Chapter Eight

~ Nico ~

"Luca?"

"Yes, cuore mio ?"

I tilted my head back so I could see his face. We'd eaten the delicious food he'd found for us and now we were snuggling on the bed. "What was prison like?"

Luca's gaze went to the ceiling as he breathed heavily. "I don't really want to tell you about that, Nico. It wasn't a good time for me."

I grimaced as guilt swelled up inside of me. While Luca insisted that it wasn't my fault that he had been sent to prison by my parents, I knew that wasn't true. He had been sent there because we got caught kissing. It had been just an innocent teenage kiss.

It was my parents that had flipped. They had accused him of being a pervert and raping me. When I told them that I was gay, they had blamed that on him, too.

No matter how much I denied that he had done anything except kiss me, no one listened to me. I had screamed and screamed as they tore him away from me and took him away.

I had cried for days.

Now, I was beginning to think that Luca had it a lot worse than me. I imagined all sorts of horrible things.

I pressed my hand to his chest. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"We can't change the past, Nico. We can only learn from it and move on."

Didn't change the fact that I was sorry.

I sat up and climbed on top of Luca, lying down over the top of him. I rested my hands on his chest and then my chin on my hands. "Despite what might have happened in there, your heart is still pure gold."

Luca snorted. "I doubt there's anything pure about me anymore, Nico."

"There is," I insisted. "I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. It's the same way you looked at me all those years ago."

Luca's hand curved around the back of my head and then fisted in my hair. "You were the only thing that kept me going, Nico. If I hadn't had to keep my promise to come back for you, I doubt I would have. I would have died in that place."

I could see the pain in his eyes and I hated it. I would give anything for him not to have suffered through that, but he was right. We couldn't change the past.

I smiled at him, letting him see the promise in my eyes even as I spoke the words. "I'm going to make you so happy, you'll forget every second in that prison."

"Just having you here with me now is worth everything I went through."

I wasn't sure that was true, but I was glad he thought so.

"So, tell me about my new home."

Luca finally smiled as he began telling me about the villa he owned in Palermo, Italy. No matter how well he described the massive estate, I couldn't picture it in my head.

I also couldn't wait to see it.

"You do realize that you will be the spouse of the mafia don, right?"

I squinted. "I have no idea what that means."

Luca chuckled, his amusement clear. His eyes were even dancing with delight. "It means that I am in charge of the family. You are in charge of our home."

"Yeah, still clueless."

"It's your home. You get to decide what happens in it." Luca frowned. "Except my office. That's all mine. But the rest of the house is yours to do what you want with it."

"What would I do with it?"

Luca chuckled again. "Whatever you want, baby. You're in charge of it. You can redecorate if you want, change anything you want. You're in charge of the servants, the house, all of it."

"Wait." I lifted my head. "I'm in charge of the servants?"

Luca gave me a resounding "Yep."

"But..." I knew nothing about running a household.

"Don't worry, cuore mio . We have a fulltime housekeeper who pretty much runs the place for us. Plus, my grandparents are around so they can help out if you have any issues."

I felt my blood run cold. "Your...your grandparents?"

They probably hated me.

"My parents still live in New York, but my grandparents live in Palermo. My grandfather was the head of the family before he stepped down. They could have gone anywhere for their retirement, but Grandmother didn't want to leave Palermo."

"Do they know about me?"

Luca's smile was warm and loving, the brush of his hand on my face even more so. "They do, cuore mio. They've always known about you."

I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Not to worry, Nico, they are in full support of me bringing you home. They are looking forward to meeting you."

"But, I've met your grandparents back when we were kids. They came to visit one summer, remember?"

Luca frowned. "When?"

"I think I was about ten or something, so you must have been fifteen?"

"Oh yeah." A smile spread across Luca's face. "I remember that."

"So, see? I have met them before." Granted, it had been a brief meeting. I had been totally intimidated by Luca's grandfather, but his grandmother had been nice to me. I do remember that.

"Well, then, it won't be so bad meeting them then, right?"

Yeah, no. When we'd met before, I hadn't been responsible for sending their grandson to prison. I shuddered to think how they were going to react when they finally saw me.

"Baby, it's going to be fine. I promise, and I don't break my promises, remember?"

He didn't, but I wasn't sure he could keep this one.

"I don't want you to worry about it, Nico."

I gasped as he rolled me underneath him.

"I will always take care of you, Nico. It doesn't matter if it's from your parents, my grandparents, or the man on the moon. You belong to me now and no one is ever going to hurt you again."

