Knocked Up by the Beast: A Mafia Romance (Kingdoms Book 1) Page 4

  His booming voice comes through. “That won’t be necessary.”

  I don’t know if it’s the room's architecture or something else, but his voice surrounds me. It makes my heart drop and my thighs clench.

  I need to see if he’s really as big as he sounds.

  I’m so curious.

  “Is there a reason why you won’t show your face?” I ask.

  Maybe he’s an extremely private person. Which would have explained why he’s living in this opulent estate all by himself.

  Ordinarily, this would’ve been fine, but I’m going to be living with him. I don’t want to spend the next three months wondering how he looks like.

  “Hello?” I press further.

  Again, there’s no response.

  Just when I’m about to give up, one massive thigh comes into my line of vision. And then another.

  I stare at his powerful thighs even as the rest of him emerges out of the darkness.

  My eyes remain on the lower half of his body. I can’t look away.

  Nothing could have prepared me.

  He’s…massive.

  Way over six feet tall, maybe even seven.

  The fabric of his pants strains against the bulk of his frame. He’s so thick. Everywhere.

  I can’t breathe.

  I. Physically. Cannot. Breathe.

  It’s like someone has wrapped their arm around my waist, and started to play with my body.

  I become a string instrument.

  I’m the violin, and this man in front of me…he’s plucking all of my strings.

  I close my eyes, hoping to compose myself.

  Desire burns bright behind my eyelids. It makes me sway in place.

  I can’t work for him. If I do, it’s going to be a sweet torture every second of every day.

  “Look at me,” he growls, making me jump. “Look at my face.”

  It’s a test, says a voice in my head. He’s trying to figure out what kind of a person I am.

  I take a deep breath and open my eyes. But I still can’t bring myself to meet his gaze. My eyes remain trained on his thighs.

  I can see the full outline of his body.

  It exudes power and masculinity. Even the way he stands, it’s all alpha. He’s such a man.

  Man.

  “Belle,” he orders.

  My eyes snap up to meet his.

  I flinch.

  But it’s not for the reason he might assume.

  It’s the way he says my name. It’s the same name I’ve had all my life, but it sounds different when he says it.

  I realize that I like hearing my name on his lips. And that scares and thrills me at the same time.

  Neither of us move as we study each other. His eyes roam all over my face, and I let myself do the same.

  He’s been hiding because he’s…different.

  It’s not just his size. Everything about him is not what you would generally expect to find.

  Golden hair comes down to his shoulders. It’s like a lion’s mane, taking up so much space, commanding your attention.

  His beard in particular makes my knees weak.

  It’s rugged. Animalistic.

  Something about that is insanely sexy.

  But I guess his beard isn’t the first thing people would normally notice.

  His face—the left side of it looks bruised. Discolored.

  It’s a mixture of red and purple. It looks like a fresh burn, but it’s smooth so I know it’s not recent.

  I have a feeling that this is why he hides.

  Why he prefers to watch from the shadows.

  As I stare at him, he draws his hood up. It’s wide, and covers the sides of his face. My attention is drawn to his straight Greek nose and lethal eyes.

  He’s self-conscious.

  This beautiful man feels the need to hide. A pang of compassion tugs at my heart.

  Papa coughs from beside me.

  I realize that I’ve been just blatantly staring at my new boss for the last few seconds. He’s been doing the same. And yet, I still can’t tear my eyes away.

  “Is there anything else you wish to see?” he says mockingly.

  Heat rises up my neck, setting my throat on fire. “You haven’t mentioned your name,” I say.

  “Leo Blackwood,” he says, his voice softening once more.

  The fire in my throat spreads to my heart now.

  Leo. Lion. It’s the perfect name for him.

  “Belle Carpenter,” I say.

  He nods. He already knows.

  I look at Papa. “I already brought my things,” I say, pointing my thumb to my backpack.

  “You’re really doing this?” he asks.

  “I’m really doing this,” I say, leaving no room for further discussion.

  Papa holds my elbow softly, and leads me to a corner.

  He whispers furiously, “Belle, if something happens to you, I don’t know what I would do.”

  “Why do you presume that something bad is going to happen to me?” I ask, pulling my arm away from his grasp.

  “Because we don’t know this man.”

  “Name one person from the restaurant I work at,” I say, crossing my arms.

  “What?”

  “You heard me, Papa. Name one of my colleagues.”

  “What difference would that make?”

  “It makes all the difference. You’re saying that it isn’t safe for me to work here. And I’m asking you—what makes you think that?”

  And just like that, I’m defending Leo, a man I barely exchanged two words with.

  “Well, look at him,” Papa whisper-shouts.

  “He’s larger than the average man, and so what, that automatically makes him dangerous?”

  “Belle, I’m not comfortable with the idea of you living here with that man.”

  “Papa, do you realize that I’m miserable at my current job?” I ask softly, even though I know what his answer is going to be.

  “Miserable?”

  I nod, trying to hold back the tears.

  Papa lives in the same house as us, but he's only there physically. His mind is always lost in one of his inventions.

