wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to the bed. They lay together on that ridiculous bedspread, Alex wrapped his whole body around her the way she so often did to him, and Lia held him while he sobbed.
He didn’t know when he stopped crying, or why he’d turned his mouth and found hers. Maybe she’d found his. He didn’t know when they started taking each other’s clothes off. But he could still taste the salt of tears—oh, she was crying, too—and they were writhing on the bed, yanking and twisting, panting and grunting, trying to get naked together without breaking the union of their kiss.
When they finally managed it, Alex began to roll Lia under him, but she squirmed and rolled him to his back instead. Right away, she began to work her way down his body, leaving his mouth to trail soft, warm kisses along his jaw, down his throat, over his chest, pausing to swirl her tongue around each nipple, and then on, taking her time, devoting her attention.
Her mouth felt wonderful, her attention was exhilarating, but Alex needed more than this. He needed to be inside her, to fill her and feel the most of her he could possibly feel. He needed to push everything else out of his head and fuck.
But when he grabbed for her, she eluded him and kept going until she took him into her mouth.
He was the only guy she’d ever done this with—any of this—and it had taken her some time to get the hang of it. But she had it now, and knew just what he liked. She gave great head.
It still wasn’t enough, there was too much of him all alone, flailing, but then she deep-throated him, taking all she could, straight to the back of her throat and maybe even more, and Alex’s brain shut the fuck up. He grabbed her head, twisted his fingers through her glorious hair, and lifted his hips into that mind-blowing sensation.
But he didn’t want to come like this. He still needed more. He needed her, all of her.
He pulled sharply on her hair, and she came up. The slide of her mouth pulled a groan straight out of his lungs.
“It’s okay,” she said, sweetly, wiping her mouth in the sexiest way he’d ever seen. “You can come in my mouth.”
He’d never done that before; he hadn’t wanted to freak her out. Fuck, that would be incredible.
But not now. “Not this time.” He let go of her hair and took her arms, drawing her upward. She came, gliding up his body, over his primed cock, and his whole body clenched. “I need you closer.”
“Okay.” She seemed a little disappointed, but she didn’t hesitate.
He rolled them both and put her beneath him. Yes, this was what he needed, feeling her all along his body, pressing his body on hers, filling her, covering her. Sheltering her.
“I’ll pull out,” he said. Even the thickness of a condom would be too much separation. They’d gone without a condom once before, when Lia had wanted to, and now Alex thought he understood why she’d needed it so badly.
Again, Lia didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her arms and legs around him just the way he liked, and Alex grabbed hold of his bare cock and pushed into the perfect, complete embrace of her body.
He calmed at once, with the peaceful sanctity of home.
He’d thought he needed to fuck, to fill his mind with the white noise of ecstasy and forget what he’d done. But that was wrong.
He hadn’t needed forgetfulness. He’d needed acceptance.
~ 23 ~
Nick never felt any sense of exhilaration in victory, not since he’d been don. There was relief, certainly, and power, of course. The satisfaction of justice achieved. But no thrill. Maybe because he’d come into this world by beating his own father half to death, he’d never found anything like enjoyment, or even personal fulfillment, in the violence. When he was his uncle’s enforcer, he’d excelled at the work, but his skill had been due to a calm demeanor, a keen eye, a sharp mind, a strong arm, and a precise hand. Not hunger.
He wanted peace. He wasn’t afraid of war, he was willing to provoke war, but he wanted peace.
There was no elation in killing the don of the most storied family in their world, or in destroying that family entirely. It was justice rendered, as much justice as he