CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Lily sighed in relief as Damian pulled off her heels. After being in the damn things for a good twelve hours straight, she was happy to see them go. She couldn’t hide the little moan that escaped as Damian’s strong, deft fingers worked the arches of her feet.
“Feel good?” he asked.
“So good.”
Damian hummed and kissed her calf. “Happy to help, sweetheart.”
“They’re beautiful shoes.”
“Well, beautiful on you,” Damian said, chuckling. “Sexy, actually.”
Lily smiled, watching her new husband as his massage went from her feet to her calves. “Oh?”
“Very. Beautiful legs, Lily.”
She pursed her lips. “I’m shorter than you by inches even in heels.”
“Don’t care,” Damian said, humming sexily. “Even if you are shorter than me.”
“And you love my legs.”
Damian flashed a sinful smirk. “Best in Chicago.”
Lily shivered as Damian’s hands drove higher under her wedding dress, kneading and pressing into her soft flesh. He worked every single last kink and soreness out of her tired legs without ever looking away from her.
“You’re awfully quiet tonight,” Lily said softly.
Damian’s gaze flicked away. “Am I?”
His inability to look at her again said it all.
“What is up, Damian?”
“Nothing, sweetheart.”
“Damian—”
“Lily,” Damian interjected, his tone offering no room for arguing. “I said it’s nothing.”
Lily didn’t believe him for a second. She had the distinct feeling that because it was their wedding night, Damian wanted to spend the evening without all the muss and fuss going on outside of the hotel walls. He probably wanted it to be just them and no one else. Lily didn’t mind dropping whatever it was.
“You’ll tell me tomorrow, right?” she asked.
Damian nodded, hiking the skirt of her dress up around her hips as he dropped to his knees. He yanked her panties down around her knees, his grin growing salaciously. “Yeah, sweetheart. I’ll tell you anything you want to know tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Damian pulled her panties down further, his eyebrow cocking. “Black lace?”
“There’s a whole lot more where that came from.”
“I can’t fucking wait.”
Lily couldn’t respond. His head was already buried between her thighs. The little talent Damian had with his tongue always drove Lily insane every time his mouth came anywhere near her pussy. This time was no exception. With blindly fast strikes of his tongue, he’d parted the fleshy lips of her pussy and was already tasting the fluids gathering at her entrance. Lily could feel her sex trying to clench around his tongue with every plunge. She tried to close her legs around his head, wanting more friction on her clit, but Damian’s hands kept her thighs pried apart.
“Shit, that feels good,” Lily moaned.
Damian’s dark laughter rolled over her senses like golden honey. The vibrations from his amusement tickled her sensitive sex as he nibbled and lapped at her folds. She spread her legs wider, needing to see what he was doing. Using her hands for support on the edge of the bed, Lily propped her upper body high so she could watch Damian eat her out. His mouth was smeared with her arousal and she could smell the scent of her sex already wafting in the air. Damian’s steel-blue eyes surveyed her from down below, a wicked smile curving the corners of his mouth upwards as he licked a line from her slit straight to her clit.
That had to be the hottest thing she’d ever seen.
“Fuck me,” Lily muttered.
“The prettiest sounds,” Damian murmured, keeping her gaze locked on his. “You always make the prettiest sounds for me.”
“I—”
Before she could get a word in edgewise, Damian’s hand came up, pushed her to the bed, and his head disappeared between her thighs again. Lily cried out, her surprise and bliss echoing through the room as his tongue attacked her clit. She struggled under his hand and the pleasure suddenly coursing through her nervous system. The pace of his tongue against her bud was relentless and brutal.
She was going to come and fast.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Lily chanted. “Damian!”
Damian’s approval came out in a long groan. That was all it took. Lily came undone crying his name, fisting the bedsheets, and feeling like she couldn’t breathe. Her orgasm started somewhere in her middle and then shot out in all directions, numbing her fingers and toes.
While she tried to calm, gasping for air in the bed, Damian kissed her inner thighs.
“Up,” he ordered.
Lily blinked, unsure if she’d heard him correctly. “What?”
“Up, sweetheart. I want this dress off of you. Despite how beautiful you look in it, it will only hold me back.”
“But I’m so comfortable.”
