Page 76 of Little Rabbit

“Where did you get them?”

“She led us to the armoury and we grabbed a bunch in there.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “You left the passages?” I ask carefully.

She narrows her eyes back at me. “Don’t even start, because Gia and I never left the passages. It was Sofia and Rori that got everything; we never stepped out of the passages. We also know that they didn’t get in that way. When we were coming back through the passages to the office, we hit a spot where it forked off into a bunch of different directions. That’s where they were waiting.”

I’m only slightly mollified, but make a mental note to talk to Nico about that after. “And that’s how you all got separated?”

She nods, lowering her hand from mine and pulling her face back. I lower my hand to rest on her side, waiting for her to explain. As she recounts the story, my anger burns, but I am also overcome with gratitude that Sofia and Rori were able to hold them off long enough to give them that chance. When she finishes, she swallows hard. “I was so scared, Alessio. So scared that they would get to Gia, or that you were dead and I wasn’t going to see you again.”

The emotion in her voice has my heart clenching in my chest. I press my mouth to hers, soothing her before pulling away. “I’m here, Sienna, and I’m not going anywhere. I won’t leave you, because you are my reason for living, cuore mia.”

“What does that mean?”

“What?”

“Cuore mia?” she asks, her tongue twisting around the words, only mangling them a little.

I smile, charmed with her. “It means you’re my heart,” I explain, pressing a kiss to her nose when her eyes widen in shock. “And you are, Sienna. Even when you were making me chase you and pushing me so hard, you were digging your claws into me so deep that I didn’t want you out. As I keep telling you, I knew then that you were mine. That I was never going to let you go. But knowing I almost lost you? I was ready to burn it all down, Sienna. Everything, if it meant that I got to you faster.”

“Alessio,” she breathes.

“I will always come for you, Sienna. Even if you don’t want me to, I’m never going to leave you to handle anything on your own. I know we’ve fought plenty over the last couple of weeks, but all it’s done is make me want you more. I want to see you pass that fire on to our children, and I want to see it grow when it’s something you feel is important. And then, I want to feel it burn when I’m deep inside you like I am now.” I grind my hips into her, my cock twitching inside her when her breath hitches. “I want you to know how much I crave you, and never plan to let you go.”

“Do you love me?” she whispers, vulnerability reflecting in her eyes.

“How could I not? You are everything I could want and more, Sienna.”

Her eyes grow wet as she stares at me. “You really mean that.” It’s a statement, not a question.

“I don’t say things I don’t mean, cara mia,” I chide softly.

“Yeah, I’m starting to see that,” she whispers. She swallows hard. “I don’t know how you can be in love me with so quickly, Alessio.”

“A man knows when a woman is meant to be his everything, Sienna. My grandfather took one look at my grandmother and went to her father that day for her hand. My father, at one time, knew that he wanted my mother, and he married her within weeks. And despite everything, he loved her even after she betrayed him in the worst way possible. She slept with an enemy and fed him information about us. It’s also, in part, why he’s never remarried, and hates that he still loves her. And it’s how I knew the moment I read your file and saw your picture that you were going to be mine. You Americans fight the most natural of things when it doesn’t need to be so complicated. I love you, and you either love me or will grow to love me in time. But we cannot find out if you are not with me.”

“But that’s just it, Alessio,” she whispers. “I think I’m already in love with you and it scares the shit out of me.”

I’m elated and disappointed all at once that something so wonderful would elicit fear from her. “Why?”

“Because we’re so different, and I’m terrified I’m going to love you and then you’ll either change your mind, or you’ll get hurt in all of this and leave me alone. Realizing I might not see you again earlier was hard. You’re always going to be in the middle of this kind of thing, even when this one is all over. There’s always going to be something else that you have to get yourself involved in, right?”

“There are always going to be things that go on in this world, though perhaps not to this scale,” I reply honestly. “In Sicily, there are small skirmishes, but nothing like an all out war. Americans move quickly, and that is why there is always a power struggle. But back home, most things are settled quietly and with only small amounts of bloodshed. It is the soldiers more than myself in the direct line of fire. Will there be other issues that come up? I imagine so, but we can’t let fear hold us back, Sienna. And if anything ever happens to me, my family, and your family, will ensure you are well taken care of, I promise. But living in fear of death or what ifs is not living, cara mia.”

I can see her processing my words, and I wait patiently—well, mostly—until finally, she whispers, “Okay. Then I guess I’ll tell you that I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you. But the marriage part, we need to put that on hold for now. I’m not ready for that big of a step yet.”

I plan on fixing that as soon as possible, but I leave it unsaid. There will be plenty of time to change her mind.

I kiss her, needing the connection, the taste, of her. Of course, it’s not long before my cock is once again hard inside her, and I’m rolling us so that she’s beneath me as I take her. This time, I’m slow, gentle, murmuring soft words to her as we move together. Her nails score my back as her orgasm rises slowly, and her legs wrap around my hips, even as I pull my mouth from hers and move it down to her breasts.

I suck one hard point into my mouth, and groan at the answering tightening of her muscles around my cock. Fuck, that was perfect. I give the other one the same treatment, eliciting the same reaction, and drive a little harder inside her in return. Neither of us speak, letting our bodies do all the talking for us, until finally, she falls over the edge and I allow myself to follow her over.

I lay over her, sated, my mind finally calm. I smile when I feel her playing with my hair, and then lift my head when she gives a soft laugh. “What’s so funny?” I question, arching a brow.

She grins at me. “Before Rori showed up, we were talking on my burner phone and she was asking me how you were in bed. I told her we hadn’t done anything in a bed yet. She was very jealous. I’m going to have to tell her that you definitely know what you’re doing in a bed too.”

I smirk, already hardening again. Her eyes start to heat as she grinds down into me. “Well, maybe we should try again. Make sure you have two very good stories to tell her.” I rock my hips and slide back inside her slowly.

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