by Kaylee, Katy
“Yes, but you were protecting the people you care about and–.”
“No buts. I’m not a good man, Beth. Don’t kid yourself into thinking I am.” I paused, drawing in a deep breath and asked her the question that was burning inside me. “Can you live with that, tesoro?”
I waited, holding my breath. The answer meant more to me than it should. I knew that. And I couldn’t do a damned thing about it.
Elizabeth looked at me, just looked. Her pensive eyes traced my face, catching on the bruise that was already forming but she was seeing beyond that. Beyond skin and bone and the shape of my features. It was like she had opened me up and was looking at all the deepest parts of me, what truly made me who I was.
“You won’t lie to me.” She whispered. It wasn’t a question but I shook my head anyway, answering her.
“You won’t hurt me.”
“We don’t hurt innocent bystanders, Beth. Not ever.” I reached out, tangling my fingers with hers, “And I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
With my grip on her hand, I tugged her closer until she was standing between the cradle of my thighs, so close I could smell the sweet, spicy fragrance that was only her.
“I already lost you once, Beth.” I stared into her eyes, needing her to see how serious I was. I loved the way her breath quickened and pupil’s dilatated with desire. “I’m not going to lose you again.”
“You didn’t lose me, Aiden. You left.”
“And I’ve regretted it every day for the last ten years. I…I never stopped, you know?”
“Never stopped what?”
I opened my mouth to answer but the words were stuck in my throat, unable to form into the sounds that I needed them to. It was all too fragile between us, and I knew one wrong move, one wrong word, would send her running for the door, and away from me.
My voice was gruff when I spoke but there was nothing I could do to soften, “Wanting you.” I whispered, “Needing you.” Loving you. But I didn’t say the last out loud. I couldn’t. All I could do was show her. Try and tell her without words.
“Me neither.” She spoke so softly that I could barely hear her, but I felt it, all the way down to my soul.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed her. I needed to show her everything I felt the only way I could.
I pulled her close, slanting my mouth across hers in a searing kiss that made my cock instantly hard and wanting her.
When we were both breathless and panting, I pulled back enough so that I could look up in to her precious face. I was so close I could see the stars in her eyes.
“Say it, Beth. Say it out loud. Say the words.”
She let out a deep, shaky breath and the world stood still for that single moment.
“I want you, Aiden.” She whispered against my lips, “I need you. Now.”
* * *
Beth
My whole world was spiraling out of my control, and I didn’t care. In the space of a breath it went from logical, rational, and making sense to a strange world where the only thing I understood was Aiden, and the need rushing through my veins.
I don’t know how, but he does this to me every time and I still can’t resist him. I never could. With a single word, a kiss, a look, he stole away all my fears and doubts and replaced them with joy and peace and desire and…happiness.
I knew that I shouldn’t. I knew I was probably being a fool, but I believed him. I wanted to believe every single word that he’d said to me. And damn it, I wanted the rest of him too. All of him.
I had been so scared for so long, but when I’m in Aiden’s arms, all of that washes away. It’s the only place I truly feel safe. Because I know that he will keep his promise. That he will protect me from all harm.
I was still lost in the taste of him, of the need to draw the kiss even deeper, harder, when he picked me up in his arms as if I weighted nothing all and carried me down the bedroom.
“Beth,” He whispered against my lips, his voice rife with frustration and urgency, “Where the fuck is your bedroom.”
“There, to the left. End of the hall.” I said, suddenly fighting the urge to laugh but I was too wrapped up in desire. I needed him. And I was just as impatient as he was.
We stumbled inside and Aiden didn’t put me down until we reached the bed. Then, he slid me down his body and I trembled at the teasing touch.
“There are so many things I want to do to you.” He whispered the words, low and husky and my body melted for him.
“Later. You can do all of it later.” I was already tearing at his clothes, desperate for him.
“It would take a lifetime.”
“But I want you now.”
Aiden threw back his head on a laugh at my words, at the look of confused need on my face and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
“Your wish, cara mia,” He whispered in that language of his, “My command.”
I fumbled at his clothes, reaching for the hem of his shirt while he moved to the closure of my jeans. And then we were both naked and there was no more for games anymore. We were both too desperate for each other, burning alive with need.
Aiden picked me up and laid me on the bed so gently that it made my breath catch. Like I was something so precious to him. And then I caught a glimpse of the look in his eyes as his gaze scanned my body and it was pure sin. I writhed beneath that gaze as desire slicked the inside of my thighs. I had never felt sexier. Never needed him more.
“We really should stop doing this.” The words flew from my mouth without me meaning to, barely a whisper
Aiden stopped, frowning at me.
“You want to stop? Now?”
“God no! I just mean…jesus, I don’t know what I mean. You tangle up my thoughts and I can’t…I can’t think straight. I told myself that I wasn’t going to sleep with you again.” I should stop talking. I knew I should. But something about him made my brain go haywire.
He looked at me for a long moment, his body hard and ready for mind, his gaze hooded.
