Chapter Thirteen #2
I don’t say much, instead focused on the food and the feel of Elio’s thigh under my palm. Elio’s home where he belongs, and my inner alpha is at peace. Touching him soothes me in a way nothing else could.
Noemi pours him more wine and he accepts it happily. He looks content and lighter, his cheeks pink from the wine. We look at each other every few minutes, his green eyes finding mine. His gaze lingers on my mouth with an intensity I haven’t seen in a while.
My heart thumps happily because I know he wants me.
I can see how happy he is to be with me again.
I’m determined never to lose his trust again, although I’m not sure how I lost it in the first place.
Everything seemed great, and then it just…
wasn’t. I’ll need to tread carefully with him until I understand what I did wrong.
When at last he’s had his fill of wine and pasta, he rises. “I hope you don’t think I’m rude if I go to bed early.” He smiles at my family. “I want to stay longer and visit, but I’m so tired I can’t keep my eyes open.”
“Don’t be silly.” Mama hugs him, smiling warmly. “We understand completely. You go sleep. Tomorrow you’ll want to go visit your brother again. You need rest.”
“Yes.” Noemi nods, also giving him a hug. “If you need anything you know just to ask, right?”
“Thank you. You’ve all been so kind.” Elio swallows hard, appearing touched.
Ginevra doesn’t get up to hug him, but she says, “There’s nothing as stressful as when your family is sick. I’m glad your brother is doing so well, Elio.”
“Thank you, Ginevra,” Elio says softly.
I step forward. “I’ll go upstairs with you.”
“Okay.” He nods, holding my gaze.
We go up the stairs together, my hand on his back. The house is mostly quiet around us, the sounds of Mama and Noemi cleaning in the kitchen fading below as we head to our wing of the home.
When we reach his room, he turns to me. I have no idea what he’s going to say.
I know he’s tired, but I want him to sleep in my bed tonight, even if he doesn’t want sex.
I just need him near me. But I hesitate to tell him that.
I don’t want to do anything that seems controlling that might bring the chill back.
Our eyes meet and he looks nervous. “Would… would you mind if I slept in your bed tonight?” he asks softly. “I don’t want to be alone.”
Would I mind?
I go still. “Of course you can sleep in my bed, Elio. I want you there every night.”
“Okay, good.” He bites his bottom lip. “I… I wasn’t sure.”
I shake my head. “How can you not know how much I want you with me?”
He lifts one shoulder.
“Come on.” I smile at him and lead the way to my room. I open the door and he follows me inside.
He hesitates. “I… I need a shower. Two days at the hospital has done nothing good for my hygiene.”
“My shower is all yours.”
He looks at me, a little spark glittering in the green depths Then he pulls his shirt off over his head and drops it on the floor. My pulse picks up as I run my gaze over his sinewy torso, but I don’t try to touch him. I’m on my best behavior.
“Come shower with me.” His voice is hushed.
Excitement races through me. “Yeah? Are you sure?”
He nods. “Yes. I want you to.”
“You said you were tired. You don’t have to invite me in there with you,” I say softly. “You don’t owe me anything, Elio. I’m glad Fabio is doing well. I’m glad I could be there for you. I’m glad you’re home. That’s enough for me.”
He frowns. “Do you not want to join me?”
I laugh gruffly. “Of course I do. I’m merely trying to be respectful. I know you’re exhausted, and I’m not sure how good my self-control will be if we’re together naked and wet in a shower.”
He hesitates. “Maybe I don’t want your self-control to be good. Maybe I want you to lose control with me.”
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit his words excite me. “Don’t tempt me if you don’t mean it, Elio. I won’t be able to stop. I want you bad. It’s been too fucking long since I had you.”
He moves closer, and he slips his hand around the back of my neck.
My pulse stutters as he presses his hot mouth over mine.
His kiss is hungry and greedy and my dick throbs at what it means.
He wants me as much as I want him. After weeks of the cold shoulder, I’m like a man dying of thirst finally tasting cool, clear water again.
When the kiss ends, I grab his hand and take him with me to the bathroom. My bathroom is dark stone and glass, and when I turn on the water the steam comes up fast, climbing the walls, blurring the mirror. We undress the rest of the way without speaking, the quiet between us charged.
He steps under the spray first and I watch.
It sheets down his back, darkens his hair from gold to something deeper, pools in the hollow above his collarbone.
He tips his head back into it and the bite mark on his throat shines wet, the scar pale against his flushed skin.
The sight of it makes my gut clench. My mark on his skin will never not excite me.
He’s mine and only mine. No one else better ever dare touch him, or I’ll murder them.
