of me.

  God, I feel filthy, even though I’m the cleanest I’ve ever been.

  I begin to grow bored as I wait for Zeno to arrive, though. I’m not concerned about the cops coming to take him away for the stolen car, since I’d hear the sirens, but I am worried that he’ll take an hour to smoke the cigar and forget about me completely. I don’t know him well enough to attest to his memory.

  I drum my fingers against the porcelain sink, looking through the spotty mirror at my eager expression. I never thought I’d be here, and I certainly never thought I’d be this excited.

  My face says it all, and my cheeks have been flushed pink ever since I first met Zeno.

  It’s hard to believe that it was only yesterday. I’ve been glued to Zeno since, and everything about him turns me on. Maybe I’ll finally be able to think straight about this wild situation once I get this out of my system.

  The danger in that, however, is that sex might make it worse.

  I wish I had a clock, but I don’t even own a watch. How long have I been here? It feels like a goddamn hour, but it’s probably closer to five minutes.

  Maybe it’s ten.

  I should go outside and check on Zeno. This whole waiting-in-the-bathroom thing is silly.

  I step out the doorway, redoing a tight bun of ginger hair on my head, and nearly have a heart attack when I see Zeno’s enormous figure looming in the entrance to the building.

  “My god, you scared me,” I gasp, placing my hand over my heart.

  He smirks. “I wasn’t trying to.”

  I doubt that.

  “Are you finished?” he asks, ashing his cigar onto the linoleum floor. He doesn’t seem to care that you’re not supposed to smoke indoors. I guess nobody cares. This place is abandoned.

  “I’m done, but I was wondering if you’d ever show up,” I say, stepping toward h
im and tilting my chin up to see into his eyes.

  I’m so much shorter than he is, nearly half his height without shoes on. The energy coming from his body is immense, hot lust mixed with an air of spice and stoicism. I’m thinking that I get two steps out of the building before I melt in the rain.

  Or will it be in his arms?

  “I’ll wait for you,” I say, noticing that Zeno hasn’t moved an inch.

  “I already went,” he says, his voice low, like the idle engine of a luxury car.

  “So, back to the car, I guess,” I say, my voice starting to shake from nervousness.

  “I guess,” Zeno parrots, puffing smoke into the room. “Or, we could figure out why you’re so keen on putting your little feet all over my cock.”

  “My feet?” I ask, my voice growing thin, as though he has me under a shrink ray.

  “You were doing that thing with them in the car. What was that about?” he asks, leaning over just a hair. It’s enough to cast a shadow over me, sucking the heat from my body and sending a distinct shiver through me.

  I swallow hard, trying to clear a lump that has formed in my throat, but it refuses to bulge. My mouth is too dry, and all the moister that should be in my throat is dripping from the tips of my fingers as my hands sweat like crazy.

  “You were talking up a storm before, and now you’re all quiet,” Zeno muses. “I wonder why that is.”

  I have to force the words out of my mouth. “Because you make me nervous.”

  He chuckles. “I make you nervous. I would’ve thought all the people who were trying to hurt you would make you nervous. I’m not one of them.”

  “No, but I’m sure you could do worse,” I reply in a whisper.

  His smirk turns into a grin. “What’s worse than hurt? The ache of pleasure?”

  The words are liquid gold across his tongue, dripping over me and solidifying into the yellow gleam of weight. It’s like a blanket, only heavier, and one I’m unable to toss it off my body when I get too hot.

  My cheeks are flushed bright red, and the golden drool of lust is almost enough to make me fall to my knees for Zeno. I would if he asked me to.

  “Are you curious about what it’s like?” he asks, tapping more ash off his cigar. “Do you want to feel something more than the bitter cold of the night?”

  I nod.

  I’m curious. I’m tired of not being able to get close to people. I’m sick of the cold, and the heat radiating from Zeno’s muscular body tells me that I’ll never have another night with cold, numb feet if I do this with him.

  Whatever this might end up being.

  “It’s quite warm in here,” Zeno says, reaching out a large hand and placing it on my shoulder. It encapsulates the entire muscle. “Maybe you should take this little jumper off and let me see what you bought today.”

  “What?” I breathe, unsure if I heard him correctly. “I don’t have anything under this.”

  “No panties?” he asks, looking amused.

  “Yes, I mean, no other clothes. You want to see my underwear?” I ask, shaking like a leaf in his firm grip. I’m so fucking nervous around him, and I shouldn’t be. I can handle myself. I’m the one who decides how far this goes.

  “Don’t you think I should see what you bought, seeing as I paid for it?” he asks.

  “I guess so.”

  “Then take the jumper off, and let me see what you got,” he says, his voice both soft and serious.

  I bite my lip, pressing my thighs together as I feel a rush of warmth tingling between them. I’m dripping wet for him, sticky and uncomfortable in my panties. I should’ve changed them, but now I’m stuck with it, and he’s going to know.

  I reach around to the back of my jumper, pulling down the tiny plastic zipper. The air barely moves in the room, save for Zeno’s cigar smoke and his hot breath, but I can feel the details of it on my naked back.

  I slip the jumper over my shoulders, shimmying it down my arms. I lean forward, letting the white cloth fall from my breasts, revealing the deep blue lace I have beneath it. My nipples are hard beneath the lace already, poking through the fabric so much that I’m certain Zeno can see them.

