49. Leona
LEONA
When the nightmares woke me, it took me a second to realize where I was.
New house. Wynn and Ciel’s room. Both of them beside me.
Quiet.
The world was peaceful, but my mind was anything but.
Tonight I dreamt of rotting away in prison.
I dreamt of Albanians trapping me in cages, of prisoners screaming for help.
Blood dripping from eyes and icy bodies.
My men were broken, and there was nothing I could do about it but sob against their lifeless chests.
I shivered and pulled my blankets tighter. The cold still enveloped me at times and made it impossible to get warm again.
Ciel stirred beside me, bleary eyes looking at the way I sat straight up with the covers pulled toward my chin. “Baby girl?”
I swallowed and then took a breath. “I’m okay. Bad dream.”
He sat up. “Need anything?”
I pushed off my blankets and kissed his brow. “No, I’m going to find Obi. Go back to sleep.”
“Are you sure?” He rubbed his eyes, trying to blink some focus into them.
I nodded. Wynn slept naked beside us, and I gave him a quick kiss, too. “I’m fine, I promise. I’m going to talk to him about my dreams. I have a feeling he’s awake.”
“Okay,” he said as he lay back down, tossing his arm over Wynn’s back. “Come get us if you need us. We can all sleep together.”
By the time I opened my door, he was back asleep. I gently shut the door and walked through the dark hallway, trying not to imagine an Albanian or a Camorra man waiting in the shadows. I kept my eyes planted on the light I could see from the larger rooms.
Obi sat in the living room by the fire.
The low light of the flames flickered against his skin while he stared and sipped from a glass. I didn’t even have to say anything. He looked up and immediately locked onto me. Like he knew I was coming. Like he could feel me wherever he was.
We’d always been like that.
Drawn together like the particles of an atom.
“Leona.” The tone of his voice sent shivers down my skin.
I walked at him while I pulled Wynn’s shirt over my head and let it drop to the floor. Then I stepped out of my thong and left it behind. When I reached his chair, completely naked, in front of the warmth of the fire, his eyes were blazing.
I didn’t wait for him to say anything else before I climbed into his lap and straddled him.
“Nightmares?” he asked against my lips.
I nodded. “The usual. Everyone around me dies, and there’s nothing I can do.”
“Fight back. Kill them.” His wide palms spread over my torso, leaving a path of burning heat. “If that fails, I’ll protect you.”
“I know.” I kissed him back. “What about you? Can’t sleep?”
He shook his head. His hands trailed down to my ass, and he pulled forward, dragging me over his hardening cock. “I always have nightmares without you by my side.”
I paused our gentle make-out. “Sleep with me more often.”
His nose nudged mine tenderly. “I do not want to be selfish.”
Obi had made how much he wanted me very clear, especially with how often he’d pulled me away to fuck me, pushed me over the counter to eat me out, or scooped me up for a quick make-out session.
He was possessive and consuming, and everything I adored.
None of the other guys had a problem with his increase in physical affection recently.
“Then share,” I chided with a smile. “But sleep with me more. We both sleep better.”
He sighed while his lips returned to my neck. “All right.”
“What happened in your dreams?”
He kissed my collarbone and then rested his forehead on my shoulder.
“I feared the Camorra had gone after my family in Nigeria.” The featherlight touch of his fingers drew goosebumps to the skin of my chest. “I dreamt they killed my brothers and sisters, and left their bodies for me to find.”
I locked my arms around his neck and pulled him to me. “I’m sorry. We will not let that happen.”
He squeezed me back. “I know. It is just my fear, but I believe in us. Our future is only joy and peace.”
When we first met, Obi was closed off and reticent. He hid his vulnerability and he clung to his power, but that was different now. I cupped his cheek and drew his face back to mine. I kissed him lightly at first, and then as both our hungers grew, I deepened it.
