Chapter 20—Bobby
“Tell me what happened.”
It’s a request, and from the way she sighs, I know she’ll answer.
We’ve been sitting by candlelight for over an hour.
The night sky is darker now. The sun has set, and the storm has taken the entire grid block down.
I’m not worried about it. Marco has things handled, and I’m secure. And so is Willow.
“When I turned eighteen, my parents decided they could finally take a vacation. We used to go on one each year as a family, but they hadn’t been on one with just the two of them since their honeymoon.
So, since I was technically an adult, they decided it was time.
But just like that silly Alanis Morissette song, the trip of a lifetime ended theirs. ”
She looks down at her hands, fidgeting with them for a second before looking up at me over the glow of the candles between us.
“Was that your first flight?” The one I forced on her. I don’t add it, but I think it.
She nods. “Since they died, yes. I used to fly with them for our trips. But since then, I….” She just shakes her head and looks out the window to watch the storm outside.
“How did you get to New York?”
“We drove. Well, I did. Trevor was called into the new office before me and flew up while I moved us out of our home in West Virginia. I’d just had Lily, and we were trying to save money by using a U-Haul.”
“He made you drive a U-Haul while dealing with a newborn?” My hands clench into fists to keep from reaching for my phone and calling Marco to deal with Trevor once and for all. I wanted him dead before, but I held off. But after hearing this, I’m not so sure I should anymore.
“It’s okay. The drive was quieter with a screaming newborn than it would have been with him in the car, explaining the entire time how my fear was irrational.”
“It’s not irrational,” I defend.
Another shrug. “He thought so. When he wasn’t at the office, he was flying. It was a hobby he thought set him above others. All I saw was that it took him away from the house. But maybe I should have seen it as his first mistress in our relationship before he actually found another woman.”
I stand abruptly and go to the bar in the corner. It’s not big, but it’s stocked well enough. I grab a decanter without knowing what’s in it and pour myself a healthy glass, taking a drink before going back over to her.
“Here.” I don’t ask, just give it to her. After the day we’ve both had, it’s warranted.
She takes it and sips it, no sputtering in distaste or coughing, before handing it back to me.
I turn and look out the window. I need to put distance between us.
Not because I’m mad at her, but the sight of her makes me so furious that someone could choose another over her.
She’s beautiful and perfect in every way a woman can be, and yet someone treated her like garbage and threw her away.
“Why did you kiss me?”
I turn at her words and see her standing from the couch. Mere inches away from me.
“At the hotel or in the helicopter?”
“Both.”
“Because I wanted to. Because I couldn’t stop myself.”
I’m not going to lie and tell her some made-up story. That I wanted the annoying venue manager to stop throwing herself at me. Or that I thought it would stop the panic attack she had in the helicopter. Both are partially true, but the real reason is far simpler.
I wanted to know her lips. I wanted to feel them, taste them, mark them as my own.
She licks her lips as her eyes dart to the window behind me before looking back at me. “I think I know what you want.”
I blink once. “Do you?”
She nods slowly.
“And what do you want?”
She doesn’t say it. But I feel it.
Me.
She wants me as much as I want her.
The charge in the air changes around us. The sparks that have been flickering since the first moment we met seem to have reached a tipping point. Lightning illuminates her face, and I see her pupils are dilated. Not out of fear like this morning, but desire.
“I should go to bed,” she says.
Probably for the best. I want Willow. I won’t deny that.
But her being in my life would be something she’d have to fight for.
Not because I would make it difficult, but because the world would.
The business would see things one way, the famiglia another.
She would be a liability that people would seek to exploit.
Even her girls would be affected by my life.
She’s already been through so much, and I’m not sure I can ask her to take that leap.
Even if I want to. Even if my soul weeps and begs me to.
“Please take the bedroom. I’ll take the couch.” I motion to the room as I walk around her and sit down, setting my drink on the table.
She hesitates, glancing at the room before looking back at me.
“The bed is big enough for two,” she says softly.
