Chapter 48
Three Months Later
I siton the couch drinking my morning coffee as Ana gets ready for the day. Brinkley hops up to lie beside me. I gave him a few well-earned pets. Since moving in with Ana, he truly has become my little buddy. I wake up early to take him on a walk while Ana sleeps in. We play every night and I’ve even taught him some new tricks. Ana was sure he’d never learn, because performing for treats is beneath him. But, turns out, the little ham is just as much a dog as the next one despite his outfits and Chanel bed. I roll my eyes and shift my attention from him to the windows to my right.
Ever since Gio, Aidan, and I got on the same page, things have been peaceful in the Quarter. Gio has stepped in as a consigliere of sorts to help Aidan rule, and he’s also been put in charge of all relations with capos, both those part of the Cross regime and those who’ve chosen to abstain from it. This keeps Aidan from pissing off the wrong people and has given him more time to focus on cleaning up his own house. It seems his men were right. Some of his own had betrayed him. While the main ones were taken out the night we rescued him and Ana, Aidan took measures to uncover others and gave them a choice—return to Boston with well wishes or die. Needless to say, they took the first option. He suffered some losses on ground forces, but Josephine has slowly been replenishing his ranks with people she’s sure want to be here. Those measures, accompanied with the reduced percentage of profits the mob takes from its Italian affiliates and the show of unity we presented at Aidan’s State of the Union, was enough to tip the scales toward peace. Gio and I joined Aidan as he addressed both the Irish and Italian guests to show our commitment to this alliance. Even Sophia came to give her stamp of approval. The cherry on top was when we announced Anastasia and my plans to marry.
Three months of peace and two months of wedded bliss—well, it’s been as blissful as one could expect of two hotheads living under the same room. It’s then that Ana yells from the bedroom. It’s something about my shit being all over the floor and it isn’t the first or last time I’ll hear about it. As she stomps through the kitchen wearing a flouncy pink lace skirt and oversize gray sweater, I instantly smile and take another swig of my coffee. Her cheeks are bright red and her curls are messy. Her little tantrums have only gotten cuter.
“It’s not funny,” she says then, throwing a pair of black boots at me. I flinch as if she’s hurt me. “I’ve stubbed my toe on these every day for the past week.”
I let out a little snicker. “You think you’d remember where they are by now.”
Ana opens her mouth in disbelief. Her ginger brows rise. “It’s not about remembering. It’s about where they are, which is where they shouldn’t be. I don’t want to have to say this again, Damon.” At that, I set my coffee on the table in front of me and quickly pull her onto my lap before she storms off to finish getting ready. Brinkley moves out of the way and she lets out a huff, rolling her eyes. But despite her facial expressions, I can tell the moment her body connects with mine that her anger subsides and the tension in her muscles eases.
The past three months haven’t been easy to navigate with both of us healing from different traumas, but they’ve been good for us. I think I’ve finally let go of the guilt associated with my parents, and slowly but surely, Ana is stepping out of the shadow of that dark night. She’s able to spend some time alone now, though I don’t give her much. She’s back working at her shop and loves it. And our physical intimacy is almost back to where it used to be. I haven’t tried anything rough with her or anything that may trigger her. But I can tell there’s a difference in her—a light, a thrill—that wasn’t there for a long time. She’s warming back up. But in the interim, it’s truly been our hearts that have warmed. These months have only brought us closer to one another on every level. Which is why I know the only thing that could tear us apart is this house.
I bring my hand to her thigh and gently rub my other up and down her back. “What are you trying to do?” she asks me, her voice soft.
“I’m trying to tell you to relax, because I hear you and I have a solution to our problem.”
“Oh, really?” She raises her brow. “And what is that?”
“Are you familiar with what a duplex is?”
“Not really.” I can tell her patience is running thin, so I quickly get to the point.
“Well, this is a duplex, meaning everything you see here is duplicated on the other side of that wall. It’s obvious this space is too small for us, but it’s home. And it’s perfectly located next to the Compound.”
“And close to our shops,” Ana offers up.
“Yes, so, I bought the other half—for us. We have a meeting with a contractor next week to discuss connecting the two spaces and making the necessary changes so that this place will work for both of us and all of our junk.”
“Really?” Her lips spread into a smile and her cheeks glow.
“Yes, my love. Really.” At that, she slings her arms around my neck and kisses me.
“Thank you, husband,” she whispers. That word tugs on something inside me that makes me both melt for her and want to devour her.
“Mmm, you know I love it when you call me that.” I slowly move my hand from her back to her bottom.
“I do, just like I love it when you call me wife,” she says.
I smile and move my eyes between hers and her lips. “Well, then, can I have another kiss from my wife?” Anastasia laughs and obliges. Something tells me we’re going to be late for work. She maneuvers on my lap, straddling me. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she intensifies our kiss. Slowly, I move my hand underneath her shirt and gently cup her breast. She moans and gives me the go-ahead to remove her sweater. I do, tossing it on the floor. Though, as I move my hand to the back of her neck, she stops me.
