Kissed by Shadows: A Forced Proximity Dark Mafia Romance (The Shadowmen Book 1)

I see the moment Iris’s heart breaks at leaving Petrov behind, and it hurts something deep inside me to witness her pain. As much as I wish she was just ours, she’s his too, and I guess he’s not too bad to look at, plus he has that Dom vibe that I like about Hunt.

The image of my hand wrapped around Iris’s smaller one as we both pleasured the Russian has my already hard dick twitching. I wouldn’t mind him dominating both of us that’s for sure. Blinking out of that particular fantasy, I find her eyes still glassy, her shoulders caved in even after the orgasm.

“Come on, pretty girl,” I tell her, taking her spare hand and tugging her away from Hunt and down the corridor. “Come make music with me.”

“Roman!” Hunt yells as I run, pulling my pretty behind me. His voice fades as we leave him behind, a wild whoop falling from my lips that has a shocked giggle coming from her.

“What’s going on?” she asks breathlessly as I approach the stairs, then looking down at her heeled feet, I bend and scoop her up bridal-style before racing down them. “Roman!”

“I don’t like seeing you sad, Princess!” I tell her, though I have to shout to be heard over the music that is pulsing through my blood, excitement making my veins buzz. I fucking love being up there in front of a crowd, nothing but me and the music, watching hundreds of bodies being taken over by the beat, and I bet it’s going to be even sweeter with my Princess with me. “And it’s time for you to meet DJShadow!”

I keep her in my arms as I make my way to the stairs that lead to the DJ platform, the crowd parting, some cheering as they recognise me.

“He’s up there?” she yells back, her sad eyes now shining with excitement as she points at the current DJ, and I scoff.

“Not yet, baby,” I tell her, the thrill of my surprise lighting up my insides. It’s going to be so much better with her here.

We reach the bottom of the stairs, the two bouncers giving me a nod and unhooking the rope that keeps the public out. I keep her in my arms as I ascend, the buzz from the crowd already filling me up until I think I might fucking burst.

When we reach the top, Rupert dips his head, lowering his headphones and stepping away from the deck and laptop that make up our orchestra. I finally let go of Iris, keeping one arm around her as she slides down my body in a move that has me biting my bottom lip. Fuck, I’m gonna come in my pants before this set is through if she keeps this up.

Ru gives me a fist bump, tilts his head at Iris, and then makes his way down the stairs. The crowd is going fucking wild as I grab my headphones, link them via bluetooth, and step up to the deck.

“DJShadow in the house!” I shout over the mic, and the roar is deafening. Grinning, I turn to look at my beautiful princess, and laugh when I find her eyes wide, her delicious, abused mouth hanging open.

I grab her hand and tug her in front of me, wrapping my arms around her so I can reach what I need to, pulling her flush with my body. God, she feels so fucking right here, like she was always meant to be in my arms.

“And we have a special celebration today! Our illustrious leader got himself hitched to the beautiful Iris, so let’s show them some love!” I yell as I pull her closer to me. The crowd goes nuts again, and I can just make out Hunt across from us in the VIP area, scowling.

I give him a shit-eating grin as Ru’s last song starts to fade and mine begins to play seamlessly. It must be annoying that since she became his fake wife, I finger fucked her next to him, another man has fucked her pussy and mouth, and now I’ve got her in my arms. Sucks to be Hunt.

“You’re such a shit stirrer,” she says into my ear, the one without a headphone, and I chuckle, her body sinking into mine at the sound. I begin to move us to the beat, my hands focused on the task in front of me, torturing myself with how close she is, yet how much I can’t touch her right now.

She moves effortlessly, our bodies moulded as the music flows through and around us. Fuck, it’s perfect, she’s perfect, and I can’t help nuzzling her neck, scraping my teeth against her soft skin as we dance, groaning at the taste of her. She’s like the warmest summer day with a soft breeze that teases your skin just enough.

I feel more than hear her moan, and then her hand comes between us, rubbing my achingly hard length over my jeans. I bite down on her skin, trying to concentrate on what I’m doing, but she’s not making it fucking easy. She clearly has chosen violence today, because next she’s popping open the buttons of my jeans, reaching inside and pulling me out.

“Naughty minx,” I scold quietly in her ear, hissing when her delicate hand wraps around me. “Fuuuck.”

Her breathing picks up, I can feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest against me as her hand moves up and down my length. The deck table is high, so the crowd shouldn’t be able to see much, but I turn down the spotlight that shines on us just in case. I know my girl likes to be watched, but only us and Nik get to see her in this kind of position.

Ecstasy flows through me as she works me, the music adding another layer of pleasure that has electric currents flowing up and down my spine. We keep moving to the beat, her hand pumping me faster and faster, and I know that after what happened in the bathroom, after feeling her come all over my fingers, there’s no way I’m going to last much longer.

My balls draw up, and I bury my face against her neck, drawing in her delicious honey and cocoa scent as I bite down on her skin and hot spurts of cum cover her naked back. She’s panting as much as I am, her hand wringing out every last drop until I’m quivering behind her, my muscles lax and my mind flying.

“You’re so fucking perfect, Princess,” I growl in her ear, and by the way she shudders, her hand coated in my release as she refuses to let go of my dick, I know she heard me. We stay that way until I know the end of the song is approaching, and I take in another lungful of my princess.

With a sigh, I step back from her, my dick sliding from her hand as I look down and admire her back coated and glistening with my climax. Committing the image to memory, I whip off my vest, careful of my headphones, and use it to clean her up as best I can. Then I use it to wipe my dick, tucking myself away and redoing my jeans, Iris shielding me from the crowd, though the lights are too low now for them to be able to see anything.

