Bound By Blood

by Reilly, Cora

  I didn’t like his tone one bit and gave him a cold smile. “I can handle blood, don’t worry.”

  After that, I focused all my attention on Aria, cradling her head and whispering words of adoration in her ear. I could see the worry and fear in her eyes, probably not for herself but our unborn child. “Everything will be all right.”

  I wasn’t sure how much time passed until the doctor finally lifted our son, all wrinkly and blue. For a moment, I thought he wasn’t breathing but then he let out a loud wail and the doctor turned to do checkups. He was much bigger than Marcella had been, definitely my son.

  Aria released a harsh breath and I kissed her forehead, then her ear, whispering, “I love you more than life itself, principessa. You gave me the greatest gift of all, your love and our children.”

  Tears filled Aria’s eyes and she put her hand over mine.

  The doctor carried our son over to us and put him down on Aria’s chest. She stroked his back then looked up at me in wonder, and everything else seemed to fade to black, becoming irrelevant. “He looks like you.”

  He did.

  His hair was pitch black and his eyes gray, and he weighed at least nine pounds from the look of it.

  I nodded. Like me, but innocent and tiny. I reached out and stroked his cheek. My finger appeared huge against it.

  Aria looked exhausted and pale. “Would you like to hold him?”

  “Yes,” I murmured, my voice strangely hoarse. I gently picked our baby boy up from Aria’s chest and held him in my arms. I’d forgotten how tiny and vulnerable babies were, how much they depended on our care. I wasn’t sure why I’d thought my feelings for my son would be different than for Marcella. In the few minutes that he was on earth, I already loved him with a fervor I only reserved for Aria and my daughter. He still needed my protection like they did, and I would keep him safe as much as I could.

  “Amo,” I murmured as I put my finger into his small palm.

  Aria watched us with tears in her eyes while I kept checking the doctors who stitched her up to make sure they were focused on the task at hand. When we were finally admitted to our private room, I bent over Aria and kissed her forehead then her lips. “You are incredible, principessa.”

  She gave me a tired smile. “Will you stay the night?”

  “Of course. I won’t leave your side.”

  Cradling Amo in my arms, I watched over Aria as she fell asleep. I wouldn’t close my eyes until we were back home. They would be safe; nothing else mattered.

  Because of the C-section Aria wasn’t allowed to leave the next day, but Gianna and Matteo took care of Marcella, probably stuffing her face with chocolate and letting her watch TV until her little brain was completely frazzled. We decided not to have any visitors to give Aria time to heal and agreed to meet in our penthouse.

  I carried Amo on my arm and Aria’s bag in my other hand as we stepped into the elevator.

  “I hate that I can’t carry him because of the C-section,” she said, looking longingly at our son.

  “It’s only a couple of weeks. Your sisters will be around to help you, and Matteo will take care of business as much as he can so I can stay home.”

  Gianna, Liliana, Romero, and Matteo were already in our penthouse when we stepped inside. Someone, I assumed Liliana, had decorated everything with balloons and baked a cake with blue frosting.

  Aria’s eyes widened in surprise. She moved carefully into our home, trying to hide that she was still in pain, but I caught the occasional wince.

  Gianna and Liliana, who carried Marcella in her arms, hurried over to Aria and hugged her while Matteo and Romero joined me. Romero touched my shoulder, regarding Amo with a smile. “He looks like you.”

  Before I could say anything, Matteo spoke up.

  “He looks like a fat little Buddha with black hair.” He lifted one of Amo’s stubby arms.

  Aria sent Matteo an incredulous look and I would have hit him over the head if I hadn’t been carrying Amo.

  Matteo flashed the girls a grin. “Come on, it’s the truth. It’s not like he’s an ugly baby but he’s a little Michelin man with all those fat rolls.”

  “If he gets as tall as Luca, he’ll grow quickly, then he needs the additional weight,” Romero said diplomatically.

  “Let’s hope so. On the other hand, maybe we can torture our enemies by letting your little sumo wrestler sit on them.”

  “How about you shut up?” I muttered.

