The house is dark, silent, and I stare at the ceiling, my mind racing a million miles an hour. I didn’t want to go out to dinner with Alek tonight, didn’t want to sit across from him at a fancy restaurant, our knees brushing under the table. No, I didn’t want that at all, it was torturous and…arousing. But do you know what I really and truly didn’t want? I didn’t want to like the way the big commanding man made me feel safe and secure. I’m none of those things, not while I’m in hiding, and I know better than to rely on a man to protect me.
God, I’ve spent my whole life around powerful, dangerous men like Alek. But those men always made me feel small, controlled, a mafia princess that should be seen, not heard. Alek, however, his mere presence, his authoritative nature, hit me a little differently, and tugged at a need deep inside me, a need to be touched, kissed…held. I’m a virgin, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never touched myself, never found pleasure with my own hand. Especially right now, as my hand creeps downward, dipping into my panties as my eyes slip shut, I visualize a very different finger touching me, stroking deep between my legs.
I slide my finger over my slick clit, and bite back a moan. The last thing I want is to wake the household, and have Theresa, Gio or both come running in to check on me. I realize what I do in my own bedroom is my own business, but I don’t want to do anything that might put my job at risk—and that includes fantasizing about the hot daddy next door.
I can’t lose sight of my goal. Work long enough to get enough cash that I can get out of Chicago and make it on my own. I suck in a breath as my finger slicks over my damp sex. I rub myself until my body is vibrating with need. Seconds before a shuddering climax overtakes me, a loud bang outside reverberates through me, and my gasp of need turns to a gasp of fear.
I remove my hand from my panties, my breathing fast as I sit up, and brace my feet on the floor, fight or flight instincts kicking in. Is there someone outside? One of my father’s men, perhaps? I push from the mattress, and quietly tiptoe to the window to glance out. The pool area is quiet, but someone could be lurking in the bushes. I scan the grounds, and from my peripheral vision, catch movement in Alek’s backyard. Surely to God, he’s not awake and walking around his yard at two in the morning. Is there an intruder?
Then again, maybe he can’t sleep either. Maybe he’s over there, thinking about my hands on his body, the way I’m over here thinking about his on mine. I might be young and innocent, but I’ve been around enough men in my life to know they look at me like I’m a fresh piece of meat. A shiver wracks my body as I think about the creep that cornered me once in the upstairs hallway of my childhood home. One of Dad’s top security guards caught him. I quiver to think what might have happened if Antonio hadn’t come along. I never set eyes on that creep again and never asked what happened to him.
I nearly lost my bathing suit top in front of Alek today, and as much as I was worried about losing my job, I have to admit, I kind of liked his eyes on me. What the hell is it about him that is messing with my mind and body? I don’t know, but I can only hope he stays on his side of the fence.
I’m about to head back to my bed when a bang, what sounds like a fence latch slamming shut, cuts through my thoughts. I grip my window and slide it up. The cooler night air washes over my near naked body as I stick my head out.
I narrow my eyes, try to see in the dark. Someone or something is creeping in Alek’s back yard. Should I go over there or call the police? No, I can’t have the police snooping around, and possibly identifying me. A beam of light illuminates Alek’s backyard, and my heart jumps into my throat at the sight of him standing by his pool, dressed only in his swim shorts, staring up at me.
I jerk back, and groan as I press my back to the wall. My room is dark. There’s no way he could have seen me, right? I take a few deep breaths and don’t dare move. I’ll wait it out, wait until he turns his light off and goes back into his house. A good two minutes pass and I let loose a relieved breath, sure he hadn’t seem me.
“Hey,” I hear from below.
Oh, hell no.
I stop breathing, hoping he’ll just go away.
“If you don’t come down here, then I’m coming up.”
Oh, shit.
I tentatively push off the wall, and move in front of the window. “What…what are you doing here, Alek?”
“I want to know why you were watching me.”
