We stared at each other for a few intense moments before I rolled to my back, needing a minute to collect myself. Plus, I was too chicken to make the first move and I knew he was waiting for me after everything between us tonight.
I believed him about the other women. Oddly enough, for Sal and I that had been one of the few things we’d never had issues with. I knew he’d been with his fair share before me. I saw the way the unattached women at the club clamored for his attention. But, once we’d hooked up, Sal’s eyes had never strayed. He’d never paid a moment’s focus to any other woman except me.
“Let’s get some sleep,” he suggested after a while.
“Okay,” I agreed, quietly wishing like hell he’d roll his beautiful body over mine and take me. I’d never had to make any moves with Sal. I was in unchartered territory.
I tossed and turned for hours, not even close to sleep. I tried not to disturb Sal with my movements.
Finally, hours later and exasperated with myself, I got up to get a glass of water. I stood by the sink drinking, and when I started to move, I backed into a hard, bare chest.
I spun around with a small shriek, surprised. I looked up at him and my panties were immediately wet from the carnal expression on his face.
“You’re never going to do it are you?” his deep voice asked, sending tingles down my spine as he backed us up against the counter.
“Do what?” I asked breathlessly.
“Make the first move,” he answered.
I bit my lip and shook my head.
“Tired of waitin’, baby,” he growled as his lips slammed down on mine.
Thank God.
Suddenly, my ass was on the counter and he’d moved in-between my legs, devouring my mouth like a man starved. I moaned quietly, relishing the connection, and wrapped my arms and legs around him to pull him closer. I could feel his erection at my core through my thin shorts. I’d never wanted anything more in my life than to have him inside me.
His tongue conquered my mouth, his lips kissing and sucking at my lower lip. I pulled him deeper into me with my heels, and he groaned into my mouth. Suddenly, I was airborne, and he was stalking toward the bedroom with me still wrapped around him.
He practically threw me on the bed, pulling at my clothes and his until his naked body was over mine. He kissed his way from my neck to my breasts, sucking each nipple voraciously.
“Yes,” I breathed, pushing myself harder against his mouth. I was so ready for him I felt like I could orgasm just from kissing him.
“Your body is so beautiful,” he said, his lips against my belly.
“Please, Sal, need you now,” I breathed, barely able to put together a coherent sentence.
His body came back up, his arms braced on either side of me. “Has there been anyone else?” he asked, his eyes intent on mine.
I shook my head back and forth as I felt him at my entrance. It was the most exquisite torture I’d ever endured.
“Thank Christ,” he said and sighed in relief. Then he was sliding inside of me and I could think of nothing better in the world. Sal was the most well-endowed man I’d ever had, and my body remembered his and stretched to accommodate him.
“Fuck,” I heard him mutter as he planted himself to the root. Then he was moving with purpose as my nails dug into his back. It started to build immediately, and I was on track to have the fastest orgasm of my life.
“Babe, I’m gonna…” I started to say before it took me with force as I cried out.
“There it is,” his gravelly voice grunted with pleasure at watching me fall apart. Seconds later, his pace picked up as he pounded into me before he planted himself one last time and groaned his own release into me.
“Fuck,” he whispered again, his body on top of mine as we both tried to catch our breath. I wrapped my arms and legs around him to keep him close, feeling such deep-rooted joy at being connected with him like this. I never wanted him to move. He pulled up onto his forearms to peer down at me. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I whispered. I was much more than okay. He rolled off me and pulled me against his body so my head was against his chest, his fingers gently tracing my arm.
“Glad we got that out of the way,” I quipped, feeling positively giddy.
“Thank God, I was about to lose my fucking mind,” he admitted.
“Really?” I laughed, pleased at this news.
“Uh, yeah, babe. I haven’t had you in six months, and you’ve been parading around with those amazing legs and ass on display, your nipples showing through those flimsy little tanks you wear. I think I’ve had a permanent hard-on since you got here. You’re lucky I didn’t last about five seconds once I finally got inside you,” he muttered.
