Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,413

you to be happy.”

I tilted my head up and smiled up at him. His body shielded me from the water. Romero lowered his head and kissed my forehead, then my lips. We didn’t deepen the kiss, though. His closeness was enough for now.

We finished showering quickly. Romero stepped out first and took a towel. He wrapped it around me and gently started drying my body. I relaxed under his gentle ministrations. The last bit of tension slid out of me. After he was done with me, I took a towel out of the shelf and dried Romero in turn. He closed his eyes when I massaged his shoulders. “How do you feel?” I asked softly. I knew men, and Made Men in particular, didn’t like to talk about their feelings, especially sadness or fear.

He looked at me. “Tired.”

“No, I mean because you had to kill Benito for me. Are you okay?”

Romero let out a humorless laugh. He took my hand and led me back into the bedroom. He sank down on the bed and pulled me between his legs, then made me sit down on one of them. “He hasn’t been my first and he won’t be my last, but I enjoyed his death more than the others, and I don’t regret it. I’d do it again and enjoy it just as much.”

Romero

It was the truth and now that Lily and I would start living together, she needed to know it, needed to know every dark part of me. I searched her eyes for a sign of revulsion but there was none. She kissed my cheek before resting her head on my shoulder. Her fingers traced my chest lightly. That and the feel of her firm butt on my thigh stirred my cock, but now wasn’t the time to follow that urge. Not too long ago Lily had to fight off her new husband, had to stab him and watch him die. She needed time to recover. I stood and lifted Lily into my arms before I lay her down. She kept her hands wrapped around my neck and didn’t let go even as I tried to straighten. “Lily,” I said quietly. “You need to rest.”

She shook her head and pulled me down on top of her. I braced myself on my elbows so I didn’t crush her under my weight. Lily wrapped her legs around my hips and dug her heels into my lower back, pressing me down.

I didn’t resist. Slowly I lowered myself until our bodies were flush against each other and my cock pressed against her pussy. She raised her head to claim my mouth for a kiss. I stared into her eyes; they were soft and filled with longing. I wasn’t sure how I could have ever believed that Lily didn’t want me. Her eyes showed her love for me as plain as day.

“I need you,” she murmured, lifting her hips a few inches and making my tip glide over her lower lips. I let out a small hiss at the sensation. She was wet and warm. She always felt so fucking inviting. I didn’t need to be asked twice. I always wanted her. I quickly put on a condom, cupped her head and eased into her slowly, and as I did I realized just how much I needed it too. She was tighter than usual, maybe from tension and exhaustion, and I made sure to be careful.

I made love to her slowly. This wasn’t about getting off, about being consumed by desire and lust, this was something to show us everything was okay. A few days ago I’d thought I would lose her forever and now she was mine.

Between soft moans she told me she loved me. I kissed her lips. I’d never been the overly emotional type but I never got tired of her saying those words. “I love you too,” I said quietly. It still felt strange to admit it to someone.

When we lay in each other’s arms afterward, I felt a deep, all-encompassing peace I’d never felt before.

* * *

I woke at sunrise but Lily wasn’t there. I jerked upright, reaching for my gun on the nightstand, as usual expecting the worst, but Lily was there at the window, looking out. I didn’t have floor-to-ceiling windows like Luca’s penthouse, but they weren’t exactly small. But Lily had grown up as the daughter of a Consigliere. She’d had the best of everything all her life.

I swung my legs out of bed and walked