Fractured Breaths Read online

  I use my teeth to pull her panties down and she smiles at me. I can’t help my returning smile as she lifts her hips. I reach underneath her ass to grab hold of the waistband and pull them down her legs. She helps by switching position and I pull them off with my teeth.

  As soon as she’s free of the barrier, I go straight for the source of the sweetest smell on the planet. Livia Fazio.

  My sudden change of pace causes her to gasp in shock but she settles as my tongue slowly circles her sensitive clit. Her legs jerk slightly with each pass of my tongue and I know the sensation is getting to her. I smile before putting everything I have into pushing her toward an orgasm I know she desperately wants and needs.

  LIVIA

  Bryan has his face buried in my pussy. I slide my hand into his hair, holding him to me and his eyes never leave mine. He’s watching me closely, but the sensation against my sex is making it difficult to keep my eyes from rolling up and closing.

  My orgasm balances on the edge of a knife and I bite my tongue to hold it back. I’m not ready to have this end. His tongue feels amazing against my sensitive sex. I don’t want him to move, ever.

  As if he can read my mind, he picks up the pace, forcing my eyes to roll up into my head and my body to start quivering. I can’t hold back anymore. I explode. Every nerve ending ignites with pleasure unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

  Desire roars through my body as his tongue slows and his hands roam up my torso to reach the tight peaks of my nipples. He rolls them between his fingers and it sends a new wave of pleasure rocketing through me as he draws out my orgasm.

  He begins to slow his tongue and his fingers loosen on my nipples as I come down.

  After a few heartbeats my breathing returning to normal. He extracts himself from between my legs and stands up. His body is gorgeous, muscled and perfect in every way. Though it’s obvious he works out, he doesn’t go to extremes in doing so. He unbuttons his jeans and gives me a bit of a show that reveals a tiny, dark blond trial of hair disappearing beyond the waistband. I smirk at him. “What?” he says playfully.

  “I just can’t believe I’m looking at you again. This is a first. You do realize this, right?” I ask. I don’t want to bring up my past, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I’ve never slept with the same man twice.

  “What’s that?” he asks.

  “I’ve never slept with the same person twice,” I tell him and he cocks an eyebrow at me.

  Skeptically he asks, “Really?”

  I nod. “Really.”

  He doesn’t press for details, which is good since I’m not about to give them out, but he does slide his pants down his legs and takes his cock in his fist and begins sliding his hand up and down as he draws closer to me. I set my elbows in the mattress and slide deeper into the bed. He climbs between my legs and puts a foil packet between his teeth before propping my legs on his thighs.

  For the first time in my life seeing a condom is disheartening. I’ve never slept with a man without one. I want to with him. I want him to claim me, to do things no one else has ever done to me before. He deserves it. If he’s willing to accept me with all my baggage, then he deserves to claim me as his.

  “What are you thinking about?” His eyes are gentle, concerned even.

  “I don’t want to spoil the mood,” I tell him and it’s true.

  “Rule number one for this relationship. Communication. It is required. So, what is on your mind?”

  I frown. “We have rules?”

  “Not exactly rules, just guidelines. There are, of course, the obvious ones, like no sleeping with anyone else, no more stripping and no more prostituting.”

  I roll my eyes. “That goes without saying, Bryan.”

  He smiles. “Good, now, back to what you were thinking about?”

  “I don’t want you to put that on.” I share honestly.

  He looks at the packet in his hand then back at me. There are unasked questions in his eyes and I expected them, so I answer them without him having to ask. “I’m clean, have always been clean. I’ve been tested every three months since being released from Ricci. I’ve never used drugs, so I’ve never shared needles with anyone and more importantly, my last test was a couple weeks ago. I’ve been given a clean bill of health and I’m on birth control.”

  “I’ve never…” He doesn’t need to say anymore and he doesn’t.

  “Then the choice is up to you.” I give him a reassuring smile, but he doesn’t move. I’m concerned I’ve ruined the mood and I don’t know how to fix it. “Communication, I think that’s what you said rule number one was. What’s wrong?” I ask.

  His eyes meet mine and it’s as if a light bulb has come on inside. He blinks, clearing his mind and says, “Honestly?”

  “Always,” I answer.

  “I’d never even thought about it. I’ve always worn condoms and somehow I knew all this. I guess it just took me by surprise to actually hear you say it.”

  I slide away from him, reaching for a pillow to cover myself. I feel exposed.

  “I’m sorry, I just-” He sits back on his feet, adjusting his position to get more comfortable.

  “This is why I didn’t want to say anything. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”

  “No, it’s alright. I don’t know what I’m thinking right now. I’m not sure it would matter to me, Livia. That’s the part that scares me.”

  “What do you mean, it wouldn’t matter to you?”

  He sighs, “I mean I want to be with you so bad, condom or no condom, that I can’t even think straight when I’m around you. It’s…confusing.”

  I take the pillow away, putting it back where it was and I crawl, naked, across the bed to him. “I understand better than you think,” I tell him as I get closer to him. I stand up enough that I can straddle his hips and I sit down on his lap, my legs on either side of him, his cock pressed between us. I ruined this moment and now I’m going to fix it. I have to fix it. “I need you,” I breathe.

