Page 19 of By Blade, I Love
“He’s unique, because your allies and your enemies can either respect you or fear you—but never both. However, Wolfe has somehow managed it. I deeply regret my actions that drove him away from home, especially when he never belonged there.” He looked over at Wolfe again. “I say all of this to you because if the vineyard isn’t something that you truly want…then let Wolfe come home.”
It was three in the morning by the time we made it home.
Even Wolfe was tired because after he unbuttoned his shirt, he just left it on the floor in the middle of the room, and he was tidier than that. He kicked off his dress shoes and then dropped his bottoms, standing in the middle of the room like a tattooed sculpture.
I sat on the bench at the foot of our bed and undid the little straps on my heels.
“Thanks for coming tonight,” he said. “I’m sure that was boring for you.”
“It wasn’t boring.” My feet immediately felt the relief after the enormous heels were off. I stood up, unzipped the back of my dress, and let it fall away. I picked it up and carried it to the armchair, where I would leave it until morning because I was tired too.
And then I felt it—his white-hot stare directly into my back.
I turned around to meet his look, but his eyes severed contact almost instantly, like he didn’t want me to know he’d been staring, which wasn’t like him at all. He turned his back to me and walked to the bed, pulling back the covers so we could slip under the sheets. “What did Don Russo say to you?”
Now I felt the spotlight on my face, felt the stress of an interrogation, when it was a simple question. “He told me how he’s known you your whole life, took you under his wing as you grew up…stuff like that.” I wasn’t sure why I didn’t share thespecifics of what Don Russo had told me. He never said it was a secret, but it felt like one.
“Did he say I was a crazy motherfucker?”
“Kinda, but in nicer words.”
He set his phone on the nightstand and got into bed.
Instead of putting on one of his t-shirts like I normally did, I just slid into bed in the little silk thong I wore under my tight dresses because it didn’t show a panty line. I snuggled into his side, his upper arm somewhat in the valley between my tits.
He gave a quiet sigh as he stared up at the ceiling.
“What?”
“Put on a shirt,” he said. “For my sanity.”
I cuddled in closer and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “What if I don’t want to?”
He turned his head toward me so our eyes could meet. “Then you’re going to be wearing me in the next few seconds.”
“Good.”
His eyes shifted back and forth between mine. “You’re sure? Because I’ll wait as long as you need.”
“I’m lost and devastated and drowning in misery, but I really miss you.”
His eyes remained steady as he looked at me for several heartbeats. He seemed to be testing me with his silence, with his intense staredown. Then he made his move, rolling on top of me and searing me with the heat of his heavy body. His bighand immediately reached for my thong, and he pulled it off my hips and down my legs under the covers, where it got lost in the sheets. He tugged his own boxers down and then brought our bodies close together. His hand slid into my hair, and he kissed me as he separated my thighs, the heat between our lips explosive at the first touch. He moaned into my mouth when he felt me, like he’d been thinking about this moment every second before it became a reality.
The flames that surrounded us burned all my misery…at least for that moment. I fell into the warmth of his love, the depth of his affection, and the abyss of his lust. His knees separated my thighs, and he positioned himself to enter me, the excitement in his kiss, in the way he touched my hair.
Then he sank inside me, immediately sealed in my tightness like it was velvet bliss. He moaned at his entrance, like it was the first time he’d ever had me, not the first time after a long break. He was so muscular and strong that he could hold himself on top of me with ease. He could rock into me with perfect thrusts at any angle that hit me just right because he was big enough to pull it off.
I wanted him for a lot of reasons, because I loved him and he was my person, but also because he was hot as hell and I noticed every single woman stare at him at some point during the night. But they couldn’t have him.
Not when he was mine.
7
WOLFE
I sat across from Francesca at the small table outside the gelato place. It was a sunny day, and there were tourists everywhere. Once September arrived, it would calm down quite a bit, and I would get my town back.
She ordered a large size with multiple flavors and happily enjoyed her cold gelato on a warm day. It wasn’t that I didn’t like sweets. I just didn’t allow myself to ever eat them, so I lived vicariously through her as I watched her eat.
