“No, it wasn’t<b>.</b>” I run my thumb over her bottom lip, teasing the softest sigh from her. “I would walk through fire for <b>you</b><b>. </b><b>I </b>would burn the world to ash, lie, cheat<b>, </b>steal<b>, </b>kill. I’d do anything for you. Anything you ask, it’s yours. I will find a way.”


    <b>“</b><b>I </b>think I’m scared.”


    “Of what?” All I can imagine is the sort of fear Charles put in her head.


    Instead, she manages to surprise me. “I’m worried that eventually things are going to get real<b>.</b>”


    “And you mean to tell me they aren’t real now?”


    “Of course they are, but what happens after all of this? When the fun wears off? Will you still want me when I’m not… you know, forbidden fruit?” A softugh escapes her, like it’s all a joke, but even in my inebriated state, I feel her uncertainty—the hard, frightening edge.


    “I’m a lot of things, Caterina,” I start, while linking my arms around her back to pull her against my chest. “I’ve made mistakes, God knows, but I’m not stupid and definitely not na?ve. Things change, people change, and time is a bitch<b>, </b>though I refuse to let you think for one minute that my feelings for you could do anything but deepen with time. Nothing’s going to change how I feel about you. I will only ever want you more with every day that passes and every beat of my heart.”


    Taking her hand, I ce it over the spot in question, her skin touching mine. “It’s yours<b>, </bpletely. Just like every inch of me. All of me. And until the day I stop breathing, Caterina, I will want you. Only you. Nothing will ever change that.”


    She surprises me when she sits up straighter while rearranging herself in myp. “What are you doing?” I ask when her fingers start undoing my belt.


    “What do you think?” Her blue eyes glitter with mischief, and she wears a shy grin while opening my pants and reaching inside my boxers. My semi–hard cock instantly goes rigid at the touch of her fingers. “I’m going to fuck you. That is, unless you don’t want me to?”


    This is different. Sitting back, letting her take control. She only gets up long enough to slide her panties to the floor, then hikes her dress up to her hips and gives me the briefest, teasing glimpse of her bare pussy before straddling me again. I’m burning with desire. The temptation toy her t on my desk and devour her pussy until I’m starved of oxygen ims every thought in my brain, but somehow I manage to stay seated, curious to see my little bird p her wings.


    Rising up, she guides my thick head to her sopping entrance. There’s something ridiculously erotic about watching her do this. Letting her take control, own me.


    Her expression transforms into pure bliss, and her eyes flutter closed as she slowly eases herself down onto my length, Her wet, tight heat swallows every inch of my cock down to my base. Fuck. I look down between where our bodies join. I want to watch her tits bounce as I thrust deep inside her, owning her with my cock, iming her as only I can.


    Her mouth falls open, and her breath quickens before she settles in with a soft groan.


    “This is all I’ll ever want,” I whisper, caught between the sensation of being gripped from head to base by her tight muscles and my fascination at watching her take what she needs from me. “To be balls deep inside you, watching your face change as you take every inch of my cock like the good girl you are.”


    I run my hands up her thighs, over her hips, gripping them firmly while she rolls them in a slow circle, grinding hard against me. I grit my teeth at the pleasure that ripples through me.


    “That’s right,” I grunt, “use my cock. Fuck me, make yourselfe. I want to feel your pussy strangling my cock.”


    “Oh, my God,” she breathes, her head rolling from side to side, while she lifts herself up and down, riding me slowly<b>, </b>coating my balls with her juices that drip down my cock. When I reach behind her, fumbling for her zipper to get her out of this dress, <b>so </b><b>I </b>can see her perfect tits and taste her nipples, she shakes her head.


    Opening her eyes, she whispers, “Just like this. All I need is to feel you inside me.”


    I growl but settle for fondling her ass, stroking her cheeks, molding her flesh while she works herself into a blissful frenzy.


