Page 48 of Diavolo

Alessandro was back.

He looked disheveled as fuck. He was also drenched in blood. But the bastard was alive. Relief chased her fears away. Elyse struggled to keep her voice steady, "Wh-Where have you been?"

"Mi scusi, angelo,I did not mean to wake you," he murmured. He noticed the look on her face and added, "The blood is not mine. Do not worry."

Her relief ballooned some more. Elyse whispered with her whole heart, "Gracias a Dios."

Their eyes found each other halfway across the room. A delicate, new emotion materialized between them. It felt far more tender and fragile than anything Elyse had ever experienced with any man. She fought against it, willing herself not to give in to these conflicting feelings. Alessandro looked away first. "I will go shower. Let us talk afterward."

Then, as though he'd returned from the grocery store andnottwo days' worth of criminal operations, Alessandro walked away with easy, unhurried steps into the adjoining bathroom. She heard the shower turn on. Alessandro had left the door ajar. Elyse's worst fears waned now that he was at her side again, but worry lingered on. The man claimed the blood smeared all over his person didn't belong to him, but her medical instincts remained on high alert.

Elyse wanted to see for herself that he was truly unharmed. She rose from the mattress and stripped down to her bra and underwear. Elyse didn't want to get her sleep shirt wet. With a determined stride, she headed toward the bathroom. A momentlater, shocked by her own brazenness, Elyse found herself slipping into the shower to join Alessandro.

He seemed bewildered to see her as well. "Angelo,what—"

The spray was hitting his toned, muscled physique from every angle. He looked like a bronzed god of water. Dark, wet hair clung to his face. Droplets of water glistened from his black lashes. His beauty nearly stole her breath away. Elyse flushed with embarrassment as she tried to explain herself, "As your physician, I wanted to check if you were… hurt."

A slow, knowing smile spread across his handsome face. Alessandro said nothing at first. He simply drew her into his arms until the warm spray enveloped them both. He pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Look and touch your fill," he whispered to her, "and you will see that your man is alive and well."

The intimacy in Alessandro's tone drew a hard, heavy thump from her heart. Water and steam surrounded them in the stall. Elyse's bra and underwear were completely soaked. She looked ridiculous, but she didn't care. Her embarrassment had since shifted into another emotion entirely, a deep and encompassing regard for the man beside her, and all semblance of proprietary quickly washed away with the water trickling down her body. With a resolute gleam in her eyes, Elyse lifted her chin to face Alessandro.

Look and touch your fill.

Her green eyes darted this way and that way.To look.She reached up to brush her fingers along his cheekbones. To touch.As her fingertips skimmed across warm, solid flesh, she released a slow, unsteady breath. Elyse didn't realize that she had been holding in so much stress until now. Air exited her lungs like a weight lifting from her chest. The man before her wasn't a ghost. He was real. His enemies hadn't stolen him from her.And you will see that your man is alive and well.

Thank God he wasalive.

Thank God he waswell.

Thank God he didn't die.

Alessandro's heated gaze followed her fervently. Apprehensively, Elyse inspected his neck, his shoulders, his arms, and his hands. She dragged her eyes down his chiseled torso and—

His cock jerked up.

With the discipline of a trained medical professional, Elyse ignored his stirring arousal and instead placed her hands on either side of his hips to turn him around. He let her guide him until they were no longer facing each other. Elyse proceeded to examine his back, waist, glutes, and legs. Other than a dozen or so scrapes and bruises here and there, Alessandro seemed fine.

Satisfied with her findings, Elyse picked up a bar of soap and began to wash his back in gentle, circular movements. When she completed this task, Alessandro turned to face her once more, resting his palms along her narrow waist as she continued to cleanse his chest and stomach. Over the next few minutes, Elyse inspected every inch of him with soap and water. Well, every inchexceptthe inches that he wanted her to touch.

He didn't complain, though. Alessandro seemed happy enough. He found ways to entertain himself. His large hands dragged across her body, caressing and touching her curves to his heart's content. He removed her bra to palm her breasts and pinch and fondle her nipples. He later coaxed Elyse out of her panties. The drenched fabric dropped to the floor of the shower stall.

Neither of them uttered a word as Elyse knelt to slide the bar of soap up and down his long, muscular legs. Alessandro eyed her submissive new position with great interest. His dick rose eagerly to full attention. Elyse pretended not to notice the fact that he was as solid as steel. She kept grazing over it on purpose.This moment wasn't about sex. It was about finding solace after a storm. Death and peril seemed to follow Alessandro wherever he went. Elyse both yearned and dreaded to uncoverjust how closethis stupid man had come to taking his final breaths in the past forty-eight hours. Logically speaking, Elyse knew better than to care so much for a dangerous criminal's well-being. But care she did.

Deeply.

Stupidly.

Hopelessly.

Emotion threatened to overtake her. Elyse rose from her knees and tried to exit the shower. Alessandro caught her wrist and pulled her back. For a moment, Elyse thought the horny bastard was going to guide her to his dick, but he let go of her hand and chose, instead, to fist himself, wrapping his fingers around the solid, throbbing length. The devil-black of the tattoos on his hand had never looked more sinful. His grip tightened. Green eyes became mesmerized by the thick veins running along back of his hand. He gave a firm, shameless tug. Her breath caught. His boldness stunned her. Yet, Elyse couldn't tear her eyes away.

With languid strokes, Alessandro began to slide his fist up and down his cock. White-hot desire shot through Elyse. Her obvious interest seemed to spur him on. His passion soon grew more desperate than hers. He pumped faster, harder. Shamelessly, his eyes turned to Elyse for inspiration, greedily drinking in her naked tits and the soft, pretty folds of her cunt.

Need and want mounted between them. Lust seized Elyse and overpowered her self-restraint. She started massaging the swells of her breasts. She plucked her nipples, rolling them sweetly between her fingers. With a low, sensual moan, Elyse trailed her other hand down her stomach to pleasure herself alongside him. His eyes watched her fingers disappear between her lower lips with an intensity that set her ablaze.

From there, Alessandro didn't last long. His breathing grew heavy and erratic. A few minutes later, he brought himself to an explosive climax, spilling before her in a series of strained grunts and gasps. After taking a moment to recover, Alessandro turned off the shower spray. They stepped out of the stall together. He wrapped a plush white towel around her before retrieving another for himself. Once they were dry, Alessandro hoisted Elyse up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He lowered her onto the very edge of the mattress and then placed a hand on either side of her thighs to splay her legs apart. Alessandro kneeled before her sex and dropped a light kiss upon her mound. In almost inaudible tones, he asked, "May I?"