Chapter Eighty-Three
Matteo was sure to take his time in the shower. Truthfully, she wasn’t the only one who needed a break. Despite the fact they only had sex twice that day, once before work and just now, the totality of their love making over the last three days was more than he’d gotten in years. And never had he been with one woman this many times. Yet, every time he stripped her down, he found new things to love about her body: the way it moved, the feel of her quivering beneath him, how quickly her nipples would perk up at his touch.
Matteo placed both palms against the cool tile and groaned as his recollection stirred his cock again. He glared down at the appendage, wondering if it would ever be flaccid again when thinking about the woman in the other room. He immediately shook the thought away. He’d pound fistfuls of pills to get it up if it ever lost its will to rise. The thought of not being able to possess her in the most carnal way was enough to make him shut the water off and ready himself for another bout.
He scrubbed a towel through his wet hair and wrapped it around his waist before walking back out into the bedroom. He stopped dead, frozen again by the sight of her in such a casual position. Hearing the door open, she looked up and smiled. She was perched against his headboard with a pillow behind her back and a book in her lap. She took her reading glasses off and set them on the nightstand beside her along with the book she dog-eared for later. Her eyes followed the water still running down his chest and one eyebrow lifted as she noticed where the towel strained upward.
“It doesn’t take much for you, does it?” she teased.
Matteo’s brow drew down as he glared back at her. “Apparently you just being in the room makes it want to salute you.”
Gen bit her lip as she raised two fingers to her forehead and flicked them out in a military salute. “At ease, soldier,” she said with a light laugh.
Matteo shook his head. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that, Weakness.”
“No?”
“No,” he said, taking the towel from his waist and walking slowly toward her. “It’s not one for following orders. It responds best to active combat.”
“Ah, I see,” she said, watching him intently as he got to the bed and crawled onto it. She sank down flat on her back as he hovered over her. “And what kind of action is enough to make it wave the white flag?”
“Anal,” he whispered with a wicked grin.
Genevieve burst out laughing. “Get out of here,” she giggled, shoving him off of her.
Matteo fell to his back and smiled up at the ceiling. “Come here, you’re safe for now, little commander,” he assured her.
Gen immediately complied, rolling so that she could rest her head against his shoulder. He repositioned himself so he could comfortably wrap his left arm around her and hold her close. He sighed and nuzzled her hair as they aligned themselves in the same position they’d fallen asleep in the last three nights.
“How was your family meeting?” Gen asked, tilting her chin up to look at him.
He ran his thumb across her lips. “Good. Nothing big, just a monthly thing I do to bring everyone together and make sure we’re on the same page.”
“Hmm, some male bonding?”
He chuckled. “Nothing as fun as that. Just a rundown of information.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Well, there was Michele and Guerra, going to LA, assigning more individuals to the tracks that have been getting hit… you.”
“Me?”
“Mhmm, I had to tell them they had a new Donna to serve.”
Gen sat up on her elbow so she could look down on him. He lifted his hand and stroked his fingers through her long hair. “Am I their queen now?” she asked with a dubious raise of an eyebrow.
“Something like that, just without all the ridiculous ceremonies and obnoxious crowns.”
“Will I have to take some kind of blood oath or something?”
“Mhmm.”
Her eyes widened. “What? I was joking.”
He shrugged. “It’s too late. You climbed into my bed. Your blood is mine.”
She rolled her eyes and laid back down on his chest. “You still haven’t even told me what my role will be if…”
“If?” he repeated.
“I’m still getting adjusted to being in a relationship with you Matteo, at least give me a breath to grasp the rest of it, okay?”
“Fine.” He sighed. “To answer your question, being Donna will mean whatever you want it to. A lot of times it’s keeping up with the men, making sure they’re happy and taken care of. We’ll find your place in the organization. What is certain though is there will never be any secrets between us. I need to be able to tell you everything and for you to give your opinion in return. I won’t ever hide anything from you. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could. We’ll be in this together. Equal partners.”
“So if you break someone’s hand…”
“You will break their kneecap.”
Gen shot up to her elbow again and stared down at him with wide eyes.
“Relax, Weakness, I was kidding. You won’t have to torture anyone,” he assured her, pushing her back down. “Unless you want to.”
Gen scoffed. Her fingers started to trace the family coat of arms on his chest, the only spot of ink he was allowed to have on his body. “Earlier, when you made that comment about a brand…”
Matteo placed his hand on top of hers and flattened it against the tattoo. “It’s tradition in my family for the head man and woman of the family to have the coat of arms tattooed on their skin.”
Gen pulled her hand away and shifted so that she straddled his hips. His hands automatically found her thighs while she scrutinized the image displayed over his heart. Her fingers delicately traced the leaves flowing around the shield’s border. Her forehead pinched as she studied it.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” he whispered.
Her eyes rose to his for a moment before going back to the tattoo. “Where am I supposed to get it?”
“We have a man in Italy who does it. After we’re married and you’re welcomed into the family, he’ll do it that night. It comes with a nice history lesson too so you can lead our family knowing exactly what we represent.”
She nodded. “I mean… where on my body?”
“Usually the women get it here, over their hearts like their husbands,” he explained.
She pursed her lips and looked up at him. “So… I’ll have a tattoo on my breast like your mom did?”
Matteo’s body locked up. “Weakness, why on earth would you say it like that?”
Gen chuckled. “I’m sorry, it’s just what I thought about. Isn’t that… weird?”
“Now that you pointed it out, it is!” He scoffed.
Gen laughed softly. She lowered her hands and formed a box with her thumbs and index fingers similar in size to the tattoo. “Does it have to be this size?”
“You can get it a little smaller if you’d like.”
She measured with her fingers and then moved them from his chest to the skin between her hip bone and pelvis. “What about here?” she asked, blushing as she met his eyes.
He took a moment to look at it and imagine what his family coat of arms would look like stamped on her skin. His throat worked as the image brought forth a flood of emotion he hadn’t expected. “It’s good. It would be perfect but…”
“But what?” she asked, looking down at the spot again, trying to figure out why it wouldn’t work.
“It’s just, I’m not…” He tried to figure out how to word what he wanted to say without making her run for the hills. “It may stretch… you know… if or when you get pregnant.”
Her eyes slowly rose from where her fingers were positioned to stare blankly at his face. “Pregnant?”
He swallowed and nodded slowly. “We haven’t talked about it but… if you did…”
She stared at him for another moment before looking down again at the spot in question. His breathing halted as a smile graced her face. She bit her lip when she looked back up at him.
“Well,” she started with a shrug. “If it does, then so what? It’ll grow and stretch as our family grows, right?”
Matteo’s hands tightened on her thighs. His eyes jerked back down to where she wanted to permanently display her connection to him. To the place that might one day show stretch marks from her body's growth to accommodate his child, their child. He’d never really thought about it. Of course, it was always in the back of his mind that he would need an heir. But for her to bear it? He blinked hard as he could suddenly picture it all so clearly: her sitting atop him, her belly firm and round with their baby growing safely within her. The image was crystal clear, as if it was already fated.
“Matteo?”
He flinched, tightened his hold further on her thighs and flipped them so she was on her back again. He felt feral, lost as he hastily shoved the sheets away from their naked bodies.
“Matteo,” Gen breathed, caught up suddenly in the wave of arousal he’d found himself being dragged into. His mouth crashed against hers as his hands fumbled for traction. “Matteo,” Gen whispered between kisses. “I’m on birth control,” she told him, as if she knew exactly what had spurred on this haste to possess her and fill her with his seed.
“I don’t care,” he growled before he sealed their mouths together and thrust harshly into her, his purpose driven by something instinctual, inevitable.