I try to slow down and remember her pleasure, but my own need overwhelms me. I’m senseless with desire.
“Gio… Gio.” When she starts that hoarse chanting of my name again, I come like a rocket blast, and it’s not until I’ve shot my load and am still stroking in and out in sheer bliss that my mind returns. I pinch one of her nipples, hard. “Come for me, angel.”
She does. Right on cue like her body was made to be commanded by me. The surge of power that rushes through me makes me come some more. Or maybe it’s the way her tight muscles milk my dick for every last drop of cum.
I ease out of her and off the table because I know it can’t be the most comfortable position. “My compliments to Michael on his tables,” I say, giving the surface a shake. “Very sturdy.”
She lets out a shaky laugh. “Gio, I don’t have all that much experience, but I’m pretty sure you’re ruining sex with other men for me.”
I have to turn away to hide the flare of possessive jealousy that floods through me at those words. “Pretty sure that’s the point,” I manage to say. I dispose of my condom in the trash. When I return, I help her off the table and use one of the cloth napkins to clean up.
And then I can’t stop myself. “Don’t mention other men to me, angel. I bought a whole restaurant to keep one man’s hands off you. If I hear of another, I’m not sure I’ll be so gracious.”
She stares at me with wide doe-eyes. I can’t tell if she’s pissed or scared, or just stunned.
“You really did, didn’t you?”
“You still don’t believe me?”
Her nod wobbles. “I’m beginning to,” she whispers.
I grip her jaw and taste her lips and she opens to me, a flower willing to bloom.
Marissa
I’m not sure I even recognize myself.
Gio cracked open this whole sexual side of me I didn’t know existed. And now that she’s out, I don’t know how to put her away.
I don’t want to put her away.
I love the way Gio makes me feel—like I’m the center of the universe.
Being abandoned by my mom as a child left scars on me. The kind that tell me I have to work extra hard to be worthy of love or affection. The kind that instilled fear of not being good enough.
Those fears are still present, maybe even more so, because I’m afraid of getting used to this feeling—to being important to someone. Celebrated, even.
But this is just sex. I have to remember that. Gio’s a player and this is probably how he plays.
He bought a restaurant for you.
I draw in a breath. He bought an entire restaurant—just for me. That’s not playing.
We strip the tablecloth from the table where he just owned me, and I set it with a new one and then it’s time to go to his birthday dinner.
He locks up and takes me by the hand, lacing his fingers with mine as he leads me to his SUV. “Don’t be nervous,” he says, even though I was trying to hide my mood. “My family’s easy. It will be just another loud Italian family gathering. Lots of food and talking over each other.” He winks at me, and I melt a little.
I want to believe him, but this is where my bias against his family comes in again. They’re the Tacones. The notorious crime family that held Milano’s hostage for forty years. The family responsible for six dead bodies on our floor last year.
“Will Junior be there?” I try to make the question casual, but Gio slides his gaze over and eyes me speculatively. He’s too perceptive sometimes.
“Yeah.” He opens my car door and helps me in.
I draw in a shaky breath, wishing I’d made an excuse for dinner.
But no, it’s Gio’s birthday and he wants me there.
And that’s the part that gets me.
He wants me there.
It’s a strange and foreign feeling, and one I like way too much.
We don’t talk much on the way to his mother’s. I fidget with my purse strap and the radio.
“Should I be more dressed up?” I blurt when it suddenly occurs to me that the Tacones are rich, and I’m showing up in jeans.
“Stop,” Gio cuts in immediately. “You look perfect. No one’s gonna judge you, angel. They’ll be delighted I brought a girl.”
That news calms me down. I steal a sidelong glance at him. “You don’t usually?”
He flashes that panty-melting grin. “Never, doll. I was the consummate bachelor.”
I try to ignore the tingle of pleasure at the back of my neck, running down my arms. I’m special to Gio. More evidence that it’s true.
The news makes me bold enough to push for more. “And now?”
Gio’s grin widens. “Now I’m about you, little girl. Or hadn’t you figured that out, yet?”