Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
Bambalina
Lunch feels strange. Antonia keeps glancing at Papa and topping up his water glass as if he’s coming down with something. Allegra keeps conversation moving with updates about her ailing ankle and the online antics of her bridge club.
I grit my teeth so I don’t make any ill-thought-out suggestions to move back into her apartment so Nicolò and I can have the living room back.
My animosity doesn’t endure though. I’m so overwhelmingly aware of Nicolò sitting across the table flashing heated looks at me every few seconds. He said I was the one who had to get my blushing under control. He’s the one who needs to get his eyes under control.
When he replies to Papa’s questions about ‘work’ and doesn’t think I’m looking, I rake my gaze over his distressingly beautiful body. A body I’ve had my hands on. Well, half of it anyway.
My palms tingle with the recollection and I swallow a mouthful of food.
It’s annoying how before this thing started, Papa, Antonia and Allegra were never here, but now it’s like one of them is home all the time, so Nicolò and I don’t get any moments alone, except in the hallways in the dead of night.
Once the plates have been cleared, I leave Nicolò and Papa talking about business that doesn’t concern the rest of us and head upstairs to the bathroom.
I need to splash some cold water on my face or something.
I feel as though my skin is permanently heated at the moment and it’s even worse when Nicolò is in the same room and we’re surrounded by other people.
I worry that my cheeks are red all the time.
Not only that, I struggle to speak in case I suddenly blurt out something that gives us away.
And worse still, when he drifts those heavy lashed eyes in my direction, I struggle to breathe.
Inside the bathroom I hold onto the washbasin and drop my head.
I’m dizzy from the speed at which we’re getting closer and closer.
Not just physically but intuitively too.
He can detect a shift in my mood by the length of my breaths.
He can soothe a terrified thought by softening his gaze on me across the room.
He can tell if I’m hot for him by watching the curl of my fingers.
I’m so in over my head.
I focus on taking long, deep breaths.
It’s going to be okay. It’s only been a week. It’s moved fast but it will slow. I just have to keep my shoulders above water so I don’t completely drown in him.
Lifting my heavy head, I turn on the faucet and wet my fingers.
Then an awareness of his presence makes every inch of my body hum. I spin around and watch the door knob turn slowly and quietly. I know it’s him even though he’s on the other side of the door.
I hold my breath as the door opens toward me and he brings a dark, violent gaze up to mine. It’s sharp and deadly and makes me back up against the washbasin.
The door closes, sealing us both inside, and the lock clicks into place.
“What are you wearing?” he rasps.
I look down at my outfit. It’s the same style as the pink dress I wore to the doctors, only this one is white with a lace trim on the thigh. It’s also slightly transparent, so my bra is not obvious but detectable beneath the fabric.
“It’s new. I thought you’d like it.”
He shakes his head, an anguished frown wrinkling his forehead.
“You can’t wear that shit unless we’re alone, Lina.”
My breaths stutter. “But we’re never alone, and I still want you to notice me.”
He steps into me, cupping my face. His heated breath coasts over my lips.
“Are you out of your mind? I always notice you. Don’t you get it? You’re all I see.”
I stare into his eyes, trying to burrow into them. I want more of him. All I get is crumbs. A glance here and there, a light drift of his fingers as we pass in the hall, a stolen kiss when everyone’s asleep. I want so much more and the hunger is driving me crazy.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I just… wish I had you to myself more.”
He tastes my lips and hums his approval then wipes a thumb across my cheek. “It’ll happen. As soon as my apartment’s ready, you can come around there. We can pretend it’s ours.”
My knees buckle at the promise and a whimper escapes my throat.
“Are you horny, baby?” he breathes.
“I’m always horny for you,” I admit. “So horny it hurts.”
He drags his lips over my eyelids. “So dramatic, my little fawn.”
I squeeze his thick arms. “I’m not being dramatic. It actually hurts down there. When I can’t take anymore I have to go to my room, and—”
His eyelids ping open and he jolts backward. “And what?”
I frown. “Take care of myself of course.”
He lifts his gaze to the ceiling and exhales with a soft groan. When he lowers his head there’s a controlled madness in his expression. “You’re going to get me into so much trouble,” he rumbles.
