Chapter 13

Maty

It’s been a week since Alessio rescued me from that hellish warehouse. A week of rest, recovery, and merciless hovering from my overprotective mafia King.

At first, I was too shaken, too raw from the ordeal to protest his fierce coddling. I let him tuck me into the safety of his penthouse, accepted the round-the-clock security detail without (much) complaint. I even choked down the bland meals prescribed by the private doctor he had on speed dial, knowing it eased his mind to see me eating, healing.

But now, with the worst of my bruises fading and the sharp ache in my ribs dulled to a tolerable twinge, I’m starting to go crazy under the constant supervision. Starting to long for a return to normalcy, to the comfortable routine of my life before Ghost upended everything.

And normal, for me, means work.

My fingers twitch with the urge to fly across a keyboard, to lose myself in lines of code and the familiar glow of my monitors. I need to feel useful again, to reassert control over some small corner of my world after having it so violently ripped away.

So when Alessio slips out for an unavoidable meeting, pressing a kiss to my forehead and extracting a promise that I’ll take it easy… I wait a whole thirty minutes before reaching for my laptop.

Just a few quick emails, I tell myself as I prop up against the pillows. Just checking in with my team, making sure the cyber security contracts are running smoothly. No need to worry Alessio unnecessarily.

I’m so engrossed in replying to a string of concerned messages from my coworkers that I don’t hear the penthouse door open. Don’t register the approaching footsteps until a familiar large hand closes my laptop with a decisive snap.

I jerk my head up, my heart lodging in my throat. Alessio looms over me, his blue eyes stormy and his jaw clenched tight.

“What the fuck” he asks, his voice a low, controlled rumble, “you think you’re doing, little one?”

I swallow hard, meeting his gaze with a mix of defiance and sheepishness. “Working?”

He plucks the laptop from my grasp, setting it aside with exaggerated care. Then he braces his arms on either side of me, caging me in with the solid bulk of his body.

“Working,” he repeats, his lips thinning. “Even though the doctor ordered strict rest for at least another week. Even though you promised me you’d take it easy.”

I lift my chin, ignoring the way my pulse kicks up at his proximity. “I’m fine, Alessio. I can’t just lie around in bed all day, I’ll go insane.”

“You’re not fine,” he grits out, his eyes flashing. “You’re still healing, still recovering from trauma. And I’ll be damned if I let you push yourself too hard and set back your progress.”

I open my mouth to argue, but he cuts me off with a swift, hard kiss. I make a startled noise against his lips, my hands coming up to fist the crisp fabric of his dress shirt.

He gentles the kiss after a moment, his mouth softening and slanting over mine with deliberate, thorough intent. By the time he pulls back, I’m breathless and flushed, my body humming with hunger.

“I almost lost you,” he murmurs, resting his forehead against mine. “I can’t… I won’t risk that again, Maty. I need you to be safe. Need to know you’re careful.”

My irritation melts in the face of his raw, naked concern. I reach up to cup his face in my palms, stroking my thumbs over the tense angle of his jaw.

“I know, baby,” I soothe. “And I love you for wanting to wrap me in bubble wrap and stash me away from the world. But I can’t live like that, not even for you. I need… I need to feel normal again. Need to feel like myself.”

He’s silent for a long moment, his eyes searching mine. I can practically see the gears turning in his head, the calculations and concessions he’s mentally ticking off.

Finally, he exhales, his broad shoulders slumping slightly. “I fucking hate this,” he grumbles, nuzzling into my palm. “Hate not being able to keep you tucked away where no one and nothing can ever hurt you again.”

I smile, soft and lovingly. “I know you do, bossman. But that’s not a life, for either one of us. We can’t let them win by living in fear.”

His brow furrows, his eyes darkening with renewed rage. “I won’t let anyone touch you again,” he vows lowly, fiercely. “I will fucking burn the world to ash before I let that happen.”

“I know, big guy,” I assure him, my heart squeezing at the deadly promise in his voice. “But right now, I just need you to hold me. To love me. Can you do that for me?”

A heartbeat, then two. Then his mouth is on mine again, hot and urgent and impossibly tender. I sink into him with a sigh, letting him push me back against the pillows as he settles his big body over mine.

“Always,” he rasps against my lips, his hands stroking over my curves. “Always love you. Even when you’re a stubborn, reckless fucking pain in my ass.”

I laugh breathlessly, hooking a leg over his hip to pull him closer. “Funny, I could say the same about you, Mr. DeLuca.”

