Chapter 34
CLEO
‘ M ake me all yours til I black out.’
Alessio’s demanding growl echoed in the sumptuous bedroom.
‘Baby,’ I breathed, ‘your wish is my desire.’
I canted myself over his waist, stroking his cock, flicking my tongue over the head, and moving with teasing slowness to his pulsing base.
It was our second night in Sydney.
Alessio had outdone himself, renting us a luxurious townhouse near his brother’s place.
Earlier that day, we’d pulled up to an address where he’d led me inside, a slight curve on his chiseled face. ‘Welcome to our temporary home, amore mio.’
I’d stepped inside the opulent surroundings.
The space was decked out with every amenity imaginable, from gleaming marble floors and plush furnishings in rich jewel tones to a crystal chandelier casting prismatic light.
‘What do you think? I spared no expense,’ Alessio had growled, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close.
I managed a smile. ‘It’s stunning.’
But I couldn’t shake the uneasiness lurking beneath my skin, an itch I couldn’t quite scratch. It was a palace in its own right, yet it didn’t feel like me.
That said, I attempted to make it our home by loving on my man, floating on clouds in the primary bed on a king-size mattress.
I pumped the base of his pulsing member, suckling the tip, flicking a tongue over the tiny silver barbells at his apex.
He bucked, one hand thrown over his face, his other muscled hand flung into the pillows, chest heaving, thighs trembling.
Damn, having so much power over my man was causing me to get high on love and totally sex drunk.
I lifted off, staring down his pulsating distended cock, so wet, so wanting to ratchet this fever to the next level.
With a moan, I ran my hand over my skin and my nipples, pinching their throbbing ends and lower to where my clit throbbed for him.
His eyes were glazed, and he tried hard to concentrate as I squeezed the base of his member to stop him from cumming too early.
When I swiped my tongue over the tiny jewelry in fast flicks, he roared, limbs shaking.
I thrust a few times before he began to slam his hand on the pillow.
Alternating with suckling his mushroomed head, I got high off his wild passion.
‘I’m about to blow,’ he groaned.
‘Not without me.’
I swung a thigh over him and turned to face his legs, and with teasing slowness, I lowered myself onto him.
When his fingers grazed my hips, I whipped around to lock eyes with his dilated, impassioned leonine ones. ‘No soldier, no touching, no hands. That was the deal.’
He hissed, face convulsing with desire, veins jutting from his arched neck. ‘Cleo, fuck, mia stella, don’t torture me.’
I swirled my pelvis over his throbbing cock, stroking his head over my clit as my other hand pumped his base, quickening. He knifed up, moaning, keening, almost undone.
‘Ain’t no need to cry, Calibrese,’ I teased.
‘Cleo!’
His growl was so feral that I lurched at the pure wildness of his roar.
With a smile, I lowered myself onto him just as his pelvis slammed up, driving his shaft into me.
‘Squeeze cara, tight as you can,’ he growled.
I obeyed, caressing his balls with one hand and working him harder.
I rode him with wild abandon. On and on, we flew.
‘Fuck you’re so hard,’ I groaned. ‘ So thick.’
‘Ride me,’ he moaned. ‘Harder, faster.’
All his muscles were now so taut, so braced, so taut as we rammed our sex together.
We came in a blaze of heat, wet and cum.
My hands went to the mattress as I levered myself.
My hips were a blur as my pleasure rolled in waves even as he broke the rules, grabbed my waist, and slammed more forcefully into me.
Until I fell back onto him, our bodies slicking together, shaking, panting, heaving.
His fingers ran up and down his body onto him, cupping my tits and squeezing hard.
‘What a freak you are, cara.’
At first, my wild streak shocked me because I liked it hard and rough.
‘You bring out the freak in me,’ I sighed, my bliss still washing over me. ‘You bring it out of me.’
‘I think, mia bella, you were a freak long before I came along.’
We laughed as I turned to find his mouth, beauty, and essence, my entire being trembling over him as I came down from my high.
‘Fuck, I adore how we’ve perfected how we sexin’, he growled against my lips, canting his hips to enter me once more.
Damn, how he made love easy.
The following day, Alessio and I visited Nonna at her care home.
The clean, modern facility was popular with its happy, smiling residents.
We walked past pickle-ball courts, a spa, a swimming pool, and an arts and crafts hall. Light streamed through the windows, illuminating dust motes floating in the air.
Approaching Nonna’s door, I paused at the sound of voices coming from inside - Nonna’s raspy chuckle mixing with a man’s deep baritone.
My curiosity piqued. Pushing open the door, I was surprised to recognize Mauri.
The Calibrese consigliere was seated at Nonna’s tidy living room, at her dining table, a hand of playing cards splayed in his fingers.
Nonna’s eyes lit up when she spotted me. ‘Cara mia! Come in, come in.’
She folded me into her powder and perfume-scented hands and blessed me with a kiss and the cross sign.
