Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
20
LORENZO
Iwoke when Niko stirred. He muttered in his sleep. I caught my name, but the rest of his words were incomprehensible.
“No!” he cried and tried to pull away. I held him tight, afraid he would hurt his arm.
“Niko? Nikolai?”
He didn’t respond; he just struggled harder.
“Baby, wake up. I’m right here.” His hair was damp with sweat as he tossed in my arms.
“Lorenzo. No!”
“Nikolai! Wake up. I’m right here.” He stopped struggling. His skin was hot, but I didn’t think he was feverish. “Wake up. It’s me. Lorenzo.”
His eyes flew open, and he stiffened, a look of horror on his face. I let him go then. He stared at me, chest rising and falling rapidly. He still didn’t seem completely awake.
I held my arms up in a surrender posture. “It’s okay. It’s me.”
“Lorenzo? You’re here?”
“Yes. You’re safe.”
He blinked as if still trying to focus. “It’s really you?”
“Yes, baby, it’s me.”
“They didn’t shoot you?”
I took his hand and brought it to my lips so I could kiss the back of his fingers. “There’s nobody here, and I’m perfectly fine.”
He looked down at the bed, then back at me. “It was a dream?”
“That’s right. Whatever horrible thing you saw didn’t happen. It was only a dream.” He reached for me, and I pulled him into my arms.
His tears wet my shoulder, and then his body began to shake as he sobbed. I held him tightly against me and whispered, “I won’t let you go.”
When the sobs stopped, he pulled away, but he was still shaking.
“Are you cold?”
“Yes. It was so hot, but now…”
“Come on. Let’s lay back down.” Instead of relaxing into me, he held himself stiff, muscles tense. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I was so scared. I was running, and they had you, my father and Ivanov.”
He was shaking harder now, and I pulled another blanket over us. “It’s okay. I’m right here. I’ve got you.”
“Okay, just don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere for now. In a few hours, I will need to check on the guards outside, but I’ll have Dante come and stay with you, and I’ll be back as fast as I can. You’ll be safe. Dante will do anything to protect you, just like I would.”
“Really? Just because you asked him to?”
“Yes.” I would do anything to protect my brothers or someone in their care, and they would do the same for me. “I can’t imagine having family like that.”
I kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry. You deserve so much better.”
I pulled the blanket tighter around him. This time, he relaxed more, but I could tell he was still thinking about the dream.
21
NIKOLAI
Itried to relax and focus on the feel of Lorenzo’s strong body against mine, but I couldn’t settle. “I’m scared to sleep. I’m afraid I’ll have more dreams.”
Lorenzo pressed his lips to the back of my neck. “I have an idea how to help you forget your dream.”
“You do?”
“Roll over onto your back.”
As I did so, he slid under the covers and settled between my legs. My pulse sped up. “What are you doing?”
He gripped my thighs and pushed them apart. “What do you think?”
There was no way he was—I gasped as he ran his tongue up the length of my cock. I felt his laugh against my skin. “It’s your turn.”
Before my mind could process what he’d said, he swallowed my cock almost to the root.
“Lorenzo!” It was too much, too hot, too wet. I was going to fucking die. He smiled around my cock as he pulled back, nearly letting it slip from his mouth. “No. Please.”
I needed more. I needed to come. I tried to thrust up into his mouth, but he held my hips down. “You like that?”
“You… It’s…”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He took me to the back of his throat again and worked his mouth along my shaft. It was pure heaven. I’d never felt anything that good. I slid my good hand into his hair, holding him against me, and he hummed around my cock. Electricity shot through me. I was going to come way too soon. I fought to push back that urgency. I wanted to make this last, even if it killed me.
He gripped the base of my cock as he teased my head with his tongue.
“More,” I begged.
He ignored my plea and kept teasing me. He toyed with my balls, rolling them in his hand, then squeezing just enough to make me suck in my breath, afraid of the pain he could inflict.
I fought his hold on my hips, desperate to feel his throat surrounding my cock again. When he raked his teeth along my shaft, I hissed, then yelled, “Lorenzo!”
I’d had enough. I reached for the other side of his head with my cast arm, but he let my cock go and met my gaze.