Chapter Twenty-Two
She storms off, and I’m left staring at Matteo again.
The guy’s a dick, but regardless of him, I really need to cement the relationship between me and Ari.
All the tension is creating an atmosphere.
I really just want to punch him in the face, but I turn and follow her upstairs because tonight’s my wedding night.
I won’t allow him to come between us. Today has been us showing the world we are a force together.
Tonight, I need to solidify that bond. He’s not a factor now that she has my ring on her finger, but I’ll keep a watchful eye on him, anyway.
I reach the door and I stand there for a second before contemplating whether to knock or not, but we’re married now, so I just open it.
When I step inside, she’s twisting and contorted, trying to undo the buttons on her dress.
Her face full of anger and frustration at how the night has gone, and I step up to her.
“Need a hand?” I slide my hands over her shoulders, and she tenses, bristling at my touch.
“I’m not in the mood, Vittorio.”
I slide my hands down to the top button and flick it open.
I breathe across her neck, and undo the next one.
With each button, her body relaxes a little more.
The next button I open, I place a chaste kiss against her shoulder.
I reach down for the next one. I gently roll it between my fingers, popping it open before nuzzling the side of her neck.
Her head leans to the side, giving me more access.
I press kisses along the side of her throat up to her ear and groan a little as I nip her ear.
I see her skin pebble, but her hands stay by her side.
I slowly lick up her neck as I open the next button and kiss along the place I’ve just licked, blowing as I do, creating a shudder that ricochets through her body.
As I undo another, her hands lift, holding the top of the dress when she feels it start to slip.
I keep undoing and kissing, licking, before it turns to nipping and sucking.
She groans as I undo the last button. I reach back up, grabbing the back of her bra, and I flick it.
It springs undone, and she rests herself back against me.
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t,” I whisper against her neck as I continue paying attention to the space just under her ear that always softens her. “We just have to learn to trust each other. It will come with time.”
“What about the Syndicate?”
“They’ll come for us. We just have to be ready when they do.”
“And whose side will you be on?”
“Yours.”
“Will it always be like this?”
“Dealing with my family?” She nods. “No, it won’t be long before we kill my father or Bellino does. I shrug. Hopefully, they’ll take each other out.”
She lets go of the dress. It slides down her body, pooling at her feet. She turns and stares up at me. “How do I know this is real? How do I know that you won’t betray me for them?”
I reach out. My fingers rest on her waist. My eyes stay trained on hers, which is hard as she stands there in her white underwear, her tanned skin glowing.
The gift I gave her is still strapped to her thigh, but now is not the time for my lustful thoughts.
“My father has never been a good man, neither has my brother. They taunted and ridiculed, beat and burned. They tried to mould me into something they expected, and I’d played along because I had to survive, but don’t mistake my survival skills for loyalty.
I will light the match and gladly watch them both burn. ”
“And how do I know you’re not just saying what you think I want to hear?” Her brows pull together.
“You don’t.” I shrug. “That’s where the trust comes in. If we make a conscious decision to trust in each other and have each other’s backs, no one will be safe.”
“What do you want from me, Vittorio?” She looks away and shakes her head.
“I want you to believe in me. To choose me.”
“That’s it?” She pulls back a little further, her eyes darting around my face, searching for the lie. She won’t find it. I want her. I want her to believe in me. I want to secure a future. A family.
I nod as I step forward. I’m done talking.
I grip her hips tighter as I lift her out of the pooled fabric, holding her against my body.
She wraps her legs around my waist. Her arms wrap around my neck, and her hand fists into the back of my hair.
She stares at me for a second, her eyes boring into mine.
“Us against the world?” she asks. Her gaze searches mine, trying to see any sign of betrayal or deception.
I smile at her. “Us against the world. Forever.”
She crashes her lips against mine. Her tongue forces its way into my mouth. I grip her tighter, wrapping my arms around her waist as I walk her further into the room.
I crawl onto the bed, one arm firmly around her as I lie my body over hers. She stares up at me. I see something different in her eyes. I feel a shift, like she’s trying to let me in, and I take it. I reach up and cup her face.
“You are my family now.”
She nods. I lean in and give her a gentle kiss before pulling back.
I climb off the bed. I walk over and lock the door, and when I turn back, she’s lifted herself up on her elbows.
The white underwear makes her skin look darker than normal.
The gun still positioned against her thigh.
I bite my lip as I stay near the door. I remove my jacket.
Tossing it on the floor, I take off my shoes as I undo my tie and take a step closer.
I slowly undo each button on my shirt. Then reach down and do the cuffs.
I slide it over my shoulders and toss it to the side.
I undo the belt of my trousers. I hold the buckle end and rip it out of the loops wrapping it around my hand.
Her eyes darken and I can’t help the slight smirk that crosses my drying lips.
She’s hungry. I can see the look in her eyes.
She wants me. No more than I want her, though.
I remove my trousers and stand there a second, wrapping the belt around my knuckles, tightening it between my grip.
“Are you gonna be a good girl for me?” I rasp, my voice betraying me. I’m about ready to explode. She’s fucking beautiful, laid there for me and me alone.