  The remaining remnants of the fog that was clouding his vision clears the moment I flick my hips, pressing my clit against the head of his cock. “Put it on,” I tell him. Taking his cue to be a little bit bossy.

  He smirks at me, “I don’t want to.”

  I reach between us and grab his erection and slide the head against my slick sex. “Then claim me,” I breathe before claiming his lips in a soul-crushing, panty-melting kiss that has my head spinning within a heartbeat. I line him up, but I don’t push down.

  He wraps his arms around my back, takes hold of my shoulders and knocks me off balance onto my back. He slides his way between my legs, lining himself up my core. The head of his cock teases my entrance and his breathing takes on a more carnal rasp. “Jesus,” he growls before pushing inside of me.

  “Oh, God,” I cry out as he pushes all the way in. He stills, giving me a moment to get used to the sensation of him buried inside me. The motion sends a warm tingling throughout my body and my eyelids flutter.

  He pulls back until just the tip of his cock is inside and he teases my entrance. The motion sends a wave of pleasure pulsing through my sex. I moan.

  “So tight, so wet.” His voice is more of a moan and he pushes himself back inside me, but he doesn’t stop. He immediately pulls out and back in and I cry out as the pleasure is too much to contain.

  I can feel every pulse of his heart, every vein and bump of his cock as it moves inside of me. The sensation is overwhelming and my eyes close. He’s never been this deep inside me before. He’s crawling into my heart and taking over my soul with each thrust.

  It doesn’t take long for him to bring my orgasm to the brink. His thrusts become harder, more erratic and frantic. He’s close. I’m close. “Don’t stop,” I moan and I find strength to open my eyes. His eyes are full of lust, desire and a happiness that can only be matched by what I’m feeling as my orgasm topples over the side. I cry out his name and my pussy clamps down on him. He thrusts two more times in
side me before he empties inside me. He’s claimed me. I am his and only his.

  Chapter Seventeen

  New Identity.

  LIAM

  “What do you need from me?”

  “I don’t know. It depends on what you want.” Declan replies into the phone.

  “I need a whole new identity, a background and everything that goes along with it. It has to be verifiable and fool proof,” I tell him.

  “What do you need that for?” His confusion is clear, which is good.

  “It’s not for me.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Callahan. But I’m going to need more to go on here.”

  “It’s for Livia,” I share reluctantly.

  “What’s she need a new identity for? What’s wrong with the one she has now?”

  I sigh. “I really don’t want to discuss this over the phone.”

  “Well, you’re there and I’m here, so how exactly are we supposed to discuss anything?”

  “I’ll come to New York, but will you do it?”

  “She’s going to have to come with you. We’re going to have to do everything all over again and in order for me to do that, I need fresh fingerprints, a new DNA sample, you know the drill.”

  “That’s not going to be an easy task. She won’t go back to New York.”

  He snorts into the phone, “You can’t blame the girl. She’s been through hell in this city.”

  “We have other business to address up there. Maybe I can use that as an excuse to get her to go.”

  He laughs, “Good luck with that.”

  “Thanks so much,” I mutter.

  “Why does she need a new identity anyway?”

  “She doesn’t, but it just might be easier. Her life is about to become very public.”

  “That’s not a good idea and you know it,” Declan grumbles.

  This time it’s my turn to snort at him. “I’m pretty sure she’s already made up her mind.”

  “How in the world did she and Bryan meet in the first place?”

  “How’d you…”

  “I’m an FBI Agent, remember? I didn’t get here on my dashing good looks, though there was this one woman…” He trails off, no doubt thinking about some woman from the past. Declan Callahan, my brother, has always been a ladies’ man.

  “Yeah, whatever. Do you want the truth on how they met, or would you rather have the lie we plan to tell everyone?”

  “Both.”

  I roll my eyes. “Truth, they met at strip club.”

  He laughs, “Now that’s original.”

  “But it’s the truth. Remember that night back in February when I called you about her whereabouts?”

  “Aye,” he says with some hesitation.

  “I was standing in the middle of a strip club in Phoenix.”

  “No shit?”

  “The public side of the story, which can be corroborated easily enough, is that they met at a party in Phoenix this last June.”

  “The strip club story is better.”

  “Not if she’s the stripper.”

  “Oh hell, seriously? I thought she dumped all that shit when she got to California?”

  “Apparently, whoever her handler was royally fucked up with her. They left her high and dry. She did the only thing she knew how to do to make money.”

  “Fuck,” he growls. “I had no idea.”

  “How in the hell do you think McMurray got his intel?”

  “Oh, fuck. You’re fucking kidding me?”

  “No, Dec, I’m not. She used it as leverage to gain the identity she has now. The one she was given was tainted by solicitation arrests. She wanted a fresh start so she played the last of her cards. Gave McMurray the undeserved promotion and she got a new identity, but when I run her background, it’s full of holes. Hell, her date of birth is three different dates across the three credit bureaus. So, if you’re going to do this, she needs a solid history, no holes. Social security, birth certificate, you name it, she must have it. Then she needs a plausibly identity with actual records and transcripts where necessary. It has got to look like she’s lived this life her whole life.”