Damian laughed. “Oh, well. I’m not done yet.”
Lily melted into the soft chaise as Damian’s fingertips danced up her lace covered spine. On her stomach with her head resting in his lap, she was comfortable and content. She was also turned on like nothing else as her new husband pampered her with pieces of chocolate covered fruit and sips of champagne. The sheer lingerie she wore hid nothing from his view and his hands started their wandering trek all over again.
“This is downright sinful,” Damian said, slipping his fingers between her thighs. Lily sighed as he caressed her sex with sweet, light touches.
“More,” Lily demanded, her lust spiking all over again.
“Soon, sweetheart. I want you begging for it.”
Lily was ready to do that now.
“Damian—”
“Bite,” Damian demanded, holding out a piece of fruit for Lily to take while he kept up the teasing touches with his other hand. Lily glowered up at him even though the angle was awkward and she couldn’t hold the position for long before dropping her head back down in his lap. Damian wasn’t having it. “Play by my rules, Lily, or I won’t give you what you want.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
Damian laughed, the sound coming off deep and throaty. “Maybe not, but I know what I want and I can bet you’re going to like it a whole hell of a lot if you just open that pretty mouth of yours, eat this fruit, and let me keep playing with your sweet pussy.”
How could she deny him when he talked like that?
Good God, it did the best things to her insides.
Lily sucked the chocolate covered tip of the strawberry between her lips before nibbling down on the juicy fruit. As she chewed on the sweet fruit, two of Damian’s fingers sunk into her core without warning. Lily’s cry of surprise dissolved into a deep moan as he curled his digits hard into her G-spot.
Lily swallowed the fruit so she could speak. “Christ!”
“So wet,” Damian said, continuing the rhythm with his fingers that had Lily gushing.
“Holy fuck.”
“Feel, sweetheart. You’re hot all around me. It’s fucking beautiful. You love my fingers fucking you.”
“I love anything you do,” Lily whimpered, wanting more of his fingers.
“You certainly will before the night is over,” Damian said. “Bite, Lily.”
Taking another bite from the fruit, Lily let the sensations of his fingers wash over her while the juices of the strawberry covered her tongue. She jerked in surprise when Damian used the bit of fruit left on the stem to paint along her naked shoulder. The coolness soaked into her nerves, making her shudder. Without saying a thing, he continued painting her skin with the fruit, finger fucking her pussy, and whispering the dirtiest things up above her.
Damian discarded what was left of the strawberry. Lily thought he was going to get another one, but was surprised when she felt the loss of his fingers inside her pussy. Before she could question his motives, his slick fingers drew a path up to her ass.
Lily froze, unsure.
“Breathe,” Damian murmured as just the pads of his fingers massaged her puckered hole.
The sensations of his fingers touching her in a place she hadn’t ever let someone go anywhere near before was new and foreign to Lily. She couldn’t deny the excitement shooting through her bloodstream but there was trepidation following right behind.
“You know I’d never hurt you,” Damian said, his fingers slipping through the clenching ring of muscles. Lily groaned into the palm of her hand, feeling her body stretch around his intrusion. A slight bite of pain mixed with the strangely new desire as it rushed her body. “I only want you to feel good and this will feel so, so good, Lily.”
“Will it?” Lily asked.
Damian winked. “You just have to trust me.”
Lily spread her legs wider, giving him better access to her ass. Slowly, he pumped his fingers in and out of her tight hole, opening his fingers on the withdraw and making her feel incredibly full.
“Do you remember what I told you?” he asked.
Lily could barely speak. “Told me what?”
“About your body.”
“It’s yours.”
“It is,” Damian said, his other hand ghosting down her spine and over the waves of her hair. “And I want every part of it, Lily. I want to be the only man who gets to touch and feel you. I want you to know I’m the only man who gets to fuck and love you.”
“You are.”
Damian removed his fingers from her body, making Lily whine. She hadn’t realized how good that felt until he wasn’t there anymore. “Good. Right now, I want to fuck your beautiful ass. Sit up.”
Lily did as she was told, confused when Damian stood from the couch. Without a word, he crossed the room and disappeared into the bathroom. A tenderness in her backside from being filled in a way she hadn’t experienced before only made her crave more. Lily listened as a tap turned on, making her anticipation grow more.
