40. Willow
Chapter forty
Willow
Alessandro lifts me up onto his chest and walks toward my bedroom, kissing me like our lives depend on the contact.
All reservations slip away as I merge my mouth with his, writhing in anticipation.
Everywhere we touch, he’s lean from constant outdoor work, muscles solid and rippling under his clothes.
I tug his upper button loose. His scent blooms, more powerful than ever before, and smelling of life itself. A roaring ocean, sea salt misting the air—a scent I’ve only had fragments of since becoming housebound. I need more.
As I bury my nose in his chest, tears slide down my cheeks.
“Cara mia,” he whispers, sitting me on the edge of the bed and kissing away my tears. “Why do you cry?”
“Because you smell so good,” I sob.
He swears softly and strips his shirt in one smooth motion. “Then you must smell as much as you can.”
I chuckle but gladly cling to him as he straddles me, gently leaning me back on the bed.
“Are you . . . sure you’re okay with this?” I whisper. “You just went through something traumatic.”
“Ah! She did not get close enough for there to be disease—”
I touch my finger to his mouth. “No, I meant are you okay?”
“Oh.” He gazes down at me, warmth filling his eyes as he smiles. “Yes. Right now, I am wonderful. Thank you, Willow.”
I stare up into his dark eyes, noting the smallest changes in his expression, the lines of his cheekbones, and the way his short beard frames his mouth.
The alpha gazes back and then covers my mouth with his. A connection billows between us, stealing my breath with its intensity. It’s like I’m in the middle of my heat, but with none of the wooziness. I press up into his chest, desperate for more skin contact. And sea breeze scent.
Alessandro supports my back. His kisses veer away from my lips and over my chin.
Down along my throat he travels, his deep inhales sparking pleasure in my core.
And his body grows, hardness pressing against my thigh.
The deeply instinctive delight of knowing an alpha enjoys my omega scent roars to life within.
“Alessandro, Alessandro,” I whisper, locking my arms around his neck. “I need you so bad.”
He sucks lightly on my throat. “Be patient, my beloved. I am feasting on the divine.”
My pussy aches, his gentle accent teasing new heat in my belly. I moan softly.
The alpha’s kisses whisker across my decolletage, and he dives his nose into the vee of my pajamas. The impulse to rip my clothes right off makes me close my fists. This wildness feels strange, and beautiful.
“Please, alpha,” I whisper, my lips trembling.
He pauses to look at me, wonder dawning in his face.
“Merda.” His hands quiver as he rattles off a long, passionate sentence in Italian. I don’t need to understand the language to know he finds me utterly beautiful.
Gently he lowers me onto the bed and undoes the rest of my buttons, murmuring as the satin edges fall back to expose me.
Alessandro runs his roughened fingers down my underarms and ribs, fire sparking from the delicious friction.
I whimper and squirm, my nipples aching.
His thumbs circle under my breasts and then he cups them, leaning in to pepper me with more kisses.
His short beard tickles my soft skin, teasing more sensation.
His tongue darts out to taste me, and my breath catches. It’s warm, and soft, so in contrast to my hard, straining tips.
“Oh, cara mia! Beautiful,” he husks out, before sealing his mouth around my nipple. I arch into him as he sucks, swirling my other point with his finger. Glowing embers in my core burst to life in an instant.
While he sucks, I peel his shirt off, revealing a glossy, ripped body with suntanned olive skin, and a trail of black curls running down his chest and past his navel.
I couldn’t appreciate his body much when I was so scared for him before but now I can admit he’s gorgeous, a work of art.
More slender than Jeremy, but more flexible, arching over me with his hips sunk on my pubic bone and his mouth devouring my breast.
Fireworks sparkle all through me, running with a powerful rush straight to my pussy. The sensation intensifies as his hard erection brushes through my satin boxer pants. I push up experimentally, and a rumble vibrates inside his chest.
The sound sends a quiver through my heart. Alessandro’s a perfect gentleman, and appears mild mannered. But here’s the promise of the alpha lurking deep within. Or maybe not as deep as I thought.
His scent explodes and a shiver runs through his torso. “Willow,” he murmurs against my skin. “You make it so hard for a man to hold back.” His next words, said in Italian, make it sound like he’s praying.
I lock my arms around his neck. “So don’t. No need to hold back.”
He rises on his hands, staring down at me, and the light in his eyes changes. It brightens his gaze to something fiercer, greedy even. With a soft curse, he rocks back and grasps my waistband, stripping my pants and underwear in one smooth motion. His biceps flex with every move.
Kneeling on the foot of the bed, Alessandro undoes his trousers button. My eyes widen as he tugs his cock out from inside. Alpha sized, yes, but the way his length curves makes my thoughts blank. I didn’t know a dick could jut that high.
He kicks his clothes aside and watches me, a smirk tugging at his mouth. He strokes himself once. “My omega likes, sì?”
“Yes,” I whisper, rising on my elbows. “Very much.”
He surges forward, our naked bodies pressing together as he cups the back of my head and seals his mouth to mine. “Then let us see a little closer.”
It’s not a question. It’s a promise, filled with an alpha intense growl and musk strong enough to make me high.
Someone drugged Alessandro, but now he’s drugging me with nothing more than his scent. How did I not notice the strength of that musk before? How did I miss the way it calls to my omega soul?
He reaches his hand between our legs and positions himself. His cock nudges between my lips, and a jolt runs through me as my body registers the size. A tiny moan spills from the back of my throat.
Alessandro smiles and leans in.
I can’t explain it, but my body spasms and melts, spilling loose in a hot rush. My face flames and I stiffen. Shit, did I just come from the promise of his dick?
