El Diablo Read online

  He’d had countless women over the years, and they all meant nothing. Commitment was not in the cards for him, not after being sold off by his mother and losing his sister. To say he had issues with women and trust was an understatement. But Alesha, she saw the real him and didn’t run away screaming. She wasn’t afraid, and the fact she fucking cared was something he’d never experienced.

  When she’d hurtled into a second orgasm and her pussy was practically dripping, he pressed a kiss to her clit and helped her exhausted body to move up against the sheets.

  “That was incredible. I had no idea it would be like that,” she said.

  “Good. It’s only going to get better.” He moved between her thighs, savoring the softness of her skin. She was such a full, curvy woman, so sweet, so open, so innocent.

  And all mine.

  He’d never been good at sharing.

  There was no doubt in his mind that he’d fight Boss for her.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “What?”

  She gave him that sexy smile that he loved so much. “You’re looking at me … weirdly.”

  “It’s because I’m thinking about taking that cherry of yours. Taking it all for myself.”

  “You’re not taking anything if I’m freely giving it.”

  “You’re giving me your virginity?” She nodded. “Why?”

  “Because I want to, Xavier. You mean a lot to me.”

  He recalled how she’d told Dixon today that she loved him. For a split second he’d been struck dumb by her words. Nobody loved him.

  El Diablo, a killer, hadn’t known what to do or say because he’d felt hope. Something he’d not felt in so long and didn’t even think he’d been capable of such emotion.

  This cleaner, his innocent woman, was bringing him to his knees, and he had to be careful. If Boss for even a second got a hint that she meant anything to him, he’d be screwed.

  “I’ve never been granted such a precious gift before.”

  She reached up and cupped his cheek. “You sound like a man out of the dark ages. It’s just my body, Xavier.”

  “It’s a part of you, and it can only be granted once.” To him, men who deserved to have that kind of innocence didn’t kill people on the weekend or as part of their lives. “I will treasure this, always. You’ll own a part of me, Alesha.”

  “Which part?”

  “You already know.” He leaned down, claiming her lips, not wanting to let go of her. She was so fucking beautiful, so sweet, his everything. He knew he kept repeating the same things, but he couldn’t help but marvel at the pure strength of her.

  Spreading her thighs, he gripped his stiff cock, which hadn’t lost any of its rigidity while talking to her. It’s like his body didn’t know how to be turned off by her. Her voice, her smile, every part of her turned him on.

  Running the tip up and down her creamy slit, he got his dick nice and wet, wanting to make this as easy as possible for her. He didn’t want to put a condom on, even though he knew he should.

  Skin to skin.

  Flesh against flesh was what he wanted.

  Nothing between them, he held eye contact, moving his cock to her entrance. He wanted to see her as he finally made her his.

  Chapter Nine

  Alesha gripped the sheets as Xavier pressed the head of his cock into her slick pussy. She’d never been more ready for anything. Her body was practically thrumming for him to rid her of her virginity. It wasn’t a sacred possession—even at twenty-seven she’d never found a man worthy of giving it to. Xavier may seem like the worst possible choice, but she saw beneath all the hardened layers. Saw the little boy, the fractured man she’d seen that day when he was drunk. There was so much more to him than appearances alone. And damn did he have the appearances part covered.

  His dark hair was loose, coming down to his chin. Those dark eyes reminded her of a panther on the hunt. The five o’clock shadow on his face was rough, and she knew how it felt rubbing between her legs. Alesha stared at his thick lips and the massive shoulders looming over her body. His arms were hard with muscle as he supported his weight on one forearm above her.

  “More,” she said.

  He was going incredibly slow for such a proven bad boy. It turned her on and made her feel special that he was taking the extra time for her, but she honestly didn’t need it.

  “Take it easy, baby. Let me enjoy this. I want to feel your pussy squeezing the shit out of my cock.” He kept moving deeper inside her, slow inch after inch. She felt her walls stretching to accommodate his size. The fullness was overwhelming, shivers skittering along her skin as all her nerves seemed to burst with sexual energy.

  She wriggled beneath him, waves of heat and need driving her crazy. Alesha ran her hand through his hair, pushing it off his face. He froze, then leaned down to kiss her. He tucked his arms under her shoulders and lowered the rest of his length between her legs. She groaned into his mouth as he sank in to the hilt.

  He kissed her, but it was so much more. She felt their connection solidify, felt his vulnerabilities, his passion, everything he kept under lock and key.

  His cock throbbed inside her, but he wouldn’t budge.

  “Is it mine now? Do I own your cock?”

  “You own it. My cock and my heart.” He ran his lips over her eyes, then pressed his forehead to hers. This was so much more than sex.

  “I feel so full,” she whispered.

  He took a breath, a man on the edge. “Please tell me you’ve adjusted to having me inside you.”

  “I’m more than ready for this.”

  “You have no idea the restraint I’m using right now, baby girl.” He pulled out and slowly ground back in, teasing her, making her pussy hungry for more. “You’re so tight, so fucking delicious. I want to fuck you hard enough to break this damn bed.”

  “God, yes. Do it.”