  “Fuck, that’s a lot to ask of me, brother.”

  “I know, but you’ll do it. You know as well as I do that she got a raw fucking deal. She’s doing everything she can to set things straight. I need the public perception to be clean. For her sake and for Bryan’s.”

  He’s silent on the line for a few long moments before he finally sighs into the phone, “Alright, I’ll do it, but you owe me.”

  I smile. “Name it.”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  “You’re a saint,” I tell him.

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “I’ll let you know when we’re coming.”

  “I need at least a week, maybe a little more.”

  “You got it.”

  We hang up shortly after that. As for the plan to get Livia to New York? No fucking clue.

  LIVIA

  “Where are you going?”

  “Shh, just to the bathroom,” I tell Bryan. His concern is obvious. “Have you slept at all?” I ask him.

  “Not really,” he yawns.

  “Why not?” I ask as I stand up off the bed. “I’m not going anywhere, Bryan,” I assure him. I have no intention of running. “Besides, I’m not even sure I could find the front door,” I tease as I step into the bathroom.

  When I come out, he’s sprawled across the bed, leaving me plenty of room and a great view of the erection tenting the sheets. I lick my lips and pad across the room to the bedside.

  I pull back the bed sheet and he has one eye open, looking at me with his eyebrow raised. “No wonder you can’t sleep,” I smirk and climb onto the bed. I straddle him, putting his cock right at my entrance. “Someone’s still horny.”

  He snorts, “You walked to the bathroom buck ass naked, what did you expect?”

  I line him up with my entrance and slide the tip through my wetness. I use little thrusts up and down to help coat his cock before he’s all the way inside me. I reposition my legs, giving me better leverage. “So good,” he breathes and I rock my hips, sucking him in deeper. The head of his cock rubs along my g-spot and my legs tremble with pleasure.

  He slowly slides his hands up my thighs, over my hips and across my stomach until his hands are cupping my breasts. He rolls my nipples between his fingers and I groan. My back arches and my eyes roll up as pleasure explodes. I grind my hips against his, my clit rubbing along him, adding more pleasure to my all ready to explode body.

  “You’re so tight. God,” Bryan groans as he throws his head back. I place my hands on his chest, giving me more stability as I slide up and down his cock. His little grunts and groans drive my orgasm higher but I want him with me. Concentrating on his pleasure helps stave off my own. My hips glide up and down a few times before I grind against him. Letting the head of his cock impale me deeper than before.

  The muscles in his neck tense, his fingers roll my nipples again and my clit hits him in just the right spot. My orgasm explodes and I cry out his name. I flick my hips a couple more times and he too finds his release.

  I collapse on his chest. His cock is still semi-hard inside me and our breathing is erratic and uneven. He wraps his arms around me and kisses me along my hairline. I sigh in contentment.

  “I’ll never sleep again if that’s what’s going to happen.”

  I lift my head to grace him with a satisfied smile on my lips. “Sleep. I will be here in the morning,” I tell him.

  No need to tell him that somewhere between his acceptance of my god-awful past and him claiming me, I’ve fallen in love with the man under me. Leaving him is no longer an option. Doing so would be like cutting off the oxygen I need to breathe. No more fractured breaths. I can breathe easy feeling whole and complete in his arms.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I won’t do it.

  LIVIA

  Waking up wrapped in Bryan’s arms is the most dele
ctable thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. Somewhere between our middle of the night session and this morning, I ended up on my side with him spooning me. He didn’t let me go all night. We were always connected physically somehow.

  I awakened to the most delicious pleasure I never knew existed. Morning sex.

  I get the impression that no hard-on will ever be wasted in my presence and I like the sounds of that.

  Doing what I did for all those years was never about sex. It was always about the money. When I started at the house, at only sixteen years old, I did it for survival. I did it because if I didn’t come home with money from the John I was with, then I got my ass beat by Fat Tony and his goons. After getting screwed a couple times, I learned how to take care of myself when it came to getting the money I earned. From then on, Fat Tony never had to kick my ass for lack of money when I returned. He found other ways of keeping me in line and making me pay when I failed.

  I shudder at a memory that’s not worth repeating. Remembering how Fat Tony himself, or one of his hired hands, would remind me of the whore I had become.

  I spent many nights sobbing myself to sleep because of what I was forced to do. Eventually the tears turned to anger. Anger at my situation, anger at myself because I couldn’t, no, I wouldn’t do anything about it. I was so afraid the police wouldn’t believe me. As time progressed, I was terrified of walking into the police station and landing in the clutches of one of Ricci’s lapdogs. My life would have been over, for sure. Over time, I came to accept my fate. I came to accept that I would be one of Ricci’s whores for eternity. Or until my beauty wore off and I was no longer a viable product for their business. I spent two years under Fat Tony’s thumb, but I never saw anyone age out. Whoring doesn’t exactly have a retirement plan.