Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

ALYSSA

M y ankles are tied to the backs of my thighs, and my legs are open wide on the bed as Dante brings the vibrator down on my clit, teasing it from my entrance and back repeatedly. I’m growing mad with need, moaning louder than the sounds of the city beyond the windows.

“Fuck, I love to hear you scream for me, tesoro.”

His gravel tone rakes over my flesh, leaving ripples of pleasure in its wake.

“Dante,” I plead.

He slows the pace, and moves the vibrator.

“Reduced to begging already?” he teases.

I hate that he’s right. I’m salivating for it. For the orgasm that’s going to erupt any fucking moment at his behest.

The vibrator is purple and looks like a dick, and he twirls the head of it over my clit in tantalizing circles that have me yanking against the cuffs binding me to the bed.

I feel so overwhelmed, yet so fucking hot. How he’s looking at me like I’m the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen has me ready to dive off the deep end and give him everything—my heart, soul, next breath… Whatever he wants to remain mine. To tie me up and tease me at every turn in the future.

When he shoves the vibrator inside me and positions himself on the bed where his face is hovering over my pussy, I pull from my mental reeling and lift my head to watch him.

I feel full with the cold, hard toy pressing inside me at first, but then it warms as my walls surround it, starting to feel so good.

He clicks a button, and the vibrations intensify.

“Fuck!” I shout, letting my head fall back and my back arch off the bed.

“God, look how your pretty pussy swallows it up,” Dante growls. “I could watch this all night.”

I can’t reply. My brain is foggy, and my body tingles the closer I get to coming.

I nearly die when he sucks my clit and sends my body into overdrive.

“That’s it. Don’t stop. Please, sir!” I add the sir in good faith that it’ll drive him to finish me off without toying with me.

He said earlier he’s going to torture me, but if this is torture, I’m fucking game.

“God, right there… Dante…” I draw his name out as my body explodes with pleasure, and I come so hard I see stars in the dim light of the bedside lamp.

Dante waits until I’m finally coming down before he slides the toy out of me, but when I think he’s clicking it off, he clicks it to a higher setting, placing it back over my sensitive clit. The renewed circles around my engorged nub have me wiggling the best that I can.

“Dante, no. Please, no. So sensitive,” I hiss, trying my damnedest to wiggle up the bed away from his ire.

He grins, looking up at me with my cum glistening on his tight beard. “I told you I was going to make you come until you were begging to be let loose.”

There are only a few more circles, and I’m screaming his name again.

By the third orgasm, I’m mush.

He lets me out of my restraints and unties me, but when I think he’s done tormenting me, he’s not.

He positions himself between my legs, clicking the vibrator up to what I hope is the highest setting. He sinks it deep inside my pussy to wet it before placing it over my clit while he fucks me.

“Hold it,” he orders, and it feels so fucking good; I quickly do as he asks, grabbing the vibrator and moving it over my clit as he presses into me, his lips finding mine.

It’s a chore to hold the vibrator between us as he kisses me deeply and thrusts into me equally so, but I manage.

Even though I’ve come three times, I feel the familiar burn moving through my body as another climax builds.

A tear leaves my eye as he lets my lips go and finds my nipple, sucking and making me cry out his name and lose my pace with the toy.

“If it takes me years to break you down, Alyssa, I’ll fucking wait.”

I look up at him, tears still falling. I don’t know why I’m crying. It could be sheer bodily exhaustion. Or it could be how I feel so unguarded now, splayed open for him to read like a novel that hasn’t been edited.

I can’t be this raw with people. I can’t let them see me.

Yet, he does.

He always does.

“I don’t think it’s going to take years,” I whisper back, and he drops his lips to mine again.

His pace picks up, and I do my best to wrap my tired legs around his ass, driving him on.

The toy moves with each thrust of his body, adding to the mind-boggling pleasure blazing in my synapses.

“Dante!” I shout, coming a fourth and final time as he tips over the edge with me, thrusting forward and spilling inside me.

I nearly cry with panic until he pulls out, and I spot the condom he’d put on at some point.

He works it off with a hiss and tosses it into the trash.

When he takes the toy away, I stretch my hand and realize how badly it has been cramped between us the entire time.

