9. Cristian
G ently, I tug on Carter’s arm, dread filling me at the look on his face. I’m not upset by his need to help our friends and allies, but how close he’s gotten to Cole Martelli is enough to make me need another drink.
“He’s fine, Caro,” I say softly. “Come. His uncle has it from here.”
“I do,” Antonio says. “And his parents should be on their way soon.”
Carter sighs, pulls out of my grip, and leans over enough to kiss the sleeping toddler’s cheek. “Don’t hesitate to ask for help, and make sure Keegan and Marcus know I’m happy to take him again.”
“I’ll pass it along, thank you. Goodnight.”
Taking the dismissal for what it is, I thread my arm through Carter’s and tug him out of the suite.
We walk slowly through the halls, back to our side of the house, not in a hurry to get to our bedroom, despite the heavy weight of exhaustion bearing down on me.
As proud as I am of Roman, and how he held his ground against me and Allesandro, I wish we would have had time together. He was right, the vengeance we’re owed will come in due time, but at the moment, reconnecting with those we love is important.
“How’d you get on babysitting duty?” I ask Carter.
He huffs a small laugh and I look over to find his navy eyes bright and shining as a small smile plays on his lips.
“Being injured as I am,” he says, lifting his casted arm and shrugging a shoulder, “it meant I wasn’t able to do all the hands-on things.
But, I could keep up with an almost four-year-old, so I helped out where I could. ”
Seeing the evidence of Carter’s injuries, and discovering everything we were told while gone was true, is a hard pillow to swallow. I hate knowing I wasn’t there to protect my husband. “Do you know who attacked De Luca?”
“How much do you already know about what’s gone on?” he asks instead of answering.
“Not nearly enough. No one has been forthcoming with information. What is going on, Carter?”
He sighs and doesn’t say anything until we’re in our suite. “Roman’s done an excellent job of taking charge and leading the Family,” he says once the door is shut behind us.
“I know that.”
Carter wanders over to sit down on the couch and pats the cushion next to him. Dread fills me as I sit beside him, but I trust my husband more than anything, so whatever he has to say, as much as I don’t want to hear it, I’ll listen.
“Roman and Lio… they’ve been up to their eyeballs in shit, but have managed well. Ten’s arrest…” He grimaces. “It was rough on us all, but Roman and Hollis especially.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Caro?”
He shakes his head. “It’s not for me to say.”
“Carter…”
“No, Cris. Some things are better heard from the source. I won’t betray their confidences by telling you. Anyway, do you want to know how the cops knew when and where to pick Ten and Joel up?”
“Roman said something about people we shouldn’t have had an issue with betraying us?”
Carter grimaces and nods. “Omar Campbell’s group sold us out. You remember how we had a scheduled exchange with them? Well, that got moved, as we just needed a moment to breathe. It was only by a few days—not enough time for them to make a deal with the police. No, this was planned in advance.
“They’re also the ones who attacked Georgio, and ultimately killed him.
” He gestures to his cast, and then rolls up his sleeve.
“I got burned on my arm and shoulder, a slight concussion, and a broken fucking wrist from the explosion. Someone pulled me out of the way just in time. Georgio wasn’t so lucky. ”
There’s bitterness in my husband’s tone, not because he lost his father, but because he didn’t get to be the one to deliver the final blow. “You’ll get what you’re owed, Caro.”
“Damn right I will. They’ll pay for messing with what’s mine.” The fire in his eyes and fervor in his voice indicates he’s talking about more than just getting retribution for taking his kill away from him, and it makes me hot seeing him like that.
“Enough work talk,” I tell him. “I’ve missed you, Caro. Having only Allesandro for company got quite boring. He didn’t appreciate my singing as much as you do.”
Carter laughs, and a spark enters his navy eyes. “I’ve missed you, too, Cris. Il mio cuore soffre per te.”
“Just your heart, Caro?” Sliding closer, I place a hand on his thigh, close to where we both want me to be the most, but where I won’t touch until we’re both burning for it. “Do you not want me anywhere else?”
He grips my chin and pulls my face to his. “I want to fuck you, Cris. I want to erase whoever might have touched you while you were out of my sight.”
I moan and press our lips together. The feel of my husband against me is a head rush, and I groan when he deepens the kiss.
“Bedroom,” I say against his mouth. “I need you to fuck me, Caro.”
