Page 55 of Satin Empire

We start moving to that unheard rhythm again, not so much dancing as swaying in a tight embrace. Our voices and steps echo in the vast room and for a second, just a brief moment, I can see the club as he pictures it: people laughing over drinks, groups of friends cheering and having fun, couples sweating and dancing and kissing, entire worlds and lives revolving around individual moments, coalescing for brief, incredible seconds, only to spiral away again into nothing.

I hold him tight. His breath is even and steady, and I take a little comfort from that, like so long as I have Carlo and he’s unflappable, then I can be strong too. All this crap with my mom, I can survive it. She doesn’t run my life anymore—and neither does Orsino. I love her, and I’ll do anything for my little brother, but I also don’t need to kill myself to make sure they’re happy. I can have a little slice of that right here.

“I can see it, you know,” I whisper, looking up at him, and the smile on his face makes my heart grow a thousand sizes bigger. “The club stuff. The bar over there, and the DJ booth over there. Maybe some crushed velvet carpets, lots of black?—”

“I knew you’d come around,” he says, kissing me, and this time the kiss is more urgent and lasts longer. I fall into him thinking, I could do this forever, which is so damn bizarre considering I would’ve done anything to get out of this in those early days.

But things are different. It’s not just the sex either, but the sex definitely helps.

It’s the way he fits in with my family—and the way I fit in with his. It’s his dreams, his passion, his drive to be more and do more, and it’s the way that makes me want to do more, too. It’s the freedom he gives me without even thinking about it.

I feel seen with him. I feel heard. Like I’m a person worth listening to. Whereas at home I was always the annoying stepdaughter, always stuck underfoot, useless and in the way, good for childcare and not much else.

I’m myself with Carlo, and that’s intoxicating.

But the sex—well, the sex is so damn good too.

His hands are down the front of my jeans and I’m moaning into his mouth. He steers me over to the nearest pillar and pushes me up against it as he strokes my pussy and kisses my neck. God, I’ve never wanted to get fucked in a dirty warehouse before, but here I am practically panting with need for him.

“Did you know that the ancients used to believe orgasms are good luck?”

I laugh which turns into a groan as his fingers slide inside of me. “Which ancients?”

“I don’t know. All of them.” He bites my lower lip. “You need to come for me. Bless my business venture.”

“What freaking religion thinks female orgasm is anywhere near holy?”

“Mine.” He drops to his knees in front of me, yanking down my jeans.

“Carlo, that floor?—”

“Is fucking fine,” he says and leans forward, my pants around my ankles, and pushes aside my panties to lick my slit. “Come on, baby. You’re really going to tell me you don’t want to be the first girl to get off in this place?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “I really, really hope I’m the first at least,” I whisper, but my snarky replies are cut off when his fingers slide inside of me again and he’s licking my clit like he wants to rub me down into a nub. I grind my hips against his mouth, panting hard, and my god, I never imagined I’d be able to reach climax in a place like this, but Carlo manages to surprise me.

I finish on his mouth in a shuddering, gasping rush, and he stands, kissing me like it’s the last thing in the world, and I’m a dizzy mess as I kiss him back. He tugs up my pants, pats my ass, and leads me back to the car.

“What a gentleman,” I mumble as he holds the fence for me again. “He licks my pussy and holds open doors.”

“I do more than that,” he says, squeezing through, and pats my ass. “Let’s go home and I’ll show you.”

Chapter 27

Carlo

It’s hard not to spend all day in bed with Alana.

My new wife has me insatiable like a freaking teenage boy. I’m always fucking hard around her—and sometimes, when she’s moaning my fucking name, I come deep between her legs because she’s so damn beautiful and I can’t help myself. But I am a very selfless lover, and always make sure she gets what she needs. It’s one of my many wonderful qualities.

But I head back to the Rossi mansion instead of railing my bride into oblivion. I have to make sure Saul’s happy with my dedication to the Russian problem, and I got a message from one of my soldiers that the phones and laptops were cracked.

The electronics are laid out in a big conference room in the back of the mansion, their charging cables tangled with each other like a crow’s nest. Saul’s idly flipping through one of the computers, his eyes looking glazed.

“Whoever owned this loved fucking anime,” he says, shaking his head with disgust.

“You got a problem with anime?” I ask, sitting down next to him. I pick up a phone and start going through it, beginning with the contacts before moving onto the pictures and videos.

“It’s fine, I guess, if you’re into shows for fucking kids. And don’t come at me with some crap about anime being for adults, because the vast majority of that shit just isn’t.”

---