What he was he doing, washing his hands?
Damian appeared back at the bathroom doorway with two things in his hand. He waved a condom and bottle of lube, surprising Lily further.
“You planned this,” she accused.
“I told you once that I wanted to have you any way I could. I wasn’t lying.”
Lily swallowed audibly. “Oh?”
“No. Spread your legs. Show me how wet you are and play with yourself. I want you to feel how turned on and hot you are right now.”
“That’s what you want?” Lily smiled coyly, leaning back on the chaise and opening her thighs for him to see. “Are you sure?”
“Very much.” Damian’s grin turned sensual as Lily stroked her pussy with light touches. Wetness glided her fingers over her labia and up to her clit. She was fucking soaked. “Beautiful, sweetheart.”
Lily watched in silence as Damian began to finally pull of his own clothes. He’d stayed in his tux even after undressing Lily. He’d only loosened his tie and unbuttoned his vest when he convinced her to let him spoil her with chocolate covered fruit on the chaise. As far as Lily was concerned, there was nothing sexier than watching Damian undress. He did so in such an unhurried, quiet fashion, like nobody could see him. He must have known what he looked like. A cut figure, ridges of muscles, and smooth, olive-toned skin.
“I didn’t tell you to stop,” Damian said without looking up as he discarded his pants and boxers. “Keep playing for me, Lily. I want you wet all over.”
Lily laughed shakily. “I didn’t realize I had, either.”
“Continue.”
Pressing a finger into her pussy, Lily could feel how tight and ready she was. Her soft flesh was sensitive and drenched. A second finger did nothing to soothe the ache. Damian continued to watch her, saying nothing, as he stroked his own erection.
“Damian, please,” Lily begged.
A smirk formed on the corner of Damian’s lips as he slid the latex down his length. “Ah, there’s what I was waiting for. Nothing sounds better than my name in your mouth while you beg, Lily.”
Damian came to stand by the chaise, reaching down to circle Lily’s clit with his thumb while she used her fingers to thrust inside her sex. “Christ.”
“Damn, look at you,” Damian said.
Lily hadn’t realized how close she was to her orgasm before it was blowing through. She felt like a mess of cries, sweaty skin, and bliss. Damian kissed her through it, never once pulling away. Before Lily could comprehend what was happening, Damian had picked her up and then sat back down on the chaise with her on top of him. Lily’s back pressed into his chest as his arm wrapped around her waist. He kept her hovering above him and when she felt stable enough to hold her own weight, he let her go.
Lily shivered when something cool and slippery dribbled down the crack of her ass. Damian’s lips pressed to her shoulder blade where he’d painted with the strawberry earlier and she could feel him stroking his cock underneath her.
“I can’t even fucking jerk off anymore,” Damian said.
Lily bit her lip. “Why is that?”
“Because nothing gets the fucking job done but you and then I’m left with blue balls if I try myself.”
“God.”
Damian hummed, his tongue striking out against her skin. “Trust me, yeah?”
Lily nodded. “Always.”
“Good. Relax.”
Saying it and doing it were two completely different things. Lily tried to calm the nervousness and raging desire coursing through her system, but she couldn’t. The head of his cock pressed into her ass and Lily tensed instantly, scared of what might come.
“Lily,” Damian murmured. “Stop worrying. Just feel.”
Slowly, as he sucked on her skin where the strawberry had made sticky pathways, Damian worked his thick cock into her ass. Lily sucked in a ragged breath as a brief pain from the sensation of being stretched shot up her spine. Damian’s hand raced right after, soothing away the immediate chill of fear and relaxing her again. It wasn’t long before the pain was replaced by a deep need pounding at her insides as his cock sunk all the way into her ass and she was seated on top of him.
“Fuck,” Damian hissed.
Lily whined. “I just ... can’t.”
Not think, move, or breathe. She was filled entirely. So, so open for him. She felt damp with perspiration and her nerves felt overworked. Nothing had ever felt quite so new and blindingly good before.
“Talk to me,” Damian said softly.
“It’s …”
“Hmm?”
“So good,” she whispered.
