Chapter 10
Catalina
Ilay back on the bed and tried to control my breathing as Dario turned off the lights. Beyond the windows, a silver moon sent a ghostly hue over the room. I watched as his silhouette came closer. The bed dipped as he sat at my side.
“Close your eyes, Catalina.”
I did as he said.
“Don’t overthink. I want you to feel.”
I nodded as his fingers trailed over my skin, down my neck, over my collarbone, along my arms. With each passing second, the tension in my body eased. Without my sense of sight, each touch enticed me and excited my reaction. Warm kisses rained over my skin, following the same path. Lower still, his lips moved between my breasts. My back arched as he rolled one nipple and then the other between his fingers. His breaths caressed my skin as his kisses lowered to my stomach.
I flinched as he put pressure between my legs.
“Has anyone touched you here?” He ran his fingers over the crotch of the skimpy panties.
“No.”
“Have you touched yourself? Made yourself come?”
Embarrassment flooded my circulation. If the lights were on, Dario would no doubt see me blush.
“Answer me.”
“I’ve touched myself.”
Dario secured the waistband of my panties. I lifted my behind, allowing him to take the lace down my legs. “Show me.”
My eyes flew open.
He reached for my hand and brought it to my core. “Show me what feels good.”
I hesitated.
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
The tone of his command left no option but compliance. Again, closing my eyes, I began, first with small circles on my clit. The temperature began to rise as dampness formed between my legs.
“Have you ever fucked yourself? With your fingers or a vibrator?”
I shook my head.
“Do it. Feel how wet you are.”
My nipples drew tight with the intrusion at my core.
Dario took my hand and made a production out of licking my fingers. “You taste even better than I could imagine. You’re wet. I’m going to feel how tight you are.”
He splayed the fingers of one hand over my lower stomach as he took over massaging my clit. In only a few circles, the pressure within me grew. The circles continued as his fingers brushed over my folds. Over and over, spreading them until his finger was teasing my entrance.
I bucked my hips, wanting more of what he was doing.
A gasp came from my lips as he pushed one finger inside me. He stilled.
“You’re so fucking tight. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I liked that he kept saying that whether it was true or not.
Dario spread my legs and resumed the kisses, lower and lower until his tongue and lips took over for his fingers, licking and lapping my core, winding me tighter and tighter as my orgasm began to build. Dario didn’t stop as my breathing grew more ragged, and I clenched the sheets at my side, tighter and tighter.
I couldn’t describe what he was doing, and at the same time, I didn’t want it to stop. A gasp preceded a shout as my body became rigid before it exploded. I’d made myself come before, but it was nothing like what was happening—a seismic earthquake followed by hundreds of thousands of aftershocks, leaving me limp as a ragdoll.
His attention went back to my mouth. His kiss and tongue shared my own taste. The warmth and weight of his body enveloped me. The length and hardness of his erection probed my stomach. I didn’t mean to shut down. But suddenly, I was overwhelmed.
It was as if a switch had been hit, and I was suddenly paralyzed.
Dario sat back and ran his finger over my cheek. “Talk to me.”
“I’ve never…that orgasm. But your erection…”
“Touch me,” he said. “You showed me. Now let me show you.”
I sat up a little on my elbows. “I’ve never…”
Dario guided my hand over the bulge not hidden in his boxer shorts. His cock was harder than I thought was possible. After looking up at his eyes, I lowered the band on his boxer shorts, releasing the biggest—the only—cock I’d ever seen. Under the moon’s light, the skin appeared stretched with veins. The surface was smooth, soft, velvety, covering the hard rod. The tip glistened in the faint light.
With each stroke, my courage returned. I leaned forward and initiated our kiss. “I want this.”
Dario pushed down his boxers and climbed between my legs.
Closing my eyes, I tried to do as he’d said earlier and concentrate on his touch and the way the warmth of his body covered me. I made myself lift my hands to his shoulders, feeling the hard muscle beneath his heated skin. Biting my lip, I waited as his cock pressed against my entrance.
Time stood still as we lay together. Dario’s kisses resumed.
My lips.
My neck.
My breasts.
His tongue teased my nipple as he pressed into me.
I sucked in a breath.
Dario’s forehead came to mine. “I’m going slow. It will hurt,” he warned. “I give you my word, I’ll make it better.”
Staring up at his eyes, I nodded. This was my husband. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t had a say in the matter. He had. Dario said he’d chosen me. Sex was inevitable. And as his hard body lay between my bent legs and his cock teased my entrance, I wanted what came next.