Her eyes flash with defiance. She curls up her mouth, the side of her nose lifting up into a tiny snarl, and shakes her head before licking her lips and biting down on it. I stare down at her. She’s perfection.
Gripping the belt tight, I push my thumbs into the waistband of my boxers, pushing them down over my hips. My dick springs free. I step out of them, kicking them to the side, and I step to the end of the bed, standing to my full height.
“We’re married now. All in. If I’m giving you the real me. All of me. I want the real you. I want all of you. No secrets. No lies. All laid bare.”
She stares for a second. Her eyes roam every inch of my body. I can almost feel it caressing like fingertips, lighting my skin on fire.
“All or nothing?” she questions.
I nod once. She waits, she contemplates, she weighs everything over before lifting slightly and reaching for the gun.
I don’t panic. I don’t move. I just give her a devious smile.
I need to trust her, and this is clearly the first test. She holds the weapon and brings it into both hands.
Her knees gently rest together while her feet stay splayed wider.
She points the gun at my chest. And fuck, my dick bobs.
She’s never looked sexier than in this moment , living her truth.
What she truly is—strong, powerful, beautiful, intelligent and so fucking devious. She’s perfect.
“What’s stopping one of us turning on the other?” She adjusts her grip on the gun. Her finger finds the trigger and rests lightly against it. My grip tightens on the belt. Standing there naked, vulnerable but so fucking hard right now. I hope she sees me, all of me.
“Trust.” I smile at her.
“We don’t have that yet?” she smirks.
“We will.” The corner of my mouth kinks up into a half smile, lazy and relaxed.
“How can you be so sure?” she muses.
I shrug. “You’re all I have. You’re my present, my future. Without you, I have nothing. I gave it all up for you.”
I kneel on the bed and crawl up to her. The belt digs into my hands. I reach her and rise up. She points the gun at my chest. I slowly stretch out my hands and wrap the belt around her neck. She pushes the gun against my heart, and I lean into it. The cold, hard metal makes my skin pebble.
Her eyes sparkle, and I smile at her. She smiles back.
She bites her lip, and I tighten the belt a little more.
We stare, we assess, and then she winks at me.
She moves the gun and tosses it the side as I surge forward, sandwiching her body between me and the bed.
I pull on the belt as her arms wrap around me, one around my shoulders and into my hair.
She grips tightly, wrapping the strands through her fingers and tugging from the roots. Her nails dig into my scalp. It makes a shudder run down my spine. Her other hand snakes down my back. She caresses the fullness of my ass cheek before she digs her nails in and grinds under me.
I thrust against her. She bites her lip, and I smash my mouth against hers, the resolve gone.
Sure, we’ve fooled around. But we’ve never actually fucked, and it’s like my dick can’t wait any longer.
Nudging at the soft fabric of her underwear, I buck against her a few times before I let go of the belt and reach between us, pushing the fabric to the side.
I slide my thick finger through her lips, and she’s fucking soaked.
I remove it and bring it to my lips. I slide it into my mouth and over my tongue.
My eyes close as I take a moment to savour her before sliding it back inside her.
I groan at the taste of her. Fuck, I don’t ever think I’ll get enough of her.
I pump my finger in and out a few times, flicking my thumb over her clit as she bucks against me.
But I can’t wait any longer. I pull my finger out of her.
I wrap my hand around my dick and press it to her entrance.
I stare at her for a second, waiting for the go-ahead.
She arches her back off the bed. It’s all the invitation I need.
I crash into her, bury myself so far inside her it takes my breath away.
My head hangs, my shoulders sag, and I blow out the tension.
The feeling of her clamping around my dick fucks with my mind.
I hold myself there, buried in her, while I acclimatise myself to all the overwhelming feelings and sensations that flood my system.
She feels like nothing else I’ve ever felt before. She feels like mine.
She squirms, and I pull back. Our eyes meet, and for a split second, I forget the world around us exists. It’s just the two of us.
Then I pull back. I crash my hips against hers, slamming into her as her hips buck up to meet mine.
She tightens her grip in my hair to the point of pain and kisses me like she’s drowning.
My hips lift and slam against her in a punishing rhythm that I’m not sure I can keep up with, but my body knows what it wants, and it’s her writhing beneath me.
Each crash of our hips slamming against each other is another promise, another link in the chain that will fortify us against the world. I am hers and she is mine.
She whimpers, and that is my undoing. I crash into her a few more times before growling as I come.
I push against her as I thrust, and she screams out.
Her body goes rigid, her grip in my hair and on my ass tightens as I pull back, growling as I thrust into her one last time.
Before I sag, my body lies on hers as I pant.
My head rests on her chest, disbelief at how fast that was over, everything so overwhelming.
My body was unable to control itself once it felt her around me.
I shudder as I feel our cum slide out of her and down my balls, but I stay there.
Her hand stays wrapped in my hair as her nails scratch back and forth against my scalp. It’s soothing.
She clutches me to her chest, but her other hand reaches up and wraps around me. I breathe her in. Neither of us in a rush to move, the calm settles over me. We stay like that for a while, neither wanting to break the silence. Whatever happens now, everything’s changed.