His thumbs brushed against my nipples while he bit my lower lip, and I sucked in a gasp as his kisses moved down my neck and chest. His mouth closed over my nipple and his tongue swirled around it, drawing it to a stiff peak. Tingles rocketed down my spine and my hips ground on top of his lap.
“I can feel your heat,” he whispered, his nose dragged across my chest until his mouth closed on my other nipple. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
I dragged my hips down over his rock-hard cock. “I think I have an idea.”
His teeth bit my nipple, and I gasped at the combination of pain and pleasure. “You are always so sassy.”
“You love it, though,” I breathed. My nails dragged up the back of his neck. My head fell backward when he switched back to my other breast.
“I love it,” he whispered, his voice rumbling in his chest. “Never stop.”
I smiled. “I couldn’t even if I tried.”
His fingertips walked down my belly until they reached the spot between my legs.
He dusted over my clit. It was a total tease because I knew he could feel how wet I was from the mark I’d already left on his sleep pants.
It was only after he made me whimper in anticipation that his thumb began slow circles around my clit.
“I want to fuck you,” he murmured in the dip of my collarbone. He bit the skin, then kissed it. Then bit higher on my neck, then kissed it again. “I want to feel the deepest parts of you. I need my cum inside of you, branding you from the inside out.”
My hands left his neck to pull down the waist of his sleep pants. His cock popped free, and I palmed it, stroking it up and down. A deep groan built in his chest.
“Let me inside you, dear one,” he rasped while sucking on my neck. I’d have a huge hickey there tomorrow, but I didn’t care. He could cover my entire body in his marks, and I’d wear them proudly.
My core felt so empty it ached, but I kept stroking him while he rubbed my clit. He drove me crazy so often that I wanted to return the favor. My free arm wrapped around his neck, holding him as close to me as possible.
“Leona, ola’m, my treasure.” His voice was heavy and rough. He thrust into my hand. “Please.”
I shifted my hips so I could center myself over him, and then I slowly lowered onto his cock. My lips parted in a gasp as he pushed inside. I sank further and further with every roll of my hips until he filled me completely. My arm tightened around his neck and his hand fisted in my hair.
He moved in slow but firm motions while he drew my mouth back to his. Neither of us was interested in rushing. All we wanted was to relish in each other and forget the rest.
Thrust.
I whined against his lips. One hand brushed against my nipple.
Thrust.
I lifted myself higher on his cock and let myself slowly drop. He groaned against my neck.
Thrust.
His teeth dug into my shoulder, and my head tilted back.
Thrust.
His thumb circled my clit. His lips explored my skin. I wanted to make him lose control, but he was singularly focused on my body. It was overwhelming. That genius mind at work, obsessed with my pleasure, was an indescribable feeling. He played me like an instrument he’d known his entire life.
It was slow and torturous, but it was the fucking sexiest thing I’d ever felt.
“Obi,” I sighed, feeling the waves grow higher. I was so close. “Don’t stop.”
“Never.” He held my ass while he kept his thrusts exactly where I needed them.
My nails dug into his shoulders while I let out a cry.
My eyes squeezed shut while I rode the waves on his cock.
There was nothing better than this. Better than the love of my men.
He gripped the nape of my neck and thrust upward, spilling inside me with a low groan.
He didn’t stop leaving a trail of a thousand kisses across my upper body while I desperately tried to catch my breath.
“A h?r? m g? n'anya,” he murmured in my ear.
I pressed my cheek to the side of his. A fine sheen of sweat covered my chest, but all I wanted was more him, more warmth. He brushed some hair away from my face.
“Come here.” He drew me into his arms and picked me up. With one hand he clutched me close, and with the other he spread a blanket in front of the fire. I had plenty of them strewn around the house for whenever I got cold, so he snagged another from the other couch. “Lay down.”
Together we sprawled in front of the low flames, and he covered us both with the blanket.
I rested my cheek against his chest and just breathed until a sound drew both our attention to the kitchen. I stiffened, but Obi sat up, bracing himself on his forearms. “It’s just Max,” he said quietly.
