Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Jasmine
Four days later
W e’d spent the last few nights at Aléjandro and Mia’s house. Now, with Arianna on her way from Kansas City to meet her grandson, Jorge, it was time for us to move up to Sacramento. We had no way of knowing if Jorge had been the planned name all along, but the way Josefina’s face lit up when she first held the perfect seven-pound, thirteen-ounce bundle of joy confirmed that it was the perfect name.
The first night in our home, just as I settled under the covers of our bed and began reading a new book, the door to our bedroom opened inward, and Rei entered, looking tired and oh so handsome.
“How is your mom doing?” I asked .
“She’s settled. I think she wanted to stay with baby Jorge longer.”
“She’ll have more chances after Mrs. Luciano leaves.”
Rei began to remove his shirt. “ Madre has an entire wing for her and her guards, but I have the feeling she’s going to want to spend time with us.”
“That’s good.”
“It is?” he asked.
“Out on Bella” —I sighed— “before everything happened, Josefina told me that her favorite job was being a mother.” A smile came to my lips. “I don’t think I realized until I learned my mom was out of prison, but I’d like a mom around. Since Josefina is available, it works out.”
After depositing his array of weapons, Rei slipped out of his boots and dark jeans. Forgetting about my book, I scanned from his wide shoulders to his toned abs and all the way down to the noticeable bulge in his boxer briefs.
Tugging my lip between my teeth, I said what had been on my mind since before we arrived to the place we could call home. “I want you inside me.”
Rei’s eyes opened wide. “Well, Senora Roríguez, I appreciate your straightforwardness.”
“It’s just that you said it was up to me, and…”
The last few nights we’ve mostly held one another. There was kissing and petting, but also the sense that we needed to grieve. Jorge’s birth brought spirit back to this family, the hope that life continued even in the darkest of times.
I was ready to move on if Rei was.
After stepping into the bathroom for a minute, Rei was back, wearing only his boxer briefs. He didn’t need to say he was ready. The way his dark gaze was set on me left my flesh covered in goose bumps. Beginning at the end of the king-sized bed, he crawled toward me. Hand, knee, hand, knee. His gaze never left mine. With each progression, my pulse increased.
Rei was a man deprived of the one thing we hadn’t done, and I’d blurted out my permission. The fresh scent of soap and mint of toothpaste preceded his contact by a millisecond. Our lips crashed together, two people starved for what only the other could provide. His kiss sizzled and bruised my lips, stealing my breath. Noses bumped and our hands roamed until his settled in my long hair, twisting it and tugging my head back.
His lips came to my neck, igniting flames from the embers that had been lying dormant. Lying over me, his erection probed my stomach as he continued his torturous assault from my neck to my collarbone and lower. Pushing the straps of my nightgown away, his lips sought my breasts.
Electricity shot through me as he sucked one nipple and then the next. I wove my fingers through his mane as his facial hair abraded my sensitive skin and dampened my core.
Rei’s approving hiss filled the room as his fingers rubbed over the crotch of my panties. “You’re fucking soaked.” He crawled lower, dragging the waistband of my panties down my legs. Sitting up on his heels, his tenor changed. “Spread your legs, preciosa . Let me see that virgin pussy.” His lips curled. “It will never be virgin again. ”
His commanding tone had my circulation on fire. I spread my legs.
“Move your knees up.”
He helped direct me until I was holding each knee.
“Your pussy is so wet, you’re dripping.” Without warning, he lowered his face.
I called out his name as he lapped my folds. Instinctively, I let go of my knees and tried to close my thighs, an impossible task with his wide shoulders blocking my movement. His actions were determined. Rei was a starving man, and I was his meal.
The pressure within me began to build. “Rei, I’m going to come.” I reached for his head. “Please, I want you inside me.”
All at once, his lips were on mine, sharing my own taste. I wasn’t certain when he’d taken off his boxer briefs, but as his tongue sought entrance between my lips, the hardened rod of his penis pressed between my folds.
