Chapter 35
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Enzo
I clap my hands. “It’s bedtime. Time for bed!”
Luca’s eyes round, and he runs toward the bathroom.
“Tell Patricia goodnight!” Axel says.
Luca turns around, runs back, then envelops Patricia’s legs in his arms. She grins down at him.
“Goodnight, Luca,” she says.
“Goodnight, Patricia.”
“Let’s get those teeth brushed,” Axel says. “Enzo! Prepare the toothbrush.”
“Right.” I take Luca’s toothbrush, run water over it, then solemnly squeeze toothpaste onto it. I hand it back to Axel, who gives it to Luca.
“He’s got the toothbrush,” Axel says, old-school sports reporter style. “Now he’s going to use it to brush.”
Luca scrubs his teeth.
“He’s starting off with his front teeth, moving down, using excellent technique.” Axel flicks his gaze to me. “Wouldn’t you say, Bellanti?”
“Excellent technique,” I echo.
Axel’s hands tangle with my own, but he continues to narrate Luca’s teeth brushing. “Now he’s going around the corner, tackling the hidden molars. Brush, brush, brush.”
Luca giggles, but continues to brush, foam falling from his mouth. His eyes sparkle.
He’s happy.
I’m happy.
Axel’s happy.
Love rushes through me. We’re doing the most boring task—teeth brushing—but because we’re together, it’s fun.
At one point, I would have been waiting for this to fall apart. Bracing for the moment Axel realized he didn’t want this and didn’t want me.
Now I just watch him narrate our son’s dental hygiene like a hockey game and think: this is my life. This is really my life.
“Now spit,” Axel tells Luca.
Luca does so then giggles.
“Is he going to remember to rinse his toothbrush?” Axel says, still speaking in his sports reporter style.
Luca reaches for the tap of the faucet. He turns on the water, then cleans his toothbrush.
“Excellent scores for Luca!” Axel declares, and I clap madly.
“Story time!” Axel declares.
Luca takes off and hurries to his bedroom, giggling happily.
This is perhaps not the quiet, dim lights bedtime habit that is recommended by childcare books.
But Axel has endless patience when it comes to story time.
Luca changes into his pajamas, and Axel and I tuck him in.
The sheets have little dinosaurs on them now, and the bedroom play mat is a jungle scene, perfect for dinosaurs.
The nightlight glows soft and steady in the corner, the crescent moon we bought together that first week.
Then Axel and I sit down on the loveseat couch in the room, and Axel begins to read. His voice fills the room.
He’s reading the Chronicles of Narnia, which isn’t one of the picture books recommended for two-year-olds.
But his voice is soothing and steady, and Luca’s eyes drift shut, his breathing evening out, one small arm swept around his stuffed dinosaur.
I curl beside my future husband, his warmth seeping through my shirt.
Finally, I nudge Axel when I’m sure that Luca is sleeping, and we tiptoe from the room, careful not to wake him.
When I glance at Axel, he has tears in his eyes.
“Axel?” I touch my finger beside his eye, catching the tear.
He smiles sheepishly. “Sorry, babe. I’m just very happy.”
“Same.”
We stand there in the hallway for a moment, the apartment quiet around us. Luca is asleep. Patricia has retreated to her room. It’s just us.
Then Axel grins—that grin that means trouble—and sweeps me into his arms.
“Ready to be tucked in?” He marches through the apartment to our bedroom, then deposits me on our bed.
I shift on the mattress and stare at my handsome fiancé. “Well…”
“I can read you any book you want,” he says. “I’ve got the Kindle app on my phone.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I might require a more physical approach to bedtime.”
His eyes glitter. “You want me to fuck you?”
“It’s part of my bedtime routine. Don’t worry, it’s quicker than reading a chapter to me.”
“Did you just insult Mount Everest?”
“I would never insult Mount Everest,” I say. “But that…”
Axel strips off his clothes then jumps into bed. He kneels up and strokes his cock. It grows. And grows. My mouth waters, and he grins.
“I think you need to apologize to it.”
“Okay.” I dive forward. I lap at his balls, and he collapses delightedly onto the bed. I make my way up the base.
“Enzo…”
I raise my head. “It takes a long time. You need to be very patient. Mount Everest is extremely tall. It takes an exceedingly long time to scale it.”
Axel snorts.
I lick Axel’s base and brush my hand lightly under his balls. I press against his perineum, and when he gives a startled exhale, then scrambles back, I think I’ve done too much.
He flips onto his stomach. “Time for you to fuck me.”
“Are you really sure?”
He turns his head toward me. “Is that something you do?”
“Yeah. That is something I do. But I don’t have to...”
He links pinkies with me, and I calm. “I know. And if I hate it, we won’t do it again. But, uh, I think it would be hot if you were inside me.” His expression is soft. “I want to know you in all the ways I can.”
My heart skitters. “Okay.”
“Okay?” He grins. “You going to plow me, Bellanti?”
I find the lube, then warm it up in my hand. “Yeah.”
My heart pounds, but I’ve done this before. I lift Axel up, arranging his ass just how I like. My mouth dries, and I spread his cheeks.
And there it is.
Axel’s hole.
His most private part, one he might not even have seen.
I run my finger along his crease, and he trembles beneath me. I pad kisses over the area, moving slowly because maybe he’ll say it’s weird, and will want to stop—and that’s fine.
He doesn’t though, and I bury my face, licking and nibbling and concentrating on the tight twisted texture.
Axel’s breath quickens, and I smile. I move my hands to his cock, playing with it as I lick him, as I thrust my tongue inside his hole.
“Enzo,” Axel whines. “I’m going to… You have to… Before I…”
Right.
I kneel up and slick up my cock. I’m hard and leaking and… yeah, I want to be inside him. Inside Axel. Oh, God.
I stretch Axel’s hole, inserting one finger, then another, stretching and turning.
Then I position myself at his entrance and push inside.
I ease in slowly, fighting the urge to rush inside him, to be where I never thought I would.
“Okay?” I breathe.
Axel’s hands fist in the sheets. “Yeah. Yeah, just—give me a second.”
I kiss him between his shoulder blades.
“Okay,” he says finally. “Keep going.”
And I do.
It’s tight and hot, and my breath goes away.
I’m inside Axel. My Axel. My future husband.
He’s trembling slightly, breath shallow, and I still my hips, just for a moment. His face is turned to the side, eyes closed, lips parted. He’s open and vulnerable and letting me in.
I lean down and press my lips to his back, right above his heart.
“I love you,” I murmur. “We can stop at any time.”
“Or you can start thrusting.”
I give a startled laugh. “Sure.”
And then there is a lot of thrusting. And a lot of moaning. And a lot of slick sweat between us, as I move my hands all over his body, worshipping it.
When we finish, Axel is trembling. I ease out carefully, then gather him against me.
“You okay?” I ask.
“More than okay.” He turns in my arms, face flushed, eyes bright. “That was...”
“Yeah?”
“We’re doing that again.”
I laugh into his shoulder.
He’s already half-asleep, heavy and warm against me. I pull the covers over us both.