Ruthless Mr. Ricco, page 12
part #1 of Brutal Billionaire Bosses Series
“Wait, maybe we should go to a hotel,” I say.
He crowds me against the back wall and cups my nape as the doors slide closed.
“No. I need you in my home.”
His low rumble sounds thick with sleep even though predatory awareness wafts from him.
Despite the fear intensifying my lust, something deep inside me unfurls. Even now, with desperation reflecting in the golden flecks in his irises, he exudes control. He cares for me. His bulk blocks my view of the world, but his hand on my nape is gentle.
I switched back and forth between hot and cold last night as I recalled our time in the dressing room. My jaw aches even though my time on my knees was short. Matteo Ricco is not a small man. He could easily hurt me.
But he doesn’t. He won’t.
I shouldn’t trust him, but I do, and right now, with his clean, masculine scent in my nostrils and his eyes piercing into my soul, I can’t even remember why I shouldn’t trust him.
“Kiss me,” he demands.
I swallow and splay my hands over his abs. His hard, muscular abs.
“Beg me,” I quip.
I don’t know where the words come from, but once they leave my lips, they won’t disappear.
Realizing this may be the only time I have an ounce of control throughout the day, I gather my courage and lean into my cold bitch persona.
“You’re a vicious, spiteful little rabbit, aren’t you, Brook?”
Although his words are harsh, his tone and mannerisms are not. My insides melt as his eyes soften and lips tilt in the smallest of smirks.
“You like it. Now beg me to kiss you,” I rasp.
His low, animalistic growl vibrates through my bones and wakes a primal part of me. He tightens his grip on my nape and shuffles closer, pressing his abs harder against my hands while keeping our bodies separated.
“Please, Brook. I’m begging you. Give me your mouth. Your kiss. Your pleasure. I need everything, little rabbit,” he rumbles.
I slide my hands up his torso, marveling at his physique, and press my body against his as I wrap my fingers around his nape. He’s so big. So strong. So hard.
So mine.
I rise onto my toes and tug his head down to mine. The moment our lips touch, our hunger ignites a firestorm between us.
I don’t need oxygen. I need him. Every inch of him.
The elevator dings. He growls into my mouth and lifts me off my feet. I wrap my legs around his waist and groan as his long, hard cock mashes my clit through our clothes.
I’m empty. Too empty.
His powerful hands grab my ass and roam over my back as our tongues and teeth duel. I spear my hands into his soft hair and demand more as he strides through the elevator doors.
Nothing exists beyond my need. He sets me on the foyer table and strips my shirt over my head. I yank the hem of his shirt up and watch in mesmerized delight as he pulls it off and tosses it aside.
My insides clench. Slick arousal dampens my panties. He’s a visual feast. I hover on the edge of an orgasm just looking at him.
He overwhelms my senses with more kisses, his hands, teeth, and tongue peppering my mouth, face, throat, and ears with sensual demand as he lifts me into his arms and carries me deeper into his apartment. I return his hunger tenfold, desperate to consume every inch of him.
His soft hair, softer lips, hard muscles, and smooth skin enthrall me.
I squeak as he pins me against the wall and unsnaps my bra. With a few impatient moves, he tosses the fabric over his shoulder and fills his hands with my breasts. Lightning arcs through me as he kneads and pinches my sensitive flesh. I close my fists in his hair and tug.
He growls and trails kisses down my throat. I gasp as he takes my breast into his mouth.
The world spins as he wraps his arms around me and strides to the kitchen counter, never lifting his head, never ceasing his delicious torture of my nipple.
He clears the counter with a sweep of his arm and lays me on my back. The cold marble shocks a gasp from me, but the hot suction of his mouth on my breast steals my attention.
Pressure builds in my core as he unfastens my jeans and wedges his hand into my panties. I teeter on the edge of release as he slides thick fingers over my sex.
He finds my clit with unnerving ease and strokes in time with his mouth suctioned on my breast.
