“Ah!” Uncle Tito slapped at him. “Nonsense! Do not allow your husband to play on your sympathies. This wound is nothing! The bullet was close to the surface.”
I looked at a silver bowl sitting on a silver table. A bloody bullet was in it. I didn’t realize I’d passed out again until I woke up in the firehouse. Rocco carried me. I looked to my right.Capo stared at us, the coldness back in his eyes. It wasn’t aimed at me, though, but at Rocco.
“I can walk,” I croaked out.
“Nonsense,” Uncle Tito said.
Capo gave him a dirty look.
“Your husband is upset that I refuse to let him carry you. His wound is not bad, but he should not be carrying a weight, no matter how light!” He pointed at Capo. “You listen tome, or I will tape your hands together!”
I laughed softly but hid it when Capo turned the dirty look on me. Then I laughed some more when I thought of Giovanni watching all of us disappear into the master suite and not come out for a while.
Capo told me to get settled in bed once we were on the secret side. He was going to walk Uncle Tito and Rocco out. Before they left, I kissed them both and thanked them. Uncle Tito waved it off and gave me instructions on the medicine Capo had to take and what he could and couldn’t do.
My husband came back in the bedroom a few minutes later. I couldn’t seem to move. All that had happened seemed to catch up to me.
“Shower,” Capo said, pointing toward the bathroom.
I shook my head. “Shower for me. You can’t get your arm wet. Doctor’s orders.”
“You have two options. Shower with me. Or shower with me after I’ve thrown you over my shoulder.”
He grinned at me when I wrapped his arm in plastic wrap from the kitchen before we got in. I used the shower handle and aimed it away from him. But when I washed all of the bloody spots off, his shoulders relaxed, and I could tell he was at ease. And no matter how much I protested he refused to let me wash myself.
After the shower, while we dried off, he stared at me.
“What?” I whispered.
“Your stomach.” He nodded to it. “You’re starting to show.”
I turned to the side and smiled. “I am. I wonder if he’s going to be big like you? I hope he has your eyes.”
A moment passed and neither of us said anything. He took my hand after and led me toward the bedroom. I climbed in and patted the spot next to me. My eyes narrowed when he started to creep toward me.
“Capo,” I said. “I’m not giving in on this one. The doctor said—”
“I don’t give afuckwhat the doctor says. This is what I need. You. Underneath me. Crying out my name. That’s my only medicine. My only cure in this diseased world.”
I bit my lip, not sure what to do. When he came close enough, he used his mouth to pull my lip from my teeth, and he gently sucked on it.
“Ah,” I released a soft breath. Then my hands fluttered over his shoulders, down his arms, over his sides.
He hissed out a breath and pulled me down with one arm, setting me beneath him. He kissed me, softly, slowly, until I felt like he had taken my soul and I was lost to anyone but him, and then his tongue went deeper and harder. But his touches were…light.
“What are you doing to me?” I whispered when his tongue trailed down my throat, all the way to my breasts.
“Something I should’ve done before. Something different.”
He said nothing after that, but when he entered me, it wasn’t hard or rough. He took his time, moving in a slow, sensual rhythm. He demanded that I keep my eyes open, and his were on mine, his teeth sunk into his bottom lip.
“Mariposa.” His eyes closed then, and he made a strangled noise in his throat.
The sound of my name on his lips made me dissolve into him, and my orgasm tore through me, even though what he’d done to me was far from hard. He pounded into me after, relentless to chase his release, and I came again with him.
He didn’t move after, though he trembled. I was scared to look at the bandage to see if he had done something to his arm and blood was gushing. The thought of it made me queasy. Blood usually didn’t bother me but his did. The dream kept coming back to me, so fresh in my mind.
I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face against his chest. I kissed him in the spot four times. He tried to rise, but I refused to let him go.
