Chapter 46 – Amanda
“My turn,” I breathed.
My hand slid down the length of his arm.
I paused for just a moment, staring at our stacked hands.
Mine was ridiculously tiny compared to his.
That wasn’t the only difference. His were darker, with a natural olive complexion.
It was hard to see the original skin through the faint white scars and the smudges of ink.
Those hands had caused destruction. Fought.
Killed. And yet they would never be raised against me.
Vincenzo would hurt the world without blinking an eye.
But me? This strong hand was protection.
If I wanted it.
I do.
Fighting back a shudder, because that desperate want came with a tangled mess of fine print, I reached for the fork. My fingers slipped around his to pluck it from his grasp.
I pierced a piece of chicken, needing to reach over to hold the leg bone to peel it off. Damn, but he made this look easy. Vincenzo didn’t intervene as I struggled, and he opened his mouth when I turned in his lap to place the food between his lips.
To make it easier, I swung both legs over his thighs, moving to sit sideways on his lap.
I nearly dropped the fork.
How I’d missed that hard bulge in his pants when my back had been pressed against him, I didn’t know.
But it was pressed against my thigh, straining against the material of the jeans.
I tried and failed to ignore it as I piled more food onto the fork. I should’ve been used to the feel of his body by now. But I wasn’t. Heat spread over my skin. That tricky little organ in my chest beat faster.
Even my mind was on board with the idea of crossing into the place of no return. Heart, body, and mind were in agreement. But I was still scared. That dead place inside wasn’t so very dead after all.
My soul was alive—and it wanted to connect to his.
That terrified me.
We have to play the cards we’re dealt.
Vincenzo was back in my life. He’d forced me into a marriage contract. If I chose him, there were two choices left. Survive and thrive with him by my side.
Or die alone.
I couldn’t take losing him again if I gave in to this.
Being his shouldn’t be a complicated thing. But it would push me closer to that line where there was no turning back. Could I bring myself to fight for us again?
Setting the fork on the table, I slid my palm down his chest. The black material of his long-sleeved shirt stretched tight over muscles cut from stone.
Vincenzo swallowed with an audible gulp. “Mandy.”
My name was a warning.
I dropped my hand and let it rest on his cock. “I want to taste you.” Again.
This proposal was intimate. In the years between our past and present, I hadn’t done this—or much else—with anyone. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Every time I tried, I became violently ill. I always blamed it on my ambitions, but the truth was, there was only him. Always him. Forever.
His cock bobbed under my hand.
“I thought you were full?” he rasped, words shards. “Or did you make room for more?”
I nodded, and he pushed me off his lap. The motion was incredibly gentle, even laced with the firm command of his touch.
“On your knees, fiore.”
Those strong thighs brushed against me as I knelt. Looking up at him, I was captured by that powerful stare. It was pure hunger. A rapid tingle raced beneath my skin.
Vincenzo brushed a hand against my cheek. His thumb stroked my lips. “You know what to do.”
“Yes,” I breathed, shifting my knees against the ground.
Sliding the zipper down his jeans, the zap of the teeth filled my ears and sent a zing straight to my clit.
Vincenzo pushed his hand along my scalp, fisting my hair.
I peeled down the boxers, and his cock jumped out, grateful to be free.
My core pulsed at the thought of having the thick length in my mouth.
Bowing to any other man would have felt like a loss of power, degrading on some level. But not him. I burned. I hungered. The panties under my dress were drenched.
“What are you waiting for?” His fingers tightened in my hair.
I leaned forward and flicked at him with my tongue.
A hiss escaped his throat. It was a punch of pure adrenaline.
I pulled the swollen tip between my lips—and sucked hard. A salty bead of precum spread over my tongue. With a moan, I took him deeper.
“Look at me.”
I did. Possession showed in those deep dark depths. His gaze pierced me, battering the mausoleum I built around my soul.
“Cazzo, fiore, tu sei bellissima.”
The praise made me burn hotter.
I made my cheeks hollow, and I sucked hard, moving my head up and down.
Need stirred between my legs. I needed this thick cock sliding against my wet pussy. Dipping lower. Teasing. Pushing inside. I moaned and took him deeper. We hadn’t had sex in bed. On it, but not in. Not two bodies reconnecting, spending hours learning each other.
Tonight, we fixed that.
Vincenzo was mine. He always had been. And I was his.
The fight almost left me. A kernel, buried under the rubble of the past, urged me that I could trust him. The right thing to do was give in to his plan. He vowed to be my husband. Why not let him?
It was a good thing I had his cock in my mouth. It prevented me from speaking. I knew I would start thinking again when there was a proper supply of blood to my brain.
I cupped his balls, giving them a squeeze, and gripped the base of his shaft. A rough, strangled groan left his chest. That sound made me whimper. Heat pulsed between my legs. Every nerve in my body responded with a flame of desire.
Faster. Harder. Deeper.
I swirled my tongue against the soft, sensitive tip, before swallowing him again.
“Mandy, I—” His words were cut off with a strained rumble.
His cock twitched, and hot ropes of cum shot down my throat. I swallowed everything he gave.
The tight hold on my hair loosened, and I sat back, licking my lips. It was meant to be sensual. Erotic. But I wasn’t prepared for the look when I met his gaze.
Adoration blazed in those inky black eyes.
That look decided me. Against all reason, I was ready to throw in my lot with him.
Clearing my throat, I was ready to invite him to the bedroom. To give in to this thing between us.
A knock on the door sent Vincenzo shooting to his feet. There was a gun in his hand. I hadn’t even seen him take it out. Didn’t know where he’d hidden it on his body.
The reality of this world smacked me, and I fell back on my ass as he strode across the loft.