  He’s never been there when it mattered most, so this shouldn’t hurt me.

  But it hurts anyway.

  “In fact, I’ve been miserable for a while. I need a change. A fresh start. This could be exactly what I need.”

  Papa stares at me blankly.

  I can’t tell what’s going on inside his head.

  Just when I start to think that he’s easing up to the idea, he shakes his head and says, “It’s all my fault. I never should have stepped foot inside this estate.”

  “What’s done is done, Papa,” I say gently.

  Papa has always had an anxious disposition. He gets this way when his inventions don’t go according to plan. And now, faced with an unfamiliar and strange situation, he’s reacting the same way.

  I continue, “Believe it or not, I’m actually happy about this. I’ve been saving up for a trip. This could be the break I need. All I really wanted was a change in scenery anyway. It’s a win-win.”

  Papa looks around at our surroundings. “It looks like a lot of work.”

  “I’ll take it one day at a time. Nothing I can’t handle,” I assure him. I keep my voice bright and cheery, even though I don’t really feel that way.

  “Belle-“ he starts, likely to protest again.

  I hang my head. I can’t do this any longer.

  I’ve already made up my mind. I want to work here, and I want to be with Leo.

  As if on cue, Leo comes to my rescue. “I’ve arranged transportation for you,” he says to my father. “Since your car has broken down.”

  I look over at him.

  Our eyes lock once more.

  Something inside my stomach melts like ice cream on a hot summer day.

  Half of the reason I offered to work for him was because of my curiosity. I’m afraid of what may come of this, bu
t my sense of wonder trumps everything else.

  This man feels like a calling.

  He feels like something I should be moving towards.

  7

  Leo

  She doesn’t shrink away in fear when she sees my face. She doesn’t take an involuntary step backward like other people do.

  I don’t terrify her.

  I didn’t want to push my luck though, so I pulled my hood up a few moments later.

  When her father held her elbow and pulled her away to talk to her in private, my every instinct was screaming at me to break his arm for taking her away from me.

  But when it comes to Belle, I shouldn’t act on my instincts.

  I don’t want her to think of me as some monster.

  For some reason, the girl likes me.

  Why else would she keep defending me to her father?

  When they had that hushed argument, I caught snippets of it. It was evident that they were talking about me.

  For some reason I can’t fully fathom, Belle kept defending me. Repeatedly.

  I’m still in awe of her.

  I didn’t think it was possible for me to be more attracted to her, but it only grows stronger with everything she does and says.

  Now, she’s watching from the window as her father is driven away in one of my cars.

  I study her.

  She’s just as exquisite from behind.

  The white blouse she’s wearing shows off the smooth skin of her neck and shoulders. The sight of it makes me want to rip it right off her body.

  It would be so easy.

  To lift up her pretty blue skirt, and thrust into her little pussy right there.

  I could fill her pussy to the brim by the time the car is out of sight.

  I know that she wants me.

  Her eyes glitter with curiosity every time she looks at me.

  I didn’t miss the way her pulse raced when she saw me for the first time. Her nipples hardened into sharp little points, beckoning me to come have a taste.

  She squeezed her thighs together as she stood. It made me want to pry them apart and feast on her for the rest of my life.

  I’m addicted.

  Shamelessly obsessed.

  She has me wrapped around her pinkie finger, and she has no clue.

  As I watch, Belle brings her hands up to her eyes, and her shoulders hunch forward. She sniffs.

  And just like that, I forget all of my wicked thoughts.

  Panic clogs up my throat.

  She’s upset. I need to comfort her.

  I rub my hands on my thighs, unsure of how to proceed. Maybe I just need to talk to her. “Belle?”

  She startles at the sound of my voice.

  Quickly straightening herself, she smiles at me from over her shoulder. “I’m fine. It’s just…overwhelming. I thought that I wanted to get away from my family. Being away from them, even for a weekend, was my idea of paradise. Now that I got what I wanted, I just feel…alone.”

  I nod. I’m a certified expert on loneliness. “I can understand that.”

  “Do you have any family?” She turns around, and crosses her arms under her supple breasts, plumping them up.

  You’re not an animal, I tell myself. You can control yourself.

  I take a deep breath and steady my thoughts.

  Family. How much about my family can I safely tell her?

  “I have a sister. Ivy. She’s studying design now. Sophomore at NYU.”

  Ivy and I have different mothers. Neither of them were in the picture though, so she grew up in the estate with me.

  We fought like cats and dogs every minute of every day. But when she left for college, this estate that I grew up in suddenly seemed too big.

  “Oh,” says Belle, stepping away from the window. “Are you guys around the same age?”

  I raise an amused eyebrow. She wants to know how old I am. “Do I look like a teenager to you?”

  A blush reddens her cheeks. “No.”

  I stay quiet, waiting for her to ask.

  She does. “So how old are you?”

  “Thirty-six.”

  She swallows. I don’t miss the way her pulse kicks up again.

  She finds it hot that I’m older than her.

  “I’m about to turn twenty-two next month,” she offers.