    82


    1


    “That’s it. That’s my good girl. Fuck me<b>, </b>Caterina<b>. </b>I’m always shocked by how well you take my cock. Like it was made <b>for </b><b>you</b><b>.</b>” I take a handful of her hair and pull her in, my lips devouring hers the moment they touch. Every sweep of my tongue, <b>every </b>nip of my teeth against her full, juicy lips, leaves her moaning into my mouth, guttural sounds that make my balls lift in anticipation of the way she’s going to milk every drop of cum out <b>of </b>me. Her tiny nails sink deep into the flesh of my <b>chest</b><b>, </b>the sting of pain an afterthought. I’ll go through anything to keep her at my side.


    “Look at me,” I rasp, our hot breaths mingling. “Open your eyes. Look at me, Caterina.”


    Nothing could prepare me for the rush of heat and feebleness that faces through me like fire when I gaze into those blue eyes. Eyes I’ve left full of tears, eyes that have radiated faith and trust. Eyes that are now full of lust, yet there’s something deeper flickering in those endless pools of blue.


    Something that leaves me exposed. Wide open. It hits me with all the force of a train and is almost enough to make me stop her, to stop all of this. It’s too much; I don’t know what to do with it. The feeling of her staring into my soul, seeing <b>all </b>the fractured pieces. All the dirty, ugly parts of me.


    “Come with me,” she rasps, driving herself down. Her ass ps against my thighs, the sound filling the room as her strokes turn faster, and harder. Every downward stroke rubs her clit against my base while I move inside her. “Please, Gianni. Come inside me. Fill me with your seed.”


    The way she begs is so fucking pretty that I have no choice but to thrust my hips up, pushing deep inside her, my cock hitting the back of her pussy with every prating stroke. Our frantic gasps for air fill the room like I’m filling her<b>, </b>stretching her, making her moan my name in helpless abandon.


    “Gianni… oh god,” she whimpers, and I grip her closer<b>, </b>owning her, imprinting myself on her while <b>I </b>continue to jackhammer into her tightness. Her muscles grip me like a vice, and her entire body tenses. Then like a bomb<b>, </b>she explodes, rippling with pleasure as a million tiny muscles massage me, drawing the cum from my balls.


    “Fuck, baby, you make it impossible for me not to cum when your pussy squeezes me so hard,” I grit through my teeth while trying to elongate her orgasm.


    “Gianni,” she purrs<b>, </b>pressing her face into the side of my neck, burrowing against me like a kitten. Then, the moment her lips touch my throat, I explode. The first spurt shoots from my tip into her hot, pulsing core. I swear I cum forever. On and on it goes<b>, </b>until ourbined juices drip from her while she lies against me, gasping for air, warm and trembling and so very mine. Nothing is going to take her from me. Nothing and no one. She’s the other half of my soul, the thing that keeps my heart


    beating.


    As badly as I want this moment to remain, I need to get us into bed where we can continue. Snaking a hand between our bodies, I lift her gently and zip my pants before standing and gathering her in my arms, cradling her against my chest.


    “Where are you taking me?” She wraps her arms around my neck and tucks her head under my chin. Now that she’se, she’s loose and rxed, her voice thick.


    “To bed, of course. Unless you wanted to sleep in the chair.”


    Tonight, I’m going to hold her while I sleep. I’m going to hold her because I need to remember, even when I’m not awake, that she’s with me. That she’s still mine. Even if the fear of what she will soon discover has me terrified to tell her the truth. No, I wasn’t the one to kill her mother, but the associates I worked with did. I can only hope she’ll forgive me because living without her is no longer an option.


    “Gianni… I love you.” She whispers against my skin, and my heart lurches in my chest.


    I don’t know what I would do without her by my side. My queen, my love. And I never want to have to find out. I gently ce her on the bed and take her face into my hands. Her blue eyes are hazy with sleep. She’s content in my arms, and <b>I </b><b>love </b>the way she looks at me like I’m the keeper of her world.


    Pressing my nose to hers, I breathe deeply, “I love you too, and I’ll do anything in my power to make sure you see it and feel it every day. I need you by my side, with me through it all. There is no me without you<b>, </b>Caterina. I hope you see that.”


    “Always.” She whispers and then presses her lips against mine, making everything else around us dissolve into the air.