Page 14 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

I’m ok

I lied. I wasn’t okay. I wouldn’t be okay again for a long time, but I was glad he messaged me.

Nick

Get some rest, all right?

Sofia

*zzz emoji*

Nick

Sweet dreams xo

XO? Shit.I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. What was I doing? The smart and compassionate thing to do would be to cut Nick off rather than drag him into my mess of a life, but dammit, I liked him. I wasn’t ready to let the first man to spark my interest in a long time walk out of my life.

Drinking the hot tea settled my nerves. By the time I finished, I’d regained my equilibrium. My body still hummed with sexual energy, turned on and uncomfortable. Although I was certain that the brief encounter with Dante Oscuro had changed me forever, I was unwilling to examine the tempest of emotions coursing through me. Instead, I locked them up tight, shoving them deep into the dank cave of my chipped and taped-together soul.

A hot shower didn’t relieve the ache in my core or my loneliness, but it relaxed the tension in my shoulders enough that I might fall asleep. After peeking in on Lizzie one last time, grateful she’d slept through my earlier contretemps, I collapsed into my bed.

I tossed and turned, frustrated and unable to sleep, before swearing softly to myself and opening up the drawer of my bedside table. I yanked out a small bullet vibrator before flopping down on my back and throwing my arm over my eyes. I imagined warm hands sliding down my body, gently cupping my breasts, running his thumbs over my nipples until they tightened into needy buds. One hand slipped lower to brush at the soft curls between my legs.

Pushing one finger down to gather the evidence of my desire and then up to circle my clit, teasing myself, I bit my lip to silence my cries as pleasure pulsed through me. Dante’s face flashed in my mind as my rhythm sped up, and I turned my head, smothering my face into my pillow.No, not him. Not Dante.I plunged one finger into my tight channel, desperately trying to imagine anyone else.Nick, God, Nick!His careful touches, spicy cologne, his thumb on my clit, pushing two fingers into me, roughly fucking me with his hand.

God, please.I sped up the pace of my hand as I kneaded my breast. It wasn’t enough. Desire consumed me as I writhed on the bed, seeking release. Grabbing my vibrator, I skimmed it down my abdomen, running it roughly through my wetness before rubbing it against my clit. I cried out as my hips bucked against my hand.Please, God, more.

I couldn’t block out a fantasy of Dante moving his body over me, his teeth digging into my nipple as I pinched and tugged at it. Pain and pleasure shot through me. Like a flick of a switch, Nick’s earnest face appeared between my legs, his tongue grazing across my clit, like the vibrator in my hand. An explosion erupted in my core, my release curling outward to every limb. I rode the vibrator, drawing out my pleasure as long as possible, before collapsing into my bed, a limp and exhausted mess.

What the fuck?

I didn’t bother cleaning myself up. Instead, I laid there, my climax only half as satisfying as I’d hoped, somehow frustrating me at the same time that it relieved the tension from the day.

Fuck.

The following day,a large Italian man blocked my path when I stepped out the door with Lizzie. “Ma’am, you need to stay inside,” he told me, his accent thick and heavy.

I tilted my head to the side and looked up at him. “I’m going to mass.”

“Mr. Oscuro would like you to stay home.”

“Mamma?” Lizzie asked, tugging at my skirt.

“Just a moment, sweetheart.”

“I wanna see Nonna.”

I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath, then asked the Good Lord for the patience he hadn’t yet seen fit to grant me in my twenty-seven years. “I am taking my daughter to mass.”

I walked to the elevator, Lizzie’s tiny hand in my own. The bodyguard fell in line behind me, his fingers zooming over his phone as he no doubt told Dante where I was going.

Before I set foot in the elevator, my phone rang.

“Where are you going?”

“Good morning, Dante. Yes, I’m well, thank you. How did you sleep?”

His silence deafened me.

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