Chapter Eight

 

Lara’s heart hammered. She could feel her cheeks heating up at the words she let slip out. She opened her mouth, then closed it when he placed a finger to her lips.

“No take backs, sweetheart,” he murmured.

As if she planned on doing that. This close, he looked like some battle-scarred god of war, ready to take his fill of his willing conquest. The erotic thought sent her pulse racing, made her daringly reach out to trace the scar over his stubbled jaw. He watched her the way a wounded animal would, as if daring her to do more.

“Kiss me?” she asked, a plea in her voice.

Matthias obliged, cupping her cheek and taking her mouth without apology. She tasted herself on him and rubbed herself against him as he slipped a hand to her left nipple, rolling the bud between two fingers. She moaned into his mouth as he slid his hand between her pussy lips and rubbed it back and forth, gathering the wetness on his hands. He lifted it to her mouth, and she knew what to do. She licked his digits clean.

Matthias groaned. Lara reached for the hem of his shirt, but he stopped her, gaze focused, serious, but she was no longer afraid of him. It was a crazy thought, but despite being his captive she knew that he’d never do anything to hurt her. Besides, nothing waited for her back at home. Just an empty apartment and more piling bills.

Most days, Lara felt like she was barely living, but what Matthias did a moment ago made her feel so incredibly alive. Like she mattered.

“My body’s a mess. I’ll close the curtains. Total darkness,” he said, about to rise from the bed.

Lara grabbed his arm. “No.”

“What did you say?” His nostrils flared.

Lara swallowed, forcing herself to look past the scarred killer and see the defensive, angry boy underneath.

“I want to see you. Please. You have nothing to hide from me.” She let out a breath and told him something she never confessed to anyone else. “One of my exes, he always turned the lights off, too. I didn’t like that, because I knew he didn’t want to see my body. You said I was perfect the way I was.”

Matthias stared at her, and from his narrowed eyes and the way he pursed his lips together, she could tell her words pissed him off. The anger wasn’t directed at her, she realized, but at her ex.

“I meant what I said,” Matthias finally said. “It’s not you, but me.”

“Matthias, it’s just you and me here. I’m not going anywhere,” Lara said, gesturing to her leg. “Who will I tell? The stray cat I sometimes bring back home to feed?”

“Whiskers.”

She startled, remembering that he watched her for the last couple of days. “Yeah. He wouldn’t let me put a collar on him. He’s like a visitor who comes and goes as he pleases.”

“Some animals can’t be tamed. They’re beasts underneath.”

“Are we still talking about Whiskers, or you?” The conversation seemed to have lightened his mood.

“Don’t scream,” he said, standing. “I’ve already warned you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said patiently, but she couldn’t contain her gasp as he peeled off his shirt.

Ragged scars blended in with hard muscle and ink. Another reminder of ruined perfection. No. She ought to stop thinking that way. When Matthias looked at her body, he found nothing wrong with her. Skip and all the other assholes she’d been with only saw flaws they wanted to correct. She blinked, well aware he watched her the way a wounded predator would, waiting for her judgment.

“Come closer. Please.”

Her last word made him move closer to the bed. She sat up. Only the sound of his harsh breathing filled the space as she reached out, touching the white lines over his abs. She locked gazes with him and ran her fingers upwards, moving from one scar to the next.

“Tell me about them,” she said. “I want to know your story. It’s only fair, since you know everything about me.”

“My brother Marco and I used to look so alike, people often mistook us for twins.” Matthias’s voice had turned harsh as he closed his big hand over hers. “The fucker who did this, thought I was him. He worked on me for three days. I didn’t correct him, knowing it’s my job to keep Marco safe.”

“Why?” she whispered. Her heart twisted at the thought of her Matthias, being tortured by some psycho who mistook him for his brother.

“Marco’s the firstborn, the next head of the family,” Matthias said as if that explained everything.

“Sit down,” she said.

