Savage Lover: A Dark Mafia Romance (Brutal Birthright Book 3)
Chapter 42

Not again. Not this fucking shit again. I can’t lose Vanessa. I can’t.

Those words are a chant on repeat in my head. Have been ever since I got the call from the men guarding my butterfly telling me that she was dragged into an SUV. They took off before the guards keeping an eye on her could do a goddamn thing.

It had to have been Kozlov’s men, but right now I don’t give a shit who it was. They’re going to die, that’s all that matters.

My guards were at least able to follow the SUV, giving me location updates until our fleet of vehicles could catch up.

Firing guns on a dark highway isn’t the way I wanted to stop them, but I didn’t want to risk them getting away. Putting bullets in the tires slowed them down enough for my four other SUVs to cut them off in every direction. The lead vehicle hits the brakes, causing the assholes to slam into the back of them. I just hope the impact wasn’t hard enough to hurt Vanessa.

Once they come to a complete stop, surrounded on every damn side, all the doors fly open as the roaches flee, firing on us while also trying to run away.

None of them appear to have Vanessa, thankfully. They could’ve already hurt her…

“Kill them all, but keep an eye out for Vanessa,” I order Titus when we finally come to a stop on the side of the road, the headlights illuminating the bolting figures. We jump out, guns in our hands to back up my men in the other four SUVs, but there’s no more gunfire.

Diesel, the driver of the totaled front car comes limping over to us. “It looks clear, boss. Six dead men. I think we got them all.”

“Good work. We lose anyone?” I ask him.

“Three wounded but nothing vital was hit.”

“Get them to Dr. Gates.”

“Will do,” he agrees.

I start toward the empty SUV with the interior lights illuminating the inside, but Titus puts his palm on the center of my chest.

“You should stay back until we make sure no one’s hiding and waiting in the vehicle.”

“Fuck you,” I reply, as I push past him.

“If you take a bullet to the head trying to save her, she’ll be pissed,” he calls after me.

Since he’s right, I keep my gun up and aimed as I approach the SUV while my guys spread out to surround it.

The closer we get, the more worried I am when there’s no movement inside. If I was too late, if she’s gone, I’ll never fucking forgive myself.

And then I see her.

She’s on the floorboard in the middle row, curled up in a tiny ball as tight as possible, her hands over her head.

With her back to me I can see blood splattered in her light hair and down the back of her shirt and fuck…her shirt doesn’t completely cover her ass that’s bare. Those men better rot in hell for this.

“Vanessa?”

She doesn’t move. Not a twitch, nothing. I can’t tell if she’s breathing, and I can’t breathe either.

I crawl inside on my hands and knees to her and lay my trembling hand on her shoulder. She flinches away, and it’s a relief and misery all at the same time. She’s alive. She’s alive, and that’s all that matters right now.

“Vanessa. It’s me. It’s me, butterfly.”

Her wrists, there’s silver duct tape wrapped around them, keeping them held together tightly. Goddamn motherfuckers deserve to die twice for this shit.

Slipping my gun into my shoulder holster, I grab my knife from my pants pocket, opening it to gently slice through the center of the thick tape. Vanessa’s entire body seems to relax when they’re apart.

I’m careful not to touch her again, I just put my knife back in my pocket and wait her out. Her now free, but still shaking palms, slowly lower from where they covered her head. Now she glances over her shoulder, looking right at me with wide emerald eyes.

“Dante? You…you came for me?”

“Yeah, butterfly. It’s me.”

“Is it over?”

“It’s over. Are you hurt?”

“No. No, I don’t think so.”

Thank god.

As she uncurls, she twists around, reaching out her hand for me. Finally. I grab her up and pull her to me, crushing her against my chest. Her arms wind so tightly around my neck I can barely swallow, but I don’t need to. She’s alive, and she’s in my arms. That’s it. That’s everything.

My palms smooth up and down her back, but I don’t go lower when I remember.

“Vanessa?” My next question gets caught in my throat and I force the words out. “Where are your…bottoms?”

She shakes her head. “They were on the floorboard before the crash. But I’m okay. They were…Kozlov sent them, but they didn’t hurt me,” she says with her face still pressed to my neck. “They were going to until…until I told them who I was. Who I really am.”

Until she told them who she was. Who she really is.

“Who are you?” I ask even though I can only think of one female that the Russians wouldn’t harm when they had the chance.

“Katia. Katia Petrov.” Motherfucker. “Yuri Petrov is my father,” she adds just in case that much wasn’t obvious.

“Katia.” The name is so foreign on my tongue, but so right. She was never a Vanessa; she’s Katia. But she chose to be Vanessa, a poor, uneducated waitress who flies under the radar. Unless she tells me to, I won’t use the name that son of a bitch gave her.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you,” she whispers. “I couldn’t.”

My manipulation, forcing her back into this world, being used by Kozlov to get to me, it’s all my fault that Yuri not only knows she’s alive but where to find her.

“It’s okay, butterfly,” I tell her because I get it. It doesn’t matter to me who she is. There’s nothing she could do or say to stop me from loving her.

“Dante,” Titus says from behind me. “I’m glad Vanessa is okay, and that the bastards who took her are all dead, but ah, what do you want us to do with all these bodies?”

Shit. While I don’t want to let Vanessa go, I know we’ve got business to take care of.

“Tell me what you want me to do here, boss.”

“You ready to go home?” I ask Vanessa.

“Yes.”

I don’t think either of us needs to elaborate on which home I’m referring to.

Vanessa doesn’t ease up her hold on me as I crawl backward to the door with one arm slung around her back.

When we’re free of the vehicle, and I can stand up, her legs wrap around my waist as tightly as her looped arms are around my neck. She’s safe. She’s okay. She’s in my arms.

