His head catches on my rim again and I gasp out loud, my cock stiffening and my balls tightening.

“I’m a patient man.” He laves his tongue along the shell of my ear and teases my other nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

“Right, you’re going to be happy to just keep jerking me off and sucking me. You have a limit, Salvatore. Eventually you’ll force me to my knees and take what you want.”

He makes a dangerous sound in his throat and spins me around again, pressing me right back against the wall with my hands still pinned over my head. But we’re face to face now. His hot lips find mine and he bends his knees so that his next thrust has our cocks dragging against each other.

“If you think I’m not getting anything out of this, Angel, you’re deluding yourself even more than I thought,” he rumbles, and then dives in for another tongue-heavy kiss, lifting me onto my tiptoes with every thrust.

I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that he didn’t fuck me when he had me pinned and helpless just a minute ago. It’s like I’m trying to add two plus two and keep coming up with five. But even though I can’t make it make sense, it still unravels some of the resistance inside of me. Instead of fighting and scratching and screaming to release all the tension built up inside me, I give in to the feeling of his hands around my wrists and his cock grinding against mine. I let myself focus on the feeling of his thighs between mine, the swing of his sac, and the heat of his tongue in my mouth. For just a few minutes, I let all of the tight, knotted things inside of me relax and I test out what it feels like to trust Salvatore. Not forever, notrealtrust, but even temporary is more than I’ve ever given anyone before.

As if he can feel the shift inside me, he groans into my mouth and deepens the kiss. Precum dribbles from my slit, mixing with the hot water running down our shafts. Our muffled grunts and moans echo off the tiles. He lets go of my wrists and hoists me into his arms without breaking the kiss. I’m happy just to let him manhandle me, wrapping my legs loosely around his waist and trusting him to hold me up. He presses my back to the wall again and his thrusts get faster and more urgent. His cockhead catchesagainst my frenulum piercing with every roll of his hips, sending sparks of pleasure down my shaft and all the way to my toes.

His kiss gets rougher, nipping at my lips and demanding more, like he wants to devour me. And I give in to all of it, moaning shamelessly, letting him take what he wants because some stupid, naive part of me actually believes he won’t take more than I’m willing to give. And he doesn’t. His cock is desperately hard and leaking against mine with every thrust, and it would be so easy for him to lift me a little higher and sink inside me, but he doesn’t.

“I love the fire in your eyes when you dance, Angioletto,” he murmurs, as breathless as I am now. “I live to see that spark of violence in your face just before you lash out at anyone who tries to touch you.”

How does he have the ability to form words right now? All I can do is gasp his name and dig my fingers into his slick, warm skin. I can feel his wedding ring biting into my thigh as he tightens his grip on me, fucking me against the wall faster, harder, his thrusts becoming wild and as desperate as I feel. I rake my fingernails down his back, hoping he’ll feel the sting tomorrow and think of me.

Salvatore groans and his cock stiffens against mine. The hot splash of his cum on my skin has my eyes rolling back and my toes curling. Another rope of his release lands on the sensitive, throbbing head of my cock and I’m done for. I let my head fall back against the wall with a softthudand he buries his face in my throat, kissing and nibbling my Adam’s apple as I cry out. My cock pulses against his, throbbing and twitching, my cum joining his, dripping down our shafts and slicking the way as he continues to grind against me, chasing every wave of our orgasms until our balls are drained and my whole body feels limp.

“Feeling relaxed?”

It’s hard to feel annoyed by the smugness in Salvatore’s question. Even harder when he presses a few more kisses along the edge of my jaw and then reaches for the bodywash without waiting for my answer. And if my knees weren’t feeling so weak and too many hours without sleep weren’t catching up with me, I would absolutely slap him for filling his hands with soap like he’s going to bathe me or something equally ridiculous.

As it is, Iamdelirious with exhaustion, so I just close my eyes, lean against him, and let his big, strong hands wash me.

Chapter 14

SALVATORE

Sleep is a distant memory at this point, my eyelids weighing more with every steady exhale, but I can’t make myself look away from my angel. Shadows dance across his soft, tan skin and his eyelids flutter with the phantom movements of his dreams. I can’t stop replaying the moment he relaxed in my arms, the brief few minutes he trusted me with his weight and his pleasure. I’m not optimistic enough or naive enough to think that this is our turning point, that he’ll trust me now and stop fighting the things he’s so afraid to feel. He still thinks this is about sex, about power, about control. My guarded Angioletto with his mouth full of sharp teeth and fists aching to bruise flesh in order to protect himself. He’ll see eventually though.

I take a chance, reaching out and gently dragging my fingers along the grooves of his spine, following the curve of his back, mesmerized by his deep, slumbering breaths. He doesn’t stir, doesn’t flinch, just keeps sleeping peacefully, safe in my bed where he belongs.

There’s a darker feeling living right beside the awe and devotion in my chest, growing just as rapidly and as urgently as my love for Dante. The need to protect him. My pulse spikes, chasing my exhaustion back a little further, keeping me from sinking down beside him and surrendering to the heaviness of my limbs just yet.

I slip out of bed carefully, grabbing my phone off of the nightstand and pulling the door shut quietly behind me on my way out. I don’t bother to check the time. It’s the middle of the night, but whether it’s midnight or almost dawn, I don’t have the foggiest idea, and I couldn’t give less of a fuck. There are more important things than a solid night’s sleep and Dante’s safety is at the top of the list. Anyone who wants to complain to me about it is welcome to do so to my face.

I send out a few texts to my guys about meetings tomorrow first. I don’t think any of them are getting friendly with the Fitzpatricks, but I’m happy to rattle them all a little and see if anything falls out if it will keep Lorenzo in that sunshiny mood of his we all love so much. My nephew, Luca, is next. Instead of a text, I hit the call button. It rings a few times before he answers in a sleep-rough voice.

“Yeah?” I can practically hear him shaking himself into consciousness, sheets rustling and his bed creaking on the other end of the phone.

“Hey, I need you to come by my place first thing, okay?”

“Sure, yeah, of course. Is everything okay? Do you need me now?”

A surge of affection goes through me again for the kid and I chuckle.

“No, morning is fine. I have a job for you for the next few weeks or so.” I drag my free hand through my hair and lean against the kitchen counter, my heart rate kicking up again. For some reason telling Luca makes it feel more official, even thoughI know he knows better than to go running his mouth to my sister or anyone else about things. Still, he’s family and telling him is a big deal. “I need someone guarding my husband while I’m working.”

“Your…” He sounds dazed and then he laughs. “Auguri, Uncle Sal. I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone. That’s fantastic, I can’t wait to meet him.”

I glance back at my closed bedroom door and grin. “You say that now, just wait until you piss him off and he breaks one of your bones.”

“Uh… what?”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.” I grin to myself. “I’ll see you in the morning.”