He frowned but sat on the edge of the bed anyway. She hugged him from behind, feeling all of his muscles tensing up, but he relaxed a few seconds later.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pressing a kiss to a scar on his left shoulder.

“For what? You’re not responsible for these scars.”

“Because by asking you about them, you’re forced to relive painful memories.”

He took her hand in his, kissed them. “I can’t remember the last time anyone asked about them. Most of the members of the Familia look at me and only see a monster.”

“You’re not a monster, not to me.” Lara insisted.

“Even if you’re just saying those words because you’re afraid of me, they mean plenty to me,” he said.

He peeled away from the hug, only to push her gently back against the pillows. Matthias rolled over her, all muscled six-foot plus of him. He took her hands and pinned them above her head, not to hold her down, but to spread his fingers over hers. Like this, she was even more aware of the fact she was completely naked, exposed to his gaze. Excitement shot down her spine.

When Lara first woke in Matthias’s basement, she thought she was destined to die once he got the answers out of her. When she fell from those stairs, she’d made them both prisoners. He cared about her. She was attracted to him in ways she couldn’t understand. Lara no longer cared about what could happen tomorrow. The only thing that mattered was the present. That thought gave her courage to say her next words.

“I’m not scared of you. Not anymore.”

“Brave words, little captive,” he said, tracing her bottom lip with one callused finger.

“You could have let me fall down those stairs. You didn’t need me anymore. Instead, you went out of your way to save me. Maybe I’m not the only captive here,” Lara dared whisper.

He sealed his lips over hers in answer, thrusting his tongue deep down her throat. Matthias released her fingers and cupped her breast and played with her tits, squeezing them. Moisture gathered between her legs. Lara was so wet for him, so ready. She wanted to experience what his cock would feel like inside of her.

Matthias lowered his head, planting kisses down the side of her neck, sucking at the hollow of her collarbones. His hand found her wet pussy again and began to stroke her back and forth while he continued to explore the rest of her body. She moaned. He licked at her nipple, then closed his mouth over it and bit, leaving the perfect imprint of his teeth there.

“Get yourself off on my hand,” he said, palming her slick folds. “I want you primed and ready to take my dick.”

She could only answer him with a moan as she did as he asked. God. His hand against her cunt, the most intimate part of her body felt so good. What would the real thing feel like? She ground her pussy against him, letting the pressure inside her build. He moved to her other nipple, leaving his mark there as well. She cried out, both from the building waves of pleasure radiating from her core to the rest of her body and the aches from his bites.

“Tell me what you are,” he said with a growl, working her between her legs faster.

She raised her hips to meet his hand with wild abandon, not caring how crude she was being. Shame flew out the window a long time ago.

“Yours,” she answered without question.

The word triggered her climax. Lara shuddered all over his waiting hand, her breaths stolen by his merciless kiss. The room fell away from her line of sight. Her mind flew, but he anchored her back to reality with the crush of his possessive kiss. She gripped his shoulders, sliding her thigh, her good leg between his pants.

Lara pressed up against the thick erection in his jeans and smiled up at him.

All her life, she’d been the plain, chubby girl who’d never been anyone’s first or second choice. Matthias saw himself as a killer. She wasn’t naive. Lara understood he’d done his fair share of black deeds for the sake of his family, but she only saw a man worthy of her. Fate must have shoved her in his path for a reason.

“You’ve done it now, Lara. There’s no going back from this.”

Lara didn’t think he was just talking about sex. Didn’t care. She might have just doomed herself when she started falling for this scarred warrior little by little.

He got off her, only to take off his jeans and boxers. Lara stared at the package between his legs, parting her mouth slightly. Matthias’s cock was thick, long, and beautiful, the tip leaking pre-cum.

“I’ve never had anything so big inside of me,” she admitted.

He curved his lips to a disarming and cocky smile, which didn’t fail to make her heart race. “You can and you will.”