Dangerous Flames (Mafia Hearts) (24 page)

He
snapped his eyes open to realize his arm was still around Gabi’s
waist, squeezing her tight. Bile rose in his throat as his stomach
twisted in knots. He jumped from the bed and ran through the dark to
the bathroom, reaching the toilet just as his last meal erupted from
his gut. Right as he finished, Gabi’s soft touch slid over his
bare back.

“
Are
you okay?”

He
shook his head, embarrassed that the dream had pushed him to this
point and Gabi had been there to see. “It was worse this time.”
The memory had never played itself to that point before. Each time
the recollection visited his dreams, it seemed like it was happening
in real time. The feeling of his finger on the trigger, the smell of
blood in his nose, and the power washing through him came back to
him. And those terror-filled eyes? The flashback made him vomit
again.

Once
he knew he was finished, he turned toward Gabi. “I’m so
sorry you had to see this. It’s never been this bad. I don’t
know why the degree of the nightmare has changed.” Glad to have
water still, he turned the tap on to rinse the foul taste out of his
mouth.

“
Do
you want to talk about it?” she asked as they walked back to
the bedroom.

“
I
want to forget it.”

She
crawled on the bed. “How can I help you?”

“
Make
love to me,” he whispered as he joined her under the comforter.
Her gentle touch and the curves of her body were the only thing he
could think of that would help tonight. He pressed his lips against
hers, waiting for her to say no as he’d done only a few hours
before.

Instead
of protesting, her fingers made a trail over his bare hip and then up
his back, sending chills through him. His dick stood at attention
when her tongue slid between his parted lips. Burning desire pushed
away the coldness of his memories. He pushed her tanktop up to feel
her breasts pressed against him. He’d wanted her for so long he
didn’t want to take it slow. But he wanted to satisfy her in
every way possible. He tore his lips from her swollen ones to move to
the curve of her neck.

After
suckling her skin for a moment and feeling her turn to mush under his
mouth, he moved down to her bare shoulder. He wondered how wet he
made her, but if he slowly touched the soft, warm folds of her
womanhood, he’d want to rush to lovemaking. Take it slow, he
ordered himself, and wrapped his mouth around her hard nipple.

She
gasped for breath, arched her back, and moaned his name, turning him
on even more. His erection throbbed in his pants, threatening to
explode. Mikolas had fantasized about being with Gabi so many times
but had never believed he’d actually be able to have her, yet
here she was, slipping her hand down the front of his pants. He
shuddered as she gently squeezed his shaft.

“
I
want you,” she whispered. “Now.”

“
Not
yet.” He traced his tongue over her lips until she parted hers
to take him inside but only for a minute. She pulled away and slid
out from underneath him and gently pushed him against the pillows.

He
watched as she pulled his pants down, revealing his rock hard
erection. A smile played on her lips as desire matching his own swam
in her dark brown eyes. She slid off her own shorts and tossed them
to the side of the bed. In only her thong now, she stretched her leg
over him and positioned herself over his erection to where it would
rub her clit as she rocked back and forth over his rod.

“
Oh
my God, Mik,” she moaned. He hadn’t even pushed inside of
her yet but could already feel her wet heat drawing him closer.

“
Take
me in, Gabi,” he begged. “Please.”

It
only took one shift of her hips and his erection slid right in,
filling her with everything he had to offer.

****

The
snow slushed under the tires and pelted against the windshield. The
sides of the roads were covered in perfect snow. The trees looked
like some sort of picture off a holiday card. Enrico would have loved
the scenery if he was into that sappy shit. Which he wasn’t.

He
wanted to be up at the mountain to get the goods unloaded. His
fingers found the butt of his gun sticking out of the waistband of
his pants. The small item made a world of difference to the
insecurities gnawing at his brain.

Pushing
his palm against one eye and then the other, he tried forcing the
fatigue away. He leaned his head back against the seat, glad he
wasn’t driving, so he could close his eyes. If Leon had been
the one driving, he’d be able to nap part of the way but no.
Everything had to get all fucked up for him. He glared at Rif, who
kept his eyes on the road, and wondered why on earth Enrico had let
the guy be made into the Family. It seemed like things were getting
worse with the guy. Was it Rif who had the hit out on Enrico?

Enrico
let his eyes absorb the sight of Rif, looking for some sign of
betrayal… or anything out of the ordinary. But the guy just
stared at the road, trying to maneuver the van over the snow covered
road. After a few minutes, Rif glanced at Enrico.

“
Is
everything okay?” Rif asked. His gaze snapped back to the road.
The van swerved a bit. He turned the wheel to get it straight again.

“
Everything’s
fine. Slippery, eh?” He cocked his head toward the window.

“
Sure
is. You think we’ll make it all the way up there?” Rif
asked.

He
didn’t know. The roads were slick and it was obvious Rif worked
hard in driving through the messy roads. It was taking a lot longer
than Enrico had expected and if he had any brains, he would order Rif
to turn around and then wait for Leon to get out of the hospital.
Waiting for Leon would eliminate Rif from knowing the vault’s
location. But he had a sense about things. His gut told him to make
it up to the vault. Once they made it into the small town of Logan,
it should be smooth sailing the rest of the way.

“
We’re
approaching the town. Do you want to stop?” asked Rif as they
drove passed the ‘Welcome to Logan’ sign. A few houses
dotted the landscape among the thinned trees. The snow was still
deep, but Rif maneuvered the van along the road’s edges a bit
better here.

