The Enforcer (Untamed Hearts Book 3) (56 page)

“Then take it,” she whispered, even if the blush spread from her cheeks down to her chest. She fisted his hair when he sprawled out on the floor and pulled her over him. He licked at the seam of her pussy, finding her juicy and ripe. Tino spread her with his thumbs and looked at her before he sucked on her clit. Then she screamed just like he needed her to, slamming her hand against the tile when she fell forward and straddled his face as she panted, “It’s yours anyway. So take it. I’ll let you take it as dirty as you need it. Take all of it.” When Tino spread her wider and licked her faster, she let out a cry of pleasure. “God, Tino!”

He licked her until she was shaking over him, those little pants of pleasure turning into sharp, hard gasps of ecstasy when she came crying out his name just like he’d imagined a thousand times.

Brianna was still shaking as she undid her bra and tossed it aside. Then she fell back over him, sprawled out over his chest, her head resting on his stomach. She was doing that limber dancer thing she did, leaving her comfortable resting in positions a normal woman would find painful at best.

He leaned up on his elbow, staring at her spread over him, small, tight tits swaying to the rhythm of her quick breathing as she tried to catch her breath. Her red hair was vibrant against his black shirt, because he was still fully clothed. The guns were digging into his back, but he didn’t care as he studied her.

Then he saw what he’d missed before.

Stark against the pale white beneath her bikini line, right there to the left of her pussy, like a stamp of ownership, was a small tattoo done in black cursive.

Omertà.

He wasn’t sure how he’d missed it.

Maybe he just didn’t want to see it before now.

Maybe he wasn’t ready.

Now he ran his thumb over it, feeling that it was fresh, still healing, making it obvious this was the tattoo she’d gotten the other night before La Bomba.

She wasn’t the first one in the organization to get one.

They’d been showing up everywhere after Tino, Nova, and Carlo’s stand against the old-school administration two years ago. Now lots of young gangsters had them and not just Sicilians; it was more affiliates than anything. The street thugs Nova helped rather than treat like dirty drug dealers who existed to funnel money into the Borgata. The rescued victims of the underground sex market who sat in study groups to get their GEDs with the hope of succeeding at a real life, doubtful, but Nova didn’t care. It was like Nova played the same game Tino learned a long time ago, and all he wanted now was to get the pawns to the other side one at a time, even knowing most wouldn’t make it.

The Omertà tattoo wasn’t a mark of loyalty to the Morettis like most law enforcement assumed, though it was obviously a side effect.

It was an idea.

“It’s not dog food,” she whispered defensively when he touched it. “It means hope.”

“I know what it means, Brianna,” Tino snapped at her. “I’m the first one who got it.”

“It means there’s always a way,” she whispered as she sat up, ass on his chest, making the guns dig deeper into his back as she leaned down and stroked his hair while he lay beneath her. “It means that everyone has a chance.”

“It’s not hope. That’s what the rest of them think because they see it on Nova’s body, and that’s what he means to them. There’s always a way? Those are Nova’s words, Bri. It’s his ideal,” Tino argued as he touched it again. “But it’s not anything like hope. It’s closer to revenge than anything. The tattoo is on his body to prove he can win the Borgata instead of flip against it. That’s why it’s on mine too. We protect it like it’s supposed to be ours. It’s the mark of Nova’s ship, and it’s a gamble at best.”

“I know.” She nodded, like maybe she’d understood all along what the tattoos meant. “That’s why I got it.”

“You think because he’s so smart he’s worth betting on? He’s worth risking so much for?” Tino asked cynically, because he more than anyone knew that Nova’s intelligence couldn’t fix everything. “Just like that, you put a mark on your body that makes you a target for the rest of your life? It’s not even real yet. Like you said, all it is right now is an idea.”

“I didn’t do it for Nova,” Brianna whispered softly. “He wasn’t the one I was betting on.”

Tino snorted. “Then you’re really fucked.”

Brianna shrugged and gave him a smile, still leaning over him, all long legs and pale skin. “I hope so.”

