Chapter 52 – Gabriella #2
He seemed to sense that this would never work. So, without hesitation, he picked me up, went over to the small space of wall on the far side, and gently pressed my back against it. Hiking my legs farther up, he began to drive deeper—until finally, he bottomed out, flesh flush against flesh.
“I’m going to fucking fill you with my cum,” he growled.
“This might be the time to mention that my birth control prescription ran out,” I panted, digging my fingers into his shoulders and praying that he didn’t pull back.
Liam cocked his head to the side. “Do you think the idea of you swollen with our second child is in any way going to turn me off?”
He pulled back, then slammed into me. I moaned loudly, digging my fingers desperately into him.
“We haven't had a chance to discuss what our future looks like,” I gasped. “Hell, I only just realized we would have one yesterday.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re finally on the same page,” he murmured. He inched into me this time, withdrawing and pushing back in with careful strokes. “You’ve always been endgame ever since I met you.”
A rough laugh barked from me. “That night, on the street, you didn’t even know it was me.”
“Maybe so.” Dipping his head, he sank his teeth into the sensitive skin of my neck. “But it was meant to be, and I’ll never surrender that.”
“Neither will I,” I promised.
Liam pressed his lips against my throat. “Fucking hell, cailín, your pulse is wild.”
“It’s beating for you,” I confessed softly.
That was all it took to make Liam snap.
He fucked me hard, deep, unrelenting, without mercy.
I met each thrust, opening wide to invite him inside.
Pressure built to a delirious height. Pleasure crackled through every fiber of my being.
My core tightened, and I didn’t resist the urge deep in my belly that my brain still warned me wasn’t natural.
With a scream, I came undone at his hands. Liam pulled out halfway.
How he could see anything in this dim light, I wasn’t sure, but his tight curse told me that his cock, soaked with my arousal, set off some animalistic chain reaction. He buried himself into me over and over, not showing me a drop of mercy.
And the oddest thing happened—the pressure increased again. I hadn’t even come down from the blast of the first orgasm when my muscles tightened, gripping his cock, and pleasure spilled through me with another crash of waves. I was screaming.
Maybe it was in my head. It was hard to tell. Time, place, being—they lost all meaning. There was only this man and his cock. He pushed as deep as he could, his body stilling as he spilled himself into me.
“That’s it. Milk every last drop of cum. Look how fucking greedy your pussy is,” he rasped against my throat.
I pushed his head, forgetting for a moment to be gentle against his scarred skin, but I had to have his mouth on mine. I couldn’t breathe properly until his lips were sealed with my own.
There was nothing gentle about the kiss. We had no more secrets. We were just two people who found one another in the dark, bound our souls together with a vow, and were reduced to nothing but the primal need we brought out in each other. We were both monsters, after all.
***
When we went back to the bed, Storm was curled protectively around Luca’s feet. Liam slid under the covers with his boxers, and I was dressed in pajamas. I lay down on one side, and Liam was already on the other. Sandwiched between us was the dog…and our boy.
Liam said nothing about the dog on the bed.
It made me smirk.
Not that the beast could see it in the dark.
Honestly, I was pretty sure the masked devil fell asleep before me, but it was hard to tell, because I was out within seconds, only to be woken up thirty minutes later by Luca’s hungry cries.
Sleep might now be a luxury, but it was worth it.
I couldn’t stop smiling, grinning at Liam through the muted glow of the tiny lamp the internet said was great for middle of the night feedings.
***
After a disrupted night, we had a slow morning. So slow and so filled with the start of many beautiful memories. We made a new bottle. Liam brought the clothes from the dryer, and we picked out an outfit. Luca pooped the moment we dressed him, so we had to start the process over again.
It was perfect.
Basking in the blissful feelings, a shock rolled through me upon seeing my sister’s name on the caller ID on my phone. That shock turned into a sickening wave of panic. In the chaos of the last couple days, the situation with my family barely crossed my mind.
I hated to admit it, but now guilt surged through me as their danger and the threats of my father.
“Ela! What is it? Is everyone okay?” I gasped, my hands shaking as I tried to hold the phone.
“Gabriella! Gabby!” Carmela sang out. “Do you still have your passport?”
She didn’t sound frightened.
I frowned. I didn’t have one, since I’d never actually gone abroad. But that was not a conversation I was going to dredge up right this second.
“What’s up?” I answered, avoiding her question.
“Well, if you can give me the number—the ID number,” she said excitedly. “I’ll get you booked for the flight and the resort. I have the itinerary pulled up on the laptop right now!”
I blinked and looked at the phone.
“Ela, what is going on?” I repeated slowly.
Liam, holding a bottle that the baby was eagerly sucking down, arched an eyebrow in my direction.
My sister laughed. “Mom is booking us a vacation.”
I scrubbed my hand over my forehead. Had my mother lost her mind? Papa was never going to allow that.
“What is she thinking?” I whispered, as though he were listening to the conversation. “She can’t go around saying that. Papa will fly off the handle!”
