Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I place my fingers over his lips. “Right now, Vinnie, all you have to do is fuck me. Use me. Right here in this closet. Take me like we’re animals. Do it. I need it as much as you do.”
Vinnie’s eyes darken. Without a word, he yanks me toward him, pressing his body against mine, and he kisses me. I return the kiss and tangle my fingers in his gorgeous hair.
He breaks the kiss and pulls away. I whimper at the loss.
“Raven… Are you sure?”
Instead of answering, I reach up to pull him back down to me. Our lips connect in another hard kiss and I feel his hesitation melt away. A low growl escapes him as he tightens his grip around my waist.
The world outside blurs away as we lose ourselves in each other. The cold linoleum floor beneath us, the smell of bleach and soap—none of it matters. All that matters is him and me. This moment. Here, the chaos from the outside world can’t touch us, can’t interfere with what we have.
Vinnie runs his hands up my back, his touch electrifying as he grinds against me, his need evident even through the layers of clothing between us. He pulls at my shirt, breaking away from our kiss just long enough to slide it over my head.
I let out a loud moan and arch into him, clutching at his hair. His hands are everywhere, making me feel alive. Tangled with each other amidst brooms and buckets seems symbolic of our lives—chaotic and messy.
Yet it feels so right.
“Raven,” he whispers again, his voice low and husky.
The sound of my name on his lips strikes me somewhere deep within.
Without further words, he helps me out of my sweats and then he unbuckles his belt and unzips his fly. He lifts me onto a metal shelf, and I wrap my legs around him.
In a moment, we’re lost in each other. He’s inside me, thrusting, thrusting, thrusting…
Completing me in the way only he can.
Finding solace and escape in the midst of the storm brewing outside.
With each movement of him inside me, I come close to the peak, and when he releases inside me, I join him in climax. When the pulsing subsides, our bodies are intertwined, my head resting on his chest as I listen to the steady rhythm of his heart.
He trails his fingers lightly over my scalp, sending shivers down my spine.
“I wish things were different,” he murmurs, his voice barely above a whisper as he traces my cheekbone.
“I know,” I reply softly.
A sigh ripples through him, and he pulls me tighter. He doesn’t speak again for a while, the silence broken only by the steady thrumming of his heartbeat and the distant hum of hospital life outside the door.
Eventually, I shift in his arms, reluctantly beginning to pull away. But he tightens his grip on me, his gaze intense. “Stay,” he says simply. It’s not a command, but a desperate plea.
“Vinnie—”
“I need you here, Raven. Just for a little while longer.”
His voice is laced with an emotion so raw and real that it nearly shatters my heart. I can’t refuse him. Not when he looks at me like that—as if I’m his lifeline.
I nestle back into the warmth of his embrace, letting the rhythmic beating of his heart lull me into a sense of peace and comfort. We stay huddled together in the small closet for what feels like hours, sharing in each other’s warmth and stealing moments of tranquility amidst the chaos outside.
“We should probably get back,” I finally whisper.
Vinnie’s grip tightens momentarily before he releases me, his fingers lingering on my skin.
“Let’s fight this together,” I say. “Let me help you.”
He looks to the ground and sighs. “No one can help me, Raven.”
Those are his last words to me. He turns and opens the door to the closet.
And he runs right into Jared.
26
VINNIE
This dude is bigger than a pro linebacker. Damn.
He looks at me like he wants to tear me in half, and I’m betting he could. I’m a tall and broad guy, but I’m dwarfed in comparison to this man. He’s several inches taller than I am, and he must live in the gym, based on how big the muscles on his shoulders and chest are.
But he doesn’t touch me.
He simply looks at Raven. “You okay?”
She nods. “I’m fine. Thank you for not…interrupting.”
I walk around Jared.
Raven follows me. “Vinnie…”
“I have to get back. My mom will be coming out of recovery soon, and—”
“And I’ll be right beside you when she does, no matter who tries to tell me not to be.”
I cock my head. “What do you mean? I’m the only one who’s told you to stay away. And you’ve made it clear that you won’t.”
She pulls out her phone and shows me a text.
Stay away from Gallo.