Page 149 of The Temptation

She raises an eyebrow. “I don’t trust those women not to slip their numbers into your pocket when I’m not looking.”

I set the razor down and turn to face her. Her arms are still anchored around my waist.

“I wouldn’t even look at anyone else. Not when I’ve got the prettiest wife in the entire world.”

She raises a perfectly sculptured eyebrow. “The entire world? I doubt I’m even the prettiest woman in town.”

“You are,” I say, reaching up to bop her cute little nose with the tip of my finger. “You are more than I deserve, Mrs De Luca, and I’ll never take that or you for granted.”

She’s all the family I have now, outside theFamiglia, that is.

My parents are gone. My uncle too. I’ve only seen my maternal grandparents once in my entire life, and that was at my uncle’s funeral. I stood just behind my mother as she tried to approach them after the service, her shoulders drawn tight, as if she were bracing for impact.

She didn’t even get two steps in before my grandmother looked her dead in the eye and turned her back.

As for my father’s side? They may as well be ghosts. I don’t know a single name or face. I’ve been on this earth for almost thirty-three years, and never got a call, a letter … nothing. I figure if they gave a shit, they’d have shown it by now.

“I thought you might appreciate some time on your own.”

I tilt my head. “Why?”

She hesitates, then shrugs. “You’re not used to this, so Iwant you to have space to breathe without me clinging to you every second. I’m a lot, I get that.”

I brush the tips of my fingers along her jaw. “You’re not clinging. You’re grounding me. And I’ll admit you’re a little full-on at times, but that’s just one of the many things I adore about you.”

I woke up this morning to my dick down my wife’s throat; it was a surprising yet pleasant way to start the day.

I’ve always had a healthy appetite when it comes to sex, but I think I’ve met my match with this one.

The blowjob somehow morphed into a sixty-niner, and ended with her on all fours while I took her from behind. That was her suggestion, not mine.

When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed to have breakfast, she casually said,“What are your thoughts on bondage and gagging, because I’m so down for that if you’re keen?”

I’d just taken a mouthful of coffee when those words came out of her unfiltered mouth, and I ended up spending the next few minutes coughing up a lung.

I’m pretty sure there’s a long list of sexual positions she wants to try, buried somewhere in that pretty little head of hers, and she’s mentally checking them off one by one.

When I’m fully healed, I’ll gladly give her all she wants and more. I’ll be more than happy to show her just how lacklustre those pretty boys in her books really are.

“I’ve made you a sandwich. I covered it and put it in the fridge just in case you get hungry while I’m gone.”

“I’m more than capable of making myself something to eat, Lucia.”

“I know,” she says, kissing my chest this time. “I like taking care of you.”

“I like you taking care of me too, Luc,” I admit, because it’s the truth. “But never feel like you have to … okay?”

She nods once before releasing me and turning to leave. She pauses at the doorway and glances at me over her shoulder. It feels like she’s hesitant to go, like she’s worried I won’t be here when she gets back.

I give her a wink. “I’ll see you soon,” I say, in an attempt to reassure her.

She offers me a small smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Okay.” The word comes out as a whisper. Like, there’s more she’s not saying. A shadow of insecurity, maybe.

I turn back around and meet her gaze in the mirror. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She holds my eyes for a second longer, nods her head once, then slips out the door.