  His eyes burn a hole through me, but I can’t look up at him anymore. Doing so would make me freeze, unable to continue taking off my clothes. I’ve never shared this much with another person before. I’ve always been so private, so the rush I get from stripping in front of him is too intense to multiply with eye contact.

  One step at a time.

  I push the jumper down over my bellybutton. When it passes my hips, it falls to the ground at my feet suddenly, revealing the lingerie I bought with the money Zeno gave to me.

  “You have good taste,” he says.

  “It’s for you,” I mutter with my chin resting on my collar bone. I still can’t bear to look up at him.

  “Would you mind if I felt it? I like the way lace feels.”

  My skin crawls at his words, daring me to allow him to touch me. I know that if I do, there will be no going back. His touch will make my body surrender to him, and once it does, my entire heart and soul will be his. Is that what I want?

  I tilt my chin up just enough to look up at his face. His dark eyes are large, consuming my body, licking me with the fire of his lust. I could fall into them and never return. It’s frightening, but so fucking arousing.

  “You can touch me,” I say in the faintest whisper. “I want you to.”

  “What’s that?” he asks, leaning in so close that his breath is hot against my ear.

  I shiver. “I said you could touch me.”

  He chuckles, sending another strong shiver through my body. “I’m going to touch you in ways that you’ve never been touched before, Alexia. I’m going to own your body, and you’re going to beg me for mine.”

  My mouth drops open, gasping for what little air is left in the room as he grabs my breasts in his hands. He’s rough with them, squeezing the small mounds like I’m his toy. He chuckles as he does it, rubbing his thumbs over my stiff nipples.

  “Your body is perfect,” he purrs. “Does that feel good?”

  I nod.

  “What about this?” He squeezes my breasts hard in his hands, digging his fingers into the sides and sending a jolt through me.

  I suck in a sharp breath.

  “That’s what I thought. The bra gets in the way, doesn’t it? We need to take it off,” he says.

  “Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I do think that’s the case.”

  “So, take it off.” He steps back, taking his hands off of my breasts.

  I immediately want his hands back on me, arching my back and frowning when they leave. Even the roughness feels so damn good. My body has been denied the touch of any human being for so long. I’ve literally never had a good physical experience with anyone up until now.

  I scramble to get the intricate bra off, pulling at the hooks in the back until it pops in relief. I drop it to the floor, letting it join the jumper at my feet.

  I didn’t think my nipples could get harder, but as Zeno raises his eager hands to them, they stiffen to painful peaks. Only his touch can calm them. Only the feeling of his hot skin against mine can bring the pleasure back.

  I jump as his hands clasp around my mounds, covering them completely. His palms are so wide.

  “You’re soft,” he says, massaging the flesh in his hands.

  “Thank you,” I mutter, not knowing what else to say.

  “I bet your pussy is soft too,” he says, looking me dead in the eyes, the words rolling from his mouth like liquor.

  “My what?” I say, shocked by his language.

  “Your pussy,” he says, eyes flicker down to my wet panties. “That delicious mound of fire resting between your pale thighs. I’d like to taste it.”

  I can’t fucking breathe.

  “Can I taste it, Alexia? I’ll make you scream with my tongue,” he says, wicked intentions dancing in his pupils.

  “You can do anything you wan
t to me,” I say, excited by the prospect of finally letting go. “Anything.”

  “That makes you mine,” he says. “Is that what you want, my darling? Do you want me to own you?”

  I nod enthusiastically, my face so hot that I fear I may burst into flames or pass out from the heat. I need cold air. I need something fresh before I forget what air tastes like.

  “I’m going to enjoy this,” Zeno says, removing his hands from my breasts and reaching for my panties.

  “Wait!”

  He pauses, raising an eyebrow at me, a thin smirk still occupying his lips.

  “It’s too hot in here,” I stammer. “Can we go outside?”

  “In the rain?” he asks, looking over his shoulder through the glass door at the speckled sidewalk.

  “Yes,” I plead. “It’s so hot.”

  “Very well,” he says. “Follow me.”

  I obey him, trailing behind him closely, inhaling the deep scent of his masculinity as he pushes the door open.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Alexia

  The air outside is pure relief, washing over me like the waves of a gentle ocean. I take big gulps of the oxygen, tasting the pureness of the heavens from where it came.

  I tilt my head up as we come to a stop outside the door, letting the droplets of new rain splash across my flushed face.

  “Is this better?” Zeno asks.

  “Oh, yes,” I say, keeping my eyes closed and my head tilted up to the sky, even as Zeno kneels down and removes my panties.

  Just like that, I’m naked, completely exposed to the beauty of nature. I’ve never been naked outside before. It’s so refreshing, so natural, and just so right. Even without Zeno’s face between my legs, I’d be happy like this.

  But his face makes it a great deal better. His lips press against my clit immediately, putting a light suction on it, just enough to make me squirm. His hands hold me in place, grasping my hips as he kisses my pussy.

  I look down at him, opening my eyes as he pushes his tongue out and moves it across my wetness, tasting my essence. I feel powerful and helpless at the same time, looking down on this incredible sight. I’m a queen and a servant, rich with pleasure, but riddled by the aches of need.