Wild and Wicked, page 9
“What a shame,” she joked, “that they’re allllll the way over there.” He’d yet to move his bag away from the front door, grabbing shit from where it sat, like a heathen—which was what she’d teasingly called him earlier today—instead of unpacking like the civilized human she had proclaimed herself to be.
Elio snorted, then his eyes lit up. “Actually, if we’re lucky…” He stretched out toward the nightstand, reaching beneath it. “Paydirt.” He lifted his hand, revealing a condom. “Bruno used to bring Vivian up here when they were dating.”
“Liza told me.”
“He always hid a stash of condoms under the drawer. There’s a little ledge there. I’m stealing his last one.” As he spoke, Elio slid the condom on. “Now, where were we?” he asked as he gripped his cock and placed it at her pussy. “Oh, that’s right. You were about to come on my dick after one thrust. Because I’m such a stud.”
She started to laugh, but the sound morphed to a breathy cry when Elio reentered her with the same force and speed as the first time.
This time, he didn’t pause, didn’t give her time to think or adjust.
The only thing she was capable of was feeling. And dear God, she was feeling it. Everything.
Within three thrusts, she was coming, but Elio didn’t acknowledge her orgasm, didn’t give stop. She gripped his arms, trying to find something to hold onto, to keep herself from flying away, splintering apart.
He’d told her to keep her hands on the pillow, but he may as well have asked her to stop breathing. There was no way she could remain passive when he fucked her so roughly, took her so hard. If he wanted that, he should have tied her up.
“More,” she gasped, as pleasure and pain, delight and fear ebbed and flowed, one taking precedence, then the other.
Her nails pierced the skin on his shoulders and Elio winced. She eased her grip, but he said, “Scratch me again. Leave your mark. I need this to last too.”
She lifted her head, intending to kiss his chest. Instead, she bit him.
Elio clasped the back of her head, holding her against him, then made the same demand she had. “Bite harder!”
She sank her teeth in deeper, and Elio gave her the same, nipping at a spot between her shoulder and her neck. At this rate, they would tear each other apart.
Elio fucked her harder, and the orgasm she’d thought had passed flared to life once more. Her head flew back on the pillow as she fought for air, all semblance of control ripped from her hands.
She was his. He owned her, every part of her.
Elio slowed his thrusts, allowing her to come down, kissing her, soothing her. “You’re perfect,” he gasped.
Perfect? All her life…no one had ever called her perfect.
Practical? Yes.
Organized? Also, yes.
Responsible? Sadly, another boring yes.
But perfect? Never. Not once.
She lay there for a moment, letting it soak in, fighting not to tear up in the face of such a beautiful moment.
“Elio,” she whispered, running her fingers along his face, enjoying the roughness of his five-o’clock shadow. Everything about him was so masculine and sexy. Which was why she couldn’t believe he was here with her…calling her perfect.
“Back with me?” he murmured. “You looked a little lost in thought.”
“I’m here,” she said.
“Good. Now pay attention.”
She frowned briefly, confused—until he touched her clit.
She reached for his hand, like she had on the rug, and once again he shook it off. “Hands on the pillow, Gianna. You’re not finished surrendering.”
“I don’t think I—”
“You can,” he interjected. “And you will.”
It took more willpower than she expected to put her hands on the pillow next to her head, her palms up in a way that screamed of submission.
She was glad she’d made the effort when she saw the heated, hungry look in his eyes. “Good girl,” he whispered.
Oh fuck. Why was that so hot?
He continued to stroke her clit as he picked up the pace, fucking her harder and harder until her back arched and she screamed.
“Fuck me!” she yelled, the orgasm so strong, it hurt. Everything he did was fierce. Ecstasy.
She never wanted this night to end.
As the climax waned, Elio withdrew, only for as long as it took to flip her over and draw her onto her hands and knees before him. “Grip the spindles of the headboard. Hold on.”
She had just closed her fists around the wooden spindles when Elio was there, inside once more, fucking her with complete and utter reckless abandon.
“You’re going to come again,” he said, the words feeling more like a threat at this point.
“I can’t!” she complained. “One more time will kill me.”
He chuckled darkly. “No, it won’t.”
She jerked when he spanked her ass, a stinging swat that caught her off guard. “You’re going to come with me, Gianna.” He accentuated that point by peppering her ass with a half dozen more smacks.
It was just as good as she’d thought it would be.
She didn’t bother to deny his words. At this point, she couldn’t. Her body was responding despite her exhaustion, his spanking the extra impetus she needed to reach the peak again.
“I’m close,” he said, reaching around to touch her clit. It was far too sensitive, so his first touch flashed hot, an electrical spark that sizzled, burned. She dropped to her elbows, her strength deserting her. The new position only allowed him to go deeper.
She gasped out his name, over and over, as he came with her, his cries mingling with her own.
“Elio! Yes. God.”
“Jesus. Gianna. Fuck! Never. Felt. So good.”
Neither of them moved as the last vestiges of their climaxes rumbled through them. Even after they’d faded completely away, they remained there, locked in place, the only sounds in the room the crackle of the fire and their gasping breaths.
