27. Giovanni
TWENTY-SEVEN
GIOVANNI
A fter we returned from the drive, I went to my office to deal with some business.
Romeo was stretched out on the couch, on the phone and looking annoyed, a mug of coffee in his hand.
“We delivered all the product,” he spat as I sank down across from him “We counted it in front of your men too. If something is missing, it’s because you have a thief in your midst.”
I could hear the string of curses coming via phone from my spot, and he shook his head, then sat down his coffee cup with an audible clank, spilling some of the liquid on the table.
“Be my guest, asshole. Tell your boss, and I’ll tell mine. But fuck with us, and we’ll end you both. Comprendes ?” He ended the call and I shot him a questioning look. “Fucking Corsicans.”
“They still haven’t figured out who’s stealing from them?” I asked.
We’d been delivering products to them for six months now, but it was only the last two times that the process didn’t line up. Of course they were pissed, but clearly they needed to up their game and deal with the problem in their midst.
“No.” He huffed a sigh. “By the way, Mother called.”
I groaned. “I hope you didn’t tell her I’d call her back.”
Romeo chuckled. “I didn’t, but she demanded it.”
“She can demand all she wants, I’m not calling her. I’m surprised she’s not up her lover’s ass. It’s usually where she finds herself.”
Romeo’s expression turned serious. “You think this thing between her and Atticus will last?”
Atticus Popov.
The man had some brains on him, which made this shit between him and my mother even more confusing. About six months ago, I learned that the two were an item, and initially, I ignored it. My mother’s romantic affairs never lasted. If a man was smart, he moved on. If the man was dumb, my mother used him for all he was worth and then she moved on.
But Atticus Popov was still around.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “By all accounts, it should have.”
Romeo gave me a twisted smile. “I don’t think there’s any fucking happening.”
My eyebrows arched. “Why do you say that?”
He shrugged. “From what I hear from Mother’s maids, he never stays the night.”
Shoving Mother’s affairs aside, Romeo and I spent the next hour discussing business.
“I’m off to bed,” I said with a yawn.
My brother chuckled. “Our mother might not be getting any, but you sure are. Finally.”
I flipped him off, although it was impossible to wipe the grin off my face.
Today was a good day.
Yes, Lia had a moment at breakfast, but I believed she needed those as part of her recovery. She had started to trust me, and I didn’t want to break that. I’d waited for her for eight years, and now I’d made it my life’s mission to keep her safe and happy.
I’d heard her laugh freely and happily for the first time today, and I wanted more of it. I was quickly getting addicted to it, and the key to keeping Lia with me was to ensure she got rid of the ghosts of her past.
And that was where Dr. Freud came in.
I had contacted her, and she’d agreed to take Lia on. The fact that we’d be in Boston made it that much more convenient. Yes, Dr. Freud spent the majority of her time in Europe these days, but her family was based out of Boston and she often visited.
Shoving the thoughts of therapy aside, I entered the stateroom my wife and I shared and paused when I heard a soft humming sound.
Are those the tub’s jets?
I made my way deeper into the suite, my loafers soundless against the carpet.
When I walked into the bathroom, I found Liana in the tub, her head tipped back, her long blonde waves hanging over the edge.
God, she was beautiful. When she smiled, which wasn’t often, she glowed. But the best part was how we’d started building trust between us. I wanted it all, all her love.
The rain plinked against the stretch of windows, but all I could focus on was her breathing. Her crimson-stained cheeks and her chest, rising and falling steadily. I was about to announce my presence when she moaned. Her shoulders trembled slightly and realization of what she was doing sunk in. My wife was touching herself.
My hand instantly reached out, starving for the feel of her skin against my fingers, but then I stopped myself.
Instead, I walked closer to the tub, fascinated by the bliss on her face and the little sounds she was making as she rode her own hand.
My cock stirred, taking mere seconds before it was rock-hard, and I couldn’t help but want to discard my clothes, climb into the tub, and fuck her senseless until she begged me to stop.
But that wasn’t the right approach, and the last thing I wanted was to betray her trust. She’d been betrayed plenty, and I wouldn’t be another name on that list.