I stifled a laugh.
“Were you trying to torture me?” he demanded lightly.
“Maybe a little,” I admitted.
“A little my ass,” he retorted and I looked up at him and smiled.
He stroked a hand through my hair. “I like your hair long like this,” he murmured, his fingers pulling through my dark tendrils.
“Yeah?” I smiled.
“Yeah. I’m beat, babe. You ready to go to sleep?” he asked as he ran his fingers through his already unruly hair.
I nodded. “I just need to go get cleaned up.”
“Make it quick,” he said as he rolled onto his stomach. Well, that certainly hadn’t changed, still bossy as ever.
I went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up, noting the brightness in my eyes and the blush to my cheeks. I looked happier and healthier than I had in months.
His sleepy gaze tracked my progress as I crossed the room and crawled back into bed. We still had a lot to sort out, but we both wanted to be together and we had a fresh start, which was more than a lot of people had. His arm came around my waist, pulling me closer. He used to do that all the time, and I smiled wide at the familiar gesture.
“Missed you, babe,” he said with his lips against my neck.
“Missed you, too,” I replied, snuggling deeper into his warm body. Moments later, I was fast asleep.
Loud knocking woke me from my sleep the next morning. “What the fuck?” I heard Sal rumble next to me as he rose from bed and threw his shorts on. “Stay here,” he ordered as he left the room.
Since when did I do what I was told? I granted him a few minutes before I threw on one of his T-shirts and my shorts, and ventured out to the kitchen.
Wes, Hank, and Mack were all in the kitchen loudly making coffee. Sal’s eyes swept down my body and his eyes heated at seeing me in his T.
“Hi fellas,” I chirped cheerfully.
I got three chin lifts and a “hey” out of Wes.
“Still don’t do what you’re told,” Sal noted, though I could tell he wasn’t really annoyed.
I grinned. “Some things never change,” I reminded him.
He rolled his eyes upward before looking back at me. Our gazes locked, and in his heated expression, I knew he was conveying the same thing I was, that some things stayed the same, but they could also change…for the better.
“I’ve got to ride out with them,” he grumbled, and I almost laughed out loud at how disappointed he clearly was.
“Okay, no problem,” I said.
“So are you two…?” Mack’s eyes swung between us as he searched for how to finish his question.
“Yep,” Sal nodded without hesitation.
“Well, thank God for that, you’ve been one moody son of a bitch,” Hank muttered. “You two are good together. Glad to see you got your shit straightened out” he added.
I smiled. It had always been so easy to like Hank. Then I turned my attention back to Sal. “Will you be back before I go to work tonight?”
His jaw clenched, which I didn’t take as a good sign. “Bedroom,” he clipped.
He shut the door behind us as I turned to glare at him with my arms crossed over my chest. “Please tell me you aren’t going to stop me from going to work.
”
He leaned casually against his door, assessing my angry stance. To my surprise, his demeanor noticeably softened as he met my glare with warm eyes.
“Sal,” I prepared to argue, watching him wearily as he moved in close. “I can’t just drop off the face of the Earth,” I muttered as his lips found my neck. “What are you doing?” I asked, trying to sound peeved.
He chuckled as his whiskers grazed against my neck and sent shivers down my spine. “If I have to explain it, then I’m doing it wrong.”
“But we were about to argue,” I stuttered.
“True.” He chuckled again. “But then I realized I can put my hands and mouth on you again. And I can’t seem to help myself.”
“Oh,” I breathed.
“We’ll figure out your work situation,” he assured me. “But I just got you back, and the thought of you being unsafe drives me fucking crazy,” his deep voice rumbled in my ear as he kissed my neck. “You’re gonna have to work with me.”
“Okay,” I breathed. I think I would have agreed to just about anything.
His lips found mine and he started a slow, sensual kiss. His teeth took my lower lip biting gently and I moaned into his mouth.
The man could kiss.