I inhale a deep breath of fresh night air, so fucking relieved I can barely think straight.

First things first, dead bodies need to be handled. Right.

“Put them back in their SUV and blow it,” I tell Titus as I carry Vanessa over to a mound of sand on the shoulder. I don’t think she’s ready to be thrown into the back of another SUV just yet.

Dropping to my knees on the ground, I rub my palm over her hair, smoothing the strands down, hating that there’s blood staining it. That it’s my fault she was kidnapped.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “So fucking sorry for dragging you into this shit.”

Vanessa finally lifts her face to look at me, legs and arms still locked around me. There’s no anger or blame in her eyes. No tears or even fear in them anymore either, thank fuck. I keep forgetting how damn strong she is, and now I know why.

My butterfly was born a mafia princess.

And she was supposed to be my queen.

Jesus. That’s it. That’s why she hates me. Hated me?

I refused to marry her all those years ago. I have no doubt that if her father was anything like mine, she paid the price when it all fell apart, even if it wasn’t her fault.

“You were so damn young, too young for me,” I tell her. “But if I had met you back then…”

She doesn’t let me finish my sentence. Her lips cover mine. It’s a soft, sweet kiss that tastes like everything is right in the world, like home and sweet surrender. Things I never knew existed before tonight.

Vanessa trusts me, feels safe with me, even though she shouldn’t. But I would do anything to keep this woman. To protect her. To just fucking try to make her happy.

After the first swipe of our tongues, it’s like neither of us can pull the other close enough. Her fingers weave through my hair to hold my mouth on hers as her lower body grinds down on my lap. When she moans, I remember she’s not wearing any bottoms. No panties either. My palms slide down lower as she rubs herself on the growing bulge in my pants. It feels fucking amazing, but I hesitate when I hear the whoosh of the SUV going up in big bright flames behind us.

“Can I put my hands on you, butterfly?” I ask around her frantic tongue thrusting against mine. My fingers fist the back of her shirt until she gives me an answer.

While our lips are momentarily separated, Vanessa lifts her blood-stained shirt up and over her head to toss it aside on the sand. Leaning forward she pulls my head to her breasts covered in lace and says, “When. All the whens are right now, Dante. I need you inside of me.”

“Fuck,” I groan.

Using my teeth because I don’t want to let her go, I pull one of her bra cups down while my palms lower to grab two handfuls of her bare ass. I swipe my tongue over her nipple and take it into my mouth, earning me more soft moans. I’m about to move over to the other when a loud pop from the blazing SUV startles us both, making us jump. It’s not the ideal place for this to finally go down, but I’ll be damned if I’ll complain or stop. I need her now, not in five minutes or when we’re alone with a bed. Vanessa obviously feels the same since she’s not wearing anything but her bra as she dry humps me on the side of the highway in front of a dozen or so of my men.

That’s when I remember our conversation from weeks ago making me chuckle. “Of course you want to fuck me right here, right now covered in blood with an audience while the world burns around us.”

“You were right. I was wrong,” she says in a rush, her hands working on my belt buckle while I squeeze her ass. “Make it worth the wait?”

Smiling at her words as she finishes undoing my pants, I rub a finger up her slit from behind. I’m worried she may not be as ready for my cock as she thinks. Between the kidnapping, and shooting, I wouldn’t expect her to be wet. But thankfully she is as I pump one finger deep inside of her at the same time she strokes my freed cock.

Her mouth comes back to mine, and gripping my shoulders, she starts lowering herself down on the head of my shaft. I barely remove my finger in time before she sinks down that first inch, hot, wet, and so damn tight.

“Take it slow,” I say against her lips, but she doesn’t listen. I even try to halt her progress with my hands clenching her ass cheeks.

Vanessa’s mouth opens against mine on a moan, fingers digging into the front of my shirt, as she takes me deeper. I’m in fucking heaven, loving the snug fit of her body without any latex to dull the amazing sensation of our flesh joining. It’s just so fast it has to be mostly pain and only a little pleasure for her. The woman is in a hurry to get me inside of her, and I’m just grateful to be along for the ride.

She slides up and down a few more times before I’m fully sheathed as far as I can go.

Her forehead presses to mine when she bottoms out and goes still. “Too much and not nearly enough.” I know for a fact she isn’t complaining about my size, just that she wants more of me. Her silky walls tighten around my cock, and I bark out her name in warning.

“Too fast. It’ll be over too fast if you keep that up,” I warn her through my clenched teeth as I force my dick to hold off, to not thrust upward into her yet because she needs more time.

“I don’t care.” Her tongue swipes over the seam of my lips once. “I’ll just sit right here on you…and wait for another ride…then another…”

“Jesus.”

Our mouths meet again, tongues now thrusting in the same frenzy as our lower bodies moving together.

When Vanessa begins to fuck me faster, I finally let go. Taking control, I lift her ass up and down my cock, thrusting my hips upward when I’m lowering her.

Her head falls back on a shout. I can’t tell if it’s good or bad until she says, “Yes! Don’t stop!”

Over and over again I slam her down. My mouth finds her neck, her exposed breast, anything I can get it on as our bodies finally collide.

I always knew they would sooner or later.

“This, us, it’s destiny,” I say against her open, panting mouth between thrusts. “I’m yours, and you’re mine. Always have been. I’m never letting you go again, butterfly.”

Vanessa’s fingers tighten in my hair as she throbs around me. She looks me in my eyes, staring into my soul through her entire orgasm. She rides me, owns me, destroys me, and saves me all in a matter of seconds as I go with her.

I don’t even know what words leave my lips or if they’re nonsense. It’s too good, so good, that I want her again, before I even finish coming inside of her.

And when the last of the tremors have left us, Vanessa lays her head on my shoulder and says, “I’m yours. You’re mine. Always.”

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