40
One month later.
“It’sbeautiful.”
I circled my arms around her waist and kissed her neck.
“I think so, too,” she said, placing her palette on the table and twisting around. “I have something else to show you.”
“Yeah?” The way her bare breasts pressed against my chest made it hard for me to concentrate on anything she was saying. The times I’d come into her studio and left without bending her over a table or getting on my knees were very few and far between. The fact she was always naked made for easier access which led to many fun times and filthy fucking sex.
“You’ve been asking what I’ve been working on the times I’ve locked you out,” she said, idly pretending to play with a button on my shirt. “Well, I’m finally satisfied with how it turned out. So, close your eyes.”
Trusting her completely, I didn’t hesitate to do what she asked. This secret project of hers was important, and that was all that mattered to me. As she slipped away, I tugged her back at the last second by her throat and kissed her. The little moan she released inside my mouth had my cock at full attention.
“Hold that thought,” she whispered over my lips while also giving my dick a squeeze.
I heard her hurried footsteps moving to a far corner of the studio, then back at a slower pace now that her hands were occupied. There was more rustling, and things shifted and slid around until I almost couldn’t take the waiting any longer.
“Don’t you dare peek,” she said, as if reading my thoughts, though I was sure the way I was tapping my thighs gave away my impatience. A grueling moment later, I finally heard, “Okay, open them!”
Blinking several times, I opened my eyes to a large canvas. Amalia was a brilliant artist, and the painting was stunning, as strange as it was seeing a portrait of my face staring back at me. She perfectly captured every detail, from the small scar below my left eyebrow to the stubble and facial hair.
“If I say it’s beautiful, does that make me conceited?”
She laughed and threw her arms around me, rising to her toes and beckoning for a kiss. “You have every right to be.”
I dipped my head, forehead resting on hers. “I would have posed for you. All you had to do was ask.”
Laughing, she slowly traced my lips with her finger. “It wasn’t necessary”—kiss—“because I’ve memorized”—kiss—“every piece of you, Kai.” Tears had gathered in her lashes as her eyes locked onto mine. “I love you.”
I thought I’d waited two months to hear her say those words, but as they fell from her lips and melted into my soul, filling every crevice, I realized I had waited my entire life for her.
Framing her face, I went in for another kiss, but she pulled away.
“What’s wrong? That’s not exactly the way I expected this moment to go.”
She reached for some documents on the table I hadn’t noticed. I assumed she’d placed them there while my eyes had been closed.
“I’ve thought a lot about this, and it just feels like the perfect time.”
The black words against the stark white paper drew my immediate attention, sending cold chills through my body.
DECLARATION FOR DIVORCE DECREE
“Divorce?”
She nodded with a heavy breath. “Kai, I know what this looks like—”
“But you just said…” Amalia reached for my hand, but I stepped back as painful waves of rejection, hurt, and betrayal washed over me. “I don’t understand.”
“I married you for all the wrong reasons. My vows were disingenuous, and the sole purpose of our union was to retain this property, my family’s name, and inheritance. Our love was built on a lie.” She lifted her arms behind my neck once more, grounding me with her touch. “Kai, I don’t care about any of those things anymore. None of it matters.” When she kissed me, I instinctively closed my eyes and felt her smile against my lips. “It’s you. It’s always been you, even when I didn’t know it. And I want to do things right. I love you. Look at me, baby.”
I understood what she was saying, but I disagreed.
“No.” I tore the document in half, then ripped it again for good measure.
“Kai!”
I hugged her fiercely. “What happened back there doesn’t define who we are or what we mean to each other. Because without it, I wouldn’t be here. I would have been condemned to walk the rest of my life, missing my other half. So I regret none of it. I don’t want to live a single day in a world where you’re not my wife.”
Sliding my hands down her waist, I lifted her into my arms. “I want it all with you, mi reina. The dog, the house, the goddamn picket fence, and babies—lots of fucking babies.”
“We’re going to need to compromise on that last one,” she said with a hearty laugh.
I kissed her slowly, drawing her tongue into my mouth and squeezing her body against mine.
“Kai,” she whispered between kisses, “I’m going to ruin your shirt.”
“Fuck, baby, do it, because there are two things I love about you.”
“Mm, and what’s that?”
“Your heart and your wet pussy.”
Her smile was wide against my mouth, and I gripped her ass tighter, pushing her closer to me and reveling in the heat of her sweet little cunt.
“Let’s go somewhere,” she pleaded, fingers tugging at my hair.
“The only thing I want right now is to bury my face or my cock inside you.”
Yanking harder, she pulled my mouth away from hers. “Well, then follow me.”