A dam bursts inside me. My core clenches and fresh wetness seeps from my pussy.
It ends too soon.
Matteo rises, pulls my jeans and panties down my legs, tugs my sneakers off my feet, and strips me of my clothes. Naked and splayed on his kitchen counter, reality sends tendrils of uncertainty down my spine, but he parts my knees with unyielding hands and nips my inner thigh in warning when I push against his forehead.
“I need to taste you, little rabbit,” he murmurs as he skims his lips toward my sex.
It’s too much. Too intimate. Too intense.
He gathers my wrists in his grip and pins my hands to my hip. I gasp and shiver as he licks my bikini line.
“Mine,” he snarls.
He runs the flat of his tongue over the whole of my sex, groans, and dives in like a starving man. An orgasm barrels through me with no warning, clenching my core and arching my back. He has no mercy, licking, swirling, flicking and laving as I suffer through the most intense euphoria of my life.
By the time I regain my senses, he fits the head of his dick to my sopping pussy and pins me to the counter with his grip on my breast.
Fear flits through me, but he thrusts deep inside my body and steals my breath. The horrible, delicious stretch burns all the way to my soul. I sink my nails into his abs to push him away, but he wraps thick fingers around my hip and surges impossibly deeper inside me.
“Matteo! W-wait, I—”
He grabs my chin and captures my heart with his eyes.
“Fucking hell, Brook. You’re so tight. So wet. Say my name in that desperate voice again and I’ll fill this pussy faster than you can blink.”
With ruthless thrusts of his hips, he pulls back and sinks deeper and deeper with each wonderfully painful invasion, never releasing my stare as he claims my body, mind, and soul.
Pleasure builds in my core. He angles his cock and hits something sensitive inside me. I hiss and scratch whatever part of him I can reach as he smirks and targets the same spot over and over again.
Unbearable pressure grows between my legs. He shifts his hand from my hip to my lower stomach.
I shatter into a million tiny, colorful shards of glass as he strokes his fingertips over my clit. Wave after wave of pleasure gushes from my pussy as every inch of me seizes in delicious agony.
Matteo’s rapturous visage fills my mind as my eyes roll to the back of my head. He continues circling my clit as he loses control. Pinching pain streaks through my euphoria as he shoves his full length inside me and finds his release.
Fuck. We didn’t use a condom. I’m not on birth control. I’ve never needed it. My cycles are mild, men aren’t worth the hassle, and life is too busy.
I groan as he leans down and takes my mouth in a sensual, drugging kiss. He frames my shoulders with his forearms, cups my head in his hands, and caresses my face and shoulders with gentle, worshipful fingers.
“You’re okay, little rabbit. I’ve got you. Don’t cry,” he murmurs.
“I’m not, I just—”
I stop as I realize tears soak my temples and sobs wrack my chest.
“I’m s—”
“Don’t apologize. Let it out. I started it, and I’ll see it through to the end. I’m not leaving.” Impossibly bigger emotions slam into me at his declaration. “Give me everything, Brook,” he demands.
I cling to him and cry the tears I’ve refused to shed. Eleven years of misery pour from me until my head throbs and chest aches. All the while, his cock remains deep inside me as his body shields me from the cruel world. He doesn’t rush me. Doesn’t pull away. Doesn’t abandon me.
I cry harder as I realize he will soon. Whether it happens when he realizes I gave him all my firsts or when I choose revenge over him, his gentleness is sure to disappear soon.
It hurts so much. More than my father’s betrayal. I feel more helpless than when I watched my mother battle cancer.
I love Matteo Ricco.
Love him.
But I can’t keep him.
I brace myself for the inevitable and push his hands away.
“I’m okay. Let me up,” I say.
He hums, strokes my hair back, and brushes his lips back and forth over mine before coaxing my mouth open. A single errant tear slips from the corner of my eye and joins the wetness in my hair. Matteo wipes it away with his finger before lifting his head.
His heavy-lidded eyes and kiss-swollen lips send tendrils of pleasure down my spine. He groans. His cock jerks inside me.