“
I’d
like to stop for a minute,” Dom said from the backseat.

“
We’re
going straight through Logan. You guys can wait until we get up to
the cabin.” They had to since they were only about ten minutes
away… maybe fifteen at the most.

“
But
I-” Dom started to say.

“
Enough.
I said to go straight through.”

The
two men stopped whining like babies as they passed through the small
town. Enrico pointed to the turn off leading them farther up into the
mountains.

The
snow was deeper again with more falling flakes drifting down. Rif
switched the windshield wipers on, making a swish sound through the
otherwise quiet van. Flashing blue and red lights pulled up behind
them. The three men sat up straight in their seats.

“
Fuck.”
Enrico slid his gun down into the compartment on the passenger side
of the door.

“
Should
I just run?” Rif asked, slowly pushing his foot down on the
accelerator.

“
Stop
the van.”

Rif
snapped his attention to Enrico, making the van swerve. “We’re
going to get caught. Do you realize what we have in the back?”

“
Stop
the fuckin’ van. Now!” Damn it, why did the only sheriff
in town have to pull up behind them? And why had he made two of the
biggest pussys part of his Family?

“
I
don’t want to go to jail, Enrico.”

“
Rif!”

“
Fine,”
Rif mumbled as he slowed the van to a stop. The lights continued to
flash as the tall man with a brown wide-rimmed hat climbed out of the
car and trudged through the snow.

Rif
rolled the window down as the sheriff approached. The badge on his
coat read “Sheriff Stuart”. He bent down to look in the
window. “Good evening. Where are you headed?”

Rif
pointed in the direction of the cabin. “Just up the road a bit.
We‘re on a vacation from the wives, if you know what I mean?”
Rif forced a laugh.

Sheriff
Stuart shifted his gaze to look at Dom sitting in the back. “These
roads are closed. All of those cabins have been evacuated.”

“
We’ll
be careful, sir.”

“
I
can’t let you up there.” The sheriff shook his head in
reply. His arms crossed over his meaty chest. They didn’t need
any trouble with this wanna-be-hard-ass small town cop.

Enrico
glanced out the window and then back to the Sheriff. “Is there
some place to stay? Weather’s too bad to turn back for home.”

Pointing
toward the road, he said, “Right up there. I’ll lead the
way.” The sheriff climbed back in his car, flipping the lights
off. They flipped in the opposite direction before they followed the
sheriff down the road.

“
What
the hell are we doing?” Dom asked, leaning between the two
front seats. He pushed his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose.

“
Going
to a motel. If they’ve evacuated the mountain there’ll be
no way we can get this thing up there.” Enrico patted the dash
of the van. “We’ll rest up and then head out the first
chance we get.”

****

Gabrielle
had opened the curtains to take a peek outside to find the snow had
finally stopped falling. It brought a smile to her lips but also a
tiny ping of ache in her heart. When the snow melted, they’d be
able to go down the road to get out of there. She wasn’t sure
how exactly they’d be together, but the knowing they would be
brought a smile to her lips and made her heart swell.

His
footsteps approached her from behind, but she didn’t turn
around. The morning outside was too beautiful, she didn’t want
to break the peacefulness of it. His arms went around her waist,
giving her the chance to snuggle against his chest.

“
I
love you,” he whispered in her ear.

“
What?”
she had to be dreaming. She turned to look at him. “What did
you say?”

He
chuckled but shifted his weight. “I said I love you.”

“
I
thought I might’ve been dreaming of you telling me that last
night.” Her headed rested on his shoulder as his fingers on his
right hand trailed up the bottom of her sweatshirt, sending goose
bumps over her bare skin.

She’d
heard him claim he loved her the night before, but the words hadn’t
seemed real until now, standing on the porch while staring out at the
beautiful scenery. He really loved her. The idea was so foreign but
exhilarating, sending all of the questions in her mind on
hyper-speed.

She
didn’t want to leave all that she loved in Vegas. Not her
boutique, not her parents, not her home. But she couldn’t
return now. Surely, her father wasn’t going to approve since he
didn’t want her involved with the mob life. She forced herself
in by kidnapping his hitman and wasn’t so naïve that she
didn’t realize there would be repercussions for the stunt she’d
pulled.

“
I’ve
loved you for so long, and I’m surprised nobody figured it out
before now, especially you,” he said, his soothing voice
yanking her from her worries.

“
Why
didn’t you tell me?”

“
I
needed to hide it.”

She
looked back up at him and smiled. “You did a good job. And for
the record, I had a crush on you before I went away to school.”

He
sighed. “I want to be with you, Gabrielle. I don’t want
to spend another night without you.”

“
Really,
Mik?” Her breath caught in her throat as the butterflies
swarmed around in her stomach. “Because I want that too.”

He
gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “I mean it, Gabi. There’s
a problem with that though. A problem we need to talk about.”

She
knew it was too good to be true. “What?” She pulled from
Mik’s embrace and turned to face him, leaning against the
railing. Her arms crossed protectively over her breasts as she stared
into his eyes.

“
I
never told you how I felt because of your father. He told me long ago
that I’m not allowed to have any sort of relationship with you.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told you here, but, hell.” He
paced the length of the porch, raking his fingers through his hair.
“I don’t know. I really don’t think you plan on
leaving Vegas forever. If you’re with me, you will have to. No
contact with any of our friends or family.”