Chapter Six

Aria

Christmas is a pretty big deal in my family. The one event that brings everyone together and yet, I don’t remember it once being a happy occasion for me. Well, it’s fun for everyone who loves drama and revels in chaos, but that is not me.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreaded the holiday. Gathering around a wide table with people I don’t like and pretending that we all get along was draining.

To my father, I was the quiet pretty child that didn't cause a fuss and did everything that was asked of her. To my brothers, I was the sibling they sometimes ignored and other times picked on. To my aunties, I was the boring member of the family who never got them anything to gossip about. Suffice it to say, Christmas wasn't exactly my favorite thing but not this year.

This year is different.

For one, I wake up in bed with the first and only man I have ever loved. His face is buried in my neck, kissing and branding me, pleasure building up from where our bodies meet. We are supposed to be getting ready to leave but neither of us seems in a hurry to get out of bed.

In a matter of a few days, I’ve learned that there is nothing I love more than the strangled growl the man of my dreams makes as he works his long thick manhood into me. The sounds are wild and beastly, so feral and raw.

They are the kind of sounds I want to wake up to every morning, whispering into my ear. I want – need – his snarling possessive growls to be a permanent fixture in my life.

"Fuck, baby, you are so fucking tight!" Orlando growls into my neck, biting my earlobe before soothing the sting with a kiss. "You're dripping all over my cock, princess. You like that, don't you? Daddy licking up your tight little cunt before filling you with his cock."

"Yes, oh God!" I sob, feeling myself tethered dangerously close to an orgasm. "Faster, Daddy."

His fingers dig into my hip, bringing my thigh to his waist which pushes him impossibly deeper into me. I gasp at the sensation, wrapping my arms tighter around his shoulder as he pumps his cock violently into me.

“You belong to me, Aria Lorenzo,” he grinds. “I can’t wait until the moment you take my last name. Make you mine forever.” His hips increase the pace, slamming his shaft harder into me until I am begging for release.

“Yes Daddy, make me yours!”

"Mine!" he growls, positioning his hips so the base of his shaft grinds against my clit, sending pleasure shooting up my tummy. Orlando pushes back and I barely get to see his face before his mouth crashes down on mine. A sob climbs up my throat when I start to orgasm. My sex pulses hard and clenches hard around his cock, sending him right off the edge with me. "Goddamn it, princess!" he growls, ramming his cock into me and flooding me with his seed.

It’s an overload of sensations and I feel him everywhere. The delicious press of his massive frame against me. The feel of his pulsing manhood around my feminine walls with his warm breath fanning my skin. My heart is filled with affection for this man, and I love every second of it.

Orlando pushes back to meet my gaze and I smile, loving the gray specs in his eyes. "It's so much better," I say, running my fingers through his short salt-and-pepper beard. It is just as soft as I imagined it would be and God, it smells amazing. Everything about this man smells amazing and I just want to bury my face in his neck and spend the entire Christmas day like this. We don't even have to get out of bed.

“What is so much better?”

"Sex," I whisper, pushing up to kiss his jaw and nuzzle it, loving how it feels against my skin. "Sex with you is so much better than all those spicy TV shows I watched or what my friends told me about. I love feeling you inside of me."

“Fuck, princess,” he says thickly, his eyes darkening. “You can’t say things like that if want us to leave this bed sometime today.”

I like the sound of that. “Maybe I could skip Christmas dinner with my family and stay here with you instead.”

"As much as I like the sound of that, I have to tell you no," he says, brushing his lips briefly over mine before pushing back and getting out of bed. He disappears into the ensuite and comes back with a washcloth to clean the stickiness between my thighs. He looks up to meet my gaze as he runs the washcloth over my inner thighs, the heat I read in his eyes causing my pulse to drum rapidly. "After I make you mine officially and I have the papers to prove it, then you can skip the next family Christmas dinner and all the ones after that." Orlando takes my hand and brings it to his mouth, placing a soft kiss that sends my heart racing in my chest. "You will never have to do anything you don't want, Aria. But I need to talk to your father about this first. I owe him that much as a friend and for entrusting you with my protection."