  He picked up a slow rhythm, sliding in and out, creating enough friction that her body responded, craving so much more. She prodded him with her heels, desperate for what she knew he wanted to really give her. Alesha wasn’t a slip of a woman. She could handle Xavier and his big dick.

  Wanted his hard fucking.

  “You’re so wet, so damn juicy.” He groaned, picking up the pace. The bed began to shudder, the headboard clapping the wall with each thrust of his hips. He filled her to the hilt over and over again. Each time he pounded against her clit, she climbed higher. “Tell me you love being filled with my cock.”

  She closed her eyes, another beautiful orgasm building inside her, stealing her inhibitions.

  “Tell me, baby. I want to hear it.”

  Alesha loved the sound of him talking dirty to her. “I love your cock.”

  “You’re only mine.”

  “Only yours,” she repeated.

  “Good girl. This body belongs to me now. Mine to fuck. Mine to protect.” He nuzzled her neck, sucking her earlobe. Everything he did screamed experience and skill. She loved every minute being in Xavier’s bed. She was ready to commit to him, body and soul. Was he ready to sacrifice in the same way?

  “Are you mine?”

  He pulled back to look down at her. “You’re the only woman for me, Alesha. I’m done fucking around. From now on, I’ll be pleasuring you and no one else.”

  “No more pushing me away. No matter what,” she said between breaths.

  “Promise.”

  A week ago, she never would have believed the chain of events that she’d experienced recently. Her hot-as-hell boss with the big bank account turned out to be a hitman for hire. And he fucked like a machine. She’d given him her virginity … and he’d promised a lifetime together in return. Was she being naïve, or was this a match made in heaven?

  They kissed, hungry and desperate. She couldn’t get enough of him.

  Then he took her harder, deeper, his back breaking out in a thin sheen of sweat. He pistoned in and out of her body, all hard-packed muscle and strength.

  “Co
me for me again. Let it all go,” he said.

  She stopped fighting her release and relaxed her muscles, holding him around the neck. Her orgasm came barreling to the surface, heat and calm flooding her lower stomach. Then she detonated, her hips arching up as she milked Xavier’s cock over and over in delicious ripples. She’d been taken to heaven and back in the arms of the devil.

  He groaned, holding her tighter to his chest as he followed her, filling her with his essence. The weight of his body briefly came down on her until he supported himself again. When the intensity of their lovemaking settled down, only the sounds of their heavy breathing remained.

  Xavier rolled to his side, supporting his head with a hand as he stared at her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You look beautiful after sex. Your cheeks are flushed nice and pink. Just as I imagined.” He reached out and brushed the stray hairs off her face. She was sweaty, her heart still beating hard.

  “Tell me something, Xavier. Do you still feel the same way now that sex is out of the way?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I’m not a teenager. I know what I want, and I don’t plan to do this once.”

  She shifted to her side to face him. Alesha traced a fingertip along the ink at his neck. He had to be the sexiest man alive. How could something so good be bad?

  “What happens now?”

  “I have a quick job to do tomorrow, and then we’ll figure things out.”

  “What kind of job?”

  He frowned. “My boss wants me to handle the rest of the crime ring Dixon was involved in. It went higher than him.”

  “Do you need a date again? I can help.” She couldn’t help but smile. Although she hadn’t been the best actress, it had been thrilling and terrifying in equal parts on the yacht.

  “I think I can handle it. I told you I’d protect you, and I plan to keep that promise.”

  “What if I can help? I’m not afraid, Xavier.”

  He touched the tip of her nose playfully. “You’re fearless, aren’t you, baby?”

  “Sometimes.” She held his wrist, looking at the scars on the top of his hand. “Not always.”

  “What are you afraid of?”

  She shrugged. “Of you getting killed. Losing you before we even get a chance to know each other.”

  “I know you very well, Alesha.” He winked, trailing the backs of his fingers along the curve of her breast.

  “That’s not what I mean.” She swatted him playfully.

  It didn’t take much for her deep-seated fears to rise to the surface. “I’m afraid of you walking out on me.” Her mother had done the same, and the thought of it happening again made her feel anxious and alone.

  “I’m usually good at that. Getting close with people is something I’ve always avoided, you know? When you learn from an early age that everyone wants to use you for something, you stop trusting. Stop caring.”

  She swallowed hard.

  “It’s different with you, Alesha. You opened my eyes, made me realize how good it feels for someone to give a shit about me.”

  Alesha intertwined her fingers with his.

  “What happened to your hands?”

  She felt the wall he kept up growing stronger, but she didn’t want their relationship based on secrets or lies. “Old scars.”

  “It shouldn’t take being drunk before you open up to me.”

  “Where I come from, it’s not like here. It would give you nightmares.” He licked his lips, and once again, she wanted to erase the past from his memories. “After my mother sold us off, I lived through years of torture, being forced to do all kinds of shit.”

  “Xavier…”

  “It’s okay. I survived. I learned to shut it all out. To forget the pain,” he said. “I guess it all hardened me, and I lived for revenge. I’ve done a lot of evil shit in my life.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “You don’t have to defend me. I know what I’ve done. The problem now is getting people to believe I’ve changed. The men I work with don’t trust me, and no matter what you think you feel, you don’t trust me either.”