I close my eyes and listen to the steady thump of my heart, envisioning the walls around it toppling down and vowing not to panic.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Dante says as a warm cloth comes down on my pussy, causing me to hiss. “I’m nowhere near done with you.”

“Dante, if I come again, I’ll die.”

He smiles. “I’m honored that you think I could fuck you to death, but I meant that I need you to drink some water and eat something. I don’t need you feeling like hell tomorrow because of how far we went tonight.”

Warmth spreads in my chest as I sit on the bed and nod.

When I throw my legs off the edge, he shakes his head. “I got it. I’ll be right back.”

I watch him move out of the room, fully nude and gloriously covered in tattoos, as he makes for the kitchen.

I lay back down, snuggling onto my side and closing my eyes for a moment of peace while he’s gone.

Even though I hate that I’d somehow gotten used to being around Dante in such a short period, I’m thankful I’m working through my shit to keep us on track. There will never be another like him, and I know he’s worth the work I’ll need to put in to overcome my fears.

I wake up, looking around the bright room as I spy Dante’s bare ass beside me. He’s on his stomach, arms under his pillow as he snores like a colossal bear into the pillow.

I vaguely remember him feeding me a sandwich and making me drink water as he tucked me into bed last night. I don’t remember anything after that. I hadn’t even realized he was in bed all night.

I get up to use the bathroom and realize how sore my body is. Getting dressed is a feat all its own, as my legs feel shaky, and I’m unsteady.

I check my phone and see a missed call from my mom and Brynne.

Antonio texted me to call him, so he’s the first one I call.

“What’s going on?” I ask, my heart racing with anxiety in my chest.

“Well, nothing too alarming. We’re monitoring a situation in Brooklyn, though, and I wanted you to be aware.”

“What kind of situation?” I slide onto a barstool before the island, sipping my coffee slowly.

“Some missing girls. All snatched off the streets. It was only one, but two more have gone missing in the last two weeks. They all look different, and the police haven’t linked the disappearances yet, but my gut says they are something we need to keep an eye on.”

“Alright. Well, I’m about to call Brynne back. Do you want me to tell her about it?” I asked him.

He’s silent for a moment. “No. Her honeymoon is almost over. Let her have her last few moments. There’s not much we can do at this time anyhow.”

“Alright. Anything else I should be aware of?”

I’m supposed to be in charge, but so much has been going on that Antonio and Mauro have stepped up and helped me a ton lately.

“No, ma’am. That’s it. I’ll make sure to keep you informed.”

“Thanks, Antonio.”

I end the call and click on Brynne’s missed call notification to return her call.

“Hey, girl,” I say as she answers.

“Hey, yourself. It’s nearly noon. Why didn’t you answer?”

“Well, I… I was…”

“Spit it out!” she orders, and I laugh.

“Dante broke into the house last night, tied me up, fucked me senseless, and I’m a bit sex-hungover at the moment. Take it easy on me.”

Brynne squeals on the other end. “Oh, my God! My besties love one another!”

“Let’s not get carried away, alright? I still have all my shit to work through.”

I rub my temple as a pulse moves through it.

“You still have to pull your head out of your ass, got it. Anyhow, I called to tell you the news.”

I perk up in my chair, my heart doing that dancing thing again in my chest. “What news?”

I don’t know how much news I can handle in the morning.

“I’m pregnant!”

I get off the stool—I don’t know why—and jump up and down, screaming as she does the same thing on the other end.

“No, you’re not!”

“Yup, one of the men suggested it last night, and we had someone fly in a test, and I took it first thing this morning! I’m having a baby, can you believe it?”

“Well, as much as Daddy fucks you…”

“Shut the hell up; you knew what I meant.”

I laugh as she sniffles.

“I’m so happy for you, B. You’re going to be an epic mom! I’m so excited. Oh God, I’m going to be an auntie?!”

The squealing recommences, and on my final spin, I spy Dante leaning against the wall at the end of the hall that leads into the kitchen from the foyer.

“Oh shit, sorry,” I say, forgetting I’m on the phone.

“Sorry for what?” Brynne asks.

“Not you. I woke up Dante.”

“Dante is still there? You are in love!” she squeals.

“I gotta go.” I end the call quickly and clear my throat.