With a sigh, I relaxed, but my eyebrows knitted together in confusion before I realized what Max was doing.
“Is he…cleaning?”
He wiped down all the counters and tidied up the papers Ciel had left there earlier. Then he put all the dishes that were waiting in the dish rack away. Next, he sprayed some cleaner on the microwave and wiped it down. All in the dark.
“No wonder the house has been so clean the last few days,” I said, loud enough to draw his attention.
Max startled with a low shout before he whirled in our direction and caught sight of us in front of the fire. He did a double-take, froze, and then shifted.
“Sorry,” he called, voice quiet. “I didn’t mean…”
“It’s fine.” I snuggled deeper against Obi’s chest. “You can come over.”
Max set the cleaner spray down and then shuffled near. In the fire’s glow, it was a little hard to tell his cheeks were pink, but the way he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head gave it away.
I took it easy on him and broke the silence. “Why are you cleaning so late? When I told you to clean earlier, I didn’t mean in the middle of the night.”
He shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I might as well. I didn’t think anyone was awake.”
I looked up at Obi. “We couldn’t sleep either, so we were talking and then rested in front of the fire.”
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
I grabbed the edge of the blanket to keep my chest covered while I sat up. Obi sat up behind me, bracing one hand on the other side of my waist. “Yeah, I just had nightmares.”
“Nightmares…” Max started as he sat on the arm of the couch. “You said before you had them.”
“Ever since you killed my dad.”
The words even weeks ago would have been an accusation, but now they were just a fact. I didn’t feel upset—instead, I almost felt grateful.
He clasped his hands and stared at them. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Unclear if he was talking about the dad thing or the nightmares. Either way, it didn’t matter. I leaned back against Obi’s bare chest. His lips pressed against my hair. “They got worse after the Vokshi ship, but I have a handle on them now. When Obi and I are together, they go away.”
Obi and I waited while Max seemed to consider what he wanted to say.
“I didn’t realize you…” He paused and then sighed. “I’m sorry for my part in all the pain you carry.”
Obi’s arms tightened around me. He whispered in my ear, low enough so that Max didn’t hear. “Do you want him to go?”
I shook my head and leaned heavier against Obi’s chest. “You have nightmares, too, Max?”
Max nodded. He looked toward the window across the room. “Most nights since my father’s death. That’s why I was cleaning.”
Ten years. Ten years of dark and loneliness. Late nights by himself, with no comfort, no relief.
Obi’s free hand brushed my thigh, drawing my gaze up. His look was understanding, like he could see the way it tugged at me. But this was our time. Obi and I would never have grown as close as we were without our quiet nights together.
“Do what you feel is right, nke’m.” He gave me a quick nod, an answer to the unconscious permission I sought.
I’d told him earlier to sleep with me more often but to also share. This quiet space was just ours, but that could expand. We could make room.
I held out my hand to Max. He stared at it for a second before he stood and folded his fingers against mine.
“Obi and I always find each other here,” I said. “In the dark. In the quiet. You’re welcome to join us.”
He stared at our clasped hands, and his throat bobbed. “Are you okay with that, Obi?”
Obi leaned back down and folded his arms behind his head. “Sleeping with Leona heals my soul and brings me a peace I never thought I’d find. There’s no reason she can’t do the same for you.”
A smile pulled at the corner of Max’s mouth. He squeezed my fingers, and I tugged him downward. “Come on. I’m tired now. Obi fucked me to the point of exhaustion, and I’m about to pass out.”
Obi laughed deeply while I nuzzled back against his chest, and Max cuddled up against my back, snaking his arm around my waist. The flicker of firelight and the rhythmic movement of Obi’s chest lulled me into half-sleep.
“Thank you,” Max mumbled, sounding barely lucid. “I don’t deserve this.”
“Shut up,” I said with a happy sigh.
The weight of sleep pulled us all under.