Damian’s chuckles rocked them both, making his cock twitch inside Lily’s ass. She clenched down around him, suddenly wanting him to move again.
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be good, sweetheart,” Damian said, his grin forming against her skin. “You’re on top for a reason. Take the lead. This is all about you. No matter what, it’ll feel crazy good for me, too.”
Lily froze. “I—”
“No worries. Move.”
She did, carefully and timidly. It took her a while before her body was accustomed to the foreign sensations. But when she did … oh God, when she did it felt fucking glorious. Like every pleasure point in her body was connected to exposed nerves. Every stroke of his cock deep inside her ass took her higher.
Damian licked, kissed and sucked on her shoulders. “Mmm, strawberries and sex, Lily.”
Lily laughed breathlessly. “Oh, my God.”
“I don’t care what anybody says, that’s fucking heaven right there.”
Damian caught her hand with his and moved them both between her legs. She shuddered as one of his fingers slipped inside her clenching sex before dragging up to her clit. He rolled his fingers in quick, harsh circles, driving her insane. The cries falling from Lily’s throat rose in volume until her thighs were shaking and sweat beaded down her back.
Without him even telling her to, Lily thrust two fingers inside her pussy. She fucked herself in time with his cock in her ass and his finger at her clit. All the sensations pushed her straight to the edge.
And when she fell …
When she fell, he caught her.
Always.
“Tell me what was bothering you last night,” Lily said.
Damian held out the bite of fluffed scrambled eggs for Lily to take. She refused the food, knowing it was just his way of distracting her. “Lily—”
“If you tell me it was nothing again, I’m going to be pissed.”
His frown said it all. Damian didn’t want her angry.
“Do we have to do this on our honeymoon?”
Lily snorted. “A week hidden away in a hotel isn’t really a honeymoon, Damian.”
“Yeah, well, it’ll have to do for now. The first second I can, we’ll skip over to Europe and you can show me all the places you visited and stayed.”
“Really?”
Damian nodded. “Absolutely. It was something you loved and it made you happy. I want to see it, too.”
“Okay.” Lily played with the edge of the sheet covering her. Breakfast and quiet love in Egyptian cotton sheets was one of the best ways to spend a morning as far as she was concerned. “Stop deflecting my earlier question.”
Sighing, Damian put the silver tray of food aside. “It’s that important to you?”
“Very.”
“It’s probably going to hurt.”
Lily chewed on her inner cheek, not liking what those words could mean. “Oh?”
“Very,” he said, throwing her words back at her.
“You left the reception last night,” Lily said, deciding blurting the knowledge out was better than dancing around it.
Damian lifted a single brow, eyeing her quietly. “You noticed that, did you?”
“Nobody else seemed to.”
“They were very focused on you, gossiping about the nonsense going on in the Outfit, and the party,” Damian said. “I used that to my advantage and finished something.”
Lily’s heart raced. “Will you tell me?”
“I’ll tell you that I did a bad thing,” he said, shrugging.
And sometimes, good men did bad things.
Lily blew out a slow breath, willing her thoughts to calm. “Why?”
“I thought I knew,” Damian said.
Lily didn’t need him to finish. “But you didn’t know a thing.”
“No. And that was my fault.”
Well, then.
Lily reached out and intertwined their fingers together. Damian’s shoulders relaxed at the touch instantly. “I love you.”
Damian smiled. “I know. That’s the only thing that matters to me about any of this.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah,” he said.
She believed him.
“Don’t you think it’s a little annoying that we have to spend our first day after our honeymoon in church?” Lily asked.
Damian offered her a smile and slipped her hand inside his. “You just didn’t want to leave the hotel.”
Lily pouted. “Well, you spoiled me all week. What else do you expect, Damian? You created a monster.”
“Ah, I see how this works.”
“Hush,” Dino said behind the couple.
Lily skillfully flipped her older brother the middle finger without even breaking eye contact with the priest at the front. Damian chuckled, lifted Lily’s hand to kiss it, and then dropped their still connected hands into his lap.
“Bad girl,” he murmured.
“I’m better when I’m bad,” Lily said, grinning.
“You are.”
“Jesus,” Dino grumbled under his breath.