My brow furrowed. "You know it was never physical, right?"

Yes, my parents had abused me, but it had all been mental and emotional, not physical. Well, except for that one time my mother dosed me with drugs.

"Not all hurt is physical, Nico."

That was true.

I tentatively reached out a hand and stroked Luca's chest right over the large winged tattoo that spread across the top of his chest. I swallowed tightly when Luca arched into my touch.

"Both hands, Nico, please," Luca pleaded as he grabbed the edge of his shirt and pulled it up over his head, tossing it away.

I laid both of my hands on Luca's chest, my fingers clenching against his slick skin. A delightful shiver of wanting shook my body at the simple touch.

"You feel so good, Luca," I whispered, almost in wonder.

"Yeah?" Luca whispered back. His voice sounded breathless, needy.

It made me ache.

"Yeah." I moved my hands so I could gently tug at Luca's nipples.

Luca's reaction to my simple touch was shocking. The man moaned, his entire body trembling. My senses reeled as if short-circuited. Luca's skin was flushed with desire. His eyes half hooded as he stared down at me. His mouth was partially open, small pants falling from his lips.

He was breathtaking.

My heart pounded rapidly in my chest, I leaned forward and took one of Luca's nipples into my mouth, tugging on it gently with my lips and then my teeth as the man's groans of pleasure reached my ears.

Apparently, I'd found a hot spot for Luca. I couldn't have been more thrilled. I intended to exploit that hot spot for all it was worth, or at least until I found another one.

When Luca's hands slid under me and stroked down my back to grab my ass cheeks, the air in my lungs hissed out in a deep rush. I felt almost light-headed for a moment.

"Luca." I closed my eyes and rested my head against Luca's chest. The man's touch was just too much to take in. It felt too good and not good enough all at the same time.

"What do you need, cuore mio ?"

I didn't have a clue what I needed, but I knew I needed something. I ached in a way I never had before. My cock felt so hard I could have cut marble, and it leaked as if preparing for something big.

Luca's touch was light and painfully teasing as his fingers moved over my ass. I moved forward to give Luca better access and then pushed back against the fingers that slid under the waistline of my pants and grazed my aching hole.

Waves of ecstasy throbbed through my body.

My mind swirled, jumping from one thought to another faster than I could keep track of them. I was supposed to be driving Luca insane with lust, but one touch of the man's hands and I came unglued. I wanted to pleasure Luca, but I didn't want to stop the man from what he was doing, either.

"Luca," I groaned again as I raised my head to look up at the man. The sensual light burning in Luca's dark brown eyes took what remaining breath I had right out of my lungs.

Luca's mouth covered mine, the hunger in his kiss rocking me down to my toes. It was hard and searching, and I loved every last second of it. I groaned in protest when Luca pulled away until he reached for the buttons of my slacks.

I was actually kind of impressed with how quickly he got them off.

"Pull your shirt up," Luca said.

I was confused for a moment, but did as Luca asked. I got the idea quickly when Luca's lips wrapped around the head of my cock. I dug my fingers into the headboard and I hung on for all I was worth as ecstasy shot through my body.

I was so intent on the feeling of Luca's mouth moving over me that I didn't even realize Luca's finger had invaded my ass until he began to move it. My grip on the headboard tightened as all the blood in my body pooled in my groin.

I didn't know whether to thrust forward or backward. Both movements felt great. Both movements made me tremble uncontrollably. Too many sensations filled my body to settle on one. I just soared higher until the peak of delight was reached and I shattered, shooting into Luca's mouth.

Luca jerked up onto his knees and yanked his pants open, digging out his cock. The intensity on his face as he stroked himself in a rapid up and down motion was one I had never seen, but I knew I wanted to see it again.

His gaze roamed all over me, almost as if he had to see every inch of me. When they reached my face, I smiled at him and said, " Ti amo , Luca."

Apparently, that was all Luca needed to throw him over the edge. He groaned and stiffened as pearly white ropes of cum shot out of his cock, landing all over my chest.

Luca grabbed his shirt off the floor before collapsing down on the mattress next to me. He wiped the cum off of me and himself before tossing it away again, and then cuddling up to me.

A deep sense of peace entered my being as the world settled around me. I could feel Luca's hands moving along my skin, soothing me. Luca's heartbeat thudded softly next to my ear, the man's heavy breathing blowing across my cheek.

"I can't wait until we get home and I can really make love to you."

I smiled as I twirled my fingers in his hair. "I can't wait either."

I was done with being a virgin.