  Fuck.

  She’s much younger than I had expected.

  I clear my throat. “Your father mentioned that you have sisters too?”

  Her uneasiness evaporates into thin air. “Yeah. Julie and Hazel. Julie is two years younger than me, and Hazel is two years older.”

  She goes on to describe them in great detail.

  Her younger sister is an artist, and her older sister doesn’t speak to anybody anymore.

  The part about her older sister piques my interest, but I don’t ask her about it. She would’ve elaborated on it if she wanted to, but she seemed eager to move on from the subject.

  She’s sharing all of this information with me even though I hadn’t asked her to.

  Is this her way of letting me into her world? Or is she naturally this bubbly?

  Either way, I find it endearing.

  “Listen,“ I say. “I know that the circumstances that brought you here aren’t ideal, but-“

  She cuts me off. “I’m not going to hold that against you. About Papa, we’ll just agree to disagree.”

  I nod. Agree to disagree. That sounds good.

  “Would you like a tour of Blackwood Estate?” I ask.

  “You named your house after yourself?”

  “My great-grandfather did,” I say, shrugging.

  “I can’t believe that I grew up in Silver Falls, spent my whole life here, and yet, I’ve never heard of this place before today,” she says.

  “My family- or what’s left of it- keeps a low profile,” I answer vaguely.

  “Do you live here all by yourself?” she asks.

  “Most of the time, yes. Ivy comes over for summer break,” I tell her. “And I don’t know where my father is.”

  And frankly, I don’t care. I lost all respect for him when I was twelve years old anyway.

  “Why don’t you move to a more…” she bites down on her lips as she thinks about the right word for it.

  “To a bachelor pad?” I chuckle. “Because I like living here.”

  I don’t tell her that I want to have a family of my own one day. That I have some dreams that I keep to myself.

  I show her around the estate.

  She marvels at the paintings and the architecture. She’s a girl who appreciates history.

  Her enthusiasm is infectious, because I end up becoming her tour guide.

  I tell her everything I know about the murals and antique tapestries.

  I show her the hidden staircases and the secret passageways. I take her to the ballroom and the backyard.

  I’m about to show her the rose gardens when something else catches her astute eye.

  “What’s that?” she asks, pointing towards a deeper section of Blackwood estate.

  The forbidden area.

  “The tour is over,” I say abruptly. My voice is a sharp icicle, killing the easy banter we had until now.

  Her big bambi eyes grow large, and she looks away.

  I hold back a sigh of frustration.

  I know that I can’t treat her like I treated her father. I should be nicer to her, make her feel welcome. “That’s the West Wing,” I say reluctantly.

  “What’s in the West Wing?” she asks in a soft voice.

  8

  Leo

  I take a step closer.

  I’m standing so close to her that I can feel her body heat.

  Her telltale nipples harden once more, but my eyes remain trained on hers. “I’m going to tell you this only one time Belle, so you better listen. The West Wing is forbidden. You are to never enter it. No matter what.”

  She swallows.

  I don’t know if it’s because of the iciness of
my tone or because of my proximity.

  If she’s feeling uncomfortable, she can back away.

  But this girl is a feisty one. She holds her ground.

  “Do you understand?” I hiss.

  “Fine,” she says, lowering her eyes. “Okay.”

  “Okay.”

  Neither of us move.

  My agitation morphs once more. My focus is now on the swell of her lower lip. The softness of her skin.

  She’s a ripe peach, fresh for eating. It would feel so good to sink my teeth into all of her juiciness.

  “Leo?” she says, her voice quivering.

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t have to keep your hood up.”

  Her hand reaches out tenderly, shocking us both.

  I remain frozen to the spot. She pauses for a moment before lowering my hood.

  Her hand brushes against my shoulder. She lets it rest on my chest.

  When she looks at me, she looks into my eyes.

  Not at my deformity.

  “Your eyes,” she marvels. A strange emotion flickers on her face. It’s gone before I can make sense of it. “They’re…the darkest shade of blue.”

  She’s transfixed as she stares at me, as if she’s waiting for something to happen.

  Is she waiting for me to kiss her? Because that’s all I can seem to think about.

  I don’t think.

  I just act, giving in to my primal instincts.

  My mouth sinks into her pillowy lips.

  She gasps, and then moans into me. I push past the seam of her lips just as I push my body against hers.

  Her back hits the wall behind her.

  I lift her off the ground, balancing her ass on my forearms.

  That’s when she starts to act on her instincts. Kissing me back. Parting her thighs to make space for my cock.

  I grind my hot flesh against her. “I need you so bad, Belle.”

  “Leo,” she moans. “What are we doing?”

  “What does it look like we’re doing,” I groan, reaching down to play with the edges of her damp panties.

  She clamps her teeth down on her lower lip. “That…that feels so good.”

  I dip a finger inside her panties. Instantly, I’m greeted with a rush of warmth. “Have you been making all of this cream for me, Belle?”

  Her mouth parts in shock, even as her eyes blaze. “We…we can’t. You’re my boss.”