We strip as we go, uncovering each other in pieces, skin on skin, mouths and hands unable to stop touching.
This is what I needed. My husband, bare in front of me. Even scarred, healing from an injury I couldn’t protect him from, and aching for me, it’s everything I’ve always wanted.
“On the bed,” he says softly.
It’s easy to do as I’m asked. Carter stretches out over me as I lay on the bed, his hand and lips skating over every inch of skin. When I reach for him, he presses my hands to the bed, shaking his head.
“Let me do this, Cris. Ho bisogno di te più di quanto abbia bisogno di respirare.”
How could I deny him this? I nod and Carter continues on, licking at the head of my hard cock before he swallows me down.
Crying out, I twist the covers in my hands and buck my hips. Carter chokes on my cock, but it only spurs him on, his mouth getting tighter around me before he pulls off.
He brings me to the edge of orgasm, his talented mouth and tongue coaxing me closer and closer to that brink before pulling away completely.
“Don't fucking tease me!”
He laughs. “Wouldn't dream of it, Amore Mio.”
Reaching across the bed to the nightstand, he pulls out the lube and a knife. If it were possible, my cock would get harder than it is.
Carter sits back on his heels between my spread thighs and coats his fingers, bringing them to my hole.
He enters me with two fingers, fucking me carefully, before pulling out and cutting one of my thighs with the knife.
He shoves his fingers back in and I moan loudly.
The pleasure is intense. The feel of his fingers stretching me, so I'm ready for his cock, while at the same time the cut stings, clearing the last traces of exhaustion and everything I went through from my mind.
Carter is careful, gentle, stretching me so long I almost come from his fingers alone.
He cuts me a few more times; once on my other leg, once near my hard and leaking cock, and once just under the wound on my side.
He doesn't go deep, barely even drawing blood, but it's the sensation of Carter cutting me that makes my heart race and has my dick throbbing with need.
When he pulls his fingers out once again, I'm not ashamed to say I whimper in need, my entire body shaking with desire.
Carter coats his cock with lube and then stretches over me. The feel of his hard dick where I need it most has me moaning, and I lift my hips up.
“Please…”
“I got you, Amore,” he whispers.
We both moan when he enters me. It's a slow, measured thrust that doesn't stop until he's all the way inside.
We stare at each other as my hole stretches around him. Our breathing is in sync as we take this moment of reconnection.
“I hate that they hurt you,” he says quietly, tracing his fingers over the healing cut on my throat, and then the bandage over my side. “I'm the only one allowed to draw your blood.”
Feeling around for the knife, I bring it between us, pressing the blade into his abdomen before slicing across it. “And I yours, Caro.”
Carter moans and starts fucking into me. Slow measured thrusts that knock the air out of me every time he pushes deep inside.
Sweat and blood coat our bodies as we trade the knife back and forth, leaving marks on one another that won't soon be forgotten.
I can't hold back my orgasm, the need for this man is too powerful. When Carter thrusts hard against my prostate, at the same time he cuts a deep line across my collarbone, I come.
My release coats us both, and Carter cries out, fucking me harder for a few blissful moments before finding his own release.
Tossing the knife onto the nightstand, he pulls out and collapses beside me.
I mourn the loss of his weight on me, but don't argue, knowing he's only concerned about my being injured, underfed, and dehydrated.
Hopefully, none of the cuts we've left on one another need stitches, as Doc isn't going to be pleasant to deal with if he knows what we've been up to.
For a long time, we lay next to one another, basking in the warm glow of being together, before Carter finally gets up and drags me with him.
I help him cover his cast, while he does the same for my wounds.
In the shower, we stay close, reverently washing each other as the cum and blood swirl down the drain.
Afterwards, Carter holds me close, his still-damp skin sticking to mine, but it's still not close enough for my liking.
In the silence and near darkness of our bedroom, he says, “I want a baby, Amore.”
I suck in a breath and wrap my arm tighter around him. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” he whispers. “Spending time with Cole, helping you raise Roman… I like being a parent, Cris. I want that again. From start to finish, with you.”
Turning my head, I press a kiss to his hair. “Whatever you want, Caro. I want whatever will make you happiest. If that's a child of your own…then that's what we'll do. Once this is over, and we put those bastards in the ground, we'll work on having a baby.”
Carter lifts his face and presses a lingering kiss to my lips. “I love you, Cris.”
“Ti amo, Carter. Forever and always.”