Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Not yet, Storm,” I told him.
But the tickle persisted, making me swat at it gently.
To find my hand grabbed by another hand.
My eyes shot open, my heartbeat drumming until I saw Silvano standing there, shooting me a sly smile.
“Was about to stick a fucking mirror under your nose,” he said, smirking at me.
“Your bed is stupidly comfortable,” I told him as I started to scoot myself up against the headboard. “Oh, you are a God among men,” I declared, seeing a large coffee in his hand.
“What? This? This is mine,” he said, raising it to his mouth, but the twitch of his lips gave him away.
I held out my hands, taking it, and chugging a greedy sip.
“Storm had a long walk,” he told me, going to sit on his side of the bed where he’d already left his cup of coffee. “He’s passed out on your pillow. Drooling.”
“Gross,” I said, face scrunching up as I took another sip. Though I was silently hopeful that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t be sleeping on that couch again.
It seemed like something had maybe changed between us last night.
For weeks, we’d been actively pretending that we hadn’t kissed, that he hadn’t gone down on me, that I hadn’t gotten a little crazy over thinking he was embarrassed to be seen with me.
I don’t know why we’d made this unspoken deal, but we had. And it had kept things… calm in the apartment.
We’d gotten a chance to know each other better, to learn one another’s rhythms, to enjoy each other’s company.
It seemed strange that now was the time I felt like I needed more.
Maybe it was because my ribs were feeling better, even if my wrist was still stuck in a cast.
Or it was possibly as simple as everything being on the table now. There were no more secrets, nothing I was keeping from him. Or him from me.
I mean, yeah, objectively, Silvano had to have certain secrets. About his work. But I was okay with that. I just didn’t want my past between us.
Was this a good time to start up with a man?
I mean, probably not.
I was mourning.
I was on the run for my life.
But, still.
There was no denying the connection, the warm feelings I felt toward this often cold man.
“Thanks for this,” I said, almost finishing the coffee that not only my body, but my soul, seemed to require that morning.
I was feeling mostly myself again by the time I set it onto the nightstand.
“What are the plans today?” I asked.
To that, he sighed.
“I gotta go have a meeting with the Family,” he said.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, knowing I couldn’t ask for details.
“Yeah. Lorenzo doesn’t like to communicate via phone, so he calls meetings every now and again. That’s all this is.”
“Oh, okay. Good.”
“Around three,” he told me.
Smack-dab in the middle of the day. It likely meant we wouldn’t have a usual outing. But depending on when he got home, maybe we could go out to eat or something.
It was wild how reliant I’d become on his company in so short a period of time.
“I think I might take Storm for a long walk while you’re gone then,” I said. “Do some window shopping. I could pick up something to cook for dinner.”
“You cook?” he asked, brows raising.
“I… manage,” I said, not wanting to oversell my culinary skills. Especially when he was used to the women in his family cooking Michelin star type meals. I mean, at one of the restaurants we’d tried, where I’d tasted the best lasagne I’d ever had, he’d tasted it, and declared his mom, aunts, and even cousins made better.
A low chuckle escaped Silvano at that.
“Up to you. Don’t mind ordering in. Hanging out and eating in bed,” he added, and I felt a hopeful little tug.
That he meant this bed. With him.
Finally, unable to stand the suspense for another second, I mimicked his comment from weeks before.
“Fuck it,” I said, shifting up onto my knees, then climbing over to straddle him.
He reached out, putting his coffee down, his gaze on me. His hands were only empty for a moment before they were sinking into my ass, using it to pull me up closer.
“How’re those ribs feeling?” he murmured.
“Who cares?” I shot back, hands grabbing each side of his neck, and drawing him closer until my lips could seal over his.
The contact was an electric shock from our lips, down my spine, then settling deep in my core.
My hips shifted up against him, a restless movement, trying to get a break from the ache that was growing between my thighs.
Silvano’s fingers flexed on my ass as I felt his cock start to harden against me.
A low moan escaped me at the thick feel of him, and he was quick to take the opportunity for his tongue to slip between my lips to toy with mine.