“I understand.” He whispered, sorrow in his eyes as he started to back away, “I’ll go.”
“What? No! Don’t…” I grab his hand and pull him back, trying to make him understand. “You really mess with a girl’s equilibrium, you know that?”
“Is that a compliment?”
“I don’t know.”
He leaned close, cupping my face gently in his big, callused hands.
“Just tell me what you want, tesoro. If you want me, I’m all yours. Just say the word.”
“I…” Do I want him? I can’t keep pretending it’s just once and never again, because the truth is, it will never be enough. I just want more and more of him with every taste. He’s a mafia boss. He’s done terrible things. He told me so himself. Could I live that? He has his own code of honor that I know he’d never break.
Finally, slowly, I nod my head and his expression is like the dawn breaking outside.
“I want you, Aiden. Only you.”
“Thank fucking god,” He said in a relieved rush of words as he reached for me. He pulled me back towards the bed, grabbing my hips and flipping me over on my stomach as he pushed my shoulders down. “Like this, tesoro. I want to be so deep inside your body that you will never get me out again.”
I shuddered at his dark, husky words. And then he thrust inside me and I was shuddering again but for an entirely different reason.
He sank his cock deep inside, taking me to edge of climaxing so fast that I could barely breathe. His hand reached around as he positioned his hips against mine harder and harder with every thrust. His finger teased my sensitive clit and it was the last thing I needed to break me apart.
I threw back my head on a scream of pleasure and a second later he drew back, moaning above me as I felt his hot cum jet across my back and hips.
The orgasm hit me so hard that I was still feeling the aftershocks as I started to collapse to the bed but Aiden’s strong arm
underneath me, stopped my fall.
“Oh no, cara mia,” He whispered roughly against my skin as he nuzzled my neck and I could already feel him getting hard again behind me, “We’re just getting started.”
Chapter 16
Beth
It was cold. The kind of cold that made my breath leave a little cloud of white in the air with every breath. That was the first thing that I notice. The cold, and the rain. It was pouring down the velvet night sky above me. Lighting streaked, and thunder cracked, making me jump.
It was so dark that it was hard for me to make out anything at all, and the bright jabs of lightning illuminated the scene around me for a moment, and then blinded me even more.
I was running. I didn’t know why I was running, just that it was important. Something was coming. Or someone. Someone bad. Very bad. Someone who wanted to hurt me.
I was running as hard as I could but they keep getting closer. The bad man. I didn’t know how I knew it was a man, or that he was bad. It wasn’t logical, it didn’t make sense, but I could feel it with a soul deep knowledge that terrified me. If the man caught me, something very bad would happen to me. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let him catch me.
So I ran through the endless night, running until my legs started to get tired and shaky beneath me and my lungs burned like a coal fire in my chest. But it was so dark that I couldn’t see anything in front of me.
Another fork of lightning split the darkness overhead and I could see the black square buildings in the distance. I ran towards them but they stayed so far away, untouchable no matter how hard I tried.
I threw a frantic look over my shoulder but there was only more darkness, more shadows. But I knew he was there. The bad man. I knew he was getting closer. And I had to get away from him before he caught up to me.
I gasped for every agonized breath, trying to force my body forward. I knew I wasn’t going fast enough. It was hard for me to even pick my feet off of the pavement below me, my body getting heavy. So heavy. Weighted down by the fear and panic that was choking me.
The black was so thick in front of me that I couldn’t see, and my clumsy legs tripped over something. I went flying forward, landing hard on the concrete. There was something wet under my hands, and when I looked down at them they were covered in bright red blood. But it wasn’t my blood.
I don’t want to look, but my head is moving on its own and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I know the bad man is coming, he’s almost there, but I can’t move now, not until I see. I’m frozen there, except for my head, my eyes.
They find the dark shape that’s crumpled to the ground behind me. I squint to try and make out what it is in the darkness and in a flash of lightning, I can see.
It’s my sister, her eyes open and staring blankly into my own. The same dark gray as mine.
I open my mouth to scream but now sound comes out. My vocal chords are frozen too.
Then, like some horrible puppet being pulled by unseen strings, my sister moves, her hand flops towards me, reaching for me.
“Beth, I’m so sorry.” With each word, more bright scarlet blood bubbles from between grey lips, “Help me, Beth. Please help me.”
Horror and bile fill me and I know that he’s there before I even look up. He’s just a darker shadow silhouetted in the night. And he’s going to kill me. Or worse than kill me. I scream, but still there’s no sound. Not even the rain and thunder make a sound anymore. It’s all muffled as if the world was swaddled in cotton.
I scramble to my feet, cutting my hands still covered in my sister’s blood. I know I have to go before he reaches me. He’s walking towards us, step by unhurried step. I reached desperately for my sister.
“Leah! Leah, grab my hand! I can save us both!” But she doesn’t move. She just lays there, frozen like a statue as blood runs like a river on the concrete.
