Dinner with his father had been a stressful affair.
The tension in the room is so thick, you could cut it with a knife. His brothers were worried about his father’s health and how the news of escaping the family would make him fare.
Amory, as usual, had been staunch, a frown on his face that only lifted when the food had arrived and he’d said the grace. Then he’d proceeded to take only a taste of it and asked to be taken to his study, where Xander had soon joined him, and then his brothers after a few minutes.
So it’s just his mother and I, the two women of the family left together to pass the time.
‘Are you happy?’ She asks, a kind smile on her face.
I smile back at Xander’s mom, the slight breeze in the air carrying the earthy smell of the frangipanis that border her garden. We’re seated on the porch, the sun waning above us, the trees waving listlessly to and fro. ‘I think so. Are you?’
She smiles back, tipping her head back to take a gulp of the wine in the glass with the twisted stem she favors. ‘What is happiness Melissa? I take my joy as I see it.’
I nod. Isn’t she just right? ‘So do I. I’m as happy as it is possible for a human to be.’
She leaves her seat and I do the same, thinking we’re returning to the men inside. Xander and his father have been locked away together for about an hour now in his study. She comes towards me though, her arms stretched out and I lean into her just as she locks her arms around me.
It reminds me for a poignant second of my mother. She’d always hugged me this way, sharp and there, her arms locked tight like a vice around my small body. I sniff and drop my head into her shoulders but her head moves too fast and she pulls away.
The stamp of footsteps reaches my ears and I turn to find Xander watching us, his eyes heavy. His mother smiles and walks towards him, offering him the same hug.
He fuses his arms around her but his eyes remain on mine and my eyes, they fill up just like that. I stand up and pick my bag off the table, throwing back the rest of my wine.
He holds his hand out to me when his mother pulls away. ‘Are you ready to leave?’
‘Yes.’
A few minutes later, I place my bag in the space between Xander and me and slide as far away as I can go.
I smile sadly out of the window, and Xander’s fingers cover mine. ‘What are you thinking about amore mio?’
I shift my head to him, and he lifts the bag, dropping it to the floor with no regard for the thousands of dollars that went into getting it.
He drags me across the seat into his arms, and I relax my head into the crook of his shoulders. ‘I’m thinking about my mother. Your mother reminds me of her. Or at least she did today.’
‘What does she remind you of?’ He slides his hand through my hair, gentle swoops that have my body wanting more.
I shake my head. ‘I don’t know exactly. Just the way she asked if I was fine. It’s much the same voice and the way my mother would. And the hug? I don’t think I’ve had one quite like it in a while.’
He nods and plants a soft, almost tender kiss on my forehead. I like it. I enjoy it.
‘Where’s Romero?’ I ask, looking up at him for a second.
‘Ahead of us. I need to know the house is safe.’
I sit up, sliding on the leather of the car seats before hitching myself to him. ‘Lucian is there. Father wouldn’t let anything harm him.’
Xander nods again. ‘I know. But I needed to make sure.’
I smile and incline my head towards his. He bends towards me too but stops just before he claims my lips.
He waits, as though he’s waiting for me to kiss him, like he wants me to finish what I started. I look out of the window for a quick second to gauge where we are.
We’re too close to the house. I don’t want anyone to see, especially not with what I have in mind. I shudder a deep breath out and sway towards him before biting my lip and slanting my head away to hide in his shoulders.
He chuckles, the sound reverberating inside my core. He nips at my ear and pats gently at me. ‘Sometimes I forget how innocent you are. I wouldn’t care, you know.’
I kiss a trail of wet smooches across his neck, to his collar, where his shirt hinders my path. ‘I will. Lucian’s home.’
His hand tightens on my skin; he digs into my waist and then sighs. ‘Then you should stop. This hard-on won’t go away otherwise.’
I snicker, but I do lean away from him. Except he rolls his eyes and tugs me back into the cave of his arms. And I go willingly enough. I’m still caught against him when the car pulls into the driveway of our home, and we pull to the door.
He pushes his door open, glides out like a fucking lion hunting, and then holds his hand out to me, one hand on the door to hold it away from me.
I lift my bag off the floor where it had fallen and give him a playful glare. ‘This cost a lot of money, you know.’
He smirks. ‘Get thirty more, Sole. I don’t fucking care.’
Why his response sends a rush of wetness to pool in my thighs doesn’t make sense, but what makes total sense is the way I bend to the floor and sweep up Lucian in my arms when I take a step away, and he comes hurtling out of the house like a rocket into my arms.
‘Mommy!’ His cry is all I need. All I want at this moment. I hug him. Wondering how Xander’s assurance was more than enough to assure me he was safe.
I’m happy to have him in my arms, but when he wiggles to get down and holds his arms out to his father, I let him go just as willingly.
There’s a weird feeling in my chest. One that is stranger, but it feels new. It feels like magic. It feels like home. My son in his father’s arms spikes tears as always in my eyes.
I wonder if it’ll take a year more before the sight feels usual—feels normal.
I wonder if it will ever feel normal.
‘How was your day?’ Xander asks Lucian.
The boy lifts his shoulders up and down. ‘Uncle Daniel picked me up from school. We had ice cream at his house.’ He smiles. ‘That was nice.’
Of course, it was. Uncle Daniel seems to be laying on the ice cream pretty thick these days, and I’ll probably have to talk to him about it. I turn to walk into the house.
Romero is at the door, his hand tucked away as always. I smile at him because, well, I’m in a cheery mood. It only gets better when I step into the house to find Gianna.
