“Baby, I don’t want to drop you, but if you keep licking my ear like that I may.”
“Sorry,” she says as she moves lower to my neck.
“That’s no better,” I mumble, tagging on a groan at the end. It’s a legitimate concern. Even with the short distance from the couch to the bedroom, I can’t get my limbs to work right. All the blood flow has shifted to my cock. Thankfully, I have her on the bed before my arms give out.
Her shorts still sit at the tops of her thighs, stuck on her brace. Her bare breasts beg to be sucked, as her erect nipples mockingly point toward me. Maybe it’s from the lack of sex or the anticipation that it’s finally happening, but I’m having a hard time with basic motor skills.
She points to her shorts. “Ben? Can you help me?” she asks as I continue to stand at the foot of the bed gawking at her like a creep. She sighs and tries to remove her shorts by herself, struggling as she does.
“Ben!” she calls out in frustration. “Please take off my damn shorts.”
Before I do, I remove my clothing. I know once I touch her, get near those exposed breasts, I won’t be able to stop for even the few seconds it would take to strip. My brain has me still standing there like an idiot. My cock has me stroking myself, without even realizing I’m doing it.
She quickly swipes at her bottom lip, the only indication that tells me she’s nervous. Is she in pain and just too stubborn to admit it?
“Ella, you should be resting.” I voice my thoughts, but my cock screams Dude, shut the fuck up.
“Oh my God, you’re killing me,” she says with a huff, agreeing with my cock.
“We have to be careful.”
“Ben, the doctor cleared me and said we could have sex if we were creative enough to figure out how. I’m determined to figure out how. Now get your gorgeous, naked body over here, take the rest of my clothes off, and fuck me.”
Her commands break through my confusion. With great difficulty, I finally remove her shorts. “I think I need to wear dresses from now on for better access,” she says pragmatically.
“Good idea.”
Thank fuck, her panties are easier to remove. By the time I finally have her naked, I’m a sweating, throbbing mess. She reaches for me, and like a magnet to metal, my lips instantly find my favorite spot on her neck. It’s right below her ear, where her skin feels like silk, right above her scar. It’s where her scent is intoxicating. It’s where I first kissed her on the day we met.
My lips slowly travel down her throat, until I reach the swell of her breast. Her body is like a minefield. At any moment, my cock can explode just from my lips touching her smooth skin.
I trail my lips gingerly over her breasts, her torso, avoiding her new scar. Her flesh is angry and puckered where the stitches were removed. It’s shorter in length than the one on her neck, but the mere sight of it causes fury to bubble within. I quickly extinguish it. I don’t want to upset her, especially now. I move past it toward her belly button, concentrating on the feel of her skin.
With two hands, I lift her thigh and place it a few inches to her left, trying to better expose her pussy for what I have planned. The brace makes it a tight squeeze down there. It stretches from her inner thigh to her calf. Flustered, I try again, this time lifting her right leg and hoisting it over my shoulder.
“Much better,” I say, mostly to myself. With my mouth inches from her clit, I stop to announce, “Once we get the hang of it, next time should be easier.”
“Ben.” She rolls her eyes and says, “You’re seriously killing me.”
“Sorry,” I mouth against her. She bucks beneath me as if I touched her with a live wire. I immediately lift my head to tease her further. “Are you okay?”
“Ben!” she yells as she holds my head and forces me to her.
She feels my smile when I take her clit into my mouth. Her fingers tighten in my hair, and she mewls like she’s been in pain. I feast on her by nibbling, licking, sucking, and probing her with my tongue and fingers. When I reach my free hand out, she links her fingers in between mine while trembling beneath my mouth. Her orgasm consumes her from head to toe, and then she finally relaxes with a lengthy sigh.
“Are you tired? Do you want me to stop here?”
“Definitely not.” She tugs on my hand until I settle in between her spread legs.
“I missed your taste,” I admit before slipping inside her tight, wet pussy. “I also missed being inside you.”
She gasps, responding with a breathy, “Me, too.”
I’m not able to hold her like I usually do. My arms are busy keeping my weight off of her and not roaming her smooth skin. Her hands on my back, her right leg wrapped around me, and my steady thrusts are all I need to bring us both into a tandem climax. She comes again - I follow right behind. It’s all too soon, but perfect nonetheless.
It’s the perfect way to christen our new bed and our new home.
I collapse on my back beside her to catch my breath. We’re both staring straight up at the ceiling when she asks, “Huh, we have a ceiling fan in here?”
She makes me laugh out loud. “You are so adorable.” While still staring up, I blindly search for her hand. “Did I hurt you? Is your leg okay?”