Tino ran a hand over one strong, smooth leg and decided a tiny tattoo was the least of their problems. He placed a kiss on the inside of her thigh and let it go when she spread her legs farther apart for him. Brianna stroked his hair once more, watching him with hooded eyes that sparkled like dark emeralds in the late-afternoon sun coming into the apartment.

He leaned up and kissed the tattoo next, because if it was on her body, a part of Brianna, then it was beautiful. It sort of made him hope that Nova’s ship would fly one day, a long time from now, even if Tino wasn’t around to see it.

Then he gathered Brianna to him and stood with her wrapped around him. Her legs were tight around his waist, and she let him hold her as she threaded her hands in his hair and leaned in to kiss him.

He flinched on instinct.

“Stop that.” She pressed her lips to his, whispering against them, “Kiss me.”

“You’re on me,” he reminded her, assuming she’d forgotten. “I just went down on you.”

“I don’t care.” Brianna’s breath was still mingling with his. “Am I supposed to care? What’s wrong with me being on you?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly, feeling his heart jolt at the idea she would think absolutely anything was wrong with her being on him. He silently berated himself for treating her like she was Mary. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s fucking perfect.”

He tightened his right arm around her as he walked into the bedroom, and then fisted his left hand in her hair and kissed her. She moaned into his mouth, pushing her tongue in to rub against his, and the rocket fire of lust that one kiss caused was insane.

The goose bumps spread over his skin in a fine sheen of desire as it registered that he’d never had a woman do that after he went down on her. Tino was so fucking hard it would be a miracle if he didn’t come in his jeans. He had no idea if that was something unique to Brianna, because this was the first time he was making love to a woman as an equal instead of a purchased product. It was so strange to do this for no other reason than the wild rush of excitement that caused his heartbeat to throb in his ears.

He dropped her on the bed and pulled off his jacket with sharp, jerky motions, all the while running his lips down the valley between her tits because he didn’t want to be separated from her.

Except he’d come from work and still had the guns and the boots on.

“Stay right here.” He sucked on one pert pink nipple, making it tighten. He had to lick it again, and then, since he was there, he went ahead and licked the other one. “Just like this. Stay like this.” He grabbed Brianna’s knees and pushed them back until she was forced to place her feet on the edge of the bed. Tino tilted his head to eye the slim line of her pussy. “No, like that instead,” he decided as he pulled at his belt. “That’s good.”

Brianna giggled but kept her legs spread like he asked. She even opened them a little wider for him. “Like this?”

He sucked in one sharp breath and nodded with a simple, “Yeah,” because anything else was beyond him.

The apartment was sparse, but he had bedroom furniture in this one so he tossed his holster and guns on the dresser. He had to reach down to unlace his boots, because they were too sturdy to just kick off.

When they were off, he practically fell over her, licking her stomach and then kissing the tattoo once more before he grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it off. He tossed it aside and moved up so that her tits were crushed to his chest, and there was just all this bare skin making him ache and burn. It must’ve affected Brianna too, because she immediately wrapped her legs around him, forcing him tighter against her as she ran her hands through his hair and brought his lips to her.

Brianna was incredibly strong when she wanted to be, and she wasn’t letting Tino go anywhere, which worked for him too. The two of them just lay there tangled together, kissing until they were both breathless and moving against each other, doing a mini repeat of their night in the bunk bed.

Except he didn’t want to half-ass it this time.

He’d promised her all of it, so he managed to slip a hand between their straining bodies and pull at the button to his jeans. He tugged at the zipper, but his first instinct was to reach for a rubber in his back pocket before he kicked the jeans off.

The rubber he didn’t have.

He dropped his head to her shoulder and groaned, even as she stroked his hair and asked, “What?”

“I don’t have protection, baby.” He took a deep breath and fought down the panic that surged forward when it felt like he was fucking up. He had to remind himself Brianna wasn’t going to call Mary and complain, but still he worked like she might on instinct. “I can do other things. I can make it hot.”

“I’m on the pill, Tino,” Brianna reminded him. “I’ve been on it for years. Since before that night at your old apartment. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“But I’m—” He pulled up and looked at her, except she didn’t seem to understand. “We should use something.”