When his tongue finally joined with mine, my entire body suffused with heat and I wrapped my arms around him pulling him closer. His hands traveled down my body to grab my ass firmly, one of the areas of my body he undoubtedly liked a hell of a lot and always had.
“You game for a quickie?” he asked, his mouth against mine.
Was he kidding? I felt like I’d die if he left me like this.
“Yeah,” I said, giving a little sigh as his fingers traced my nipples through his shirt.
He smiled, pure satisfaction on his face. “Like that, missed it.”
“What?” I asked, my voice more breathless as his fingers continued their ministrations.
“That little sigh, I would hear it in my head all the time and it always made me hard as a rock.”
I grinned. He’d thought about me, a lot while he was gone. I was glad because I’d sure as hell thought about him, about five hundred times a day.
“One sec,” he whispered against my mouth.
He backed away leaving me feeling bereft of the contact and swung the door open, leaving the room.
A minute later, I heard the front door open and shut. No doubt he’d told the guys to wait outside.
“Great, now they know we’re doing it,” I grimaced when he’d returned.
He chuckled and pulled my shirt over my head. “Better that than have them hear all those sweet little sounds you make for me,” he replied as his lips found my nipple.
“Right,” I agreed, my breath slightly ragged.
In the end, it wasn’t much of a quickie and the guys were probably pissed. But, when Sal left me naked on the bed, utterly satiated with my hair in disarray and my skin flushed, I couldn’t say I cared.
Chapter 10
Although I was thoroughly elated that my stay with Sal had ended up the way it did, I was concerned about overstaying my welcome. I called Sal and after a brief, heated debate, he agreed to let me go back to my place for the day as long as one of the guys was nearby. I hated being babysat, but I wanted to be in my own space bad enough to deal with it for a time. I was also a bit worried about overcrowding Sal. Our new relationship was so fragile, I didn’t want to risk it. Axel’s younger brother, Ryker agreed to hang out downstairs for a while. As a new prospect with the club, he volunteered for all the boring shit no one else wanted to do. Hence, being stuck with me. He claimed he had some reading to do anyway. That was a big fat lie, but I’d take it.
I was soaking in my long lost tub after having gone through some mail and cleaning up a bit. I knew I had an overdue phone call to make to Scar, but for now, I was enjoying the quiet. I’d even lit some candles and poured a glass of wine. It had been a long time since I felt truly content, and I was relishing the feeling.
My buzzer sounded just as I was about to get out. My skin was getting on the pruned side.
I crossed the room to my intercom, throwing my robe haphazardly around me. “Yeah?” I asked, my tone a bit wary. I wasn’t expecting anyone.
“Hey, baby. It’s me, let me up,” Sal’s voice came booming through my small apartment.
I grinned from ear to ear and buzzed him up. Clearly, he wasn’t too worried about wanting space. I opened the door for him and headed toward the bath to blow out the candles.
“Expecting company?” he teased from the doorway, taking in my romantic ambiance.
I turned to look at him and, as always, was struck by how beautiful he was. He was dressed in all black as usual, his T-shirt hugging his form in a way that made my mouth water. I felt my belly flutter as he stood there with his hands in his pockets, regarding me with his dark, soulful eyes.
“Hey, don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it,” I grinned, gesturing to the candles and the tub.
“With the sight I’ve got right now, I’m certainly not complaining,” he grinned as he eyed me in my short robe.
I blushed and turned to face him. “So what’s up?” I asked expectantly.
He shrugged. “Got home and you weren’t there. Thought I’d come take you to dinner,” he replied.
I fought the urge to grin from ear to ear. It wasn’t like him, or like the old him, to admit he missed me. Or allude to the fact, anyway.
“Why, Salvatore Armstrong, are you asking me on a date?” I asked in mock surprise. I had to fuck with him, just a little bit.
I’d never used his full name before. I thought Salvatore was a beautiful name, the one concession his mother had made regarding half his heritage.
He rolled his eyes. “You wanna eat or what?”
I laughed. “Yes, I’d like to eat.”