“No, no hurt, only greatness. I’m great…so great.”
“Mmm, me, too.”
She raises her head to look out the glass doors. “Can people see us?”
“Mmm, who cares?”
“True,” she responds with a giggle.
I turn onto my side to look down at her. “You’re so beautiful.” She smiles warmly, making my heart swell with lust, love, and happiness. She evokes every damn emotion I’ve stifled for so long.
The just fucked look suits her well. Her hair is fanning around her, her lips are pouty and pink, her cheeks are flushed, and a strand of hair clings to her chest from the perspiration that coats her skin. I’ll never tire from looking at her. The memory of the first night we met comes to my mind. Now that I have her, I can’t fathom how I walked away from her that night I met her. I must have been a self-centered prick to be able to fight what she stirs within me.
“Ben, thank you for being the sweetest, most considerate, most loving boyfriend that walks this earth. I’m so happy.”
“Your happiness is all I want, Ella. That is, besides you.” I distractedly remove that one lucky strand of hair that continues to cling to her skin. “Ella, I’ve been thinking.”
She stares up at me expectantly.
“I have no right to tell you how to gain some closure. My situation is very different from yours. I may have been a victim of Politto and his immorality, but I’m still me. I was born Benjamin Stone, and I’ll always be Benjamin Stone.”
Her mouth opens to respond, but nothing comes out.
“Even though you are and always will be Ella Parker, I understand your need for information. It took me a while. I can be dense. I just want to protect you, and my methods may not be conventional. I’m sorry.”
“Ben, don’t apologize. I know you act the way you do because you love me. I’m sorry I sometimes give you a hard time.”
“Well, in any case I was wrong. So I arranged for a Skype session with you and Razzo.”
Her eyes widen as she asks, “You did?”
“Yes. In a few days, he will be taken to a secured room within headquarters, and you will be able to ask him anything you’d like.”
She cups my face with a shaky hand. “I don’t know what to say. I know this was very hard for you to do.”
Shrugging, I say, “It’s the right thing to do. I’m sorry I was so stubborn.” I kiss her lips gently before adding, “I can’t promise there won’t be other situations that arise causing me to slip back into my prickness. I’ll probably do so without apology. This is a blanket I’m sorry for future incidences.”
“I accept your apology. Just as there will be times, I will be a stubborn pain in your ass. I’m also sorry.”
“You’re forgiven for being a pain in my ass.”
She shoves me playfully. “You’re lucky I love you so much, Ben Stone.”
“That I am, Ella Parker.” I kiss her passionately, leaving her glassy eyed. “I’m the luckiest prick in the world.”
“Stop fidgeting, baby,” I try to calm her by taking one of her hands.
“I can’t help it. I’m nervous.”
“He can’t hurt you.”
“I know. Just the truth can.”
Thus, my issue with this whole thing, but I keep that to myself. She’s heard me say it too many times. She knows it’s true deep down inside, but she still needs to do this. I get it, and I’ll be here to pick up the pieces if it devastates her.
The FBI secured laptop is powered up on Skype, waiting for Farley to dial in. I’m sitting beside her at the table, out of the Skype shot. The only thing behind us is the blank beige wall. Farley thought I was a bit neurotic when we discussed the details of this call. He reiterated Razzo was not going to harm her, and there was no way anyone could know where we were calling from. I told him I didn’t give a shit.
Now that it’s upon us, I’m here for support and nothing else. This is between her and Razzo. He was very happy to hear Ella wanted to speak to him. Farley said that Razzo hopes he can help to settle the ghosts that are haunting her. I do, too. If nothing comes of this, I only hope she can live with the truth and put it behind her once and for all.
The screen starts ringing with Farley’s call. Even though she is expecting it, she jolts from the sound. I squeeze her hand reassuringly as she hits the answer button.
“Hi, Ella,” Farley says as his face fills the screen.
“Hi.” She swipes her tongue over her bottom lip, her telltale sign of nervousness.
“You ready?”
She nods and swallows. “Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll be here beside Mr. Razzo. You can end the call whenever you want.”
After another nod, Farley shifts the laptop to reveal Razzo. His boisterous presence fills the screen. He smiles warmly, making him more like the grandpa figure that she has conjured up in her mind.
“Beautiful Ella.”
“Mr. Razzo.”
“Please call me Gianni.”
She smiles shyly. “Okay, Gianni. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m very nervous.”
He furrows his brow. “No need to be nervous with me. Ella, I was there the day you were born. My wife was the first to hold you after your parents. You were the most beautiful baby. We all knew you would be a knockout when you got older.”
