Page 73 of Tormented Diamonds

Right now, thewhydoesn’t matter.

For the first time, sex with Becca isn’t about dominating or owning her. It’s about connecting on a level I usually avoid at all cost. It’s about these goddamn emotions she’s forced into me. The ones that both destroyed and saved me.

“Gianni, please…” Becca moans, her legs trembling. “I can’t take this. It’s driving me crazy.”

My smile is almost as slow as my thrusts. “Say it again.”

Her eyes snap open, then narrow, those innocent pools of blue now tinged with a darkness that has my cock begging for mercy. “I love you, Gianni Marchesi. I love every part of you, the dark, the light, the man…” She bites her lip. “And especially the monster.”

Groaning, I shift all my weight onto one arm and brush those sinful lips with my thumb. “Ti amo, mia regina del fuoco.”

She holds my stare, her palms coming up to cradle my face. “Say it in English.”

I drive deeper into her, punctuating my words while keeping the agonizingly slow pace. “I love you, my fire queen. Now come for your husband.” Turning my head, I sink my teeth into her leg.

Becca explodes like a charged lightning strike. Her cry splinters in her throat, her muscles contracting around my cock so tightly, I lose all semblance of control. One disjoined thrust has me coming so violently, it feels like I stop breathing for a moment.

“Christ…” I open my eyes to find my head hung low, my chest heaving.

“Gianni? Are you?—?”

Releasing her legs, I claim her mouth in a possessive, passionate kiss. It’s partly because I can’t get enough of her, and partly to derail the path she was going down.

I’m not up for a Dr. Brennan verbal dissection on what just happened.

Especially before dropping yet another bomb on her.

Breaking the kiss, I roll onto my back, taking Becca with me. She lands half on top of me, her head resting on my shoulder and her leg slung low on my waist. I bend my arm, supporting her back while leaving my fingers free to drag lazily throughher messy hair.

“Fair enough.” She chuckles softly while tracing all the tattoos and silver scars painting my chest.

It feels so normal that I almost change my mind in what I’m about to do. But, all bubbles burst, sooner or later. I might as well be at the control of the destruction.

“You know everything I do is to protect you, right?”

She tips her head back and stares up at me. “Why? What’s going on?”

We’re interrupted by the shrill ring of my phone. Becca’s eyes drift past me to the nightstand, her lips thinning into a tight line.

“Ignore it,” I tell her.

But the more I talk over it, the louder it seems to get.

Disentangling herself with a sigh, she rolls onto her back and tugs the sheet up to her chin. “You might as well answer it. He’s just going to keep calling.”

I wish I could say she’s wrong, but once again, Becca proves she’s much more deeply in tune with this life than I thought. Besides, I’ve left the man boiling in his own pot of water long enough.

I drag my phone off the nightstand and answer seconds before it kicks into voicemail. “You’re up early, Benny. What’s wrong? Prostate not what it used to be?”

“How generous of you to finally pick up your fucking phone.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“So I hear. Seems a lot has transpired since our last conversation.”

“Maybe,” I say, my gaze shifting as Becca props up onto her elbow and drills those inquisitive blue eyes into the side of my face. “What have you heard?”

“Don’t play games with me.” He lets out a low, foreboding laugh that scrapes my nerves the wrong way. “I canrip that crown off your head just as fast as I put it there. Then who’ll protect that pretty wife of yours?”