I cock a brow. I’m not joking. Sometimes, I get so turned on imagining what we could be doing together that my walls ache for something to grip onto.
His gaze drops over me and he wipes a curled fist over his mouth. “This fucking dress…”
I don’t have a chance to protest when he lifts me up and deposits me on the vanity.
Part of me is painfully aware—and shamefully thrilled—that Papa, Antonia and Allegra are all in the house and Nicolò has me locked in the bathroom.
But another, obviously more vocal, part of me wants to thrust my hips forward with impatience.
I need his mouth on me in some shape or form, like, yesterday.
“You’re driving me wild, you know that?” He says it like it’s a huge inconvenience and I part my thighs with a smirk.
Shaking his head in despair, he reaches under my dress, hooks his fingers over my thong and pulls it quite harshly over my hips and thighs, leaving it to hang between my ankles.
He places his hands either side of me on the vanity, leans in and kisses me hard.
Then he takes one of my hands and rests it on his erection.
“See how goddamn hard you make me? That’s all the time, Lina.
All the fucking time. I can’t even sit through a business meeting without getting hard thinking about you.
And these…” he palms my breasts, floating his thumbs over the nipples, making my toes curl. “I fucking pine for these.”
“You can have them any time you want,” I pant, breathlessly. “They’re yours. Everything of me… it’s yours.”
His gaze spears me suddenly and he drops to his knees with a warning: “Bite your lip, Bambalina.”
Then he lunges between my legs and wraps his mouth over my pussy. His flat tongue laps at me, only pausing to suck my clit between his teeth.
Oh God!
I reach up to hold onto something and find purchase on the shower rail. Then I roll my lips inward to stop any sound from eking out of my chest. Nicolò’s large hands grab my thighs, throwing my legs over his shoulders.
The move tilts my pelvis, giving him easier access to my pussy.
The vanity is littered with glass bottles, jars and creams. I couldn’t writhe if I wanted to. But God, I need to do something, or I’m going to explode.
His tongue swirls around my clit, caressing and sweeping it into a blissful buzz, then he dips into my opening and my whole body sighs.
There. That’s where I ache. Right there.
I can’t say any of this because the second I open my mouth, more sounds will come out and I can’t control it yet.
But he knows. He sinks further to the floor and licks around my opening, flicking his tongue in gently and kissing the flesh all around.
He must have my scent all over him, but I don’t care.
Just as he pushes his tongue into me, a knock comes at the door.
“Nicolò, love?”
At the sound of Antonia’s voice, I freeze. Nicolò draws back slowly, flicking his tongue lazily over my clit, and looks up at me. All the blood drains from my face. My stepmother is standing only three feet away from me and her son is kneeling between my bare legs.
“Nicolò, are you in there?”
His gaze latches onto mine with a warning to not make a sound. He needn’t worry, I dare not take a breath, let alone make a sound.
“Yeah, Mom. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Have you seen Bambalina? We need to talk to her.”
My brows hike. What could be so important that they couldn’t tell me over dinner?
“I don’t know, Mom. I’ll look for you, just… give me five.”
He leans in and casually licks his tongue over my clit.
I have to bite down on my hand. I don’t think he’ll need five.
The sheer terror of being discovered and the fact Nicolò is talking to his mom while licking and fingering my pussy has me balancing on the edge.
I could be finished in sixty seconds if he keeps this up.
“Are you okay, love? Was it the food?”
Nicolò’s head jerks up. “Mom,” he snaps. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Oh okay, well, we’ll be in the living room.”
My ears train on the sound of footsteps treading softly away, then I let myself melt into him. Returning his tongue to my heat, he laps and sucks at my clit, gently rimming me with a wet finger. His eyes are closed and he’s humming into my skin like he’s really enjoying himself.
“I’m so close,” I whisper.
He kisses my clit and moans. “I want to taste your come. Give it to me, little fawn.”
He gives me one last long suck then licks through the sensitive folds from my entrance to my clit, lavishing the hood with little licks, until I start to shake. My ankles cross behind his back and my knees fall open. My spine curves and my neck arches. I bite down on my fist so hard I draw blood.
He fingers me gently and kisses the sensitive skin between my thigh and pussy as I come down, crying softly with relief.