“Is there something wrong with you?” she asked in concern.

“No, I’m healthy. I get tested. I still get tested all the time. It’s like a paranoid thing I do even though they keep telling me I’m fine. I haven’t worked since, well, you know how long it’s been, and I don’t fuck off the clock. I haven’t ever. Not once. Just fooled around with you a little. That’s it.”

“Okay,” Brianna said slowly and stroked his hair away from his face again. “So, why do we need something?”

“I just thought you’d wanna use something since I’m me,” he mumbled. “Forgetting is a major fuckup.”

“I don’t want to use anything. If you’re healthy and I’m healthy, we don’t need to use something. This isn’t a job, Tino. This is just me loving you. I want to feel you. All of you.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you,” he said quickly. “I would never hurt you, Bri.”

Brianna was obviously done talking about it, because she tugged his head down. He flinched again, but she wasn’t letting him get away with it. She licked his lips, and when he didn’t kiss her back, she caught his bottom lip like she had in the car.

Something about it made Tino hot all over, like burning-up, could-barely-breathe hot, and he had to open to her, letting her push her tongue in his mouth, and he loved that she was so fucking bold.

Fearless.

Too fearless.

He decided he wasn’t going to think about it. He’d deal with her recklessness later. She’d been helping him deal with his shit, but Brianna only had one first time, and the truth was he wanted to make it good for her to erase how absolutely fucked-up his was. He knew it couldn’t undo what happened, but Tino was good at pretending.

Brianna’s first time had to be beautiful for both of them.

She moaned and pulled away from him when he slipped his hand between their bodies and touched her, finding her still slick, so he pushed one finger in. He curved it up, stroking her in the right way to watch her arch her back. She thrust her hips against his hand and bit her lip, already breathless for more, making it way too easy for him.

When she tossed her head to the side, he kissed the curve of her neck, licking it, watching the goose bumps spread down her arm while she kept pushing her hips against his hand over and over, urging him on as she got more and more breathless, panting and desperate.

His cock jerked when he stopped.

He wanted her completely mindless, because he wasn’t exactly small, and she was tight in a way he wasn’t used to. He wasn’t a moron. He knew he could make it good as long as he wasn’t rashly shoving it in, even if everything in him wanted it just like that. He wanted to fuck her hard and fast enough to forget about Mary.

But he didn’t; he tortured himself instead.

Touching her until she was right on the edge, and then stopping before she came so that Brianna was left quivering from the need, with a fine shine of sweat glimmering on her skin in the afternoon sunlight. She was getting angry too, just a little bit, but that was okay.

She
was
from Brooklyn.

He would’ve been disappointed if there wasn’t some bite to her.

“What the fuck, Tino.” She moaned and gripped at his shoulder, digging her nails in to the point that it hurt when he stopped short of making her climax for the third time. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I don’t wanna hurt you. The wetter you are, the needier you are, the less it’ll—”

“Are you kidding me right now?” She dug her nails in deeper, breaking skin as she pushed her hips up against his stomach. “Just put it in. Lemme feel it. I don’t care if it hurts.”

“I care.”

“I hurt every day,” she reminded him. “Asshole. I like the hurt.”

She kept bitching him out, desperate in her desire, like not totally there and much more carnal than he expected from his good-girl dancer who always made him study when he was in school, and was disciplined about everything.

And that was doing it for Tino.

Big-time.

So much so he wished she’d stop, rein herself in, not go quite so nuts when he touched her for the fourth time, this time using two fingers because she was so greedy now, and he was scared to push her too close to the edge again.

He stopped way sooner this time, but Brianna still gasped, mouth open in disbelief, green eyes wide and furious, and he realized he might be fucking up her first time because he sort of liked her angry. He knew the hurt was nothing to her.

Like she said, dancers hurt every day.

But this was seriously pissing her off.

When he smiled down at her, it was a fucking miracle she didn’t slap him like she did that Miranda bitch.

“You’re teasing me?” She grabbed his face, like she couldn’t believe it. “You motherfucker.”