5. Cali
CALI
“ O h my God. That was…”
The wolf chuckles as I trail off breathlessly. Every muscle in my body is going to be screaming at me in the morning, but right now, the euphoria I’m feeling is worth every ache and bruise I might have.
We lie in silence for several minutes, and I start dozing off when the wolf gets up. He disappears into the attached bathroom and closes the door. I sigh and close my eyes again.
I wake up with a jolt. The wolf is pressing my knees apart.
“Shh. I’m just going to clean you up,” he croons softly.
“I can do it.”
He shoots me a stern look that is a clear warning not to argue with him, so I sigh and let him clean up all my most private parts. The rough treatment he gave me a few minutes ago has disappeared, and now he’s treating me like spun glass that he doesn’t want to break.
When he finishes, he gets rid of the cloth and comes back with a package of makeup wipes.
I reach for them, but he gives me a look again, which has me quickly lowering my hands.
As if it’s the most natural thing in the world, he pulls a towelette out and starts cleaning off my smeared makeup.
One of his hands rests on top of my head, and while he works, his piercing green eyes stay locked with mine. It’s intimate. So intimate.
Slowly, he leans forward and presses a tender kiss to my lips. It’s not a sexual kiss. It’s soft and sweet, and I swear this night is one I’ll never forget. He pulls away and gives me a small, boyish smile that melts my heart.
“You’re perfect,” he says quietly, his forehead resting on mine.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He nods and rises, and I watch in fascination as he gets dressed. By the time he’s fully clothed, he looks as though he just walked out of a boardroom instead of just having wild sex in a BDSM club. Me, on the other hand. I’m pretty sure I look freshly fucked and very pleased about it.
Once he’s done, he picks up my dress and lowers it over my head. He holds out his hand and helps me up from the bed, then kneels and places my heels in front of me.
“Hold on to my shoulders,” he commands.
I do and step into my shoes. My legs feel wobbly, and I can hardly wait to go home and crawl into bed so I can have delicious dreams about tonight.
“Can I have my panties?”
The devilish smirk appears on his face, and his eyes darken slightly. “No.”
I gasp. “People will see my bottom if I don’t have my panties. My dress is short.”
He picks up my cape from the floor and ties it around my neck. “Baby girl, you know me better than that. Do you think your husband would ever allow any other man to see what’s his?”
My husband’s possessive jealousy makes me feel warm all over, and I smile up at him as he stares at me with complete adoration.
“No. You wouldn’t.”
“Never. I don’t share.”
I wrap my arms around his waist and snuggle into his comforting embrace. He presses a kiss to the top of my head.
“Come on, baby girl. Let’s go home so Daddy can put you to bed.”
He takes my hand, grabs the wicker basket I brought, and leads me out of the room. When we turn down a long hall, two suited men start walking with us.
I look up at the one beside me.
“Have fun, lass?” Grady asks.
My cheeks heat, and I avert my gaze from his, as he chuckles and tugs on one of my pigtails.
Being the wife of a mafia boss has its downfalls, but it also has its perks, and these men—the ones who protect me like I’m their own flesh and blood—are definitely one of the biggest perks of this life.
Kieran opens the back door of the waiting SUV and waits as Declan gently loads me into the car and fastens my seatbelt before climbing in after me.
Grady and Kieran get into the SUV ahead of ours, and our driver follows them as they pull away from the club.
I snuggle into Declan’s side and let out a deep breath when he wraps his arm around me.
“Was I too rough with you?” he asks quietly.
Tears fill my eyes at his question. My big, terrifying mobster husband, who scares the piss out of grown men for fun, is worried he was too rough with me.
I look up at him. “No, Daddy. That was amazing. Can we…maybe do it again sometime?”
He stares at me for a long moment before he lowers his face to mine and kisses me.
“Any time you want. You’re my soulmate, Cali Gilroy. I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
He thinks he’s the lucky one, but I know I’m just as lucky because he’s my soulmate, too.
The rest of the ride home is quiet, and when the car stops in front of our house, Declan gets out first, then pulls me out and carries me all the way up to our room.
This time between us is my favorite. It doesn’t matter how rough or gentle we are during sex; he always gives me the best aftercare. Sometimes, I think him taking care of me is his own form of aftercare.
He takes me into the bathroom and starts the tub, then turns to me and undresses me with the same delicate care he’d given me before we left the club.
When I’m fully naked, he gently pulls my pigtails free before wrapping my hair up in a messy bun on top of my head. He pours a ridiculous amount of salts into the water before he lifts me like I weigh nothing and sets me in the bath.
Both of us are exhausted, but he still takes his time washing me from head to toe before he drains the tub and dries me off with a fluffy white towel.
Like he does every night, he sits me on the vanity and brushes my teeth for me instead of letting me do it myself.
It used to embarrass me when he did it because, hello, I’m perfectly capable, but now it feels odd if I have to brush them myself.
He carries me into the bedroom and sets me on the bed.
I know better than to get up to get my own pajamas.
This is his time to Daddy me in a more intimate way, and I love it just as much as he does.
When he returns, he gets me dressed in a pair of pastel pink cotton panties that aren’t at all sexy, but they make me feel precious and adorable, and I love the way he looks at me in them.
The nightgown he chose is also pink and is basically an oversized T-shirt with a sleeping bear printed on the front and the words Beary Tired .
Once my pajamas are on, he pulls the bedding back for me to crawl in. As soon as I do, he hands me my favorite stuffed animal who sleeps with us every night, then tucks the blankets all around me.
“I’m going to go get us some drinks and a snack. No getting out of bed.”
I nod and settle in against the pillows. My mind is quiet, my body is still humming, and my heart is full. I still can’t believe this is my life after everything I went through growing up.
Declan has a pink plastic water bottle in one hand, a bag of Cheetos in the other, and a regular bottled water under his arm when he returns. He sets the pink bottle on the nightstand next to me.
“I want half of that gone by the time I come out of the bathroom,” he says before he kisses my forehead and disappears.
Too tired to be the defiant Little girl I enjoy being a lot of the time, I drink down the water, appreciating the soothing cold liquid on my scratchy throat. All that screaming really did a number on me.
My breath catches when he opens the door and steps out in just his boxer briefs. The man is practically chiseled from stone, and what most people don’t know about him is that his inside is as beautiful as the outside.
He gives me that boyish smile as he climbs into bed, and when he opens the bag of Cheetos and pops one into his mouth, I giggle.
He winks and starts feeding some to me. It’s terrible that we’re eating these right before bed after already brushing our teeth, but that’s one thing about being part of the mob.
You’re constantly living on the edge. Even if it’s just the edge of a cavity for me because my husband is much too protective for me to live any edgier than that.
When we’re done snacking, he makes me take several more sips of water before he turns out the lights and pulls me against his hard body, wrapping himself around me like he’s afraid I might disappear.
“I love you, baby,” he whispers in my ear.
A smile spreads as I relax against him, loving the security of his hold. “I love you, too, Daddy.”
I f you enjoyed this story, and want to read about more hot, rich, possessive mafia Daddies, be sure to check out Corrupting Cali , book one of my Syndicate Kings series.