She hugs me tight and then sniffles. ‘I was so worried about you.’
I place my arms around her and hug her tight too. ‘It was nothing really. I promise.’
She frowns. ‘I know, but still. I realize this will be my fate now.’
I nod at her sagely. I’d realized that truth this afternoon too. Any sign of a threat will have Xander hurtling us away from wherever we are to a place he deems safe.
Gianna tips her head to the door. ‘Where are the men? Lucian was about to head to bed. You should take a rest. I was hoping he’d be in bed before you return.’
I shake my head. ‘It’s just as well he wasn’t. I’d have needed his warmth to remind me he’s totally fine.’
Gianna’s smile is warm and understanding. ‘I understand. I’ll take him up. Dinner’s in the fridge. I’ll be going up with Lucian.’
Xander’s voice precedes his padding footsteps into the room. He’s holding Lucian into the air while he blows air into his stomach.
Lucian struggles to get back, but Xander won’t give an inch. Lucian’s legs are swinging in the air, and I hope one doesn’t knock into his father’s head.
Gianna watches me watch them, then she steps towards me. ‘He’s good with the boy,” she mutters. She turns and walks towards them and holds out her arms for him.
Xander’s arms tighten around his son for a second, then he lets him go. ‘I’ll come give you a kiss goodnight soon.’
Lucian nods and drops from his father’s arms to the floor. He runs up the stairs when Gianna points out that’s where they’re headed. She follows him up and I walk over to Xander.
He tips my head up, and the small smile at the corner of his lips nearly melts my heart like ice cream in the heat. ‘Thank you for giving me him.’
His voice is quiet, almost too low to be heard, but I hear him. I understand all the other things that he can’t say—won’t say.
I turn and lead the way up the stairs to our room. Once he pushes the door closed behind him, I drag him to the bed. He lets himself go.
His hand grips my waist almost painfully tight. I skim my finger over the front of his pants, and he hisses. I lift my head to his and smirk. ‘Looks like it didn’t let up at all.’
‘And even if it had, you’re a minx. It wouldn’t lie low for long,” he growls into my hair.
I unzip him, my hand wrapping around his thick cock. I don’t know if it’s the day we’ve had, the tension, or the fact that I just seem to crave him, but my fingers are urgent around him.
I need him now. He just has to take me. I don’t want to wait; I don’t need foreplay. He’s safe, and he’s here. We’re all here together.
And I need him.
I stroke him, one long caress that has his fingers pinching my nipples painfully tight. I shudder and cry out. He racks the skirt of my dress up to my waist, almost as though he understands the thoughts in my head.
He shoves my panties to the side and sinks a finger into me. It’s not gentle, but a sharp thrust that has my back aching towards him, my hips pressing my wetness into his fingers. He joins another finger to thrust in and out twice.
Then he pulls the fingers out of me, already coated with my essence. Keeping his blue eyes firmly on mine, he takes a slow, sexy lick at his fingers. Then, he closes his eyes and groans. ‘You are ambrosia. I’d eat you all up, but I’ve been holding back all morning. I need you.’
He lifts me onto the bed, tugs my dress up my legs to my waist, and then strokes a fast caress at his cock before shoving my lace panties out of the way and sheathing himself inside me with one hard thrust.
‘Ohh. Oh,’ the cry slips out of my open mouth, and he anchors himself in my dress to hold me to him. His hand fists the dress so hard I know I’m not going anywhere until he wants me to. I like it.
I pant at him. ‘Hard. I can take it, Xander. And I need you to give it to me,” I tilt my head to look up at him.
His blue eyes are the color of a rough sea, dark and luminous, and he slams into me, his hips tight, my legs pressing down against his ass, my screams echoing his grunts of pleasure. I accept the fast thrust of his hips, the way his hands just hold on as he rams into me over and over again.
Sweat dots my forehead, pleasure singes my senses, dragging me into a cave of pleasure where my body doesn’t belong to me but to him, to strum and touch and bring heat to.
‘I’m close.’ I gasp, pant, cry, shudder, clench around him.
His face creases as though he’s in pain. ‘Good. You’re such a good girl for me, Mel. You take me so well, and I want to fuck this pussy until you know that you’re mine. Mine,” he grunts.
His rhythm is long, punctuated by short strokes into my warm body. He sinks in deep, and then finally, his fingers leave my dress to slide over my clitoris. I lift into him with a loud cry, and I fall back into the bed, too far gone.
My entire body is racked by blinding flashes of pleasure so intense it sweeps me away. My cries are loud and choked.
I feel ragged, but his thrusts keep me right on the edge, holding on as he sinks in and pulls out until he tightens and comes inside me. I feel the heat of him like a brand, scathing my inner walls, and I like it.
God help me, I like it a lot.
He falls over me, and because I know soon he’ll roll over to put me on top, I press my fingers into his back. ‘Stay this way a moment. Please, Xander.’
He holds still, his muscles tense under my fingers. Then they unfurl and relax. ‘Let me know when I get heavy. I don’t want to burden you.’
He still doesn’t understand. I sweep my tongue along his lips, and he opens his eyes. ‘You could never be a burden to me, Xander. Never. Do you understand?’
I press a kiss to him so that he knows I’m serious.
Xander’s weight is a welcome anchor. It keeps me grounded, pulls me down.
I want him inside me.
I want him always.
I don’t know how to tell him, but I need him to know.
For me, it was always Xander. Only Xander.
And it will always be him.