  Gianna stalked over to us and pinched Matteo, who flinched, then rubbed the spot. “Look at him and tell me he doesn’t look like a baby Buddha.”

  Gianna rolled her eyes then gave me an exasperated look. “Congrats. I hope you don’t drop your kid on the head like someone must have done with Matteo when he was a baby.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I said then peered down at Amo who was deep asleep, oblivious to Matteo’s comments.

  Liliana came over with Marcella in her arms. “Look, that’s your little brother.”

  I gave Marcella a smile, lifting Amo so she could get a better look. She watched her brother with her head tilted to the side as if he was a new toy she was trying to figure out. “Why isn’t he doing anything?”

  “Because he’s a baby. They sleep, poop, and eat,” Gianna said.

  Aria sighed, but I could tell she was fighting a grin.

  “That’s boring,” Marcella said, looking disappointed. Then she glanced over at Aria and stretched out her arms. “Mommy, arm.”

  Aria’s expression fell.

  “Mommy isn’t allowed to carry anything at the moment,” I said. Marcella’s lower lip began to tremble. Fuck. I couldn’t stand it when she cried.

  Gianna sighed and came over to me. “Come on, give me your little poo machine. I’ll carry your future sumo wrestler while you snuggle with Marci.”

  I handed Amo to her and her widened eyes flitted over to my wife. “How did he ever fit inside of you?”

  Aria laughed. “I don’t know.”

  “Good thing you didn’t have to squeeze him out of your vajayjay.”

  “Hey,” I said in warning as I took Marcella from Liliana who went over to Gianna to hold Amo’s tiny hand.

  “What’s a vajayjay?” Marcella asked immediately. I sent Gianna a death glare.

  “Nothing you have to worry about.”

  Gianna and Aria burst out laughing, and Marcella peered up at me with a small frown.

  Matteo winked. “Missing your bachelor days, huh?”

  “Never,” I said as I kissed Marcella’s frown, causing her to giggle then looked at Amo who’d woken and was staring up at Gianna with huge eyes. Aria was smiling as if this was perfection… and for me, it was.

  Luca

  Aria’s healing process took longer than last time but with her sisters’ help things soon fell into place. Still I could tell that Aria was trying to not be a burden and do things on her own.

  This was the first day I wasn’t home before six because the Tartarus MC had thrown a Molotov cocktail into one of our whorehouses. They weren’t as organized as they used to be. My hit to their local chapter had almost banished them completely from this area—almost.

  Amo was eight weeks old and a fussy baby, so I tried to help Aria during the nights as often as I could.

  The second I entered the apartment after midnight I could hear his wails. I took the steps two at a time and rushed into the nursery where I found Aria in the armchair, covered in sweat, eyes red from crying and a red-faced Amo screaming and squirming while Aria tried to feed him.

  “Aria?”

  “I can’t get him to calm down. No matter what I do. He’s been crying for hours.”

  I stroked her head. “Shhh. Let me take care of him. Take a bath, Love.”

  “I’m failing him.”

  “You’re not failing anyone, Aria.” I kissed her hair. “Where’s Marcella?”

  “In our bed. I allowed her to watch her series because she couldn’t sleep.”

  I pried
Amo from Aria’s arms. “Go, get some sleep. Or take a bath. Now.”

  She nodded then moved into our bedroom. I put Amo in his carrier before I followed her. Marcella sat on the bed, watching her series on the tablet, but looked up from the screen when I entered. “How about you, Amo, and I drive around the city for a bit?”

  Marcella jumped off the bed. “Yes!”

  Before I left with our kids, Aria gave me a grateful smile as she sank down on the bed.

  As I’d hoped, both Amo and Marcella fell asleep in the car after thirty minutes of driving in circles around the area. After bringing Marcella into her bed, I stretched out on the sofa in the nursery in case Amo woke up again.

  “Luca?”

  My eyes shot open. Aria’s face hovered over me, her brows drawn together in concern. “Don’t tell me you slept like this all night?”