“Stop,” I say before I launch into theatrics again. My voice emerges harsher than I mean for it to sound. “Get off me.”
He lifts his torso and grabs my hips as he stands. I writhe as a volley of mini-shocks roll through me from the shifting of his shaft inside me.
“Did I hurt you?”
The horror in his voice pulls my attention to his face. I follow his gaze to our joined bodies where a faint smear of blood rings our sexes.
“No. It was my first time,” I admit.
“Your first… goddamnit, Brook, I thought…” Panic and concern shine from his eyes as he studies the mess between my legs. “I didn’t realize you were a virgin. I thought you just hadn’t had an orgasm with someone before, not that you haven’t had sex.”
He lifts his gaze to my face. I can’t read his expression through the terror in my veins.
My heart skips a beat when he cups the side of my face.
“I wouldn’t have been so rough if I had known,” he murmurs.
I shake my head.
“It was perfect,” I shudder.
He groans and invades my mouth with hungry strokes of his tongue. My nipples pebble and goosebumps rise on my flesh. His cock hardens inside me. I nip his tongue, turn my head to the side, and push his chest.
“Stop, Matteo. We already—”
“I’m nowhere near done with you yet, little rabbit,” he growls against my jugular.
I gasp as he sucks my earlobe into his mouth. The marble counter digs into my back as he tilts his hips back and forth in the tiniest of thrusts.
He wraps his arms around me and lifts me off the kitchen counter. With his cock still lodged inside me, he carries me through his apartment to his bedroom, all the while kissing and licking my ear and throat. I fight for breath as he lowers me onto his plush comforter.
“I’ll be gentle this time,” he vows.
I tighten my legs around his hips, pulling him deeper inside me.
“Not too gentle,” I murmur.
He growls and explores every inch of me. I marvel at his strength and sink into a world of sensations as he wakes parts of me I never knew existed.
After countless orgasms, I lie sweaty and depleted in his arms as his cock softens inside me. His seed creates a sticky mess between my thighs, but he holds me close and murmurs praise in my ear. Peace flows through my soul as I tighten my arms around him.
“Marry me, Brook.”
Reality crashes down on me.
I roll out of his arms and hide my wince as his cock slides free. I lament losing his hard, thick warmth, but I stumble to my feet and shake my head. He reaches for me. I shuffle backward.
“No,” I say.
He rises and stands on the far side of the bed. My heart gives a heavy thud as he stands naked before me for the first time.
“This was fun, but it won’t happen again,” I force the words from my throat as I turn toward the door.
Matteo stalks around the foot of the bed and grabs my arm before I reach the hall. I hiss as my still healing bruise throbs. He releases me but shifts his body to block my retreat.
His cum trails down my inner thigh.
“Don’t try to run away from me, little rabbit,” he growls.
“You left me first!”
We both freeze. For a moment, I don’t understand my own words, but then memories flash through my mind and I relive the worst moments of my life. The world fades away, and I’m right back in the halls of our high school.
“I kissed you and then you shoved me away, called me a shallow, selfish bitch, and accused me of missing one test question on purpose so you’d have a better score.” I can’t stop the tsunami of words any more than I can stop the hurt barreling through me. “Then you turned your back and walked away, just like my father did only six days before.” My breaths saw in and out of my lungs as acid eats through my veins. “I needed you, but you ignored me. You literally looked the other way every time I walked into the room.” I step forward and shove him with all my might. He doesn’t budge. My fury increases tenfold. “It hurt worse than when my father threw us out because Mama had cancer. He didn’t want us anymore, but you?” I shove him again. He grabs my shoulder but doesn’t push me away. “You hated me because I didn’t live up to your expectations.” I slam the side of my fist against his sternum. “You treated me like I was worth less than the dirt under your shoes. Just. Like. My. Father.” I punctuate each word with an angry thump against his chest.
He pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me. Held against his naked body, all the fight drains from me, and I cover my face with my hands and cry.