Gianna stirred first; her strength completely gone as she fell facedown into the pillow, their bodies disconnecting. She missed the feeling of him inside her in an instant.
She expected Elio to join her—God, he had to be exhausted too—but he remained where he was, kneeling between her legs.
“Gianna,” he said, his voice low.
“Mmm,” she hummed.
“Are you on the pill?”
It took a second before her brain engaged enough to understand the question and form an answer. “I was getting the shot. Was due for one in October, but after all the shit that went down with Sam, I didn’t bother.”
He was quiet.
“El, if you’re still worried about before, you were only inside me a few seconds and you didn’t come. I’m sure it’s fi—”
“The condom broke.”
Gianna lay still, trying to let the words sink in. As she did so, she noticed something she hadn’t before…the sticky dampness between her legs.
“Oh.”
Two minutes earlier, she didn’t have enough energy to lift her head, certain she was on the brink of twelve exhausted hours of dreamless sleep. Now, her heart was racing, and she suspected she could run a marathon if asked to.
She pushed herself up, climbing off the mattress. “I’m going to go to the bathroom to clean up,” she said, hating how small her voice sounded. Her gaze was locked on the edge of the bed because she was too afraid to look at him, to see Elio’s expression. “I might jump up and down a couple thousand times too. Just for good measure.” It was a weak joke at best, but God, what could she say?
She grabbed a T-shirt from the dresser next to the bed, pulling it over her head, too aware of her nakedness all of a sudden. She started to walk toward the bathroom, but she didn’t manage more than two steps before Elio’s hand snaked into view. Before she realized his intent, he’d grasped her wrist, stopping her.
She looked at his hand, wrapped around hers, recalling the way he’d done the same thing when he’d guided hers to his cock.
“Gianna, look at me.”
She closed her eyes briefly, his request harder than he realized.
“Look at me,” he said again, slowly, almost sternly.
She lifted her eyes to his.
“Go do what you need to do, then come right back here.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Don’t hide in there,” he added. “And don’t start scrubbing anything.”
She barked out a loud, unexpected laugh. “I can’t make any promises.”
“I’m giving you five minutes. If you’re not back, I’m coming to get you.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He released her and she walked to the bathroom, shutting the door. She cleaned herself up as best she could, waiting for the panic attack that should be coming.
It didn’t make an appearance.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror, but she didn’t recognize the woman looking back. It wasn’t that she looked different. It was that she felt different.
Before she could consider how, there was a knock at the door. “It’s been five minutes.”
“I’m done,” she replied.
Elio didn’t wait. Instead, he opened the door, his gaze locking with hers in the mirror.
“Okay?”
She nodded twice, then stopped, shaking her head once, before stopping again. In the end, she just shrugged.
Elio reached out for her, tugging her into his arms, into one of those warm, caring, amazing Moretti hugs. He’d pulled on his lounge pants, but he was still shirtless, his skin soft against her cheek.
“I love your hugs,” she admitted. “They feel so…” She struggled to find the right word. In the end, she landed on the one that felt right for reasons she wasn’t sure she could explain. “Safe.”
“You are safe with me, Gianna. I…”
She waited for him to say more, but he fell silent.
Gianna tightened her grip around his waist. She wasn’t sure how, but Elio, a man she’d spent less than forty-eight hours alone with, seemed to understand her on a level she’d never achieved with Sam.
“Come on,” he said, wrapping one arm around her waist. “Let’s go back to bed. We need to talk.”
She followed him, the two of them climbing back into the bed. She attempted to crawl to her side, but Elio gripped her ankle.
“Nope. We’re not going back to that your side, my side bullshit again.” He lay down on his back, then lifted his arm. “Come here.”
She shifted into his embrace, her head pillowed on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, tucking her even closer.
“Have you ever heard the expression ‘don’t borrow trouble’?” he asked.
She lifted her head, giving him a self-deprecating grin. “I’ve been a worrier from way back. My grandma used to say it to me all the time. Always said it was pointless to worry about stuff I couldn’t fix or change.”
“I think I would have liked your grandma,” Elio said.
“She would have liked you too. So what are you saying, Elio?”
“I’m saying there’s not a damn thing we can do right now to change what happened. Well, I mean, apart from me apologizing for being such a fucking dumbass and not going to get one of the new condoms. I’m so sorry, Gianna.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need that apology. It was an accident, and it wasn’t anybody’s fault.”
He looked like he wanted to argue that point but didn’t. “We’re going to be snowed in for at least two, maybe three more days. Nothing we do during that time will change the fact the condom broke. So, here’s what I’m proposing…we don’t borrow trouble.”
“Don’t worry about it?” she asked. “You realize that doesn’t sound like me at all.”
“All I’m asking for is three days, Gianna. When we leave, you’ll go home and take a pregnancy test. If it’s negative, no harm, no foul. If it’s positive, you’re going to call me and we’re going to figure it out. We’ll have all the long conversations and we’ll come up with a plan. Together.”