  I glanced at my watch. A few minutes after nine in the morning. “Amo kept me busy most of the night.” I shook my head at the look of guilt on Aria’s face. “You needed sleep more than I did. You’ve been taking over most nights and now it was my turn.” I sat up, peering toward the crib but Amo wasn’t in it.

  “I grabbed him three hours ago and took him downstairs with me. Gianna and Matteo will watch him and Marcella for a few hours so we can have breakfast together and have some time for us,” Aria said with a hopeful smile. Standing up, I pulled her against me and kissed her.

  “How about we have breakfast in bed? Why don’t you go ahead and order a few things while I take a shower?”

  Aria nodded and dashed off after another kiss. Watching her in her sexy shorts and camisole, blood rushed into my dick. We hadn’t been intimate since Aria had given birth, and it was slowly starting to kill me, but I didn’t want to put additional pressure on Aria. I stalked into the shower and jerked off, even if it hardly satisfied my hunger for my gorgeous wife anymore.

  When I emerged from the bathroom, Aria sat cross-legged on the bed, two steaming mugs of coffee on a wooden tray in front of her. “Food will be here in about ten minutes.”

  My eyes were drawn to the way her shorts gathered between her ass cheeks, accentuating her pussy. I took the cup and gulped down some coffee. Aria regarded me with a knowing look but didn’t comment.

  Thirty minutes later, we were done with our waffles and pancakes and I was sprawled out on my back with Aria lying on top of me. We’d been kissing for a couple of minutes and Aria’s warmth and her scent rekindled the desire I’d tried to kill earlier. I wanted nothing more than to sleep with her, but I held back.

  Instead my hands rubbed Aria’s back, her sides, and her ass, trying to ignore the small rocking motions of her pelvis.

  With a soft sigh, Aria pulled back, her lips red and swollen. “I want to try to have sex.”

  “Are you sure?” I rasped, even as my hand kneaded her ass cheek and my cock sprang to attention.

  Aria answered with a firm kiss, her tongue slipping in. I rolled us over so I hovered over her, desperate to worship her and get her body ready. Soon I’d worked my way down her beautiful breasts to her pussy. After a kiss to her shorts, I dragged them down her legs, laying her bare to me.

  I stroked Aria, parting her so I could rub her clit and stifled a groan at the sight of her need for me. Aria moaned softly as I stroked her.

  I pushed my middle finger into her but paused when Aria exhaled shakily. “Okay?”

  She nodded and I began to move slowly while I drew small circles on her slick clit. I loved watching my finger fuck Aria’s pussy, loved seeing how it glistened with her juices. It didn’t take long for Aria to become undone, rocking her hips, pushing my finger even deeper into her. She came with a cry, nails scratching over the sheets and I almost came in my fucking boxers. I quickly pulled out my finger then bowed my head down and ran my tongue along her slit, licking up her arousal.

  “Luca,” she gasped.

  “Did you miss me eating you out?” I rasped before dipping between those delicious pussy lips.

  “God, yes,” she moaned. I smirked against her pussy and fluttered my tongue over her opening. Aria rewarded me with more of her sweet juices.

  “You taste so good, principessa. I could lick your pussy all day.”

  Aria whimpered, rocking her hips, pressing her pussy closer against my mouth. “Do you want me to suck that little button?”

  “Yes, please.”

  I closed my lips around her clit and started suckling the way Aria loved it. Soon she was writhing and moaning, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her, even as my own need became almost impossible to ignore. She arched up as her release hit her, looking wild and gorgeous. I pushed up and shoved down my briefs, then kicked them off impatiently, dying to be inside of Aria.

  Spreading her open with my thighs, I groaned when my tip pressed up to her heat. Three months since I’d last been inside of her. Fuck. I couldn’t wait. Before I started to push in, I lowered myself so our bodies were flush together and kissed Aria.

  She curled her fingers over my neck and lifted her ass. I shifted my hips, sliding into her slowly, my gaze intent on her face to see any hint of discomfort but there was only lust and need. I moaned when I was buried all the way inside of her and Aria squeezed her eyes shut with a shudder. “Is this okay?”