“Liana?” I said, my mouth moving of its own volition.
Her eyes shot up in alarm and she sat up, her breasts rising above the bubbles. Her hardened pink nipples captured all my attention. Perfect teardrop tits that I now knew fit perfectly in the palms of my hands.
I was so hard I feared I would spill in my pants.
“What are you doing here?” Liana demanded, her eyes narrowed on my erection.
I forced myself to remain calm and not give into my urges to act like a caveman.
“We share this room,” I reminded her as I marveled at my ability to keep my tone light and my feet glued to my spot.
She sat farther up in the tub, clearly not realizing how much of herself she was exposing. All I wanted to do was drag her out of the tub, bend her over the counter, and fuck her senselessly while she watched us in the mirror.
“If you’re staying in the tub, I’m joining you,” I said as I tore my eyes away from her and grabbed a towel.
She stood up, moving efficiently and gracefully, reaching for me.
“Come here,” I said softly. When she didn’t move, I repeated, “Come here, wildflower.”
Her gaze met mine, annoyance flaring in them. Lia hated being ordered around, and while I understood why, I couldn’t resist the temptation of seeing her eyes flash.
The water glided over her skin and I watched her take a step, then another, ripping my breath from my lungs with each one. I clenched my jaw in an attempt to stay in control, to keep myself from lifting her into my arms and taking her to bed.
“Turn,” I murmured, my hand gliding up her arm and around the back of her neck, my thumb on her throat. Her pulse was racing and I wondered if she even realized that her body betrayed her.
I leaned in, inhaling her faint floral scent, and she watched me through her half-hooded gaze.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
She bridged the distance between us and I kissed her slowly, testing the waters. I never knew what to expect with Lia. Whether she’d kiss me or kill me. Fuck, maybe even both, but what a glorious way to go that would be.
My hands roamed over her body, her skin slick and wet against my fingers.
She pulled back, her eyes dropping to my now wet shirt, and then she shocked me further. She brought her hand to the damp spots of my shirt, tracing them with her fingers. Her touch set me ablaze.
I grabbed her hand to keep it in place, and she pressed into my chest.
“What are you doing?” I murmured. “Do you want to kiss me…” Lia blushed, something I’d never seen her do, and it honest-to-god shocked me, but it was the most beautiful sight I had ever encountered. “Or are you contemplating how to kill me, Lia?”
Lia smiled, and just like all the other times, it stole my breath.
“I guess we can find out together,” she whispered, looking into my eyes, a blush coloring her face. I steeled my spine. “I need my husband right now. More than anything.”
I grabbed her by the nape and pulled her to me, her body pressing against mine, and I kissed her like she was my oxygen. She kissed me back with enthusiasm, moaning and grinding against me.
The louder her noises, the closer I was to coming like a teenager.
LIANA
He removed the towel from my body in one swift move, leaving me naked in front of him. My breasts tingled, my nipples hardening to painful buds and pulsing with need for his touch.
The lights bounced off the sparkling marble counter and a giant mirror reflected the two of us. Me completely naked and Giovanni fully dressed, his eyes flashing with obsession I didn’t know what to do with.
Everything about this man left me breathless, awakening the dormant woman in me. The one I tried to kill after surviving Santiago’s and Perez’s abuse.
Yet, whenever this man kissed me, my mind blanked and my body acted on instinct. It recognized the touch, drowning in the familiar masculine scent that was my adrenaline. My addiction.
“Does my wife need her husband’s cock?” he asked, his tone firm and collected but with an undercurrent of violence. I swallowed, nodding my response. “Words, Lia. I want your words.”
“Yes,” I said with a calm I didn’t feel. In fact, I was amazed my voice sounded so put together when my insides whipped like branches in the hurricane.
A smirk lifted the side of his lips and in the next breath his eyes darkened to the darkest forest.
Then he took my wrists in one hand. My heart pounded, hating anything resembling being bound, but I didn’t fight him. Trust had to start somewhere, somehow.
