Page 49 of Cruelest Contract (Storm’s Eye Ranch)

Mindful that there’s a whole house of people who are wide awake, I snatch a pillow and push it over my mouth to muffle any noise I’m about to make.

Julian tests me with his fingers. He drags the tip of his cock over my entrance. At this point every delay is just torment. I’m aching with the need to be used until I’m panting and wrecked.

He slides into me slowly. For the first few seconds I’m always stunned by the sheer size of him. This changes in a hurry and soon I’m pushing back, frantic to feel him push even deeper.

Each thrust he makes is primitive abandon.

He sets a grueling pace and pushes my chest down to the mattress so he can lift my hips higher.

The angle produces a sensation that’s impossible to describe.

Whatever secret spot he’s hitting has never been reached before.

The orgasm doesn’t rise slowly. It crashes into me with the force of a tsunami and I scream into the pillow.

All sense of time and place is briefly lost.

I still haven’t recovered when he goes over the edge. Meeting my challenge, he doesn’t pull out. Nothing can match the feeling of him shuddering and releasing while he’s still inside my body with no barrier between us. I’ll take whatever he gives me. I’m greedy for every drop.

We’re both sweaty and gasping when he finishes and falls to the mattress. He immediately pulls me close and I revel in the sensation of his pounding heart under my cheek.

“Welcome home,” I say and kiss the spot where his heart lives.

Julian’s chest rumbles with a low chuckle and he casually sifts my hair through his fingers. “What’s gotten into you?”

“You did.” I curl my arms around his strong body, gripped by a fiercely possessive mood.

I can’t fault Julian for his shock. Sometimes I shock myself. And then I wonder what I’m becoming as I assimilate into the Tempestas’ world.

“How was Sicily?” I trace a heart on his skin.

A ripple of tension tightens his muscles and I raise my head to look at his face. He fends off the question by drawing me in for a deep, passionate kiss.

The message is clear.

That piece of his life will not be shared. It’s reserved for his father and his brothers and the grim armed men in their Mafia entourage.

A dull thud inside my chest might be disappointment. Or it might be jealousy, that there are parts of him beyond my reach.

In many ways, the Mafia is unknown to me. I’ve unwillingly lived on the margin of that violent club for my entire life and I’ve never felt a burning desire to know what goes on. Even if I did, women aren’t welcome there.

But here in this bed, Julian is all mine.

I know his body well enough to guess ten minutes is not too soon for him to get hard again. Intent on proving it, I move down his chest, kissing a trail as I go. I suck at the skin on his belly, wishing to leave my mark on him the way he left one on me. He groans and arches his back.

A smile spreads across my face before I dip my head and take him in my mouth. He tastes like us, like raw sex, and he gets harder by the second. His hands tangle in my hair as he fucks my mouth and growls out my name.

I swallow him deep enough to gag and then abruptly switch positions, moving fast to straddle him. With one jerk of my hips, I take him inside.

“Be careful,” he warns, eyeing me from below. “Or you’ll accidentally get knocked up.”

I respond with a sweet smile. “Who says it’ll be an accident, Julian?”

His eyes flash. “Fuck,” he groans. “For real?”

Still smiling, I drag my short nails down his chest. “You made me a promise. You said we’d build a dynasty. A family of our own. We can start trying today.”

His fingers sink into my hips and his expression becomes downright savage. “You can’t say that to a man like me without meaning it, Cecilia.”

“I do mean it. Show me that you mean it too.”

He doesn’t need any further encouragement. Keeping an iron grip on my hips, he urges me to ride him hard and I love the pace, no matter how punishing. Since there’s no longer a pillow over my mouth to muffle my moans, I bite my lip fiercely enough to taste a hint of coppery blood.

It makes no difference. I’m unstoppable. I’ve never felt more powerful than I do right now. The tips of my long hair tickle my breasts. Even when I throw my head back to revel in the onslaught of a new orgasm, I can feel Julian’s smoldering eyes raking over my skin.

He holds back until my climax recedes and then he comes with a heavy groan. I’m already addicted to the reckless thrill of feeling him erupt inside me and knowing there might be consequences.

In fact, I hope there are consequences.

The thought of holding Julian’s baby in my arms fills me with such unspeakable emotion that I can hardly breathe.

“Come here.” Julian is still catching his breath but he sits up and wraps me in a hug. I throw my arms around his neck and refuse to let go.

