Chapter 30
ETTORE
Iclimb atop her, my shaft pulsing with pure lust when she wriggles out of her shirt and bra. I fall on her tits as my manhood glides up her inner leg. We’re quiet, but it’s a hungry, husky sort of quiet, every breath heightened, every moment made more intense.
She arches her back toward me when I greedily suck her nipple. I reach down at the same time, wrapping my hand around my shaft and guiding my tip to her entrance, slick and ready after she drenched me with her juices.
I lean back, letting me look at her, heavy tits ready to bounce for me, her nipples pebbled with lust. She raises her eyebrows with a small, dangerous kind of smile on her face. The sassy kind of challenge that drew me to her in the first place.
Lining up, I thrust forward, pushing my aching length inside of her. Her body seizes up for a moment. She grips onto my arms, squeezing so hard her fingernails bend. I pause, and she grins, nodding at me to keep going. I smile like the lucky bastard I am and drive all the way inside of her.
She smooths her hands up the back of my neck and pulls me toward her. I lie atop her, careful not to put my full weight on her body hot against mine. I savor the feeling of her breasts pressing against me, the sheer warmth of our connection.
She drags her fingernails down my back, shifting her hips in time with me. Our bodies haven’t done this many times – and this is the first time in a bed – but it’s like a dance we automatically know the steps to. Like we were made for this. For each other.
I pick up the pace, lost in the connection. Her body is smoking, and her moans against my ear drive me close to the edge, breathy and hungry for more. But the main thing is this feeling of fusing, like we’re growing closer with each thrust, like we’re becoming something unbreakable.
“I feel it too,” she moans in my ear. I wonder if I’ve spoken aloud. It’s like she can sense me wondering. She laughs quietly in delight. “Everything you’re—yeah, yeah, oh God… I feel it, Ettore.”
I guide my lips to hers, expecting she might pull away because I’ve still got her taste on my lips. But our passion goes beyond that. She moans and grabs my face, kissing me hard as our bodies rock together. I thrust faster, the bed whining now, protesting with each thunderous thrust.
“Shh,” she whimpers.
I slow my pace, the bed going quiet again.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” I groan. “Perfect. Flawless.”
“Ettore,” she says my name like a promise. “Oh, Ettore.” Like a wish already come true.
We kiss deeply again, and this time, I go slow.
Our bodies pulse together, caught in this beautiful rhythm.
I’ve never felt closer to anyone in my entire life, never knew it was possible to feel like this.
It’s like something else takes over, wet and hot and slick and passionate and ready for whatever comes next. The next thrust, the next chapter.
All the drama of the last few days slips away as I feel her body responding to mine, her core’s telltale twitches, her moans turning from high-pitched to breathy like she’s not going to be able to hold back for long.
We kiss. Deep, passionate kisses that push us both closer to the edge.
When I feel her clenching around me, I hold on with everything I have, fighting off the urge to let go until I feel her shivering for me.
She bites down on my shoulder, then lets go. “Uh—sorry.”
“Bite me,” I moan. “Let me feel how good it feels for you.”
She whimpers and bites down again, hard.
My whole body lights up, my cock aching, burning with the need to come.
She comes in waves, her tunnel clutching at me over and over, until I can’t hold back anymore.
I try to pull away, but she hooks her legs around me and draws me in, come surging up my shaft.
That turns me on so much, like part of her wants to start a family together, like she’s letting her raw emotion take over. I groan, biting down on the pillow, twitching a few times, then falling onto my side.
She rolls over and kisses me on the chest, her voice low. “I needed that so badly,” she whispers.
“I needed you so badly,” I tell her, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close.
“Do you think anybody heard us?” she asks.
I chuckle, then lean off the bed to grab my pants. I take my cell phone and type out a text.
Ettore: Maybe we should stick to our favorite form of communication, just in case.
She giggles, grabbing her phone and typing away.
Mara: Maybe one day we should try having sex like this.
I tilt my head at her, grinning. I feel half my age, delirious, carefree. Happy.
Ettore: How would that work, beautiful?
Mara: We’d stand on either side of the room, naked, and text until we can’t take it anymore.
Ettore: If you’re standing in front of me naked, there’s no damn way I could restrict myself to texting.
She prods me on the chest.
Mara: You will if I tell you to.
Ettore: Now you’re sounding like a big bad wolf’s woman.
She laughs again, the most beautiful sound, carefree and happy, just like how I feel.
Mara: Do you think your big bad wolf days are over for a while?
I cuddle her closer, whispering in her ear, “I’ve consolidated my power. Ruggero’s men are moving on without him. We’ve had our vengeance, Mara. Now, it’s time for peace.”
“And love,” she says quietly. She laughs and kisses me quickly on the lips. “Hey, I didn’t say the big I L you, I was talking generally.”
“Then generally speaking,” I say, giving her a quick kiss. “I’m ready for some love.”
The next morning, Livia, Mara, and I sit around the small table in the kitchen.
Livia and Mara are talking warmly about Mara’s plans for the gardens.
Livia laughs easily with Mara. I haven’t seen her like this since before Vera passed.
It hits me hard that Mara hasn’t just changed me.
She’s changed my daughter. She’s changed my old friend.
Sylvie walks in. Mara chuckles and winks at her. “That was a long bathroom break. Did I hear you sneaking around upstairs?”
Sylvie smiles cutely. She’s got her hands behind her back. “There’s a couple things,” she murmurs, in an adorable combination of shy and excited.
“Well, show us,” I say, smiling. “Don’t be shy.”
Sylvie walks forward and brings a folder forward, with a piece of paper on top. My breath catches when I look at the piece of paper. It’s a drawing of me, except this time, I’m surrounded by starlight and little suns and happy faces.
“Do you like it?” she asks.
I reach over and bring her into a hug, sitting her on my knee. “I love it, Sylvie. I love you.”
She beams. “And that’s for you.” She gestures at the folder and Mara.
“What is it?” Mara asks.
“I’m—sorry,” Sylvie stutters.
Mara furrows her eyebrows, already prepared to understand. She’s so patient with Sylvie, so good. “You don’t need to apologize,” she says.
“I went looking for good hide-and-go-seek places, just in case. And I found the secret closet with these inside.”
“The secret closet?” Mara asks, confused.
“In my bedroom, there’s a little door inside the closet.”
Mara shakes her head slowly. “I had no idea.” She glances at me.
I know what she’s thinking. If her aunt was paranoid about the Calvis rushing in here, she would’ve wanted a place to hide things.
“There was an old dress, and I think there’s some money, but I didn’t want to check. The envelope felt like there was money inside.”
“Okay, angel,” Mara says.
Sylvie takes a breath. She motions as if to adjust her sleeves, then stops. My heart catches at that. That was always a nervous habit of hers. But she doesn’t need it anymore.
“I only read the first one,” Sylvie says. “It’s a letter to you from your aunt.”
Mara’s eyes immediately tear up. “Really?”
“She says she’s sorry she couldn’t be there and that your mommy and daddy loved you and that if things would have been different, she would have been a mommy to you. I only read one, Mara. I’m s—”
“No apologies,” Mara says, grinning even as her eyes glisten. She walks around the table and pulls Sylvie into a hug. “You beautiful, wonderful girl. You don’t have any idea how much this means to me.”
Sylvie clings to her tightly. “I’m happy you’re happy,” she says.
Livia looks at me, a tear in her eye too. I smile, knowing this is it, knowing we’ve made it.