Meet the Characters:
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Nero screams in my face. His hands grip my dark jacket. His eyes pierce mine. His face is red with fury, and I’ve seen that face often enough to know that you never want it directed at you.
Yet, here I am, poking a very dangerous bear. Whereas our capo, Marco Moretti, is standing behind his desk simply watching the scene unfold. I catch a glimpse over Nero’s shoulder and watch him come around the desk to stand with his back to it, leaning on it to sit on the edge.
“Nero, stand down.” The authoritative command from our capo stops Nero from ripping my head clean off my shoulders.
It takes Nero a moment, but he finally lets go of me and takes a step back. He veers toward his father. “He’s talking about Grazia. Our Grazia,” he spews.
“Step outside, my son. I need a moment with Luciano,” Marco tells him. Nero looks disbelievingly at his father and is ready to say something more, but Marco gives him a stern look, and that shuts him up, at least for now. His teeth are clenched, his fists balled tight, and I can see that the last thing he wants to do is leave the room. However, he’s not yet the capo, and although he is Marco’s son, he’s still a soldier in La Famiglia. An important man in his own right, but he doesn’t have the final say, not yet.
I wait for the door to shut, much louder than normal, I might add, before approaching my capo. I won’t lower my eyes, I vow, in silence. Marco won’t respect or entrust his daughter to a man who cowers.
“Sir—” I begin.
“Quiet,” Marco interrupts, then takes a heavy breath before raising himself from the edge of the desk and straightening his shoulders. The man may be in his late fifties, but I don’t doubt his ability to knock me senseless. Yes, I could overpower him, but what purpose would that serve? I would never have Grazia then.
“You have caused quite a stir with just a few words, Luciano. Why should I give you my daughter? She is a gentle soul, and you are a very hardened man. Do you have any idea how much chaos you caused in this moment? Nero was happy to end you just now. The only reason I halted your death was because your father was my best friend and consigliere, and you, my boy, have been a trusted friend to Nero.” Marco moves across the room to sit by the fireplace in his rustic brown leather wingback chair. “Explain yourself,” he says, waving his hand in the air, gesturing for me to say my piece.
Feel the Passion:
Taking her hand, I lead her up the spiral staircase and stop before the bedroom door. I sweep her into my arms and carry her across the threshold.
“Luciano,” she gasps, not expecting it at all. I gently lower her to the ground and, in one fell swoop, pull her flush against my body.
“I’ve been a very patient man, principessa. I think I deserve my reward for such patience,” I murmur. She looks up at me with wide eyes and her mouth agape. “Do you agree?” I take her lower lip between my teeth, nipping gently before I release her. Grazia nods, her breath coming more rapidly. “Turn around, my wife,” I command. Grazia complies quickly, presenting her back to me. “Do you want to save this dress?” I ask as I caress her neck with the back of my hand. Smooth, silky skin, so soft to the touch.
“P-pardon?” She jerks her head back.
“Fuck it, Grazia, I’ll buy you a new dress if you want,” I growl, grabbing the knife I have hidden on my person, and carefully slash through the crisscross ribbon holding her dress closed. I watch as the dress pools at her feet, unwrapping a magnificent package. Long silky legs, a perky ass barely covered in lace, and the soft creamy skin of her back, with her long brown hair hanging loose. Instinctively, Grazia moves to cover her breasts, looking over her shoulder in surprise, those beautiful amber doe eyes, watching me. I guide her back, stepping her out of her dress.
With her hands still covering her breasts, I guide her to face me, then drop to my knees, hooking my index fingers in the sides of her panties and tugging them down, agonizingly slow, uncovering every tantalizing inch of her body. Placing my lips on her heated skin, I let them follow the path of my hands. Lower and lower still.
I lift her foot slightly off the ground to remove her panties, then do the same with the other, but instead of placing her foot down, I brace her leg over my shoulder, giving me an uninhibited view of her sweet pussy. Shaved clean, and damp with need.
“Luce…” she says with a wispy breath. She holds herself steady with one hand on my shoulder while the other still covers herself.