“Do it.” My voice was calm despite the way my heart was thumping within my chest.
Dario pushed inside me. Pain shot through me like a knife.
Dario may be a made man. He may even be the monster he proclaimed to be. But as tears escaped my eyes, he cupped my cheek and kissed the tears away. All the while, we stayed connected. He didn’t move as I adjusted to his size.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Once again, I stared up at his orbs, trying to decipher if I saw genuine concern. “Do you really care?”
“Fuck yes. Tell me when I can move.”
I reached for my courage. “You can move.”
His torso tightened as he moved ever so slightly. “I want to jump ahead, a day or a week…I want to show you how good this can be.”
Would a week be enough time?
Pressing my eyes closed, more tears skirted down my cheeks to the pillow below.
Dario began a slow rhythm, in and out, not only filling me, but he was also back to the kisses and caresses. I tried to concentrate on the good, but the pain was real. I knew how this worked. He wouldn’t stop until he climaxed. “Go faster,” I encouraged, hoping he’d come sooner rather than later.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I grimaced as his movements quickened. Soon I felt him growing impossibly harder and bigger within me and his body stiffened. I almost sighed at my relief as he filled me to overflowing and pulled out.
I reached for him, but he was out of reach.
Staying on my back, I stared up at the ceiling. My hopes of post-sex attention died as the mattress shifted as Dario left the bed without a word, leaving me cold and lonely. I wanted to roll away or reach down and pull up the blankets, but my muscles complained. When I scooted toward the headboard, I noticed the wetness between my legs. Even with only the moon’s illumination, I saw the dark blood on my thighs.
“Here.”
Lost in the horror of my thoughts, I didn’t hear Dario return. With a gasp, I looked up. Dario was at my side with a washcloth in his hand. “Let me help you.”
My emotions were too many to handle. The thought that he’d gotten what he wanted and walked away was replaced by his attention and kindness. More tears flowed as I nodded, too out of control to verbally reply.
“The washcloth is warm.” He wiped away the blood and semen before leaning over me and kissing my lips. “It gets better.”
A laugh bubbled from my throat. “If it got worse, I don’t think anyone would do it.”
Dario lifted the blankets over me and sitting at my side, he cupped my cheek. “I know this isn’t the marriage you would have chosen. And as you said, we’re here. You’ve just given me a gift I never expected and probably don’t deserve. I’ll give you something in return.”
“I have your name.”
“You have my oath, Catalina. You’re mine, and I would lay down my life for you. I agreed to this marriage not because I wanted to be married but because marriage is what is expected of me to be capo.”
He didn’t want to be married.
“Here’s my vow. If another man touches you, with or without your permission, I will cut off his hands. If he fucks you, I’ll cut off his dick. If he kisses you, I’ll cut off his lips. No one touches what is mine. In return, I’ll remain faithful to you.”
I wanted to believe him.
“Dario, there’s never been a man I wanted. I’m yours. Only yours.” I didn’t want to sound too needy, but it had been a long day and night. “Will you” —I tilted my head to the other side of the bed— “hold me?”
As he stood, I realized he was again wearing his boxer shorts. The mattress dipped as he climbed in the other side of the bed. I rolled to my side and Dario’s arm came over my waist. I craned my neck until my lips brushed his. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
* * *
The next morning,I woke to sun streaming through the windows and the warmth of another person at my side. It took a millisecond to remember that I was now married, the wife of Dario Luciano. My body ached in a way I couldn’t have imagined as I rolled toward my husband.
Dario had his head lifted on his fist, his elbow holding it up and his dark orbs on me. “I was about to wake you.” He twisted a lock of my hair between his fingers. “But you looked too peaceful sleeping.”
“Are we headed to Kansas City today?” A place I’d never been.
He nodded. “I wish we could take a honeymoon. The bratva is causing more issues. My father is about to announce his retirement, and this deal” —he motioned between us— “is too new to take time away.”
“Our marriage?”
“The deal with the cartel. Roríguez was an expected guest yesterday. Herrera wasn’t. At least not by our side. It was a power play that didn’t go unnoticed. I’m sure my father and his men had a lot to say about the surprise guest last night.”
“I thought you seemed surprised to see him.”
“He’s associated with Roríguez, but our truce wasn’t with Herrera. We’ve banned his products in our city. He’s tried to undercut our dealers and more critically, his shit isn’t safe. He laces it. You can’t make money from dead clients.”
“I didn’t know he was invited.”