Lily didn’t give a damn what her brother had to say. She’d had a fantastic week with it being just her, Damian, a hotel room, and love. Best way she’d spent a week in a long time. The high was still buzzing around her senses. Dino wasn’t going to kill that.
Damian tugged Lily to stand when the priest asked. Her husband swept his finger over her wedding band as the congregation was blessed one final time and then dismissed for the day. Sighing, Lily rested into Damian’s side as he slid on a pair of dark aviator sunglasses.
“Are you coming over for dinner?” Dino asked as they followed behind the congregation to leave the church.
“Do you want to?” Lily asked Damian.
“Sure, sweetheart.”
“Good,” Dino said, smirking. “Lily can cook.”
“Ass,” Lily muttered.
Dino waved a finger in the air as they walked out the front doors into the sunlight. The Chicago wind whipped around the three. “Never denied it, Lily. I’ll see you two later.”
“Later,” Damian replied.
Lily moved to walk down the large steps, but Damian pulled her back to his side. “What—”
Damian shut her question up with a quick, searing kiss. Her surprised gasp allowed him to deepen the kiss. She gave into the dominating strikes of his tongue and the rhythm of his lips as he owned her with the kiss. Lily hummed in satisfaction, fisting his suit jacket and grinning as giggling people passed the couple by.
“That was bad,” Lily told him. “We’re technically still at church.”
“Nothing they haven’t already done or seen.”
“True.”
Damian kissed the tip of her nose. “I know you wanted to stay at the hotel a little longer.”
Lily shrugged. It didn’t really matter. “Anywhere with you is perfect.”
“How about we spend the next week looking for somewhere to call home?”
“Oh?”
“Something for you to call yours and not an apartment,” Damian said.
Lily’s heart swelled. “A house?”
“Any kind of house you want, Lily.”
“Not Melrose Park.”
Damian laughed. “Too much Outfit for you, huh?”
“No, too many memories.”
“What did I tell you, huh?” Damian asked, giving her a look that pinned Lily in place.
“To leave it behind.”
“So do that.”
“I’m trying,” she said quietly.
And she was. But sometimes it still hurt and she thought it would for a long time. Scars like those didn’t heal instantly. It took a while and the constant reminders, like pokes to the wounds, would always leave an ache behind.
“Not Melrose Park,” Lily repeated quietly.
Damian nodded, reaching up to caress the apple of her cheek with two fingers. “All right. Time to start making our own memories, Lily.”
“Yeah, I think that sounds—”
An explosion like Lily had never heard before pierced the air. Whatever she was going to say was lost as the sight of fire and flying metal caught her eye. Her ears rang from the volume as a blast of heat and pressure covered the church steps. Damian covered her instantly, pushing her back toward the opened doors of the church as screams began to echo.
Lily felt sick. Her heart leaped into her throat.
What was that?
“Move,” Damian barked.
Lily couldn’t. She stumbled as her husband pushed her again. Damian caught her before she could hit the ground. Over his shoulder, she caught the sight of a familiar car burning in one giant ball of flames.
“No,” Lily breathed.
“Lily, move,” Damian demanded again.
People shoved past them, trying to get back into the safety of the church. Her heart fell to the cement steps and shattered into pieces as she watched her brother’s car be engulfed in another wave of flames.
“No!”
“Lily, please move.”
“Dino,” Lily cried.
“I’m sorry.” Damian wrapped Lily in a bear hug and forced her to move. “I love you.”
“Dino!”
“It looks like there was a very sophisticated timer set on the bomb,” the detective informed.
Lily wasn’t paying attention to the man. All she kept thinking as she stared at him was that her brother wouldn’t want this cop in his home. Dino would have hated having any official inside his private space going through his things. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been given much of a choice in the matter.
It had taken three weeks for the investigation to come back with anything regarding the bomb. Lily didn’t give a damn what the police had to say. Things like this wasn’t something that could be settled in a courtroom. The officials, no matter how hard they worked or how many leads they had, would never truly know who set the bomb in Dino’s car. That was just how it worked in the mafia.
No, it wouldn’t be settled in a courtroom.
The streets, but not a courtroom.
Damian sighed, his hand squeezing Lily’s shoulder gently. “And how do you know that?”
“There was a significant portion of the electronics that survived the blast. After it was put together and worked over, we discovered it was connected to the Bentley’s radio system.”