“Then get some clothes on,” he gestured at my near nakedness and headed back out to the living room.
“Where are we going?” I hollered. A girl had to know what to wear.
“Vincenti’s,” he hollered back.
Oh my, we were going out out. Vincenti’s was a really nice Italian place. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I mean, I wanted him to take me out, but I still wanted him to be himself, for us to be able to be ourselves. Vincenti’s was kind of stuffy. But I went along with it, letting him take the reins and got dressed.
“Ready,” I told him twenty minutes later.
His eyes skimmed my body and lit with a hunger I found immensely gratifying.
I’d chosen what I liked to call my “little red dress.” It fit me like a glove, hugging every curve of my chest and hips and then fanning out into a tulle skirt. It was short, but not too short, and had a sweetheart neckline. It was flirty and fun and I thought it suited me.
“Why have I never seen that dress?” he demanded, standing from where he’d been sitting on my sofa.
I blushed and shrugged, not wanting to rub it in that he hadn’t taken me anywhere I would have worn it before. He got a knowing look on his face, and I knew he understood the fact anyway, without my saying it. The truth was I didn’t care at all that he hadn’t taken me to nice places. I’d bought this dress for a girls’ night out with Scar. But I certainly didn’t mind the look on his face.
“Ready?” he asked, his eyes doing a sweep of my body once more.
“We could stay in, you know.” I gave him a sly smile not entirely kidding.
“Don’t tempt me,” he muttered.
Not half an hour later, we were seated in a beautiful booth in the posh and all together too quiet, Vincenti’s. Sal continued to shift in his seat. I could tell he was uncomfortable. The server had brought a breadbasket and a wine list, which I was pretending to peruse while shooting looks at my man.
“Sal,” I started, putting the menu down with impatience. “When I said I wanted you to take me out I didn’t mean it had to be this.” I sighed, gesturing to the ambiance around us. “This isn’t you,” I insisted.
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His brow wrinkled with confusion. “I thought this is what you wanted.”
I’d never felt more affection for him as I spoke in a gentle voice, “I just want us to go out and have fun together, Sal. That doesn’t mean we have to pretend we’re something we’re not.”
He sighed and looked relieved for a second.
I laughed. “Let’s go to Jupiter. It’s just down the street. We can have our first date in the same spot as the night we first got together,” I said as I grinned. “Seems appropriate,” I mused.
“If that’s what you want,” he replied, eyeing me intently. He was really trying to gauge if this is what I wanted.
I nodded. “I’m in the mood for a whiskey sour, I don’t think they make those here,” I winked.
He laughed, losing all of his earlier tension. “Okay, baby, let’s go.”
We had a blast at Jupiter, sitting up at the bar with Frank serving us drinks just like he used to. When Scarlet and I had waited tables here, Frank had always supplied free drinks on rough nights.
“Better?” I asked as we sat sharing nachos and sipping our drinks.
He reached over and wiped something from the side of my mouth, probably sour cream. “Looked like that doctor took you to some pretty fancy places,” he commented a moment later, staring straight ahead and sipping his beer.
Oh, so this is what Vincenti’s was all about. “I went out with him once,” I replied. “And, yeah he did, but to be honest, it wasn’t really my thing,” I admitted.
He looked skeptical, and I bit my lip trying to figure out how to explain what was in my head.
“We haven’t really talked in detail about how I grew up,” I said thoughtfully. “And to some extent I suppose I’m a bit of a hypocrite with being so upset at how you kept me at arm’s length. I guess I wasn’t really banging you over the head with facts about myself either,” I said dryly.
He looked at me silently, willing me to continue.
I looked away from him, somewhat embarrassed at revealing what I was thinking. “Compared with how I grew up, this is opulence to me,” I explained, gesturing to the restaurant around us. “For the first eighteen years of my life, I was lucky to get three meals a day, let alone be taken out to eat. I don’t need more than this and, to be honest, whenever I’ve been in those fancy places, I feel like sort of an imposter,” I confessed.
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