Dropping it to the floor, I press our bodies together again, relishing in her hot skin against mine. With one hand, I sort out the next song, making sure it doesn’t jar with the current one so the transition is as smooth as my baby’s skin.

My other hand takes her wrist, bringing up the hand she had around my dick, seeing the shine of my cum on her fingers.

“Clean it off,” I demand in a low murmur, bringing the hand to her lips. My nostrils flare as she does what I order, and I watch, transfixed when her pink tongue comes out and she starts licking my cum from her fingers like a cat would lap at a bowl of cream.

Fuck, my dick is getting hard again from the sight. Her cheeks are flushed, sweat making her skin glisten, and I know that she’s worked up. I smirk. She can wait, a fitting punishment for making me come so quickly in front of all these people.

IRIS

My cheeks heat when Roman turns the spotlight back up. I can’t believe I just did that, jerked him off in front of what must be hundreds if not thousands of people. My body thrums with arousal, even as the disbelief at my wanton actions makes me flush. Evangeline thinks we should have fucked him up there, but then again, she is a greedy bitch.

Roman’s hot body pressed up against me isn’t bloody helping, his skin feels far too delicious when he’s curling his body around me, still moving us to the beat like we’re made of music.

We stay up there for Roman’s whole set, time losing meaning as we dance, someone bringing us drinks that I gulp down, the cool, fruity cocktail going straight to my head. What must be an hour or more later, another DJ comes up the stairs, a woman this time, and she gives me an appraising look while also giving Roman a fist bump.

“Fucking epic set, Shadow!” she shouts as Roman steps away from the table, taking off his headphones and hanging them on a hook on the wall, his torso slicked with sweat and he grins at her.

“Thanks, Tink!” he yells back as we move away so she can take his spot.

The crowd screams as she introduces herself, making me think she must be popular. We make our way down the stairs, the bouncers letting us out as the crowd shouts around us, giving Roman back slaps and telling him how awesome he is. He beams back, his hand gripping mine tightly just as Rowan makes his way to us, people parting like the Red Sea. I notice the wary looks they cast his way, and as he exudes psycho-who-will-rip-out-your-eyeballs-and-make-you-watch-him-flay-you-alive vibes, I can’t say that I blame them.

“We have company!” he yells into Roman’s ear, but I’m close enough to hear it as well, and there’s something about his words that has all the hairs on my neck standing on end.

Roman stiffens too, and tension suddenly rolls off him in waves as Rowan takes my other side and we make our way back to the VIP area. Once again, the bouncers let us in, and I can’t help the way my heart thuds inside my chest with each step I take.

I glance at our booth when we reach the top, confusion lowering my brows when I see Nikolai standing to one side, Hunter casually sitting in the booth, looking relaxed as he sips from a glass of amber liquid. However, the tightness in his jaw as he looks over at me tells me his lax pose is a lie, and ice fills my veins when the man sitting opposite him turns.

Eyes the same brown as Nik’s lock onto me, but it’s the snake-like predatory smile that has bile filling my throat. Sergi Petrov gets up as we approach, Roman’s hand holding mine in an almost punishing grip the closer we get, Rowan taking my other hand in his. We stop in front of him, and I have to force myself not to tremble in his presence. He’s the boogeyman, the reason why I’ve been hiding with the Shadows and the reason for all of the bruises marring Nikolai’s body.

“Iris,” he greets, his voice like the wind rustling dead leaves in a graveyard. “I hear congratulations are in order.” Ignoring the twins either side of me, Sergi leans in, his cold hands cupping my upper arms as he places a kiss on one cheek. “If you think your marriage will stop me from getting what is owed to me,” he whispers, moving to my other cheek and placing his dry lips on there too. “Then you are more stupid than your father led me to believe.”

The barb hits and I flinch, although a part of me knows that my dad wouldn’t have called me stupid, because he always told me I was his clever little flower. Then again, he did sell me to this monster, so what the fuck do I know?

Sergi pulls back, his devil’s smile in place as he continues to hold me, his eyes tracing my face. I bite my lip to stop the tremors threatening to overwhelm me, tasing copper as my teeth sink in hard.

“I will leave you to your celebration,” Sergi says, squeezing my arms hard enough that I wince. He smiles wider as matching growls sound either side of me, then his grip releases and I have to fight not to sag in relief. “We shall be seeing you very soon, I’m sure, Kukolka.”

He steps away and walks off, but I look ahead, catching Nik’s pained gaze as he follows after his father, another massive guy at their backs. Hunt is up and out of his seat as soon as they’ve left, his warm palms cradling my face as tears sting my eyes.

“What did he say, Peaches?” he asks, his green eyes soft and yet with a murderous glint in them that reminds me of a fire about to burst its confines, ready to burn the world to ashes.

A shudder runs through me, and suddenly I’m so cold I can’t stop the shakes that begin to wrack my body.

“He’s not going to stop, Hunt,” I whisper, the tears threatening to fall, making his image waver. “Can we go home now? Please?”

His jaw clenches, his brows furrowed as he gives a slow nod, then pulls me into his chest, the twins closing in so that I’m surrounded by them.

“We won’t let him get to you, I swear it, Iris,” Hunter vows, and I bury my face against his chest, inhaling him like he’s the oxygen I need to breathe. I want to believe him, I desperately want to, but although I’ve led a pretty sheltered life up until this point, I’m not stupid, regardless of what Sergi said.

I know that it’s only a matter of time before I’m in his clutches, because how can my Shadows defeat the might that is the Russian mafia? The answer is that they can’t. Not and live to tell the tale afterwards.