Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
“Then let me.”
She sighed, leaning heavily into me. “Okay.”
VI
I woke the next morning, surprised to find Aldo there. He was sitting in the chair, the robe wrapped around him, a book open on his lap. A steaming cup of coffee was sitting on the table beside him, and he had his ankle crossed over his knee. His feet were bare. He had long toes and surprisingly elegant feet for a man his size, and like the rest of him, they were looked after.
“Do you get pedicures?” I asked, sitting up against the headboard.
He looked up, startled. His eyes were set off by a pair of heavy tortoiseshell frames. He tugged them off, offering me a bashful grin. “Yeah. I’m on my feet a lot. They do a great pedi downstairs. I’m a regular.” He set aside his book and picked up his coffee. “I can arrange one for you.”
“That would be nice, thanks.”
He smiled. “I like that.”
“Like what?”
“That I offer you something and you don’t simper and pretend you don’t want it. It pleases me to give you things and you accept them gracefully.”
“I have a feeling a pedicure won’t break you, but it is a luxury for me.”
“I’ll arrange it.” He studied me. “You look better. Do you need to cut back your hours? Change to day shift?”
I pulled my knees to my chest. “I need not to be ravished all night and day long for forty-eight hours.”
He nodded, stroking his thumb along his bottom lip. “We’ll space it out better. Fucking and sleeping.” He paused, looking uncertain—something I didn’t expect from Aldo. “If you’re, ah, interested.”
“You want honesty?” I asked.
“Always.”
I rested my chin on my knees and took in a deep breath. “Aldo, I didn’t sleep after I was with you. I felt like I was missing something. The thought of our time being over made me sadder than losing my entire life and home a few weeks ago. I like you. I like being with you.” I swallowed. “Even if it’s not forever.”
He studied me quietly. “I haven’t taken a full night off in months. Maybe longer. It took all my strength to leave you this morning and do some rounds. I rushed around, desperate to get back before you woke up. Watching you sleep calms me. Knowing I’m watching over you, that you’re safe, makes me feel…” He trailed off. “It makes me feel something.”
“I do feel safe with you.”
“I trust you,” he informed me. “I have never once had a woman come to my room here.”
“Usually a different one every night?” I teased, even though I hated the thought of him with another woman.
“Usually a different hotel and a few hours—if that. And it was a rare occurrence. I’m not a player,” he replied. “I have never spent this much time with another person, aside from Roman.”
“Does he know?”
“He knows some, not all. I can’t explain it to him, when I can’t understand it myself.”
I smiled.
“But I don’t want to talk about it yet, until I figure it out. With him or with you. Can you handle that? I want you with me when you can be. When I can be here. I want to spend more time with you.”
“I’d like that.”
He looked pleased. Our eyes locked, the heat and desire between us sizzling.
“You know what I’d like even more?” I whispered.
He stood, shrugging off his robe. It dropped to the floor in a pool of ebony, and he stood gloriously naked, his erection growing, his muscles taut and his gaze intense. “Hopefully, what I want as well,” he said.
“Well, I meant coffee. But if your dick is on the menu, I could eat,” I replied, quirking my eyebrows.
He chuckled and came closer. “How about both, baby? My dick first, and I’ll get you coffee and anything else you want after.”
I swung my legs off the bed, and I took him in my hand, stroking his cock, loving how he groaned. I opened my mouth, sliding him in, swirling my tongue on the head.
“Yeah, baby, like that,” he praised. “Such a gifted mouth. Such a pretty, talented girl I have.”
I slid my hands to his ass, cupping the firm cheeks, taking him deeper. He groaned, delving his fingers into my hair. “Vi,” he murmured. “Jesus. Yes. Suck me. Hard.”
I did as he asked.
I was really hoping for pancakes.
The next while passed in a blur of days and nights. Sometimes I couldn’t tell them apart. But every day, Aldo was part of my world. Sometimes a visit at the deli, a few moments shared over a sandwich, some random texts or a call. There were nights I spent in his suite. A few he stayed at mine. The single bed I’d bought and put under the window was better than the sofa but not by much. At least he could almost fit. I didn’t have room for a king-size bed to accommodate him. We snuggled a lot on those nights, although he was certainly inventive when it came to sex. I knew he had a real residence—a house—somewhere in town, but he never took me there, and I didn’t ask. Our relationship had boundaries, and I was smart enough to know that. And as sad as it made me, I accepted them, because I loved being with him. I also knew our relationship was different from others he’d had in the past. I saw the way he watched me. His protectiveness and his possessive side. He hated it when customers were overly friendly, his gaze darkening, the furrow between his brows deepening. He was always more passionate later, as if claiming me.