  Aria gripped my shoulders, opening her eyes with a look of desire. “Please fuck me, Luca. I need you.”

  Our mouths clashed and I pitched my hips forward. Aria wrapped her legs around my hips, bringing us even closer as I started to thrust into her, deeper and harder, until we were both panting and sweating. Neither of us lasted long, coming at the same time, overwhelmed by the sensations. Afterward, I held her in my arms, trying to catch my breath, but my cock had a mind of its own and so did Aria’s fingers as they trailed down my abs…

  Aria and I picked up our children two hours and another round of sex later. It was strange how much more relaxed Aria appeared, and I, too, felt less stressed. We’d have to make sure to arrange time for ourselves even with two small kids.

  When we entered the apartment to pick up our children, Gianna looked as if she’d done a nosedive into a paint box. Her bright red lipstick extended to the skin around her mouth, giving her a grotesque smile, and her eyes were surrounded by so much color it was difficult to make out her actual pupils and irises. “Marcella decided to do my makeup for me today,” she said.

  Aria laughed.

  “She looks pretty, right?” Marcella said, beaming.

  Aria stroked Marcella’s head with a nod before she took Amo from Matteo.

  “Yes, Luca. I look pretty, don’t I?” Gianna piped up, batting her lashes the same way Marcella always did. She looked like a murderous clown doll.

  Matteo chuckled and I gave him an exasperated look.

  “I remember a time when your name was whispered in fear…” he said.

  “I’m satisfied with the list of people who fear me.”

  Marcella came up to me and wrapped her arms around my leg. “Dad, why do people fear you?”

  Gianna snorted. Marcella’s eyes darted toward her aunt and she dashed toward her. “Tell me, why?”

  I tensed, worried what Gianna would say. She motioned toward me. “Look at him, Marci. He’s a giant. Everyone’s scared of giants, right?”

  Marcella regarded me for a moment before she nodded gravely as if truer words had never been spoken. A smile pulled at her mouth and she rushed back toward me. “But I’m not scared of you, Dad!”

  I lifted her. “Good.”

  Aria shook her head with a grin then pressed a kiss to Amo’s head. “Thanks for taking care of them.”

  “I hope you two lovebirds had time for some lovin’.” Matteo wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Bye, Matteo,” I said as I stepped into the elevator. Aria joined me with a wave toward her sister and my brother.

  Later that day, we settled on the sofa with our kids. Aria read a picture book to Marcella who sat on her lap while I leaned against the backrest with Amo in
the crook of my arm. I rubbed his belly gently and was rewarded with a toothless smile and a few leg kicks against my outstretched palm. “You are a strong boy.”

  Amusement flashed across Aria’s face before Marcella asked another question about the butterfly featured in her book. They both focused on the image with a small frown and pursed lips, looking so much alike in that moment, my fucking heart throbbed harder. I kissed Amo’s forehead then murmured, “When you’re older, you need to help me protect your sister and mom. They’re too beautiful for this world. We’ll have to kill all the boys who think they are worthy of your sister.”

  “What did you say?” Aria asked curiously.

  “That I need to invest in more weapons to keep you all safe.”

  “I think you and Matteo own enough weapons, not to mention soldiers, to invade a small country. No need for more weapons.”

  Marcella tilted her head, her black hair curtaining half of her face and contrasting strongly with her blue eyes and pale skin. Then she smiled.

  I raised Amo above my head. “Definitely more weapons, right, Amo?”

  He gave me another toothless grin.

  A stepbrother forbidden mafia romance

  (Love in Lockdown Charity Anthology, 2020)

  Stella is a forbidden fruit Mauro isn’t allowed to taste.

  Not only because she isn’t promised to him but also because she’s his stepsister.

  She used to be his annoying shadow, the little girl he needed to protect and babysit. Now she’s all grown-up and he can’t stop noticing. Being locked into a panic room with her might be the ultimate test of his self-control…

  Mauro has always been her protector and ally until she starts to see him as more. Afraid of his reaction, she hides her attraction. But can she keep doing so when they’re trapped in a small room all alone?