Every Minute I Love You (a Tomb of Ashen Tears Book 3)

by Kailee Reese Samuels

  “No,” I reply, feeling how tiny she is in my arms. “I don’t remember this size difference thing years ago. I don’t remember being this much bigger than you.”

  “We both changed, Sal. You turned into a man and I found myself.”

  “Can we make this work?”

  “There is no doubt,” she assures with a broad, shining grin.

  “You’ve had your smile worked on.”

  She giggles. “Among other things.”

  “I’m not sure I deserve you.”

  “You do,” she says. “You’re going to meet my grandfather and you’ll see, you’ve earned this. You wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think you were worthy.”

  “He liked Deacon?”

  “No,” she answers, shaking her head. “He fucking loved Deacon.”

  Her statement brings a skittish reaction in me. I glance down at the cobblestone pathway into the woods. “… Do you think he would be a better intended? I will give you up if you do. It will hurt like hell and it might destroy me, but I love you that much—your happiness is paramount.”

  “I don’t want to marry Deacon, Sal,” she whispers as we walk closer to the stream. It is peaceful and serene. “I want to marry you.” She stops and curls into my body, and I cannot help but lift her up. Her cream leggings wrap around my waist and her long taupe sweater conceals my arms. I inhale, taking in all of her. She nuzzles her nose against my neck. “I don’t want to be without you, ever.”

  The feel of her breath on my skin arouses my body and mind as we swoop to a new height of awareness with one another. “Take me to the waterfall.”

  “You saw the pictures Kali took,” she says, looking me in the eye. “… And you didn’t lose it?”

  “I love Deacon, too. And I cannot change that. It wouldn’t be fair of me to ask you to change that. He is my lover and I expect he’ll be yours, too. And I don’t know how long it’s going to last or what is going to happen with the three of us, but what I do know is I want to make you my wife more than anything else in the world and everything I do when I go home will be focused to making that happen.”

  With tears in her eyes, she smiles and points the direction of the waterfall. I don’t set her down because I can’t. I want to hold onto this girl as long as I possibly can. The trickling sound enlivens to a rushing splash as the clear, sparkling waterfall comes into view. “We came here and things just happened. I didn’t mean for it to.”

  Carefully, I whisper, “You hadn’t been with anyone…”

  “Since you, Sal,” she answers as I set her on her feet. “I went to Guam and it hit me. I’ve got the best and anyone else outside of The Unholy wouldn’t be good enough…”

  I stare out at the water, trying to understand their relationship, and turn to mutter, “… Was Deacon good to you?”

  A hint of blush hits her cheeks as she looks away. “Deacon is…” Her blue eyes bounce to mine. “Always good to me, but it is because he loves you. His love for you flows through him. Experiencing Deacon was like having you here. It wasn’t the same, and he isn’t you, but I felt your love through him. I really needed his energetic zest at that point; I was trying to adjust to the changes in me and us. He balanced those fears with love. He reassured me and made me want to keep fighting for the things we believe in. And all the while, he never wanted to take me away from you.”

  “So, no Iris Cruz?” I grin wide.

  “No more so than you’ll ever be Sal Cruz.”

  “Touché.” I nod as her hands run over my chest. I don’t know if I want to get in the water for fear of her extinguishing my flames. Deacon is the air breathing life into my fire and her water. He is the element we needed to get to this blissful, sweet place. Her fingertips brush mine and she pulls off her sweater. My eyes drift over her cleavage in the pink cami.

  She knows I’m staring as the sexual tension builds. “I’ve seen what you have to offer. Let me do the same.” She peels the clothes away as I stand with my mouth gaping open in a sense of bewilderment.

  From her hair, she pulls the glossy black sticks, placing them in my hands. It’s a simple gesture that says so much about respect, love, and trust. Our commitment to one another is bound to destiny, and with the blessing of fate, we have found grace.

  Running into the water, she glances over her shoulder, tempting and luring me. “I’m not the water.”