He growls playfully, nipping at my bottom lip in mock reproach. “Careful, little one. I’m still your boss, even if I’m fucking crazy about you.”

“Mmm, pull rank on me more,” I tease, feeling lit up from the inside out. “You know I love it when you go all bossy.”

His eyes flash, his hips grinding down into the cradle of my thighs. I gasp at the thick ridge of his cock, my body responding with a needy clench.

“If you’re not careful,” he warns, his voice dropping an octave, “You’ll really be in trouble.”

“Promise?” I breathe, swirling my hips beneath him. The delicious friction makes my head swim, sparks dancing along my nerve endings.

He swears viciously, his control fraying. Then his mouth is at my throat, worrying the delicate skin with lips and teeth and tongue as his clever fingers slip beneath the hem of my thin cotton sleep shirt.

I arch into his touch, my breath coming faster as he maps my oversensitized skin. Each brush of his hands feels electric, igniting me from the inside out.

He takes his time unraveling me, his lips blazing a trail of fire over every exposed inch of skin as he peels off my clothes. By the time I’m naked him, I’m panting and trembling, my heart wild against my ribs.

“Look at you,” he murmurs appreciatively, his gaze raking over me with molten intensity. “Laid out like a fucking feast for me. I’m gonna devour you, inch by perfect inch.”

“Yes,” I hiss, my fingers sinking into his hair as he explores the valley between my breasts with his wicked mouth. “Alessio…”

He hums, the vibrations making me gasp and squirm. Slowly, maddeningly, he works his way down my quivering belly, pausing to dip his tongue into my navel. I keen high in my throat, my thighs falling open in shameless invitation.

“Greedy girl,” he chides, his breath hot on the sensitive skin of my mound. “So impatient for my mouth on this sweet cunt. Should to make you fucking beg for it.”

I whimper, fisting the sheets in desperation. “Please, baby…”

He shudders, his composure cracking. Then he’s spreading me open with his broad hands, the cool air making me clench around nothing.

“Sweetheart,” he rasps, eyes nearly black with lust. “Gonna make you feel so fucking good…”

And then his mouth seals over my aching pussy.

He licks into me with long, savoring strokes, his groan of satisfaction vibrating through my entire body. I buck against him mindlessly, chasing the devastating pleasure of his lips and tongue and the sweet sting of his five o’clock shadow against my tender flesh.

He takes me higher and higher.

“Lessio!” I sob, my nails digging into his arms. “Fuck, please, I’m gonna…oh fuck, I’m coming!”

With a muffled curse, he seals his lips around my throbbing clit and sucks hard, sending me over the edge with a hoarse scream. I convulse in his hold, my spine arching near to breaking as ecstasy crashes through me in waves.

He works me through the aftermath with gentle flicks of his tongue, coaxing out every last quiver and aftershock until I collapse back onto the bed, boneless and gulping for air.

“That’s it, sweet girl,” he praises roughly, pressing a final soft kiss to my fluttering pussy before crawling up my limp body. “You take my mouth so fucking beautifully. Love how you fall apart for me, only for me…”

“Only ever for you,” I agree breathlessly, cradling his face in my trembling hands. “I love you so fucking much.”

Something fierce flashes across his rugged features. “Marry me, Maty.”

My heart stutters, then kicks into overdrive. “W-what?”

He picks up one of my hands, pressing a fervent kiss to the inside of my wrist. “Marry me,” he repeats, his voice wrecked and urgent. “Be my wife. Let me spend the rest of my life loving you, protecting you. Building a family with you.”

Tears blur my vision, my pulse a wild throb in my ears. “Alessio…”

His grip on me tightens. “But I can’t waste another second without you as mine in every fucking way.”

He swallows hard, his throat working.

“Is that a yes?” he asks roughly, his big body thrumming with tension. “Will you marry me, Maty Soto?”

A watery laugh bubbles out of me. “Yes,” I tell him, nodding frantically. “Yes, Alessio DeLuca. I will marry you.”

With a ragged sound, he crashes his mouth to mine, sealing our promise with a fierce, wild kiss. I cling to him just as desperately, pouring every ounce of my love, my devotion, into the press of my lips over his.

“Mine,” he rasps against my mouth, the word both a prayer and a primal claiming. “My love, my heart, my fucking soul…”

“Yours,” I echo, dizzy and drunk on him, on us. “Always and forever, Alessio. I’m yours.”