‘Mauri, please explain?’ I said, waving at the inscrutable consigliere and the card table.
‘You know my Mauri?’ Nonna nodded.
I smiled at the stoic bodyguard, not expecting to find him there. ‘I didn’t realize you two were friends.’
A slight smirk pulled at Mauri’s lips, his eyes softening as he eyed my grandmother. ‘Your Nonna is my most formidable opponent. She beats me at scopa every week.’
I raised an eyebrow, surprised that the taciturn consigliere had a soft spot for my grandmother. Who would have guessed there was more to the man than his gruff exterior?
Nonna waved a dismissive hand. ‘Ah, he lets me win. Such a gentleman, this one. My favorite visitor, you know.’
Alessio leaned into me. ‘He and a few of my capos were on detail, checking on her each day. Turns out he got charmed by her and ended up playing cards with her every Saturday afternoon, unveiling a side to the taciturn bodyguard I had not expected.’
Nonna reached out to squeeze my hand. ‘But of course, I’m always happy to set eyes on my cara nipote. Now, introduce me to this handsome diavolo d’oro.’
Alessio arched a brow. ‘You know my nickname?’
Nonna laughed. ‘I don’t need to. I discern the fire of a lion and devil in you.’
I took Alessio’s hand, my heart swelling with pride as I introduced him. ‘Nonna, please meet mia amato, Alessio.’
Nonna’s face lit up with joy, folding my much taller, muscled, golden man into her arms. ‘Finally, you have a man who looks like he’d flame heaven and hell for you. Welcome to the family, my dear.’
Alessio grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘Thank you, Nonna. I’m the lucky one.’
As Nonna fussed over Alessio, straightening his collar and patting his cheek, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of amusement. She was already treating him like her own grandson despite having just met him.
But then, Nonna turned to me with a sly smile. ‘You know, tesoro, I had hoped to introduce you to Mauri first. He’s quite the catch.’
I felt my cheeks flush, and I glanced at Mauri, who raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable.
‘Nonna!’ I admonished. ‘I’m thrilled with Alessio.’
Nonna chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. ‘Of course you are, dear. I’m just teasing. But you can’t blame an older woman for trying to play matchmaker. I’ve been attempting to match him up for days,’ she complained. ‘Nurses, doctors, physios, all clever women, he doesn’t want any.’
I peeked at Mauri, curious to witness his reaction .
The stoic consigliere was impassive. His arms crossed over his chest as he listened to Nonna’s matchmaking attempts.
Alessio, on the other hand, couldn’t contain his amusement.
He roared with laughter, clutching his stomach as tears formed in the corners of his eyes. ‘Nonna, you’re relentless!’ he managed to say between gasps for air.
But Mauri remained unmoved, his dark eyes fixed on Nonna with exasperation and fondness.
‘The only woman who rules my world is my cat,’ he declared, his deep voice rumbling through the room.
‘And me,’ Nonna Guilia glared.
‘And you,’ Mauri growled, a soft upturn to his lips slipping through.
I smiled at the intimidating consigliere, his care for Nonna, and his feline revealing a side of him I would never have guessed existed, but it made him all the more intriguing.
Nonna, however, wasn’t quite ready to give up her matchmaking efforts.
She fixed Mauri with a stern look, her eyes narrowing as she wagged a finger at him. ‘You mark my words, young man,’ she said, her voice filled with the wisdom of a woman who had seen it all. ‘One day, you’ll find a woman who will turn your world upside down, and not even your cat will be able to compete.’
As we pulled up chairs, I couldn’t help but marvel at the unlikely friendship between these two - my spirited Nonna and the reserved mafioso bodyguard.
Nonna had a way of drawing people into her orbit, no matter who they were.
I settled in to regale her with tales as Mauri gazed on with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes .
While Alessio and I caught her up on the Contis’ demise, Nonna listened with rapt attention, her eyes sparkling, with ire at first, then triumph.
‘Fucking good riddance.’ she snarled when I was done.
‘I now understand where you get your fire from, mia stella,’ Alessio rasped.
‘It runs in the family,’ Mauri remarked dryly, the corner of his mouth twitching.
I shot him a mock glare. ‘Watch it, consigliere. You’re skating on thin ice.’
He held up his hands in surrender. ‘I wouldn’t dream of crossing either of you formidable women.’
Nonna reached over to pat his arm. ‘Ah, Mauri, you’re learning. Stick with me; I’ll teach you all you need to know about handling the female folk.’
The visit flew by in a blur of laughter and stories; before I knew it, it was time to go.
As I hugged Nonna goodbye, she whispered, ‘You see? Even the toughest men have a soft heart if you know where to look.’
I glanced over at the love of my life, then Mauri, and nodded.
Guilia dug an elbow in my side, and we exchanged smiles.
Leave it to Nonna to find humanity in even the most hardened souls.