  “You don’t need to be,” she dips, disappearing into the ripples, and emerges with her smooth curves shining in the dappled sunlight like glitter on her skin. I want to kiss her. I want to taste her. I want to make love to her for hours. “I come here almost every day to do this. I don’t know what I’ll do when I return home.”

  With a heady stare, I swell my fires with a promise. “I’ll build you a fucking waterfall!” Her fingertips brush over the top of the water as she stalks closer and her bosom lifts from the blue. She is a thing of wonder, this mermaid of mine. The fullness of her breasts hitches my breath as her nipples grow taut from the exposure of the breeze and my intense glare. “If you want a river running through our house, I will make it happen.”

  My fingers pop the button on my jeans. We’re so wound, so tight, so in love. Her steps take aim towards me as she glides through the water. I’m struck by the surreal beauty of her slopes, her sex, and her shelter.

  “Don’t,” she warns as I tear down the zipper. “We can’t.”

  Stepping forward, my feet hit the water, soaking my toes in the flip flops. I reach for her and she locks her fingers to mine. “I want to be inside of you,” I whisper. “I need to feel you.”

  “I have no protection, do you?”

  I blink, utterly sideswiped. “… Since when?”

  “I had it removed during the second surgery.”

  You what?

  “What surgery?”

  “If I said it didn’t matter and I was fine,” she whispers. “Would you let it go?”

  “I’m Sal Raniero, what d’ya think?”

  “I think you can be hotheaded and possessive and quick to react at nothing at all,” she counters, letting the words flow from her tongue. She ducks her head to catch my despondent gaze. “And I’m fine.”

  “You’re mine,” I bark out. “And I should’ve known.” She presses her lips together as the hesitation emanates from her eyes. “You don’t have to tell me. I don’t want to be the hotheaded, possessive guy.”

  “I’m in love with the hotheaded and possessive guy though,” she whispers. “I just need you to be emotionally gentler with me. This - us - is a lot to take in.”

  With her bare before me, I understand how open and vulnerable she is willing to be. How much she is willing to try to make us work. “I’m going too fast…” I park my tongue on the top of my lip and glance away, pissed at myself. “I’m sorry.” My eyes dampen and a single tear streams down my cheek. “I just love you so much. I want all of you. I need all of you.”

  “After Deacon left, I decided I wanted to do more. I went to Tokyo for a little nip, tuck, and pinch. During the process of that first surgical procedure, I discovered I had a cyst on my ovary, which they removed during a second surgery. I’m fine. I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been,” she tenderly reassures, knowing my scars. “I just don’t have any protection right now. The doctor advised taking it out, since it had been in since 2014 when I started at Juliet. I should have it replaced, but I just haven’t done it yet.”

  “… You’re okay?”

  “I’m wonderful,” she whispers, smiling. “How are you?”

  “Fucking terrified of messing this up.”

  “I need you to trust me, Raniero.” She lightly pulls her hand and I’m forced to make the decision of releasing her fingers or following her into the water. I tuck my hand under the fabric of my jeans and push them down. “Someone is awake.”

  “Ya,” I acknowledge, knowing we can’t do anything about it. I let the thoughts of sex go. “Get on my back.”

  “Where are we going?”


  Her naked body climbs onto mine as I curl my fingers around her legs. “To the source.” I wade us through the water until I slip. I don’t let go of her, but lose my hat when we go under. I can no longer touch the bottom, but I’m confident I can do this despite my hatred of the tides. I bring us up and she plops my hat on my head—backward. “I hate the water.”

  “Because you want to control it.”

  “Probably.” I keep moving, closer and closer to the rocks beneath the falls. To many, water is paradise—a nirvana—a heaven on earth; but to me, it is hell. “It’s unstable.”

  “Are you saying, I am unstable?”

  “I’m drawn to it. It’s like the greatest temptation for me,” I confess, stroking through the water with all of my might to get us there. “But I’m fucking scared as hell of it.”

  I pull up onto the slackened rocks and she crawls up into the alcove. We’re safely tucked on the inside of the water. “It’s incredible from this angle, so secluded. So private.” She leans in and kisses my lips. Assertive. Determined. And in love. “I’ve never gone this far.”