Amalia shoved out of my arms and wriggled to the floor. I gazed at her beautiful curves and thought myself the luckiest son of a bitch.
“Where are we going?”
A sheer floral robe covered her body, though it did nothing to hide all the parts of her I needed to get my hands on and thus only made the ache in my pants stronger.
“Catch me.”
And with those words, she took off through the doors and into the open air. Amalia was barefoot, but that didn’t stop her from gunning it through the courtyard, her robe waving behind her as she ran.
“If any grounds crew sees you, just know their blood will be on your hands.”
She looked back and laughed. “The blood on my hands is pretty thick already, Cain. What’s a little more?”
“Amalia, wait!”
We crossed through an interior front gate that led into the driveway, and I caught her by the waist and spun her in the air, then carried her bridal style to where my bike was parked and set her down on the seat.
“Now, where’s my prize?”
“Let me take you, but we have to hurry.” She threw one leg over the side of the bike and revved the engine. “Hop on,” she said.
“Sunset?” I asked, doing as I was told. My hands settled on her bare waist, and God, it took everything in me not to push her body forward and fuck her right there.
She blazed down the trail behind the estate, and I held her tighter with every burst of acceleration.
“Easy, vicious. No helmets.” Without our link, I had to get close to her ear when I spoke. “Remember when I said that if you messed my seat, I’d make you clean it?”
Amalia nodded as I snaked my hand between her legs. “Don’t kill us.”
“I’ll kill you if you don’t start touching me.”
I laughed and nipped at her ear as my fingers slid across her wet seam. “My wife, always so goddamn wet for me.” The bike slightly jerked when I strummed her clit. “Focus, baby.”
“Easy for you to say,” she moaned, as I drew tight circles and tweaked a nipple between my fingers.
The usually smooth ride to the lake became jerky the harder I stroked. Her knuckles blanched against the handles, and soft moans fled her lips as she neared release.
“You think you can come and keep this bike steady?”
“Fuck…Kai, don’t stop.”
“Beg me.”
“I hate you.”
I chuckled into her ear, and she shattered, crying out my name.
“I fucking love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said between ragged breaths.
We reached the lake moments later, and Amalia turned in her seat and climbed over my lap.
“What do you think about selling this place?”
My cock was aching to break out of these goddamn pants, but I humored her. She was glowing and still coming down from an orgasm. How could I not?
“It’s up to you. This is your home.”
“There’s nothing left for me here. My mother refuses to visit after Gio. Things with my girls just haven’t been the same, you know that. And I want to start fresh—somewhere, anywhere but here. For him, for me.” She touched my face and gifted me the sweetest smile. “For us.”
There wasn’t a damn thing I wouldn’t do for this woman. My greatest joy in life was the privilege of waking up by her side. Even on the bad days, when her tears were relentless and her heart would shatter all over again, I was thankful to love her, pick up the pieces, and be there when she needed me most.
Isabel and Antonio loved their daughter, but were equally navigating their own grief and guilt over the circumstances surrounding Gio’s death.
“I’ll follow you anywhere. You’re home for me.”
“I’m about to sit on your cock, so relax with the sappy shit, okay?” She laughed, kissing the tip of my nose.
I gripped her hips, grinding her over my erection. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“I know. And that’s why I have a surprise for you.”
“I’m listening,” I said, shoveling my pants down, relieved that I had decided to wear sweatpants.
“I bought another art studio.”
“That’s great.” I kissed down the column of her neck.
“In downtown Philly.”
Freezing mid-kiss, I peered up and she was beaming. “You what?”
“Life is short and unpredictable, Kai. I don’t want you to have regrets like I do. I know you miss your brother and want to see your niece grow up. Milly misses her, too. And our kid will need someone to play with.”
“What did you just say?” She must have seen the shock on my face or felt how loudly my heart thundered in my chest where she pressed her hand.
“I’m not pregnant, Kai. But I want to be someday.”
“Fuck, yes. Let’s do it!”
“Which one? Moving or having a baby?”
“All of it.”
“Good, because I might have found a buyer.”
“You’ve done all this and handed me divorce papers on the same day.”
“Let me sit on your cock, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
I didn’t waste time with a reply and gripped her hips, positioning myself at her wet entrance.
“On second thought, mi reina, just shut up and let me fuck you.”
Amalia’s laugh quieted as she let herself fall, sinking over me until I bottomed out, with a groan into her shoulder. Her feet couldn’t touch the ground, which left her without leverage to bounce on my cock the way only she knew how, so I guided her hips, setting the rhythm.
It didn’t matter where we laid down roots or what crazy curveball life threw our way. As long as she was my wife, I was home.