When I finally stop sobbing, he rests his cheek on the top of my head and tightens his arms around me.
“I didn’t know anything about your father, Brook. I thought you were choosing my brother over me,” he says.
Incredulity flows through me. I wipe the tears from my face and lift my head.
“Your brother? I hardly spoke two words to Angelo throughout all of high school.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw, but he runs his hand down my spine as though to soothe a wild animal.
“I saw you together in the hall.”
I scoff.
“What, on the rare occasion I walked past him? I—”
“You were clinging to him.” Bottomless fury swirls in his eyes, but his hold remains comforting, not stifling. “He threw his arm around your shoulders, tugged you close, and walked away. You went willingly,” he says through gritted teeth.
“What? Nothing like that ever happ—” A vague memory tugs at the edge of my mind. The bell rang. Noisy halls. My phone buzzing in my pocket.
My mom’s voice. My world came crashing down. Someone took me to the counselor’s office.
“I didn’t choose him. I didn’t even realize it was him who helped me that day.”
At his skeptical eyebrow lift, I push against his chest. He doesn’t let me go. I use my anger to hide my relief.
“My mother called and told me she had stage-three breast cancer. I stopped processing. My brain just shut off. The next two days were a blur. Then my father kicked us out and you—”
I squeak as Matteo bends, hooks an arm behind my knees, and lifts me off my feet. Cradled to his naked chest with my body aching in new places from his sensual mastery and my heart raw and exposed, I tuck my face against his shoulder and dig my nails into his flesh.
He wraps me in the comforter and settles me in his lap as he sits on the edge of the bed.
“I’m sorry, Brook. I failed you. Let me make it up to you.”
“You can’t. What’s done is done. It was over ten years ago,” I say.
“Then let me spend the next ten years fixing it. Not just ten, but twenty years. Thirty. The rest of our lives. Marry me.”
My heart aches. I want what he offers with every fiber of my being, but I can’t let go of my anger. I need justice for my mother and revenge against my father.
“No,” I manage through the emotions lodged in my throat.
The pain and longing shining from his eyes pull a confession from me I never thought I’d speak aloud.
“Not until I ruin my father for stealing my mother’s inheritance and kicking us to the curb like garbage. Not until he feels the same humiliation he put us through. Not until everything he’s ever wanted is either destroyed or mine.”
Thick fingers weave into my hair and tilt my face up to his glimmering hazel eyes. A thrill runs down my spine at the enchanted wonder lurking in his gaze.
“I can’t wait to watch you rip him to shreds.” The unwavering certainty in his gaze steals the breath from my lungs. “Take whatever you need from me, little rabbit. Use me. I’m yours. All yours. Understand?”
My stomach bottoms out. He means it.
I grab his nape and pull his mouth down to mine.
Fresh motivation flows through me. Revenge on my father means more than just avenging my mother and assuaging the fury in my soul.
It means freedom.
Freedom to love the man who stole my heart in high school. Despite the reservations in my mind, my heart is all in.
Matteo Ricco is mine.
All mine.
Chapter 14
Matteo Ricco
She said no but kisses me as though her life depends on it. I should be furious at her rejection, but I’m not. In fact, pride and awe flow through me.
Brook was never a pushover. She’s the most headstrong, stubborn woman I’ve ever known. Her refusal to push aside her quest for revenge is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
I’ll do everything in my power to make the process as quick as possible, even if she’s too stubborn to ask for help, because I need her by my side and in my bed for the rest of my life.
I pour my silent vow into our kiss. When I lift my head, she whimpers and scratches my nape.
“Don’t worry, little rabbit. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”
“But—”
“I’m not wasting a single fucking second,” I growl. “You’re mine all day today.” I nip her bottom lip and lick away the sting. “And tonight.” She gasps as I slip a hand inside her blanket and grab her soft, warm breast. “Hell, I’m not letting you go until thirty minutes before clock in to work tomorrow morning.”