  “Neither have I,” I reply, pressing my hand to her cheek and seizing the moment. I gently swoop my tongue against hers, lapping at the deliciousness of her mouth. “My cousin, Rebecca, drown in the water when she was a baby.”

  “I won’t let you drown.”

  “But will you hold back the flood?”

  “Yes, I will, Sal,” she vows, straddling onto my lap. My hands brace against her back mural and I bask in the moment. We may never be this pure again. We may never be this innocent again. “I will stand strong beside you for the rest your life. And I will hold back the storm.”

  “And I will shield you from the world,” I swear as she eases up in my arms and I tumble back against the rocks. “Are we doing this Mrs. Raniero?”

  “Yes,” she whispers as I roll her onto her back. “A thousand times—yes!” Hovering over her, I feel the spread of her thighs beneath me as her hand wraps around my cock. Her fingers trace over my necklace and run down my arms to the bracelets on my wrists. “… May I have one before you go?”

  “Pick any of them.”

  She grins and glances up with tears in her eyes. “I remember there was a time when we were laying in the bathtub and I couldn’t just have my pick.”

  “You’re the only one now, Iris,” I mutter, brushing my lips against hers. “And maybe you always were, but I was just too dumb…too broken…to see it. I am yours. Anything I have is yours.”

  “You should be careful telling a girl like me that I can have anything.”

  “Take me. Claim me. Use me.” I adjust and lower to my forearms as I understand how well our pieces fit together. She is the better half of this puzzle. “And I will rebound back for more of you.”

  Pulling off my hat, she ruffles her fingers through my hair as I venture to her breast and kiss her nipple. She lifts her knees, but I pull away and slide down her body. She tastes like sunshine and rain and everything perfect. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to resist you?”

  I peer up from kissing her belly. “Do you have any idea how hard I am?”

  “I’m half tempted to say fuck it…” She rolls her eyes and grins. “Literally.”

  “How is it two sexual deviants such as ourselves managed to go off without condoms?”

  I dip my tongue in her navel. “Sal, you assume I would’ve let you use one. I haven’t been with you in almost three years. Let’s be realistic here. The odds of me saying wrap that beast were slim. I like feeling you.”

  “What are the odds we’d succeed?”

  “At what?” She lays her hands on my shoulders as I wedge down between her thighs. “Conceiving a baby under a waterfall? Knowing us? Knowing you?”

  I flick my tongue over her slit. “Wait. Knowing me?”

  “You have incredible aim,” she points out, rambling, as I lightly blow over her sex. “You’re the crackshot here, not me.”

  “I don’t have any aim,” I contend, sliding one finger deep inside of her and rubbing her spot.

  “Oh…fuck!!!” She moans out. “The hell you don’t.”

  She lifts her hips to greet my lips and I place my hand under her bottom. I move in slow and kiss her clit and wave my tongue over the ripeness. She is pure sugar melting on my tongue as I pull back and thrust in with two fingers. “So damn good,” I mumble as her fingers twist in my hair.

  “God, I want your dick,” she slurs as I tango with her bits in a sultry dance of wills. “Fuck me, Salvatore. Please.”

  I peek between her thighs as I keep my fingers pulsing in her slickness. “You’re kind of demanding, Mrs. Raniero.”

  “You know I want more and you’re holding out on me.”

  “I want you to crave me,” I taunt, sticking my tongue out. “Discipline, baby.”

  Her sapphires plead with me. “… Pull out method!”

  “You looking for twins?” I hastily jest. “Because that would be our luck.”

  “A boy and a girl!”

  “You don’t get to pick,” I remind, pumping harder. “It might be two girls.”

  “Or two curly topped you’s!”

  With a grin, I snicker, “That isn’t motivation to put my cock in you, baby. Two me’s is a scary, scary thing.”

  “Double the fun.”

  I sharply nip the inside of her thigh. “God, you’re going to make me come if you get all bossy with that mouth.”