Leaves you wanting more:
Luciano shuffles me around the corner of the entrance and down a hallway. I only get a quick peek at the main room filled with boxing equipment, hanging bags, and even a boxing ring. Several men are hitting the bags, and two are in the ring, sparring. I notice a weight room and another room where they are wrestling on a mat.
One guy gets thrown to the ground and stomped on. This is no practice session; these guys are hard core. And I confirm that it definitely smells like sweat and dirty socks. We eventually reach the locked door at the very end of the hall. This room is immaculate. No sweaty-sock smell here.
There are several mats in the center of the room, an elliptical, a treadmill, and a set of weights on the far end.
“Ready to get started?” Luciano asks as he drops the bag he was carrying.
“I guess so,” I mutter, far less sure of myself. I unzip my jacket and place it to one side. I can sense Luciano’s eyes on me as he peruses my body, taking me all in. I look down at my clothes, confused. “Am I not dressed appropriately?”
“You’re fine,” he replies and turns toward the mats. “Come here.” He gestures me toward the center of the room. “We’re going to work on a couple of things. First, we’re going to look at some ways to escape an attacker. Then we’re going to spend some time on endurance. We’re eventually going to work up to using a knife to defend yourself.”
“O-okay.” I draw out the word. It’s not okay! I have no clue what the heck I’m doing, and he’s going to put a knife in my hand.
“Let’s start with some easy ways to get out of a hold. Turn around,” he commands. I turn my back to him. Without warning and, it must be said, without a sound, I’m suddenly incapacitated with his massive arms wrapped around me, holding my wrists firmly in his hands, crossed over my chest, startling the breath out of me. “Try to get free,” his husky voice says by my ear.
Is he kidding? I can’t move. I try to wriggle out of the hold he has on me. I jerk forward and back, without any luck. All I manage to do is exhaust myself, and I haven’t loosened his grip, not even a little bit.
“You’re focusing on your top half. You have legs and feet, baby. Basic mistake.”
I lift a leg and try and kick back, hitting air. “That’s cute.” Luciano chuckles. Well, now I’m just getting peeved. I jerk forward, hoping to throw him off balance, and try again to kick my leg back, managing to brush against his shin, but not actually connecting. “That’s better,” he coos in my ear. Then I swear I feel his lips brush the lobe of my ear. My chest heaves, and I stand ramrod straight.
Luciano moves his lips down the side of my neck, stopping and kissing the area at the base. I’m hoisted through the air and end up on the mat, with Luciano looming over me, his legs on either side of my hips, his arms braced by my head, and a fierce expression on his face, with fire in his eyes. He lowers his head so that our lips are mere inches away, his breath light on my skin.
“I’m going to kiss you, principessa. If you want to wait, you need to say something now.” His eyes bore into mine, searching my face. I should speak up, but I’ve been imagining his kiss for so long. So very, very long.
My eyes flutter closed as his firm, full lips close over mine, placing a hint of pressure, then licking the seam of my lips. “Open for me.” His voice is raw with passion. I give way and allow our kiss to consume me. A warmth spreads all through my body, fluttering in my belly, as my arms wrap around his neck, unconsciously drawing him closer. My first kiss.
When he finally pulls back, I open my eyes to see his grin. “As much as I would like to keep you just like this, I made a promise to your father.” I quirk my brow up in question. “I promised to protect you, even from me.” He lifts himself off me and pulls me to my feet. “Let’s get back to work.”
It takes me a few minutes to readjust and regain composure. Luciano spends the next hour teaching me how to move my arms to break a hold or maneuver my legs to land a kick. I still haven’t managed to knock him on his ass, but he seems pleased with my progress. We take the next hour afterward to work on weights. Me struggling with five-pound weights while he’s lifting fifty pounds.
Every so often, he touches my arm or brushes his leg against me. Nothing like the kiss, but it still feels very intimate.
All in all, I have to say that my first self-defense lesson is a success. Well, for me it is.
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