“Oh, we’re gonna leave right after his funeral. Can you come with us? Will Liam spare you?” Carmela jabbered.
“Tell her it’ll be like her honeymoon,” Mama shouted from the background.
The phone slipped from my fingers.
“We’ve never actually been on a honeymoon,” Liam contemplated, tasting the words on his lips. “Tell them you can go, if it’s like a honeymoon.”
I stared at him. A honeymoon….
“Gabby!” the voice from the phone on the table shouted. “Where are you? Yeah, you can’t leave us here alone!”
Liam bounced Luca, who started to fuss.
My brain was scrambled. The crying didn’t help.
Too much.
It was all too much.
“I think he needs to be burped,” I squeaked.
Liam looked at the baby, looked at me. “And how, pray tell, do I do that?”
I opened my mouth, but the only sound that came out was a hollow croak.
Papa was dead?
Luca wailed louder. But suddenly, a warm hand squeezed my shoulder.
“Breathe, little bird,” the beast murmured. “You’ve got to remember to breathe.”
A long, ragged breath filled my lungs.
One thing at a time. “Put him upright on your shoulder and pat his back.”
As I spoke, I pressed my cheek briefly against Liam’s bare hand. His calm presence steadied me. It gave me the strength to pick up the phone.
“Start from the beginning,” I demanded, cutting off Carmela as she jabbered excitedly into the phone about all that the resort had to offer. “What funeral?”
“Oh, what was left of Papa was found this morning in front of the train tracks.”
Dead.
Papa was…dead.
I shook my head. “Trains don’t run through the tracks by our house.”
It was a stupid detail to fixate on, but my mind chose to do that instead of process the information that my sisters, that my mother, and even me were safe.
“No,” Carmela explained. “He was across town. I don’t even think he was in the Morelli turf, but that doesn’t matter.
He’s gone. Mom’s celebrating and taking us all on a vacation, and then when we get back, we’re selling the house and looking for somewhere else to live.
Hopefully it can be closer to you,” she added as an afterthought.
My pulse roared in my ears.
I took a stilted breath.
“You’re sure it was him?” I asked, risking a glance at the monster beside me.
That stormy gaze bore into me.
And I knew.
I knew Papa was dead. I didn’t need to hear my sister’s confirmation. It was done. The nightmare was finally over.
“Well, what do you say, cailín?” Liam smirked. “Should we take a honeymoon?”
I gave him a soft smile, and my chest tightened in a way that made me want to lean into the beautiful, masked devil forever.
I nodded.
Into the phone, I said, “We’re coming. Liam and I. And we demand free babysitting.”
“What?!” Carmela shrieked. The volume made me wince. “What do you mean, babysitting?”
My gaze clashing with Liam’s. Heat crackled in the short distance between us. “Oh, you’re an auntie. I never went to Europe. Had a baby instead. Papa made me give him up, and now that he’s back—”
I didn’t get anything else out before my sister’s scream filled the phone.
I pulled it away from my ear.
I’d been trying to keep the story short to get it all out before that reaction. It didn’t work.
While a thousand questions peppered the phone’s speaker, Liam mused, “Maybe we’ll need a mansion like the Grimaldi’s after all.”
The only reason I could think of was so that he could chase me through the dark halls and back passages.
A delicious buzz heated between my legs.
But that made little sense given the conversation.
“Why?” I blurted out. “Why a house that big?”
Liam shrugged and continued to rub his hand over Luca’s back.
The baby had stopped crying somewhere during the conversation.
My husband had the makings of a good father.
I wasn’t going to be a helicopter mom who didn’t allow my partner to do anything.
Liam was going to learn all about diapers and laundry, blowouts, baby spit-up—all the things I saw our housekeeper, Francesca, deal with—all the things I dreamed about wanting to deal with.
He was already perfect for it.
“Liam?” I insisted.
The beast placed a hand over mine and gave it a squeeze. “If my mother is going to move in with us, maybe we should offer your mother too as well. Then we would need a big house.”
I grimaced. “I love you, but I don’t think there’s enough testosterone to deal with that level of feminine emotion.”
My husband puffed up his chest. “You don’t think I’m man enough?”
Light, freeing laughter bubbled up my throat. As I let out the burst of mirth, Liam’s gaze shifted. It turned downright feral. I knew that look.
Possession.
If all it took was my laughter, then I would be doing a lot more of that in the future. It was something that wouldn’t be too hard to manage.
“I think you’re every bit enough man for me, but I don’t need my sisters making heart eyes at my husband. Can’t we stick them in a house next door?”
Tugging me close, Liam dropped a kiss on my forehead. The hot touch of his lips sent a shiver through me. “Now there’s an idea. We’ll start looking on the plane ride.”
“We’re really doing this,” I said. “We’re really taking a trip to celebrate?”
“It’s macabre, I’ll grant you, but it’s fitting.”
It was. “But work—what about your job? And you’re the king now!”
“Hush, little bird,” he said, placing my son in my arms. His arms wrapped tightly around us. “Let me choose you.”
The world could have the monster, but with his arms around me, warm and unyielding, I had the man.