  “I’m trying my best. I’m still here after everything that’s happened. I gave you my virginity.”

  He smirked. “Yes, you did. A gift I didn’t deserve.”

  She leaned forward and kissed his lips. “We can’t change the past, Xavier, but we can make a better future. I’m starting from today.”

  He tucked her into the crook of his arm as he rolled to his back, his fingers gently caressing behind her neck. Tomorrow he was going to risk his life again. How many days and nights would she have to worry about him coming home alive or not? Alesha’s faith in new beginnings may be strong, but a relationship with a hitman would put her to the test.

  ****

  Xavier pulled his collar higher. There was a sharp chill in the air at this time of morning, especially by the water. He stared out beyond the stacked containers on the dock to the distant horizon. No matter how hard he tried to forget the past, it continued to haunt him. He didn’t regret the killing, the backstabbing, any of the violence … because they all had it coming. What he couldn’t move on from was the sister he left behind. Was she alive? Dead? Did Boss know more than he let on?

  He’d always had that little weakness, a part of him that couldn’t stand to see a man abuse a woman. It all stemmed back to her—Graciella. They’d dragged her away, kicking and screaming. He watched his little sister until he could no longer see her. Then his own nightmares began. Since the day they were separated as children, he never knew what became of her. Part of him didn’t want to know because it would probably be too much for him to handle. But he had to find her, to apologize for not being able to save her. He was no longer a boy. Nothing on heaven or earth would stop him from saving her today … or from protecting Alesha.

  A foghorn sounded in the distance, snapping him back to the present, and reminding him why he was there.

  Xavier made his way to the meeting point. Bain and Killian were supposed to be his partners in this raid. The three of them would be able to take down a damn army. Although he hadn’t worked too much with Bain, Killian had been one of the men to train him. Boss had strict guidelines for anyone joining Killer of Kings.

  Most of his life, he’d been El Diablo. He had no mercy as he climbed his way to the top of every criminal organization he ever joined. Things were different now. He had no desire to rule Killer of Kings. It started as an information exchange, but now he wanted to be trusted, to become a comrade to the other hitmen. But trust had to be earned. Maybe creating a new life would never be in the cards for him.

  He found Killian around the corner of a container, leaning against the metal wall as he checked his clips.

  “Morning,” Xavier said.

  Killian nodded once and continued checking his gun. “You bring coffee?”

  Xavier ignored the Irish bastard and dropped his duffel bag. “I brought the big guns.”

  His peripheral vision caught Bain coming toward them. That motherfucker always looked ready to kill. Had he ever seen him smile?

  “Two have arrived. There should be at least one more vehicle on the way. Maurice has eyes all over our location,” said Bain.

  “Are we taking prisoners?” asked Xavier.

  “This is a one-stop hit. The cleaning crew is on standby.”

  A bloodbath. Xavier could handle that. It was more difficult trying to keep key players alive for interrogation when the guns came out. This should be easy. They had more than enough firepower and experience for the job.

  “Yeah, no civilians this time,” said Killian.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Xavier didn’t like his tone or what he was implying.

  “Viper told me what happened last week. Damn shame what happened to that girl.”

  He wanted to put his fist right into Killian’s twisted mouth, but kept his cool. He knew Killian had a major soft spot for women. His history was almost as fucked up
as Xavier’s. But he wouldn’t sit by while he called him out on something he never intended to happen.

  “I made a judgment call.”

  “Didn’t work so well, did it?”

  Xavier’s heartrate picked up. He faced the other hitman. “I know you. You would have done the same damn thing.”

  Killian shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. What’s in question is you. Can we trust you to play by the book? It would be nice if I could go home to my wife and kids tonight.”

  “Then leave now, chicken shit. The big boys can handle this without you.”

  They were face to face now, neither willing to back down.

  “Break it up, boys. Another car just pulled in,” said Bain.

  The tension dissipated as they refocused. Xavier had gotten to know Killian well over the past year during his training. He was a good man, hard and soft in equal parts. Xavier was more pissed off with himself. The memory of that girl getting killed only feet from him still haunted his dreams. But he couldn’t go back in time and fix shit.

  “Okay, we’ll let them get cozy, and then we’ll move in.”

  “Do we need a distraction?” asked Xavier.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We don’t need a fucking distraction. We have these.” He held up one of his assault rifles.

  “There are three of us. It should be a cake walk,” said Bain.

  Killian adjusted his harness. “Hey, El Diablo, there’s only one way into that tower. Don’t wimp out now.”

  Bain clapped Killian on the shoulder. “Relax, big boy.”

  They all looked in the same direction as Bain. A little yellow car was parked in the distance, and a woman walked up the metal stairs to the look-out tower. Alesha.

  “Who the fuck is that?” asked Killian.

  He watched her. His woman. The only good thing in his life. She’d followed him here, tailed him without him even realizing it. What the fuck was she thinking? How far was he gone that he didn’t even realize he was being followed?

  “It’s my housekeeper.”

  “Say that again,” said Bain.