That might have been an invitation. It might not have been. But I make my words very clear for her to understand what that would mean.
“You don’t know what you’re offering. If I go in there with you, sleep will not be something I’ll be doing. And I’m not sure you’re ready for that.”
Yet.
It hangs on the tip of my tongue, and the room charges again with electricity.
“I think I am,” she whispers.
I tilt my head as I take her in. The candles and lightning light her up enough that I can see her face. I can read her body language. This isn’t a scared woman or one caught up in the moment. This is a person who knows what she wants.
And I’m not about to deny her, as her wants match my own.
I slide off my glasses, setting them by my drink as I stand and walk to her. Brushing my hand behind her ear, I push the strands she’s had down all day back from her face.
“Last chance, Wildflower.” She can back out now.
Not later. Whether she knows this or not, this will be a binding contract.
There will be no escaping once she gives herself to me.
I won’t be able to survive if she leaves.
Two weeks was all it took for her to enfold me completely into her life with her and the girls.
The thought of them not being a part of my world is paralyzing.
“Why did you call me that?”
“Because it’s how I see you. Bright, strong, beautiful.
Blossoming when there’s no light to grow.
Standing tall when the wind tries to blow you down.
You’re wild and carefree in a world that prefers manicured lawns and perfect flower arrangements.
You’re natural and the prettiest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. ”
I bend down while gripping the back of her neck, pulling her close.
My lips touch hers, and it’s as if we never stopped.
I’ve already memorized the way she melts into me when I dip my tongue into her mouth.
How a nibble on her lips brings a sigh from her lungs.
How the tighter I hold her against me, the more she shivers with need.
I bend my knees just enough to scoop her into my arms, carrying her into the bedroom without letting my lips part from hers.
When I set her down again, I finally let her get a full breath, which she takes in a big gulp.
Her hands move to my shirt, but I still them, releasing one so I can tip her chin up to look at me.
“I’m not going to rush this. I’ve dreamed about you for far too long to make this quick. I might not be gentle, but I won’t let this be over before we begin.”
I wait for her to understand. I’m not going to get this over with so I can enjoy the second round later like others might, needing to take the edge off right away to focus on her needs after. I plan to savor every aspect of her from the start, not the end.
Her chin dips, and her mouth catches my thumb, sucking the tip before she raises her head and lets it slip from her mouth.
“Okay.”
My control snaps for a second as I sweep in and claim her mouth with teeth and tongue, gathering her in close with my hand on her face for a moment before composing myself once more.
“You are addicting, Wildflower, and you test my control like no one else before.”
My words make her smile, even if she blushes at the impact she has on me.
I take a small step back and lift my shirt.
I watch her take in my golden skin from both my heritage and the sun I soak up on the rooftop after a run.
I might not have the ability to run in the streets of New York—Marco would kill me, along with Danny—but the building has a nice enough gym that I use frequently, and after a run inside, I cool off on the rooftop as I drink my morning coffee and enjoy a bit of sun on my skin. It’s refreshing.
It’s not ego that lets me know she likes what she sees. It’s the way her eyes light up and drink all of me down.
I meant what I said. I won’t rush this, for either of us. If I expect her to know I’m going to take my time, I want her to do the same.
Her gaze rakes over me, from the dust of dark hair that covers my chest to the way it tapers off into a single line below my belly button and down.
Her eyes slide over the family crest that every Leone sibling has tattooed on our skin.
She tilts her head a bit to get a better view as it travels along my side, and I turn just enough with my arm raised so she can see the whole thing.
Then I drop my hand and step back up to her.
She takes steady breaths as I give her one last chance to deny me.
But then my brave Wildflower looks me in the eye and holds my stare as I lift her shirt over her head.
And then I break eye contact as I look my fill.
I reach around and unclasp her bra, and we both let it fall to the floor between us.
My fingers ache to touch, and I give in, gliding the back of them over her lower stomach, forcing goose bumps to ripple over her skin. Stretch marks never looked so sexy on a woman. Knowing she has them from carrying her daughters gives me a sudden urge to add more with my child in her womb.