“Does this bother you?” he questioned, tightening his grip on my wrists just slightly. It didn’t hurt, but memories stunned me into silence. “Wildflower, I need your words. Your assurance.”
Tension drifted off Giovanni in waves as he waited for me, and it took me several heartbeats to find the words. “I don’t like being bound, but with you… I…” I inhaled a deep breath before exhaling slowly. “I trust you.”
My lips tingled, hungry for him to kiss me like he couldn’t get enough of me. Just as I couldn’t get enough of him. God, I never thought I would love being kissed again.
My thoughts scattered when he actually turned my head, taking my mouth for a kiss. Hard. Deep. Our tongues tangled, dancing together. My moans and his grunts.
Then he released my wrist, bringing his hand around my throat. Not to steal my breath away or hurt me, but to show me he’d never hurt me. That he was in control, but he’d never take advantage of me.
His other hand drifted down my body, over my hip, and disappeared between my throbbing thighs, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
His finger thrust inside me, and my eyes fluttered shut.
“Open your eyes,” he rasped, his hot breath against my ear. “Watch us. See how good we fit, wife. Watch you own me as much as I own you.”
I forced my eyes open, meeting our reflection, my naked body against his three-piece-suit somehow poetic.
He pulled out his finger then thrust a second finger in, stretching me, and I gasped, my skin flushing from the image in front of us.
He scissored his fingers inside me, and lightning pleasure flooded through my veins. My toes curled and my head fell back against his shoulder as I watched him own me. I had been to hell and tasted it, but this… this was my first taste of heaven, and I wanted to own it.
My heart hammered against my ribcage, matching the wild pace of Giovanni’s thrust into me. Every fiber of me was heightened with the intensity of emotions.
I couldn’t look away from the perfect storm he was creating, his thrusts making me reach higher and higher. He expertly teased my clit, his strokes sure, drawing deep moans from me.
“That’s it, Lia. Let me hear your pleasure.” His grunts against my ear were like an aphrodisiac. “Show me how much you want me.”
My thighs trembled and the orgasm hit me like a blinding light, the intensity of it sending tremors through me.
He withdrew his hand from between my legs and before I could mourn the loss, he unbuckled his belt and I could feel his hard erection brush against my entrance. A shudder went through me, the anticipation of pleasure making me gasp.
My hand found his thigh and I dug my fingers into his muscles, then his fingers went back to my throat.
“Are you ready for me, wife?”
He waited for my answer while I gasped for air, every fiber of me shaking with anticipation.
“Yes, fuck me now, husband.”
A growl vibrated from his chest, the fabric of his suit brushing against my back as he thrusted inside. I moaned at all the sensations hitting me, my juices dripping down my thighs.
“So fucking tight.” His grunts filled my ears as we effortlessly fell into rhythm. It took no time, a few thrusts, and pleasure built, my moans echoing in the air. We both stared at the mirror, a reflection of him owning me and devouring me alive.
My skin was sweaty, flushed, and our bodies molded to each other perfectly. With his hand around my throat, it appeared I was completely at his mercy, but he was at mine too.
“Look how you own me, wildflower. We were made for each other. You’re mine, and mine alone. I belong to you and nobody else.”
The dark possessiveness in his words heightened my pleasure as he was pounding me to within an inch of my life. He fucked me fast and hard, then deep and slow. My breasts bounced and ached from the arousal, the savage pleasure building in my core.
All of a sudden, he tightened his grip on my throat and out of nowhere, I came. Ecstasy rushed through me and Giovanni bent me over the counter then gripped my hips, fucking me through my orgasm.
He went deeper, harder, pulled out, only to drive back in again and again. The way he took and gave made my thighs messy and sticky with arousal. He fucked me on and on, the intensity of it drawing whimpers and moans from my throat.
Another orgasm built in my core, spreading all over my body while Giovanni pounded harder, his strokes hitting so deep inside me that I didn’t know where I began and he ended. Then warmth filled my insides as he shuddered against me, his hot breath in my ear.
“Mine,” he growled, and for the first time in my life, I loved the idea of belonging to someone.