“Wait!”
“Sorry? Did I do?—?”
“No, no,” she says, shaking her head. “I just realized this means we’re about to undertake another renovation together.”
“Yes, and?” I ask.
“Are you forgetting how the first one went? We argued nearly every day and that’s when there was a whole story between us. This time around, you might actually drive me insane. That, or I may kill you, because if I see one black wall in this place?—”
“Yeah, same goes for pink,” I say, cutting her off. She purses her lips and pulls her hands from my neck to her lap. Suddenly, the humor is gone and worry overtakes her. “Relax, baby bird,” I assure her. “You’re forgetting that I was actually trying to piss you off back then. Now I’m inclined to keep the peace with the woman I share a bed with.”
“How inclined?” she asks me, raising her brow.
I drop her gaze, taking in her glowing ivory skin, her bouncy breasts cupped perfectly in her white lace bra, her slender waist, and delicate legs, which still straddle me. “About as inclined as I am to fuck you right now,” I say then. I look up at her, checking to see how my words are received. She blushes, smiles, and wraps her arms around my neck once more.
Arching her back and pressing her chest closer to my face, she gives me the signal to pursue. But she’s not wrong. This renovation could be a challenge for us. Maybe we should come up with some rules to help us navigate it. After all, rules are what got us together in the first place. And almost tore us apart. Can’t forget that part. Okay, so no rules, but a game? That could be interesting.
“How about this,” I offer up and lean forward. Wrapping my arms around her, I stand, lifting her with me. She giggles. She loves it when I carry her. And the look on her face lets me know she knows exactly where I’m taking her. “The first person to make the other cum earns a veto vote, which can be used for anything at any time during the renovation without a discussion or argument. Think of it as a game, which we can play anytime something arises that might otherwise lead to a disagreement—starting today.”
“Hmm. High stakes. High reward. I like it.”
“Good,” I say, kicking the bedroom door open. “Because I’m about to teach you how to lose gracefully.” At that, I toss her on the bed. As she lands among the white blankets and piles of down pillows, feathers escape from them and fly all around her. Brinkley barks at the unfamiliar sight. Both Ana and I laugh. Removing my shirt so as not to get her slick arousal on it, I toss it on the floor and join her in bed.
Wasting no time, I bring my lips to her neck and my hand to her breast. I work her tender flesh with intention. By the time I unhook her bra, her nipples are hard as rocks and so sensitive I know it won’t take long to make her cum. “No fair,” she says breathlessly.
I smirk. “I never said it was fair. But it is fun.” I pull her skirt down to her ankles and find, once more, she obeyed my no-underwear rule. Without hesitation, I crawl back up her body and stare into her eyes as I slip my fingers through her slick folds. “Look at you, already wet and ready for my tongue.” She moans then. Her lips part as I move my fingers up and down, teasing her clit and building her arousal. Once I feel she’s ready, I move to slip one inside her, but she stops me before I do.
“Maybe I am, but I never said I was going to let you win. In this case, veto power may trump an orgasm.” She then moves to get on top of me. It’s not as if she’s strong enough to truly pin me down, but it would be unfair for me to use my strength and size against her. I smile and shake my head.
“Fine, give it your best shot.” I bring my hands behind my head, ready to enjoy the show she’s about to put on.
“Oh, you’re going to shoot alright. Because just like you’ve learned my body, I’ve learned yours.” My confidence in winning wavers as she unbuttons my jeans and slides them down to my ankles along with my boxers. My dick already hard, she straddles me once more and grinds herself against me without inserting me. She’s teasing me like I’ve done to her a thousand times before. Hmm, smart girl.
Her juices cover me as my erection grows. It’s then that she moves her hand to my balls and massages them just the way I like. “Ah!” I moan. Okay, she has learned a thing or two.
“Mmm, is this what you like, husband?” she asks me. I nod, biting my lip. “And this?” She brings her mouth to my dick and, making eye contact with me, takes me all the way down her throat. It’s tight, wet, warm, and oh so perfect. Too perfect.
I toss my head back on the pillow and then sit up to move her off me. In one swift movement, I pull her from my dick and position myself overtop of her. “Fuck this house. You can do whatever you want to it. But I’m going to do whatever I want to you, because you’re mine. Understood?”
Anastasia smiles and looks at me with lust in her gorgeous green eyes. “Did your own arrangement backfire on you, husband?” That little smirk lets me know she never intended to win. She just wanted me to forfeit. Damn, she played me. As if she could be any more perfect, this marriage—this life—just got a touch more interesting.
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, wife.” At that, I bring my lips to hers and fill her with my tongue and dick at the same time. My quick motion between her legs draws a gasp from her. Her back instantly arches off the bed. She presses her chest against mine as her body acclimates to me. Once she lowers herself back onto the bed, I move quick and fast, pounding inside of her. Her body rocks beneath me. Arousal burns inside me as I sink into her tight cunt over and over again, claiming her body just as I’ve claimed her heart.
“You’re mine,” I whisper.
“I’m yours.”