Oh God. I try to steady my breathing, when I say, “I wasn’t. I heard a noise, and it scared me. I just came to see if there was someone in the yard.”
“Why would someone be in the yard at two in the morning?”
“You tell me. You’re the one in the yard at two in the morning.”
He goes quiet, so quiet I wonder if I’m sleeping, and this is just a dream.
“Come on down,” he says, his voice a low soft command. It sends shivers skittering through my body.
“No, I…I can’t.”
“I wasn’t asking, Anna.”
I grip the windowsill, my pulse thumping in my neck. “What do you want, Alek?”
“I can’t sleep. You obviously can’t sleep. Maybe a good hard swim will help us both.”
A good hard something might help you, Anna.
Omg, where did that come from?
“I…” I glance over my shoulder, like a kid about to get caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I’m not a kid, though. I’m an eighteen-year-old woman, and is there anything wrong with me going for a swim with my hot neighbor?
Yes, everything.
I stare down at him, and everything in my gut tells me if I don’t go down, he’ll come up. I got to know him a bit over dinner, and while he was so good with the kids, it’s easy to tell he’s not a man people say no to.
“Give me a second to change.”
I back away from the window, pull on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and quietly open my bedroom door. I tiptoe through the hall, hurry down the stairs and make my way to the back deck. My heart does an excited little thump when I find Alek standing there waiting for me. God, I shouldn’t be doing this.
He doesn’t say a word. Instead, he swallows up my hand with his, and guides me to his backyard. I let him lead me and try not to stare at the muscles on his back as they tighten and bunch with each movement. I’ve been around half-dressed boys before, at the country club pool, but Alek is far from a boy, and for some reason his attention excites me.
Once we’re away from the house, he turns to me, and his gaze rakes over my clothes. “That’s what you’re wearing to go swimming?”
“I wasn’t planning on swimming.” I glance at his big pool, much like the Castellos, like the one I grew up with, and plunk myself down on a plush lounge chair. Earlier tonight, I thought we’d be going to some fast-food restaurant for chicken nuggets, but he took us all to an expensive restaurant that prepared chicken nuggets for the kids even though it wasn’t on the menu. This man obviously has a lot of pull.
“Who are you?” he asks, his question taking me by surprise.
“I’m Anna. Who are you?”
He drops down into a chair next to me. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m Anna, nanny for your neighbors.”
He stares at me, and I’m so aware of his hot, hard body, his close presence, it’s hard to draw in air. “Tonight, at dinner, you looked spooked.”
“I don’t eat out a lot. It was a big restaurant.” It’s not a lie. I’ve been so damn sheltered, and we have an excellent cook at home who taught me so much.
“Why did you think there was someone in your backyard?”
“Because there was,” I shoot back.
A small smile curls his lips, and my brain stops firing. Does he have any idea how good looking he is? He doesn’t have a ring on his finger, and I don’t think he’s married—not anymore. Still, I shouldn’t be out here with him.
He leans toward me, and I instantly lean back. He scrubs his chin, his hot gaze moving over my face. “Are you afraid of me, Anna?”
“I don’t know you.”
“It’s probably better that way,” he whispers so quietly, I’m not even sure I heard him right. He stands and turns his back to me. Without a word, he walks to his pool and dives in. With my insides quivering, I push to my feet and walk to the edge. A second later he surfaces, and his hands go to my ankles. His fingers are cold, yet they still manage to send heat straight to my core.
“Are you coming in?” he asks.
Heat burns through me, but I’m pretty sure not even the cool water will help tamp it down. He lets go of my legs and swims away, giving me room to dive in. I don’t dive. Instead, I jump, staying close to the edge, as far away from Alek as possible. I surface and he’s right there, so close, I can feel his warm breath on my cheek.
“I’ll find out, you know.”
I take in the concern on his face and ask, “Find out what?”
“Find out who you are, and what you’re running from.”
“I’m not running from anyone,” I lie and push away, swimming to the middle of the pool. He follows me, and we tread water.