I step in behind him. The space is large, but I crowd him, my chest against his back, the water spilling over both of us. When I put my hands on his waist, he sighs and leans into me without hesitation.
I don’t like thinking about what happens between us when the three years are up. Maybe this started as a business deal, but that’s not what it is to me anymore. He’s mine. Even if he thinks I’ll one day let him go, he’s fucking wrong. He’s never leaving me. I won’t let him. I’ll never let him go.
But I’d rather not think about the future. Not when his back is warm against my chest, and my dick is nestled between his firm ass cheeks. I inhale the scent of his hair, his warm skin, and the small sound he makes when I wrap my arms around him.
“I’ve missed touching you,” I say against his ear.
He slowly turns in my arms. He looks up at me, drops of water clinging to his lashes. There’s lust in his eyes, but also a touch of disquiet. That last part makes me hesitate.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, apprehension balling in my stomach.
“Nothing.” He grimaces.
“You’re lying. Tell me what’s wrong.”
A line deepens between his brows. “It’s too embarrassing.”
“Elio,” I growl. “Now.”
With a pained expression he whispers, “I… I didn’t want to feel anything for you. I tried hard not to.”
I narrow my eyes, searching his face. “Why?”
He slides his fingers up my back, and I shiver with pleasure at his possessive touch. “I know what kind of man you really are.”
“Yes.” I frown. “I know that you know. I’ve never hidden it from you.”
His eyes search my face. “No, you haven’t. Even when I didn’t know you were mafia, I… I sensed you weren’t… a good man.”
“No, I’m not a good man.”
His gaze softens. “Despite that… I’ve decided to accept that side of you. I don’t like it. The violence makes me uneasy. Scared for you. But… but if I don’t accept you as you are, I… I can’t stay.” He touches my cheek. “And I want to stay.”
I swipe my thumb across his full, bottom lip, my dick aching. “Do you?”
He nods, touching the bite on his neck. A line appears between his brows. “I… I can’t help it. I want to stay near you. Even though you scare me sometimes.”
I frown. “Do I?”
He grimaces. “Not in how you treat me, but in how you treat others.” He hesitates. “Do you remember when we shared our stories with each other? When you told me about Adriano?”
“Of course.”
“I woke up feeling so close to you,” he says softly. “But then, I saw you in your study with an old man named Beppe. You were so cold and cruel to him, it terrified me to see that side of you. It made me think I shouldn’t care about you.”
I wrinkle my brow. “You saw that?”
He nods, dropping his gaze. “That side of you, it’s hard for me to understand.”
I put my finger under his chin and force him to look at me. “Elio, I am a cruel and violent man, but what you saw that day wasn’t what you thought it was.”
“What I saw was a cripple on his knees begging for your mercy. But you were hard and cold to him.”
I let out a frustrated breath. “And seeing that was why you pulled away from me?”
He winces. “I didn’t know what to do. My feelings for you keep growing, but sometimes it’s difficult to reconcile that with the kind of man you are, Marcello. But I want to. I need to because I want to be with you.”
I’m relieved to know he still wants to be with me, and I’m glad to finally know why he changed so suddenly toward me. But I also know it’s important to set him straight about what happened with Beppe.
“Elio, I wasn’t cruel to Beppe because I enjoy it. I was furious for a reason. He betrayed my trust.”
“He betrayed you? How?” He blinks up at me.
“I put Beppe in charge of one of my charities. It was a children’s charity set up to help the families of my loyal soldiers who have died. Beppe stole money from that charity. He stole money from those children to feed his own. That’s why I was punishing him.”
Shock washes over his face. “He stole from a children’s charity?”
“Yes. How could I tolerate that?” I scowl. “He could have asked me for help, but instead he took from other little kids. He had to be punished.”
“I’m sorry,” Elio says softly, guilt shimmering in his green eyes. “I thought… well… you know what I thought.”
I frown. “That I’m such a monster I just enjoy abusing old cripples?”
Elio touches my face. “That wasn’t fair of me. I should have asked you about it. I shouldn’t have clammed up and given you the cold shoulder.”
“No. Obviously.” I huff.
He bites his bottom lip. “Are you mad at me now?”
“I’m not mad,” I grumble. “But I don’t like that you think I enjoy mistreating old men for no reason. I always have a reason for everything I do.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, kissing my throat. “Will you forgive me?”
I shiver at the feel of his warm lips against my skin. “Maybe.”
He laughs softly. “Come on, Marcello, tell me it’s okay. I promise never to do that again. If I see something that I don’t understand, I’ll ask about it, okay?”