I’m still clutching him when he lifts me off the bed and carries me to the shower. I always enjoy this side of him, sweet and caring. He gently soaps my skin and then dries me off. He doesn’t even bother to grab a towel for himself until I’m cozily wrapped in my pink robe.

Julian drags on a pair of jeans and grins when he sees me watching.

“Wait a minute,” he says and leaves the room. He returns shortly with his suitcase. As I sit on the edge of the bed, he hunts for a moment and comes up with a box sheathed in brown paper.

He places the object in my lap and I feel almost giddy as I unwrap the paper and flip open the lid of a cedar box.

Inside, there’s a book. The cover is made of the softest pink leather and the ranch logo is burned into the surface. Beneath the logo, my name has been carved in ornate scripted letters.

My NEW name.

Cecilia Tempesta.

“A new journal to celebrate your new life,” Julian says. “And there’s a lock on the box. The key is taped to the bottom.”

I swear. This man, he gets me.

“I love it,” I tell him and pull him down for a kiss.

My preference would be to remain right here in our own little world but we’re expected to show up in the dining room.

Julian shaves and looks especially dashing in a pair of neatly pressed black pants and a light blue shirt.

I’ve changed into the dress I wore when I arrived.

That was a day of high anxiety, when my brother’s life was hanging in the balance and I had no idea what awaited me in Wyoming.

Now Gabriel is safe. He’s back at the vineyard. Julian has assured me that it’s widely known Gabe is now under the protection of the Tempestas.

As for me, I’m married to a man who leaves me breathless. I feel beautiful whenever Julian smiles at me. This place is my home now and I’m surrounded by family.

Dinner turns out to be a pleasant hour. Plates of delicious manicotti are served, followed by Enzo’s specialty dessert, tiramisu.

Whatever tension existed between Julian and his father seems to have faded.

I wouldn’t say Cass is in a great mood, but I’m not sure this ever happens.

At least Julian’s brothers are more than lively enough to make up for any brooding pauses. Even Getty avoids antagonizing anyone.

All through dinner, I hold onto the hope that Julian and I will be left alone for the evening. I’d love to watch the sunset, just the two of us.

No such luck.

Julian is already distracted when he kisses my lips and says he’ll be in his father’s study. I try not to feel forlorn as Julian and his brothers file into the room behind their father. The door closes and I’m left on the other side.

Mel is replacing the flowers on the foyer table and notices the look on my face. With a wince of pity, she offers to bring up some tea and biscotti. It’s a nice gesture but I politely tell her that it won’t be necessary.

I walk up the stairs alone. Outside, the wind has picked up and beats against the walls. Turning around at the top of the stairs, I see the phantom bull skull nailed above the door and suppress a shudder at the sight of its constant leer.

Julian doesn’t return until nearly midnight. I’ve passed the time by writing in my journal, watching a few of my favorite episodes of Gilmore Girls , and finally curling up in bed with a frayed vintage copy of Jane Eyre that I was reunited with when I searched the boxes delivered from my apartment.

He comes to bed wearing only a pair of dark blue briefs. I’ve never lived with a man before and I wonder when it fades, this thrill of feeling his powerful body slide into the sheets beside me.

I’m quick to send my book to the nightstand and coil closer to him. His skin is so warm and I gladly inhale his scent of soap and aftershave while trying to erase the worries in my own mind. There are so many gaps in my knowledge about what goes on between the Tempesta men behind closed doors.

“Is everything all right?” I ask him.

A beat of silence passes.

Then Julian says, “Yes.”

I lift my head to see his face. “You’d tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn’t you?”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” he says. He slides a hand under my nightie and clucks his tongue when he discovers I’m wearing panties.

Julian hasn’t really answered my question. But I’m already forgetting about that question and any other questions because he’s tugging my panties down.

It doesn’t matter that we’ve had already had sex multiple times today.

I want him again. I can’t stop wanting him.

Julian brings my discarded panties to his mouth. He sucks them briefly, then balls up the fabric and tosses it away.

“You won’t be needing those,” he declares and nudges my thighs apart.

Impatient to oblige, I slide his briefs down. “And you won’t be needing these.”

With a gruff chuckle, he flips my nightie up past my belly and settles between my legs. I pull my knees up and lock them around his hips.

“I really did miss you,” I whisper.

He kisses my lips and guides his cock. “I’m here now, Cecilia.”

With one slow, deliberate thrust, he’s inside me again.

And nothing else seems as important as the way he makes me feel.