“Thank you.” She nervously tucks her hair behind her ear with a shaky right hand as her left hand continues to clutch mine. “Can you tell me about them?”
“Of course. Your father and I were great friends even before…” He pauses briefly, “Even before we began working together. My girlfriend, who later became my wife, introduced Angelo to Regina. He was older than her by nine years. Your father lived two lives. He made it a point to keep his business away from his personal life.” Razzo shrugs and pulls in a deep breath. “I know it must be hard for you to understand, but it was just business.”
“He did terrible things.”
“Yes, we all did. I’m not proud of the man I was, or am. We were predestined to the life we chose. The older I get and the closer to judgment day, the more what we did becomes real.” He shakes his head, looking pensive. “This is not an excuse, but when you’re living that kind of life, you’re in survival mode. Your dad and I truly believed we did what we had to do to survive. He paid the price. I paid some then, and I’m paying more now. We all eventually pay the price, one way or another.”
“And my mom? Did she pay for his sins or hers?” Tears swell in Ella’s eyes. Her lip quivers as she measures her breathing in an attempt to control her emotions.
“Ella, your mom had no idea what we did. Some would call it denial. How can a wife not know what her husband is truly capable of? I can honestly say, Regina, and even my wife, didn’t know the entire truth. They knew we were involved in some shady things, mostly wise-guy antics.
“She fell in love and turned a blind eye. Regina paid a very high price when the truth was revealed. When she left with you, when Regina and Gabriella were killed in that house fire, I lost my own wife that day as well. She left me. I consciously never married again. We never had children. I go between regretting that and being thankful that we didn’t. That’s why I made it my one and only goal in life to keep an eye out for the two of you. Yes, I did it for your father, more so for me. You two were the only family I truly loved. Everyone else in my life was just like me. You were pure. I loved you like a daughter.”
The tears are now rolling freely down Ella’s cheeks. She stopped trying to deny them. He watches her with a frown before saying, “Don’t cry, Ella. I want you to know two things. These are the only things I will say to you today that you should remember, hold in your heart, and never let them go.
“First, your father loved you more than anything in this world. Second, your mother loved you more than anything in this world. Forget their names, forget who they were, just know they loved you. Since the day you were born, you were Ella. Your mom nicknamed you that the minute she saw you. Gabriella was Angelo’s mother’s name, your grandmother. Regina used the name, but she wasn’t attached to it. Ella is who you were, always. Her Ella.”
“Do I have any other family?”
“No one that you need to know,” he responds immediately. “Your mother gave up a lot to marry Angelo, which is why I can tell you without any doubt she truly loved him. He wanted only the best for her. When you came, I’d never seen him as happy as those months after you were born. They didn’t last. His enemies made it difficult for him to revel in his loving family life. His euphoria was very short lived.”
A few moments pass where Razzo stares at Ella, and Ella stares at the ground. He waits patiently as she processes it all. When she meets his gaze, tranquility alters his features. He visibly relaxes before our very eyes.
“He wasn’t supposed to be there…Smyth. I moved him when you arrived to New York. I transferred him to the furthest location from you. I now feel, him seeing you that day was a blessing of sorts. It caused the chain of events to occur to finally put Gabriella Volante to rest. You’re safe now, Ella. You have nothing to fear. Someday, you’ll meet a wonderful man who will love you. Whoever he is, I hope he’ll know what a gem you are.
“I’m going to leave you with this. I’m a sick man. I’m battling prostate cancer. The decisions I’ve made to cooperate with the FBI are only partly because of my diagnosis. I withheld information from them, mostly to protect you. Obviously, they now know everything. I’m trying to right a lot of wrongs. Your mother sent me the flash drive years ago. It’s with the FBI. As far as Politto, he will never hurt you. If Politto survives, he’ll never see the light of day. As far as his crew goes, I’ve gone to great lengths to ensure no one knows your real name. It was my suggestion to Farley to have Gabriella die of her injuries. She’s now gone, forever.”
Ella sniffles quietly, otherwise remains silent. He glances over her features, before smiling warmly at her.
“Ella Parker, you go live your life and become a wife, a mother. It’s what your mother would have wanted for you. Make her proud.”
She nods slowly, still consumed by her tears.
“Do you have any more questions for me?”
“No, Gianni. Thank you, for everything.”
He nods, gives her a wink, and without a goodbye disconnects the call.
I bring her closer to wrap my arms around her sobbing frame. Just as I did during her panic attacks, I try to soothe her and calm her down.
But mostly, I let her get it all out, once and for all.
She clings to me until she calms. When her breathing returns to normal, and her sobs cease, she looks up at me and says, “Gabriella Volante is finally gone, forever.”