Thomas tries to smack Liam now. The whole fucking table is chaos. Somehow… my intimate dinner with Aria has morphed into a full-blown family gathering. Everyone’s here except Lucilla—guessing she’s already drunk. Made a mental note to talk to Thomas about getting her help. My brothers, Rosa and Evie, stole Aria’s attention like starving strays. Dove moves easily among them, a goddess in my kitchen.
“This issodelicious, Aria,” Rosa praises after taking a bite.
“Thanks, Rosa. My Nonna taught me. It feels wonderful to share her recipes again with more people than just Tasha and Aunt Cathy.” Aria beams as Collin reaches for seconds. I shoot him a warning glare, which he ignores. My family, all of them–a bunch of bloody, fucking cock-blockers.
Gabriel catches my glare and grins like the smug little bastard he is. “Aria, hope you don’t mind us crashing dinner with Cyan tonight.”
“Not at all,” Aria smiles up at me. “Cyan understands family comes first. Right,Bébé?” The way she says it—soft, teasing—wraps around my cock like a velvet fist. I’d rather be inside her than sit here pretending not to notice Gabriel’s shit-eating grin.
Their laughter, every bite of lasagna, and every second this meal goes on… is torture. The private evening, I envisioned slips further out of reach, and the clock mocks me with every slow, agonizing tick. “I made dessert if you’re interested. It’s my grandma’s olive oil cake.”
I suppress a groan.Did she forget she promised me dessert?The kind I could devour for hours. My cock is straining painfully, tightening with every second she keeps talking instead of climbing on my lap. Doesn’t she understand it’s taking every scrap of control I’ve honed as a Capo not to bend her over the table in front of everyone? I’m a second away from kicking them all out. Thank the universe, Rosa rescues me.
“Aria, honey, we’ll take the dessert to go. We’ve imposed long enough. You two lovebirds deserve some time alone.” Rosa, with expert quickness, slices the cake, leaving two plates behind and boxing the rest.
“If you boys want dessert, it’s at my place,” she adds, corralling the brothers toward the door like they’re badly trained dogs. Aria walks them out, polite and oblivious. She’s closing the door when I move. She doesn’t notice the predator behind her. Dove doesn’t hear my footsteps as I stalk up behind her just as she turns…
“Well, that was surprising and fu-” Aria yelps as I spin her around, pinning her to the door, my hands caging her in. Her eyes are wide and shining. “Cyan, is this your way of asking for seconds?” Her voice is breathless, teasing, sinful.I growl and claim her mouth, devouring her like a man dying of thirst who finds water. Her lips are soft, cool, a balm against the violent heat she ignites inside me.
Her taste is intoxicating. I’m a selfish bastard who doesn’t deserve her warmth, her light, her salvation. She wraps her arms around my neck anyway, pulling me closer, meeting my fierce kiss with equal hunger. Shechoosesthe wildness in me.
“I want my dessert,” I rasp as she fumbles with my pants, pulling them down, frantic, eager.
“You know,” she pants, “I might have to put you on a diet if you keep up this behavior.”
“A diet?” I nip her neck, dragging her loose floral dress to her waist. My hand meets bare moistness, and a guttural sound tears from my chest. “No underwear?”
“You said I’m dessert,” she whispers wickedly, “I’m prepared. Can’t have you ripping my panties, then I’m stuck with just the bra.”
I bite her bottom lip. “Buy you more.” I skate a finger through her wetness. “Fucking cock-blockers,” I mutter.
“What?”
“Never mind.” My voice drops to a feral growl. “Right now, I’m taking my dessert.”
I lift her easily, her thighs wrapping around my hips. Her heat presses against me, already slick, already ready. “If I’d known this was on the menu, Dove, I would’ve thrown those fuckers out.” I thrust into her in one claiming stroke.
She cries out, needy. “Mmm… careful. Cyan, sugar is so addictive.”
I’m buried to the hilt, savoring the way her body clings to mine. She’s pure ecstasy, my sweetest haven and my damn weakness.
“Too late, Dove,” I whisper against her mouth. “I’m already hooked. This monster has a sweet tooth only you can satisfy.”
“Not a monster,” she breathes, cupping my cheek, eyes burning with sincerity. “The addiction is mutual, Cyan. Like you, I’ll always want seconds.”
Her words set my blood on fire. She has no idea of the beast she tames with just a sentence. Aria is my rider, my salvation. If she asks, I’d burn the world to ash for her. “Move, Cyan,” she demands, breathless.
It’s as if she spurs me forward. I’m thrusting into her, neither of us patient. It’s not long before Aria, tightening around me, comes undone. Her nails digging into my shoulders. I bite her throat, marking her. Claiming her, each thrust drives her body higher, her pleasure deepens, our lovemaking. The wet sounds of us–the moans, the ragged breaths, the slap of skin and the echo off the door create a rhythm that consumes me. Music I’d bleed and kill for. With every thrust into her core, her soul becomes one with mine. My Dove, the woman who dug her claws into my spirit with a laugh. She hasn’t realized that it is she that now owns every dark corner of me.
Forty-Two
“I didn’t mean to fall in love with the monster. But now that I have, I don’t want to be saved.”–Aria Boschett.
Pounding at our door drags me from a blissful dream. Sleep clings to my eyelids, warm and heavy. I’m tangled in the sheets, draped over Cyan, my cheek rising and falling with the slow rhythm of his breathing. His warmth, his scent, wraps around me like a cocoon I don’t want to leave.
“Hmm… Cyan, I think someone’s at the door.” My voice is thick with sleep as I stretch like a cat, feeling the delicious pull of my muscles and the lingering ache from last night.
My mind drifts back to yesterday, when we walked along the pier. The locals greet him; Cyan greets everyone by name. An old fisherman tipping his cap, a woman thanking him for helping carry her groceries. To the townsfolks of Crescent Bay, Cyan isn’t a monster. He’s, their protector. I blush remembering dinner at Mel’s, the way he grabbed my jaw and kissed me in front of everyone; the man can’t help himself. Being with him feels like falling into something wild, dangerous, impossible to stop… and I’m not fighting it anymore.
