Page 46 of Protected By the Mafia

Cristiano shut the drawer and walked her all the way into the bathroom. “First thing’s first,” he said before she could ask. He lifted her onto the counter beside the sink and started rummaging for supplies. “Let’s take care of that wrist.”

Felicity let her gaze drop to the wound she’d managed to forget about. Several of the other aches had faded, too, she realized. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

Cristiano tucked a hand beneath her chin and pulled her focus back to him. “You bled.”

Her heart lodged in her throat.

He didn’t say anything else, and she made no other attempt to talk him out of it. She watched almost abstractly as he proceeded to gently clean and wrap her wrist. The entire wrist didn’t really need wrapping, but he seemed uninclined to stick a pair of band-aids over her already bruised and sensitive skin. It was thoughtful, and his touches so light and tender that she wanted to cry. Even when someone had helped her tend her own injuries in the past, it had never—not once—been done with such care.

When it was done, Cristiano helped her back to her feet and guided her out to the living room. He still seemed on-edge, a little tense, and by contrast she was unfairly worked up. Part of her understood they needed to talk. She certainly had information she needed to share with him, and she was curious to know if everything was all right with his family. But she had other needs, too.

Cristiano lowered onto the center seat of the sofa, as he usually did, and Felicity rolled her lip between her teeth. Then she reached up beneath her skirt and tugged her panties down, letting them drop to the floor.

“What are you doing, Foxglove?” His tone was curious, a little amused, but there was no mistaking the heat that darkened his always intense blue eyes.

Felicity stepped into his space and ran her fingers over his thigh. “I thought maybe we could … multitask?”

A slow, understanding smirk lifted Cristiano’s lips. “If that’s what you want, baby, I’m happy to oblige.” He undid his pants, adjusting enough to shove them down over his knees, and resettled. “Get up here and sit on my cock.”

Felicity wasted no time scrambling onto his lap. She felt like she’d asked for something scandalous despite that they were completely alone. It added an extra layer of excitement that had her moaning as he reached between them and lined himself up. Her hands twisted into the shirt over his shoulders as he notched a hand on her hip and pulled her down on him, filling her completely.

Her head fell back and she let out a long moan at the feel of him stretching her. It felt so good. He felt so good. Like a reward after a stressful day, reaching deep inside her and teasing all those pleasure spots that only he had ever known.

Cristiano slid one hand up under her skirt and lightly swatted her butt. “Your sweet pussy’s as hot as ever, baby, but no getting off before we have this conversation.” A shiver ran through her and the hand Cristiano had on her hip squeezed tighter. “You like that, do you?”

She licked her lips. They were working on an open and honest kind of relationship, despite the conflicts surrounding them, so she forced herself to say words that she might once have thought would be too humiliating to confess. “I like the way you feel inside me.”

His hand lifted from her hip to curl around her nape and tug her down for a wet, demanding kiss. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, the hand over her ass keeping her almost completely still atop him. Only when he retreated did Cristiano let out a groan and rumble, “That’s my good girl.”

Her whole body flushed and she smiled before she realized it. She slid her hands around his neck, letting her fingers lift just enough to scrape her nails over the back of his neck. “Which of us goes first?”

Cristiano chuckled. “That will be the question.” Amusement lingered in his eyes for a moment, his fingers rubbed gently against her skin, and he drew a breath. “You first.”

In the second of quiet she took to gather herself; Felicity felt her body clench around his. Reminding both of them, as if they could forget, that he was seated about as deeply as he could go. She wished she could dwell on that. Instead, she did what she needed to and quietly told him everything. From Dr. Laura giving her cash and the asshole cabby to the unexpected assault from her ex-landlord, and her even-less-expected rescue by a stranger.

When she finished, Cristiano let out a low growl and pulled her forward again. This time, though, his kiss was surprisingly tender. It wasn’t chaste, but it didn’t feel like he was fucking her mouth with his—more like he was sharing a deeper, more intimate affection that made her insides melt. Again he groaned as the kiss broke, his fingers massaging her scalp. “I’m going to need the name of that cab company later.”

Felicity laughed softly. “It was just—”

“No, baby.” He squeezed the cheek still beneath his lower hand. “No one treats you like that. Ever again.”

Her heart fluttered. Her heart, and parts further south that had both of them moaning and breathing a little heavier. She pulled herself together. “Cristiano … I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Never apologize for asserting yourself, Felicity. You have every right to get the answers you were looking for, and you did make progress, even if it didn’t go the way you wanted.” His expression softened and he stroked his hand over her hip and down her thigh before returning it to her butt. “You’re stronger than you think.”

Her throat swelled and she swallowed hard. “So … now you know my story. How’d things go on your end? Is everything okay?”

Cristiano pushed out a breath. “Mikey’s onto us,” he said bluntly. “He gave me twenty days to get all this shit straightened out. And I’ve come to a couple of conclusions.”

Felicity curled her hands into the back of his shirt, trying to focus on the strength of his voice and not the terrifying thing he’d just said. She nodded to assure him she was listening.

“The best way to get the proof we need is with help. You haven’t done anything to, or ever had a conversation with, a single other member of my family—they don’t have anything to directly hold against you.” He moved both hands to cup her jaw. “So I’m going to introduce you, as my fiancée. I’m going to make it clear to them that you’re off-limits, because I love you. And in our family, we protect what each other loves, we don’t destroy it.”

Tears rushed her eyes at his words and the hope that came with them, but she managed to ask the question that mattered most. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Yes.” He folded an arm around her and threaded his other hand back into her hair. “But so is what we’re doing. So is leaving you alone when I know someone else knows, someone who can be pressured into talking. Coming forward now is smarter than waiting.”

“And your cousin will … be okay with that?” That wasn’t the impression she’d had.

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