Lily’s brow puckered. “So, when he turned it on, it blew?”
“When he turned it to a particular station, it set the timer to begin ticking down. That was why he had already reversed out of the parking space when the bomb went off.”
Oh.
That only left Lily with a sicker feeling than before.
“Would you have any idea who would know the kinds of radio stations your brother listened to?” the man asked.
Damian’s hand squeezed Lily’s shoulder again. She didn’t need his silent reminders.
“No, and I think it’s time for you to leave,” Lily said, standing from her chair.
The detective stood as well, frowning. “But—”
“I have nothing to offer and we’ve complied as much as we could, even though you didn’t give us any choice,” Lily interrupted firmly.
By no means would she allow the cops to keep digging through Dino’s house.
“Miss, your brother was heavily involved with the Chicago Mob and—”
“Firstly, it’s Mrs.,” Lily snapped. “Secondly, I don’t care what my brother was involved in. I buried him. He is dead. I have nothing else to say on the matter.”
“Any information you may have could be incredibly invaluable to not only our investigation, but other ones, too.”
Lily scoffed, disbelief filling her to the brim. “Turn rat, you mean.”
“Lily,” Damian said quietly.
“No, that’s what he’s saying. Or rather, what he won’t because he’s a coward.”
The detective shrugged. “I’m just suggesting that you could be a great help.”
Fuck this.
“Get out,” Lily said, pointing at the kitchen entryway.
“Doesn’t it bother you at all that someone killed your brother?” the man asked.
Lily felt a stab of pain pierce through her heart. “You have no idea how I feel. You don’t have the first clue what it feels like to—”
“You’re protecting the very same people who killed him.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Damian said, anger heating his tone.
Lily didn’t need Damian to come to her defense. “Get out!”
Storming past the detective, Lily made her way to the front of the house. She opened up the front door wide, pointing at the outside. She waited, her agitation rising, as the man took his time putting on his shoes and suit jacket.
Standing on the front steps, the detective turned back to Lily. “If you change your mind—”
Lily slammed the door in his face.
Damian stayed leaning against the wall, his features downcast as he regarded her with a stare that made her sadness swell. Because he knew—her heart was breaking and she couldn’t breathe. A meltdown was just around the corner if she couldn’t reel it back in and fast.
“Oh, my God,” Lily whispered, pressing her palm to her chest.
“Lily, it’s going to be okay.”
She nodded, but nothing felt true.
“Lily, breathe,” Damian murmured.
How could she?
Before she blinked, Damian was standing in front of her. He cupped her cheeks in his palms and tilted her head up so she could see the worry and love swimming in his gaze. Over and over, he kissed her lips with soft pecks until her tears had stopped falling and her lungs worked again.
“It’s just beginning, isn’t it?” Lily asked.
The fighting between the families had only grown worse since Damian and Lily’s wedding. Terrance Trentini’s murder seemed to tip the Trentini family over the edge. Lily remembered when Damian got that phone call on their honeymoon perfectly. She was sure he was the cause of the Outfit boss’s death.
Lily chose not to ask. She knew he would tell her the truth if she did and Lily wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it.
Nonetheless, things were bad between the four families and getting much worse.
“It’s going to be okay,” Damian said again.
“Who did that to Dino?” Lily asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Please don’t try to save my feelings.”
Damian sighed, using his thumb to trace her lips. “I’m not, sweetheart. No one knows.”
“But … someone must know something, Damian.”
“It’s war. Nobody has to know anything.”
War.
Lily shivered. Somehow, her brother’s plans to upset the Outfit had turned on him. “Dino did this for me.”
“You, Theo … himself. I don’t even know if he realized what he was really doing.”
“How do I settle that in here?” Lily asked pointing at her chest where her heart was racing out of control.
“Lily—”
“He started a war for us.”
Damian pulled her close and kissed her hard. Lily let him. “We’ll be okay.”
“Promise?”
“Always, Lily. You and me, we’re the kind of people who survive. That’s just what we do.”
God, she hoped so.
“My heart hurts,” Lily said softly, willing away her tears.
Damian kissed her tenderly. “I’ll take it away.”
Yeah, he always did.