“Together?” She hated the way her voice cracked on the word. She’d spent the last few months feeling very alone and lonely. The idea of having someone to go through any part of her life with felt like a gift.
Elio scowled. “Of course, together. You and me. We’re going to figure it all out. I’d never leave you to do this alone.”
She knew that. Knew it all the way to her bones. It was why his hugs felt so safe.
“So we just go on like normal while we’re here?”
He nodded. “Except for one thing. We’re not cleaning the fucking cabin. Not scrubbing the floors, the toilet, the sinks, or the windows. None of that.”
She laughed, then pointed upward. “Those ceiling fans are coated in a layer of dust. All I need is a ladder and five min—”
“No cleaning,” he stressed, smiling.
“How else am I supposed to shut my brain down, push the worries away?” She’d intended the question to sound like a joke, but it came out too sincere, too serious.
Elio never missed a beat. “I’m going to distract you.”
“How?”
He kissed her forehead. “It’s a surprise. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
“In other words, you don’t know.”
He chuckled. “I have all night to figure out something that doesn’t require me using a mop.”
She sighed, surprisingly content—happy even—then rested her head back on his shoulder. The two of them lay there in the silence so long, she thought perhaps he’d fallen asleep.
“Elio,” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Up until that twist ending, tonight was one of the best nights of my life.”
Elio cupped her cheek, lifting her face up to look at his. “Mine too.”
She read the sincerity, and it warmed her all the way through, touching the places that had been damp and cold since Sam told her he didn’t love her anymore.
“Good night, Elio,” she whispered.
“’Night, Gianna.”
Chapter Eight
Elio grinned as he opened his eyes, forced to admit this was probably the greatest way to start the day. Gianna had twisted away from him at some point in the night so that he was now spooning her, one of his arms wrapped around her, his hand cupping her breast.
He lay there for several minutes, listening to the soft, gentle sound of her breathing. He was just a few short weeks away from thirty-one and he’d never woken up with a woman in his arms. Now he was on day two of waking up with Gianna and—dammit—he was starting to realize he’d been depriving himself all these years.
His one-night stands had always been about sex. Sleeping never played a role in that. Paula had asked him to stay one night after they’d had sex, telling him it was too late to be on the road. He hadn’t even considered the invitation, getting dressed and using one of his countless standard excuses for leaving.
Paula had always taken his middle-of-the-night departures in stride, but that night, she’d pushed back, getting angry with him, proclaiming he was in no danger of catching feelings if he spent one damn night in her bed. She’d accompanied the complaint with her so-called “teasing” nickname for him—Tin Man.
When he’d reminded her that he wasn’t looking for more than sex—something she’d claimed repeatedly to be okay with—he suggested they call it quits. And that was when she had backpedaled fast, claiming she was tired and talking nonsense. She hadn’t asked him to stay the night again after that, but things still ended a few weeks later. Because Elio knew she wasn’t happy, just as he knew he couldn’t give her what she wanted.
Now Elio considered Gianna…wondering, had they indulged in a one-night stand, one where he could have gotten in his car and driven away, if he would have gone home last night.
Something told him even if there’d been no snow, nothing to stop him from doing his usual cut and run, he’d still be in bed with this woman wrapped up in his arms.
Gianna sighed in her sleep, snuggling closer. Her ass brushed his crotch. Mr. Morning Wood made a rapid appearance. The sun streamed brightly in the front window. They’d slept much later today than yesterday, which stood to reason, given their very late night.
Elio lay there, replaying the evening from beginning to end. Gianna had been a goddamn revelation—sexy innocence and a passionate wildcat, all rolled into one. There was a dull pain in his chest where she’d bitten him, and the scratches she’d left on his back still stung. The sex had been hot as fuck, and all he could think about was how much he wanted a repeat.
But he wasn’t sure Gianna would be willing.
Perhaps she would have agreed before the condom broke, but now, knowing her penchant for worrying, she likely wouldn’t want to tempt fate again.
His promise to her last night had been sincere. If she was pregnant, there was no way he wasn’t going to be right there with her, every step of the way.
Jesus.
If she’s pregnant.
Those words kept rolling around in his head, and while they were sticking, they weren’t producing the right response.
Maybe he was still drunk. Because that was the only way he could explain to himself why he wasn’t freaking the fuck out.
After they’d both come, Gianna had fallen facedown on the bed, exhausted after too many orgasms, and his cock had slipped out. He’d reached down to pull the condom off…and that was the moment when the bottom should have fallen out. Not only on the night but on his whole goddamn life. Because marriage and kids weren’t something he’d ever thought about. There hadn’t been time. He’d been too focused on hockey, the game, the records. He loved his career to the exclusion of everything else. So much so, he’d missed over a decade of family time, and he’d never given his heart to any woman because his was already spoken for, claimed by hockey when he was just a young boy.
Now there was a chance he’d gotten Gianna Duncan pregnant.
So why wasn’t his heart racing, his chest tight? Why wasn’t he panicking, swearing off sex forever, making deals with God to get him out of this?
None of that was happening. Not now, and not even last night when he’d calmly asked her about birth control, then talked her off the ledge.