I sigh, nodding at his words. “Okay, just this Christmas.”

“I promise.”

***

My father is outside the massive wooden doors waiting when the car pulls up in front of the mansion. His silhouette is framed by the early morning light, and he looks like a statue, rigid and unmoving. His arms are crossed tightly over his chest and annoyance is etched in his hard features. I can feel the weight of his gaze on me, a mix of disappointment and concern that makes my stomach twist.

I swallow deeply, suddenly terrified to talk to him but Orlando grabs my hand and squeezes it in his, forcing my eyes away from my father and to him, “It’s okay, princess. I’ve got you.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“I can clear up things with your father, Aria. Let him know of my intentions for you.”

I shake my head, unwilling to be the topic at the dinner. “After Christmas,” I tell him. “Everyone from my extended family will be here today and I prefer to stay invisible. We can talk to him after everyone’s gone home or tomorrow.”

“Okay,” he says, rubbing his thumb over my hand before pulling away. Orlando climbs out of the car and walks to my side to open the door for me.

My heart races when I step out of the car and spot the frown on my father's face. His mouth is set in a straight line as he watches me take the stairs with the speed of a slug. Orlando silently follows behind me, his presence proving to be comforting.

“Where have you been?” my father asks, his voice a low rumble that sends me instinctively dropping my gaze.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, shuffling my feet nervously. “I got snowed in in the city, so I asked Orlando to drop me off at a friend’s house.”

There is silence and I can't tell whether or not he is buying the lie. Despite my father referring to me as his favorite child, he's always scared me. It's crossed my mind a bunch of times that maybe I am his favorite child because of how easy I am to intimidate. My oldest brother Fabian is always as cool as a cucumber and is never fazed by our father's temper. My stepbrother, Nico, lives in his own world where nothing matters but himself. He doesn't openly oppose my father, but he doesn't suck up to him the way I do.

"People will start arriving soon," he finally says, his voice hard and letting me know that this conversation is not done yet. "I need to talk to Battista about business."

I want to bring up the fact that at twenty, I am old enough to stay out late and even sleep over at friends but I am not brave enough to do that so I simply nod and disappear into the house. I flash Orlando a look before closing the door behind me. My mind is on Orlando and what my father wants to talk to him about is that I don't notice the person rushing down the stairs until we're bumping into each other.

"Watch where you are going, brat!"

Nico.

I push back and glare at my brother. Our relationship is not the best, but it's not horrible either. We are merely two people who exist in each other's world. He picks on me occasionally and I do my best to ignore him which is what I try to do this time but he steps in my space when I attempt to walk around him.

“What?” I snap, my eyes narrowing on his. “I don’t have time for games, Nico.”

"What's that on your neck?" he asks with a smirk, and I immediately reach up to cover the love bites my bodyguard left my neck.

“Nothing.”

Nico leans back against the banister and smirks. “Where did you go last night?”

“None of your business,” I snap but my voice is drowned out by the voices of my father and Orlando. They pass the stairs and take a left and I imagine they are going to my father’s study. For a full minute, I forget about my annoying brother and watch the two disappear down the hall. It’s not until Nico makes an amused sound that I am reminded of his presence. I don't even want to know what he finds amusing, so I rush past him and this time, he lets me. I rush to my bedroom, slamming the door shut behind me.

Nico knows something. Maybe he doesn’t know that I’ve slept with my bodyguard, but he’s seen the hickeys and a part of me is terrified he’ll bring it up at dinner. It doesn’t matter that I am twenty, my family will ask questions.

I drop my back against the door, palming my racing heart and forcing in deep breaths. God, I can't wait until I am away from this family and these ridiculously chaotic Christmas dinners.

After I officially make you mine and I have the papers to prove it, you can skip the next family Christmas dinner and the next one after that. You will never have to do anything you don't want, Aria.

I let the memory of Orlando's words wash over me, holding his promise dear to my heart. I just have to wait a bit longer and then I will be free. I just need to get through this Christmas dinner first.