“What the hell was all that about? I’m not opposed to all your bits bouncing around in the morning, but the screaming could’ve been dialed down some.”

He walks towards me, lifting my coffee mug to his lips and gulping a big mouthful down.

“Brynne is pregnant,” I tell him.

His answering smile is genuine and beautiful. “Damn, he works fast.”

I laugh a bit awkwardly.

“That’s awesome, though. They’ll be great parents.”

“I think so, too,” I tell him.

He kisses me, tasting like my coffee, before he turns and saunters back into the bedroom.

The weight of my best friend moving on with her life and starting a family presses down on my chest, catching me by surprise as I rub at the pang.

In a year, when Brynne is a mom and is happy with her husband, will I still be the girl who’s casually fucking the Ricci Enforcer, too afraid to commit?

“You coming, tesoro?” Dante calls from the bedroom.

I swallow, placing my phone down on the island as I pad toward the stairs that lead to the bedrooms upstairs.

The entire way, I let anxiety flounce back through me, knowing it’s the last thing I should do.

Dante left hours ago, and I started going over the books for Brynne. She wanted the accounts thoroughly reviewed before she got back so we could discuss whether all the ties to the trafficking her father was involved in were severed.

I can’t think, however.

I’ve been tossing the idea of calling my mother back and forth all day, and I finally cave and grab my phone.

By the third ring, she answers.

“Alyssa, dear, how are you?” Her high-pitched voice speaks to the wealth she used to have.

“Good, and you? I saw you called earlier, but I just got a chance to return it,” I lie.

I shift on my stool. She and I haven’t been very close since the divorce, and talking to her always makes me uncomfortable.

“I’m well. I just wanted to see how New York is treating you. Your new job is going well?” she asks.

Small talk. Great.

“Everything is fine. Other than…” I almost slip and tell her all about Dante and the bullshit going on, but bite my tongue.

“Other than what?” she prods.

I grapple back and forth inwardly with how to proceed before sighing. “I met a man, and it’s not like usual. He’s hard-headed and won’t take no for an answer. I told him I don’t want something committed, but he keeps showing up, and the more he does…” I close my eyes, hating to admit weakness to her.

She’s the strongest person that I know.

“The more you want him to stay? Alyssa… I know the divorce scarred you. Hell, it scarred me, dear. But you’ve been wallowing in my pain for far too long. I’ve moved on; you need to as well.”

I scoff. “You haven’t moved on, Mom.”

“I have. His name is John.”

“Original,” I toss back like I’m fifteen all over again.

“Alyssa.”

“Sorry.”

“We’ve been dating for two years nearly.”

Shock slams into me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She sighs, and I can feel the implication of it through the phone. “Because you weren’t ready to know.”

I bite my lip, not having a reply for her, as a tear brims in my eye.

“What if he hurts me?” I ask her.

“If he hurts you, my love, you pick up the pieces, put them back together, and move on. Love hurts sometimes, but it’s always worth feeling.”

This is the realest conversation I’ve ever had with my mother, and I don’t know how to handle it.

“Dad hurt you so badly.”

“He did. And it was my choice not to move on for those years that I didn’t, Alyssa. He was my high school sweetheart. Those kinds of loves hurt that much deeper. I had to heal. Had to find myself again before I could give my heart away.”

I’m silent, and she’s patient.

“He hurt you, too, dear. For that, I’m sorry. I hate what he did to you. You went from a vibrant soul to one disillusioned by the world and its darkness. That hurt me the most, you know? The hate he bred in you with his cheating.”

Her admission has me floored. I never knew she noticed the change in me. I thought I hid it well.

“I’m glad you’re happy, Mom. I can’t wait to meet him. I’m sorry you felt you needed to hide him from me.”

“Thank you, Alyssa. That means a lot to me. The young man you’ve met, you’ll give him a fighting chance, right?”

I laugh. “As much as I can.”

We talk for another hour, catching up on years of things we should’ve been discussing this entire time. I go to bed feeling lighter and happier than I’ve ever been.

So I don’t overthink it when I plug in my phone and text Dante before locking it up and crawling into bed.

Come back tonight? I miss you.

Once in bed, I close my eyes, knowing he can get in when he’s ready. I smile as I fall asleep, hope in my heart and levity in my soul.