“Are you in trouble, Anna? If you are, I—”
“I’m not,” I say quickly, too quickly, judging by the way he’s staring at me, his head angled like I’m a puzzle he can’t quite figure out. “I’m nobody to waste your time over.” Switching subjects, I ask. “What do you do, Alek? You must be someone very important to have a gorgeous mansion like this.”
Eyes dark, he backs up. His muscles grow tight, as he goes to the side of the pool, climbs out and sits on the edge. “I’m a lawyer.”
I nod. Lawyers can make good money, but this guy is loaded, and his body language tells me one thing: he doesn’t want me to know who he is any more than I want him to know who I am.
A light flicks on upstairs, and I spin. “I think we might have woken someone.”
“That’s Emma’s room, and she knows the rules.”
“Rules.”
“When I’m out here at night, the backyard is off limits. Her blinds stay shut.”
“If they don’t?”
“I fire her.”
“Brutal.”
“My rules are meant to be followed, Anna.”
“You come out at night a lot.”
“It’s when I do my best thinking.”
“What did you need to think about tonight?” I ask, and he draws in a very deep breath, his gaze so intense, so focused on me, I can’t help but wonder if I’m the reason he couldn’t sleep.
I swim to the stairs, and wring my T-shirt out as I climb the steps, cursing myself for not putting on a bra. I really wasn’t expecting to swim, and my nipples are granite hard. Not just from the water or the cooler night air rushing over my flesh.
I lift my head, and Alek is right there. His big hands span my waist, and he carefully lifts me from the last step, placing me directly in front of him. Big, protective hands stay on my waist, providing a measure of comfort, security, and warmth I’m not accustomed to. Dark eyes drop, taking in my hard nipples, and he doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he’s checking me out, or taking pleasure in my tight buds.
He takes a step closer to me, and a sound catches in my throat as his erection presses against my stomach. He’s rock hard. A thrill I shouldn’t feel burns through me, pushing back the cold.
His fingers widen, and without permission, he lightly caresses my nipples. He groans, like he’s in total agony, and his erection presses harder against my body.
He cups my chin, lifts it until I’m staring into his dark eyes. My heart crashes against my ribs, as need and want careen through my body. I shift restlessly, arch into him, wanting more attention on my nipples. Never in my life have I been so brazen, felt so sure of something or someone. I honestly have no idea what is going on with me, and when his deep, throaty groan curls around me, I don’t really care.
“Alek,” I say, a pleading tone to my voice. I want him to kiss me, to toss me onto the lounge chair and have his way with me. Not just because it will de-value me and make me a less attractive match for a rival family, but because I want to feel this man inside me.
“What do you want, Anna?”
“I…you.”
A dog barks in the distance, the sound cutting through the stillness of the night. He straightens to his full height, a noticeable shift in him. His body tightens, all lust gone from his eyes.
“You should go.”
My stomach drops, and I stand there blinking up at him, positive I didn’t hear him right.
“Alek?”
“You should go,” he says again, his artic cold voice turning my blood to ice.
His words hit like a slap to the face, and I take a small step back. God, I am so stupid. I hate myself for wanting a man who could so easily discard me. He’s no different than any other man in my life, and I’d be wise to remember that.
“You were the one who brought me here,” I shoot back, my hard, cold tone matching his eyes. Was this just a game to him? Does he get his kicks playing with innocent girls, teasing and torturing their arousal, and tossing them away once he gets them to submit to his needs? But he was hard too. He wanted this. Maybe he realizes just how inexperienced I am and doesn’t think I can please him.
The muscles in his jaw clench. “It was a mistake.”
He backs up, leaving cold where there was once heat, leaving vulnerability where there was once safety. Tears pound behind my eyes, but I refuse to cry. This cruel man doesn’t deserve my tears. But what he does deserve, is a good hard—torturous—look at what he could have had.
It’s on, neighbor.