I gasped at the new pressure.
Rei lifted his body until our gazes met. “Breathe, Jasmine.”
Biting my lip, I nodded.
“Look at me.”
His intense dark stare became my focus.
“I meant what I said before. I want you to like this.”
I gritted my teeth and arched my back as he pushed farther inside me.
I wasn’t sure but maybe if he did it fast.
His fingers stroked my hair as he left butterfly kisses on my cheeks and neck. The pain subsided slowly as a different kind of sensation awakened. His continued motion caused friction rubbing over my clit, relighting the earlier fire and sending shock waves in every direction. There was a connection in what we were doing that eased the pain. Looking into his eyes, I smiled. “It’s better.”
I concentrated on his movements, the feeling of loss as he pulled partially away and the immense sense of fullness when he thrust within. His patience and ease worked as I began to move with his rhythm, pressing against him and backing away.
My hands roamed over the muscles of his back down to his tight ass. The noises and sounds were a chorus as the tension built.
Rei’s movements became less fluid and more erratic. It was as he stilled that I looked up at his exquisite face twisted in pleasure that I knew this was something I would enjoy. His cock throbbed within me. Seeing the recent stress and sorrow melt away into a beautiful expression was more than enough to want to do this over and over.
His muscles relaxed as he rolled to my side, breaking our connection. Immediately, he was back to stroking my hair and staring into my eyes. “Tell me that you’re okay.”
I rolled to face him. “Better than okay.”
When he started to move, I panicked. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back.”
In the bathroom, I heard the water running. Rei returned in all his naked glory with a washcloth in hand. He moved the blankets. “Let me… ”
The washcloth came into view, the white covered with a pink hue.
“I’m bleeding?”
“It’s not bad.” He lowered his face to mine. “You’ll be sore” —his lips quirked— “but I’ll be happy to kiss it all better.”
After taking the washcloth back to the bathroom, Rei got under the covers and pulled me to his hard shoulder. “I don’t know how I would have gotten through the last few weeks without you.”
I lifted my face to his. “I love being here with you. But the world, it scares me.”
Rei nodded. “I keep thinking about what would have happened if you, Madre , and Mia had been on Bella. Jorge saved your lives.”
I sighed. “Maybe if we wouldn’t have taken four of the guards with us, they could have fended off the Russians.”
He squeezed me to his side and kissed the top of my head. “You don’t remember what you asked me when you were roofied, do you?”
Pressing my lips together, I shook my head. “I don’t remember any of it. It’s like I went from sitting at the bar in the restaurant to waking in my bed. Everything in between is gone.”
“You asked me if I could love you.”
“Oh…” I buried my face against his side.
Rei reached for my chin. “I told you yes.”
Tears prickled my eyes. “You said yes?”
“Then you told me that you could love me too.” He inhaled. “The people who never knew him are saying so many awful things about mí padre , and yet that wasn’t the person mí madre loved. I do bad things, Jasmine. I could understand if you didn’t think you could love me.”
Lifting myself up on my elbows, I stroked his cheek with my finger. “I could love you, Rei, and I already do. I was so afraid that something had happened to you. When you walked into Mia’s hospital room, my world was complete. I love you.”
He nodded. “I was afraid too. I’m not supposed to admit that, but I was. When we first heard about the distress call, all I could think about was that I took you to Bella to be safe and you weren’t.”
A memory of Dario telling me that men like him and possibly Rei could be both fearless and terrified came to mind. I laid my head back on Rei’s shoulder. “Some of the strongest men I know can’t admit to also being terrified or it takes them a long time. I think admitting emotions makes you even stronger.”
“ Mí padre used to say that loving someone creates a weakness in the armor.” He inhaled. “It was what we did, knowingly attacking Herrera’s family.” Rei squeezed me tighter. “You’re my weakness. I’d burn this world to ashes for you. I love you, Jasmine.”
“I love you, too.”