The alpha feels it. How can he not when I’m painting his tip in my slick?
“Oh,” he breathes out. “A welcome party. Good girl.”
He drives in with a deep thrust that fills me to the brim.
“Ah!” My head falls back, and I clutch at the covers. I’ve been called a good girl before, but never by a gorgeous Italian with a husky voice and an accent that turns the words into a croon. I’m melting. My body jolts, heat blazing under the skin.
Alessandro pulls out and thrusts in deep. When my body slides away from him, he clicks his tongue and grasps my hips. “No, no, cara mia. You cannot run from me.”
I wind one hand around his upper arm for grip. “I wouldn’t want to,” I whisper, the words shaky between pants.
He smiles down at me, and it’s like I’m the only person in the world. “Good. Then hold on.”
Any idea of replying shatters as he thrusts deep. Then he draws back, entire body moving away from me, partly dragging me with him. His hips snap forward. Our skin slaps together, his cock driving deep inside. The impact shocks breath from my lungs. Every nerve sings, alert and tingling.
Again and again, he thrusts, until we’re both shaking and crying with our orgasms. Every pulse of his cock twitches against my channel as he empties deep within.
I collapse back on the sheets.
“Wow,” I whisper.
Alessandro strokes my heaving belly. “What are you celebrating?”
“That was so good.”
He blinks, genuine surprise flashing through his dark eyes. “But we only just began?”
I twitch, hands curling into the rumpled bedding.
He watches me, and then chuckles, the sound morphing to a purr that vibrates my entire chest. “My omega is so innocent.” His lips brush the curve of my neck, sucking lightly. “Let me show you, Amore, how Italians make love.”
Pulling back, he flips me over in one quick move. He pushes my hips up until I’m kneeling and drops his lips to my ass cheeks. “I am sorry, but since you are mine now, I cannot possibly let you go yet.”
He spreads my cheeks and fits his cock to my weeping entrance. “You are built for me, Willow,” he purrs, leaning right over my back. “Feel how good we fit together?”
He thrusts and I moan. He’s so deep inside me.
“See? It feels good. We were made for each other. You have not been treated properly if you think once or twice is enough. Trust me, I will not leave my beloved omega wanting.”
A shiver starts deep in my soul, working outward in concentric circles through my body, like a pebble dropped in a pond.
My logic wants to argue with him, but every touch, every thrust, drives the reasoning right out of my head, until all I can do is mewl and squirm, burning with a fever I’ve never felt before—one born of pure desire and a man determined to make me feel everything.
A man who wants to give me his all.
His knot knocks against my lips, but he doesn’t let it slip inside. I cry, and scream, and even beg. My sweat soaks the bedcovers, turning them dark. I climb an endless mountain of sweet sensation, each crest somehow higher and sharper than the last.
And all the while, Alessandro holds me, cradling my body like it’s worth more than crown jewels, whispering words of encouragement and telling me how beautiful I am.
From my knees, he rolls me onto my side and then pulls me into his lap. I slip in sweat and our combined cum, shaking with exertion and pleasure as I shatter once more, heaving from the force of the orgasm. My legs shake as cum trickles down my thighs.
“So perfect,” Alessandro croons.
He dips his thumb along my inner thigh and wipes up a trail, bringing it to his mouth. I stare at the glistening coating on his lip, blinking away bright spots from my vision.
He gazes down at me. “I don’t think you realize how beautiful you are, my omega. Your face this way, the flush on your cheeks. I have the greatest honor in the world to witness your pleasure.”
A sob catches in my throat and I slump down on his neck.
“You’re the one who looks like a model,” I rasp out. My chest heaves into his with my ragged breathing. “Shit, I’m so spent.”
“Already?” he asks, stroking my back. “But I’m not finished with you.”
I straighten to stare at him, arms shaking with the effort. He’s perfectly serious, and as if to set me straight, his rigid cock touches my ass. How the hell does this man stay hard after so many times, without any heat pheromones?
Even though I know this alpha isn’t like the pack I was with years ago, I can’t stop the memory of being pushed against my will, drained dry until I had nothing left to give.
Our eyes meet and Alessandro freezes in place. He sinks down beside me and pulls me to his dewy chest.
“Oh, oh. You are my world, Willow,” he whispers, touching his lips to my hair. “All of it. I never want to do anything you don’t want. Not here in the bedroom, or anywhere else. I only want to give you pleasure, and love. So much that you overflow. I think you need that. But only what you allow.”
Our bodies are woven together so closely that his words hum through my chest.
Tears mist my vision. Choice. Both Alessandro and Jeremy insist on making sure I’m comfortable, that I close the final gap between us. It’s like I’ve left behind the Willow of my youth and stepped into another realm, one where I don’t have to be afraid.
Maybe, after all these years, I’m permitted a little bit of happiness.
I wriggle backward to see his face again. Maybe I’m a sucker for his good looks, or maybe it’s the puppy-dog enthusiasm in him, or maybe I just had such a good time I’m not ready to let him go yet.
“Just once more?” I whisper.
“Sì! Just once more, if you like,” he murmurs, rising on his knees and tipping me gently on my back. “I’m so hot for you, cara mia, I might die.”
A broken laugh spills through me. Alessandro tricked me. He’s not a genteel alpha at all—he’s a beast in disguise. And I have no objections at all.
Half asleep, I open my arms, and his long, curved cock rubs over my pubic bone as he leans down to fold me in his embrace.
“Good girl. My good omega. Just one more, you’ll see.”
Something tells me this man can’t count very well.
A flicker of hope dances in my heart. Maybe this time, it will be okay to trust an alpha.