  “Oh, you mean like this.” I devour her clit, sucking her in between my lips, and stroking the tip over her in circles. Round and round and round. I take my free hand and rub the palm over her breasts. My fingers delight with a purposeful tug as I alternate between them. It won’t be long. She’s going to come for me. Wallowing in ecstasy, she thrashes against my moves and clutches my forearm with a sudden, rushing orgasm.

  “Sal!!!” she screams out. “I love you…I love you…I love you,” she weeps as I fall atop her. She grips my shoulders and curls under me. So fragile. So precious. “You’re so mean.”

  “I thought I was good.”

  “You know,” she sniffles, crying. “You know what I worry most about is this will be the last time I ever see you. I mean, what if…”

  “Baby, don’t what if...” I ease, touching her cheek. “Don’t let the world sink into your mind. That’s my job—to protect you from the world. Your job is keeping my ass up and sane.”

  “I can keep you up,” she soothes, wedging her hand between our bodies. “Sanity is a whole other issue.”

  “If I have you,” I nip at her lip. “Sanity is easy.”

  I move my hips, grinding my rigid cock into her velvet fist. Her relentless drive tethers my soul to hers and I cannot stop for thrusting in her grip. “Baby…” I groan, needing more. “If you don’t slow down…” My whole body tightens as I try and hold out, but I can’t. “I’m going to come…” I grunt and spew hot cum all over her dreamy goodness. “Fuck!”

  “If you get me pregnant and I didn’t get any dick,” she hysterically giggles, licking the icing from her fingers. “I swear to God, I’m beating your ass, Raniero.”

  I wink. “That might be fun, too.”

  54

  The Hidden Fiddler

  After a quiet, leisurely afternoon, we arrive at the Grand Palace for dinner at sunset. Wearing my dark gray suit, black shirt, and light gray tie, I provide the perfect balance to the doll on my arm in her deep dusky rose dress. The hemline rests mere inches from my favorite eating establishment. I’ve spent days devouring her skin, tasting her flesh on my tongue, and wishing these days would never end.

  The Lotus familial home is a sprawling mansion with curved rooflines and glazed windows. The front doors are huge, lacquered red with enormous gold handles and adornments.

  For some reason, I expect we’ll need to knock, be greeted by a butler, and escorted inside, but this is Iris’ family and her grandfather’s home. That is a difficult concept when staring at a castle. There is a c
lear, distinction amongst the Nakamura family, but they all seem close—like family should be.

  Closer than mine.

  But I also know, when Keishi passes the scepter over to Iris, the wolves will come out to play. I doubt it will be Masa or Yoshi, but some of the others, I’ve already started mentally compiling profiles.

  We walk through one side of the house—the living areas—to the outside. The garden contains a fountain with a small stream cut through the middle. We cross over a bridge to the building containing only the dining room and kitchen with an incredible view of the land.

  We step inside and one of the servants welcomes us. Iris makes brief, polite conversation before quickly reminding, “Take your shoes off.” With a wave of my hand, I display my shoes already on the rack. “God, I love you.”

  I wink. “I love you.”

  “Can I get you anything?” Iris asks with those coral lips as I glance at her hair tasseled up into diamond butterfly clips. “We have a full bar.”

  “I only want one thing,” I honestly say, touching her hand. “And I’m looking at her.”

  “Champagne!” She giggles and grins. “To celebrate!”

  Moments later, one of the attendants brings a bottle for our inspection. “Can we go out here?”

  “Of course!” she obliges, sliding open the etched glass doors. I note my red and black bracelet on her arm and smile. The strings are latched together by a small dragon emblem. I should have brought more. I should have brought a ring and a collar.

  Hinging the bottle between two fingers, I take the champagne flutes with the other hand, and say, “Thank you!” Iris quickly retrieves the items from my fingers as I scout the drop off into the valley. The tranquil vision is spectacular as the green foothills roll towards the city in the distance.

  “Are you ready?”

  She briskly nods with a bounce. “Do it!”

  I twist the ring and pull off the foil. “We’re doing this.”

  “I know,” she says. I glance between the bottle and the sky and the cork pops out with a thud. A few bubbles spew out and I take a slurp before offering her some. “We could just take the bottle and go.”