Page 68 of The Sound in Silence

Even if that feels damn near impossible.

I take the mug from Carlotta and after a wave goodbye, head for my music room. There, I find another addition to the room—a huge decorative rug in the centre that takes up much of the floor. The carpet is a deep emerald green, and in the centre, a black outline of a mermaid. A siren.Sirena.

Funny man.

Careful to skirt the edges of it, not wanting to accidentally spill coffee on the beautiful design, I head for my piano.

* * *

Hours later, the door opens, and while I immediately know who’s entering, my fingers don’t break their pace with the piano’s keys. Being only a few notes from the song’s end, he’ll have to wait. My ears perk, listening for his steps, which I expect to be directed toward the couches, but instead, they’re growing louder as he approaches.

“Bella, mia sirena.”

His fingers sweep aside my hair, brushing along the base of my neck as the song comes to a lulling close, my fingers sliding from the piano keys to turn around and face him, smiling.

His dark hair is more messy than usual, a contrast to his neatly-pressed suit. For once, in my dress, we match.

The light feeling from earlier returns like a force in my stomach. At some point, he’s bound to realize he’s fucked up in wanting to treat this as an actual marriage and he’ll break my spirit when he pushes me away again. Because everything good in life always comes to an end, so until then, I’ll capitalize on this.

His thumb strokes my cheek, right by my mouth and I turn into his touch, a low, contented moan working up my throat. “Fuck, Ariella, a man can get used to a greeting like this.”

Except a better greeting would be for your wife to speak to you. To ask how work was.

No, stop! The negative voice will not win this time.

He bends, dropping to his knees in front of me, which puts his face in line with mine. My only warning: “Stop me now if you don’t want this.”

I lean forward the same time he does to meet his kiss. His hands come around my back and he hauls me closer to the edge of the seat, fitting himself between my legs as he cups the back of my neck. It’s then I realize our positioning. My clothing. My legs that are spread open.

Touch me.I think I’m ready for this—for him. For how much? Not sure. But for more than faraway stares and cautious looks.

I grab strands of his hair by his neck, kissing him back as roughly as he’s kissing me. He makes a sound of appreciation, his interest of my domination emerging.

Dominant. Never would have coined that to myself, but it makes complete sense.

His noises encourage me, makes me feel like I’m doing this correctly. I take one of his hands and rest it over my right breast.

Erico breaks the kiss, a question flickering in his dark, smoky eyes, even as his hand flexes around my mound of flesh. A low moan threatens to come forth, my nipple budding beneath my thinly padded bra.

“Giving me permission to touch,sirena? If you are, you’ll have to tell me when to stop because I have a fucking craving for my wife that needs to be satiated.”

Forme.

Controlling his wrist, I drag his hand down my chest, my stomach, toward my hips while my legs slide farther apart. A silent instruction for him to touch.

“Let me taste you, Ariella. The other day has me dying for more.”

Does he mean—here? The floor, or that brand new carpet, or the couch?

Either way, I nod, and gift him my control with a simple arch of my back. His other hand comes down on my thigh, large and warm, as he caresses up and down my leg, inching closer to my core with each pass.

Until suddenly, he grips me beneath my ass and stands, lifting me with him. A surprised noise spurts from my lips as he carries me to the side of the piano and rests me on the cool, smooth surface before moving the mug and coaster to the floor.

“You’re still in charge. You don’t like something, end it with two taps to the back of my head.”

The back of his—?

His hands drag up my legs again until his fingers hook in my panties, and he pulls them off before tossing them to the side. His eyes remain locked on mine the entire time, testing, pleading for me to not end this.

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