“He wasn’t on the guest list we approved. That and the news that your brother attempted to arm you last night have me on edge.”
“About my family?” I asked.
“You’re now a Luciano.”
I thought about what he said. It was more information than Papá would ever share. “Thank you for talking to me. I appreciate that you explain yourself. My father doesn’t always do that. It’s his way. Final. No discussion.”
Dario grinned. “It’s my way final.”
I nodded.
“That said, discussion is the only way to learn. I didn’t agree to a wife simply for a regular fuck.”
I remembered him saying he hadn’t wanted to marry. My expression contorted as I moved.
“Are you sore?”
“Yes,” I replied honestly. “If regular means every night, I think I’m going to need a few nights off.”
Dario’s laugh rumbled through the air. “We can discuss the frequency of regular after we get to our place.” He looked around the room. “I recommend you go and cover yourself with a robe. I would expect my mother and aunts will be here soon.”
I scooted to the headboard and sat up, pulling the blankets over my bare breasts. “Here? Why?”
“They’ll claim it’s to help us, but in reality, it’s to see if we?—”
“Had sex?” I said, mortified. “They’ll see the blood.”
Dario nodded.
“What if…what if you hadn’t been my first?”
“I had a plan, but I didn’t need it.” He leaned down and kissed me. “Thank you.”
“Maybe we should strip the bed,” I suggested.
“They’re old women, and this is what they do.”
Crossing my arms over my breasts, I stared straight ahead. “I don’t like this.” I looked at my husband’s smug grin. “Maybe I can skip breakfast.”
He shook his head. “A few hours and then we’ll leave.”
I winced as I moved my legs off the side of the bed. The twinge in my muscles wasn’t as mortifying as the blood and semen stain in the light of day. “I was worried about a red wedding.”
“So was I. This exceeded expectations. No blood was shed during the ceremony.”
“Just mine—after.”
Dario was now standing, wearing only his boxers, and I was nude. Yesterday, I would have thought it embarrassing to be naked in front of him. After last night, my lack of clothing seemed almost natural.
He came closer and tugged me against his solid form, including the bulge not hidden under his shorts. “Don’t let the old ladies bother you.”
Inhaling his scent, I looked up. “I don’t have a choice—in anything. It’s the way I live my life.”
He kissed my lips. “You have choices. Did you think you didn’t have a choice last night?”
I shook my head. “I had a choice, and I chose you.”
The sound of voices outside the bedroom caused us both to turn toward the door.
“It’s locked,” Dario said as he lifted my chin. “They want a show.”
“A show?” I didn’t have time to say more as Dario’s lips came down on mine. In the privacy of the bedroom, I remembered the way his kisses made me feel and made my body react. I leaned into him, my nipples hardening against his solid chest. My circulation began to hum when he pulled away.
His lips curled into a smile as he ran his thumb over mine. “There, your lips are swollen.” He winked. “Let the show begin.”
With a nod, I hurried to the bathroom. In the mirror, I looked at my lips. They were pink and inflamed. I liked Dario’s kisses. I didn’t hate sex. It would get better. That’s what he said.
Even with the knocks, Dario took his time opening the door. By the time I emerged from the bathroom, with my face washed and my body covered with the nightgown I never put on last night and a real robe, Dario was wearing blue jeans and had a knife holstered to his bare chest and a gun holstered to his back as he opened the door.
“Good morning,” Arianna said, her eyes going from Dario to me. “Breakfast will be ready downstairs. I thought you might need help.”
Doing what?
Dario’s mother wasn’t alone. Two of Dario’s aunts were a step behind her. One was Giorgia’s mother, and I couldn’t remember the other one.
“I should shower first.”
Her gaze skirted the bed and the damaged corset still lying on the floor, then came back to me as her expression softened. “Is there anything we can get you?”
Giorgia’s mother lifted the corset, and the other aunt inspected my wedding gown.
Ignoring all of them, Dario shrugged a shirt on over his wide shoulders covering his weapons and came my way. “I’m going to head down.” His dark gaze met mine. It was as if, without saying a word, he was apologizing for the way the women acted. “I’ll be back up to get you for breakfast.”
I stiffened as he brushed his lips over mine.
Arianna waited until he left before reaching for my arm. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” I replied with a nod.
“It gets better.”
“That’s what I’ve been told.”
“After you shower, come downstairs, and I’ll have the maids take care of the bed. No one else needs to see it.”
No. Just the three of you.
Italians have savage traditions.