“You’re beautiful.” My words are soft, spoken like a prayer as I keep looking, memorizing every freckle, every scar I can see. Her breasts are the star of the show, and I lift them easily before pressing a kiss to the top of each before moving my lips to her mouth.
She comes to me hungrily as her fingers claw into my back, forcing a groan of pleasure from my lips. I pull back and move along her neck, licking and nipping as I go. Her breathy moans encourage me to continue, screaming softly to not stop.
My fingers move lower, pushing her pants and underwear off easily before grabbing the back of her legs and wrapping them around me.
I suck on her neck as she cries out and tilts her head back to give me full access.
Taking the few steps, I use my feet to feel for the bedposts to let me know when to lower her down.
She clings to me as I move my mouth over her body, marking each part I taste and moving lower as I go.
I trail from her collarbone to the peaks of her breasts, taking the time to worship each one properly, sucking my fill and nibbling at the underside before running my teeth down the sides of her stomach.
I tongue her belly button and then full-on bite her hip bones.
The more I see of her, the better she gets.
Each mark on her skin is a beautiful one that no one else will dare see if I have my way.
When I finally get to the apex of her thighs, I push her knees flat to the bed, spreading her completely and sweeping my tongue through her folds before sucking quickly on her clit.
“Bobby,” she cries out, and I fight for control.
I’ve never had to fight before. Those before her were just a transaction of sorts.
No money was exchanged, but it was a contract of how things would go.
I controlled, they followed. We did it to get off, both of us, not because we were driven by this need.
It takes everything in me to not let it control me.
I step back, and she whimpers but keeps her legs open, feeling no shame in showing me all of her, as I can’t take my eyes off her.
Without hesitation, I remove the rest of my clothing. My lips twitch when my dick pops free with a spring to it that forces a giggle from my girl.
She folds her lips inward, but her smile remains. No man wants to be laughed at by a woman in bed, but I can tell it’s out of giddiness and not cruelty.
“I didn’t plan for this,” I say as I guide my hand along my dick, slowly moving it up and down. I get harder just from the way she shivers at me handling myself. “Wish I had.”
Her head tilts, and I see confusion and a bit of uncertainty on her brow.
I shake my head. “I won’t take chances where you’re concerned, Willow. I need you to know that.”
She nods, but her face is still confused.
“I’m going to make you feel good. I promise you that. But just because I won’t be inside you, don’t think you aren’t my girl after this.”
Her eyes squint until they go wide in understanding. Then she bites her bottom lip as she looks at my cock in my hand.
“I’m on birth control.” Her gaze shifts off my dick to look me in the eye. “IUD insert. I had it put in after Lily. I….” She licks her lips, and I don’t know if she’s about to bring her ex up right now or not. Something I don’t want to think or talk about ever again if I have my way.
“I haven’t been with anyone since Lily was born.”
Her words still my hand as it dawns on me. Five years of celibacy. Five years of pent-up sexual frustration. Five years to make up for her going without.
A challenge I’m more than happy to accept.
I take a step forward, putting a knee between her legs. “I would never put you at risk.”
She smiles softly at me and reaches out to touch my arm. “I know.”
“I got tested a few months back. Haven’t been ungloved ever.”
She blinks and nods, her breath catching as I run my fingers up her knee, climbing higher to rest between her thighs.
Her taste is still on my tongue from when I licked her cream before.
I know she’s ready for me, but I still guide two fingers inside her and feel her body stretch around them as I milk more honey out of her with steady thrusts.
“You my girl, Willow?”
My voice is far lower than it was before. The thought of being inside her makes it husky with want and need, and more caveman tendency than I thought I had.
“Say it,” I demand through gritted teeth.
“Yes. I’m your girl. I’m yours,” she breathes as I pull my fingers away and line up my cock with her opening.
“You’re mine. You always will be,” I say as I push in, letting her cry fill the room before it’s swallowed by the storm outside and my lips as I seal my mouth to hers once more.