“Leah!” I scream again, but still the sound is muffled. Far away. Distant. I try and grab her and pull her to her feet but the bad man is almost there. He’s almost reached me. And I know I can’t stay there with her.
Sobbing, I try one last time but it’s no use. I can’t even more her.
Tears stinging my eyes, I turned and ran into the night, leaving my sister all along.
“I’m sorry, Leah. Oh god, I’m so, so sorry.”
“Beth.”
Another voice reaches me from out of the darkness and I run towards it.
“Beth! Wake up, baby.”
Suddenly, my eyes opened wide and I could see Aiden leaning above me, staring down in concern. I’m in a bed, not a rainy, dirty alleyway. I’m in my apartment with Aiden. There is no bad man. Except I know that he’s out there, somewhere. He killed my sister, and I would do everything I could to find him and bring him to justice.
“Beth, it was just a nightmare. You’re okay.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that I knew that. That I had been having the same nightmare for nearly three nights. But instead of words, a sob bubbled out. And then another, surprising me at first but not that the flood gates were opened I couldn’t stop the rush of tears.
“Oh, shit, tesoro. Sweetheart, I hate it when you cry.”
Aiden wrapped me in his arms and I curled in to him. All the pain and grief that I had been trying so hard to hold at bay burst over me in a tidal wave that I couldn’t fight any more.
“She’s dead, isn’t she?” I managed through my sobs, “Will said there was a gun shot. In the voice mail from Leah. Someone shot my sister. Oh god, Aiden. What am I going to do? My baby sister.”
I sobbed even harder, losing myself to the pain, to the grief.
“I’ve got you, Beth. I’m not letting you go.” He whispered against my hair. “I’m not going to tell you that it’s okay or that it will get better. I know how much it hurts to lose family. But I swear to you, cara, you don’t have to face this alone. I’m here for you. Always, tesoro. Forever.”
His words start to change as he whispered to me in Italian. Words I don’t understand but I know exactly what he’s saying and his love washes over me like a blanket, cradling me in him. I cried until my mouth went dry and my eyes were so red that I could barely see. I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore, and I clung to Aiden like the he was the only safe port in the middle of a terrible storm.
He sheltered me as my sobs slowly grew softer, quieter. Wiping the tears from cheeks and washing a cool cloth across my face.
I still couldn’t understand his words but I knew in that moment that all of the feelings I had once had for this man were still there, along with new ones. Stronger ones. I trusted him, heart and soul.
As the storm inside me finally started to abate, another one rose up and we turned to each other in the dark. As our bodies moved together, proving to each other that we were still alive, that we were real and whole and together, something started to change inside me.
The cracks in my heart that my sister’s disappearance had left behind began to heal. I knew it would be a long, long time before I was whole again, but it was a start. A small start. And it was all because of Aiden.
As the dawn rose golden and hopeful outside, our bodies locked together in perfect rhythm not in domination, but in pure surrender.
Chapter 17
Beth
When I woke again, evening was just starting to set in. I’d slept for the rest of the day, wrapped tight in Aiden’s arms. He’d told me the truth. He never left me.
I looked over at him, watching his chest move up and down in the easy rhythm of slumber and marveled at how different he looks when he’s asleep. He looked so much younger and it reminded me that he’s only a year older than I am.
It’s just the weight of responsibility that makes him seem older and more mature. He had to take on so much when he was still so young, it’s no wonder that he seems older than his age.
I still remembered those months we’d had together, all those years ago. I had been a freshman, so full of myself and all the ways I
was going to change the world. All the magnificent discoveries I was going to make.
And then Aiden had barreled into my life, so confident, so sure of the world around him when I had questioned everything, had needed to see at least ten pieces of evidence to believe something was real.
He’d taught me to see the world I lived in, in a different way back then. And he was teaching me the same thing now. That maybe I could listen to my instincts more instead of demanding facts that may not exist. To trust myself more.
And as much as it didn’t make sense, my instincts were telling me that if there was one person in the world that I could trust, it was Aiden Diorno.
I watched him sleep for a while longer, still feeling rung out from last night before sneaking out of bed, making sure not to wake him as I went in search of coffee and breakfast. As the coffee pot burbled happily, my thoughts drifted to the night before once more.
I was not longer conflicted about Aiden. I had to trust myself, and my gut said that Aiden would never hurt her. I poured two cups of coffee, one with cream and sugar for me and one that was just plain black coffee for Aiden.
I started the search through the kitchen to find anything edible, pulling out ingredients, mixing some leftover ground beef together and putting it in the microwave. It was about the extent of my cooking skills.
Maybe I can nudge him in a slightly less illegal direction, I mused, taking a sip. Although from what he’d told me last night, what they were doing was not only legal, but beneficial to the people of the city he called home. And it was obvious from the way he talked about it that he loved them, loved the city. Protected it.
An image of that masked superhero figure that Will had brought in to work popped into my mind and I snickered. Yep. Masked vigilant who drives a bad ass car. That’s definitely Aiden.