by Soraya Naomi
Slowly, I remove my fingers and sit down on the mattress against the propped up pillows. Then I drag her to sit up and order, “On your knees.”
Our eyes lock, and I see unbridled lust in hers.
CHAPTER 50
Rosalia
“On your knees,” Logan tells me in a sultry voice with the heavy stirrings of the air around the curtains.
After two weeks apart, my mind is a mist of arousal when I lean forward on my knees between his legs and rake my nails down the hard planes of his bronzed abdomen.
Logan positions his hands right above my ass, massaging the bare flesh as he captures my mouth. I answer with raw passion, parting my lips and setting my nerves ablaze with a slow search for his tongue. As he nips a path down my throat, I start to squirm, and Logan cups my breasts, pushing them together while he suckles back and forth between them.
“Fuck, I missed you so much, cricket,” he rumbles.
Grinning, he tangles his fingers into my hair at the back of my head, directing me downward and feeding me his shaft. I run my tongue up the velvety skin before wrapping my lips around him. To steady his seated position, he leans back against the pillows, and his face twists into a mask of torturous pleasure as I suck and pump him, his hips bucking up as he fists my hair. There’s nothing gentle about how he handles me, and we both yearn for it. I welcome his assault, letting Logan fuck my mouth passionately.
Releasing my hair, he bends forward, his nails dancing down my back before he pushes his finger between my ass cheeks. I respond with a whimper as he skims lower, to my center, spreading me open and feeling my wetness, then moving back up, his rough hands against my flesh giving me sensations only he can induce.
With a groan, Logan hits the back of my throat and slides out. His erection is glistening, and I lick a trail that dribbles down the shaft and catch it halfway down his length with the tip of my tongue, tracing the path all the way back up to the source.
“Fuck!” He tugs my head back. “I don’t want to come in your mouth.”
Enthusiastically, he rolls me over onto my stomach across the bed. With my face on the pillow, Logan drags my hips up so that I’m elevated while he noses his way down my spine. And without any hesitation, he devours me.
“Oh, Logan,” I whimper and bend lower to give him better access, making circles with my hips and teasing his mouth. Intensely, I explode, riding the tide of pleasure that makes my toes curl. It goes on and on until I’m wrung out.
“You’re incredibly wet, Rosa.” He laps up to my ass, alternately licking and pushing the tip of his finger inside, and I clench my behind.
“Relax.”
I take a deep breath so he can slip his digit in, preparing me.
“Ow!”
“Shhh...” Logan cements his lips over my core while he fingers my ass.
When I’m dripping, he covers my body with his as I lift up on my hands and knees. Logan nudges the head of his arousal against my ass, sliding it up and down to spread my wetness. Then he shifts forward slowly while holding the base.
“Relax, Rosa.” He presses his lips behind my ear in a manner I’ve become accustomed to.
I relent and exhale, unclenching so he can ease himself inside. Logan grunts as my flesh gives, and he begins to move. I feel treasured again, with his chest against my back, and he starts to explore my center with his fingers.
“Yes,” I sigh, overwhelmed by sensations while he lets me adjust to his length.
“I don’t want to hold back, so hold on.” His other hand entwines with mine, gripping the sheets.
Logan grinds his hips and circles my core, rotating his middle finger and pushing it in while he glides in and out of my behind.
“I feel...full,” I murmur.
He drops another kiss onto my shoulder, resting his cheek against mine. Smirking, he lodges his arm around my waist to hold me tightly, and he slams into my ass, bottoming out. When he slips out, he plunges his finger into my center, and I arch as Logan fucks me madly in both holes while I clutch the sheets. Violent passion flares up, and without warning, he removes his finger and shoves his shaft into my core. He keeps up his brutal pace, taking me until our skin shines with a thin layer of perspiration.
“I’m going to come so hard in your pussy,” Logan says hotly against my ear.
Out of nowhere, I climax, my muscles straining. I writhe, shuddering and trembling as Logan leans back and thrusts into me, grasping the sides of my waist. He drives in once more, gripping and tugging my hair as he groans and bucks his hips with the force of completion, filling me deep.
We both collapse onto the bed, and he slumps halfway on top of me, his labored breathing caressing my neck. We’re two slick bodies pressed together, limbs entangled while we float back to earth. Thoroughly spent. Thoroughly depleted.
At last, I’m held by the one person I desire. The regret about us leaves my body. Pain and remorse over Mykhail and my father still linger, and they probably will for a long time. Still, he’s the man my heart has chosen.
Logan eases out of me, yet he stays in the same position and brushes my hair back from my face, nuzzling my neck and mumbling, “God, I can’t believe how much I’ve missed you.”
“Me too,” I murmur and add, “But I have to get Adam now.”
“Okay.” Logan kisses me between my shoulder blades and collects his slacks. “I have a new phone for you.”
As I sit up, he shows me a brand new smartphone.
“A regular cell. I already programmed everything.” He gives me that wolfish half-grin, every movement of his sinewy body smooth.
Then he jumps back on me, holds up the phone and snaps a few selfies of us naked, of course.
“You and your naked pics.” I snatch the device to inspect it, and it’s the exact same one I had before. “I’ll give you my old one. Now you can contact me like a normal person again, right?”
The corners of his lips quirk up as he holds me. “Yes, cricket.”
I throw my leg over his hip and offer, “Do you want to come with me to pick up Adam?”
“Yes,” he answers, giving me a brief kiss before we untangle and dress.
“By the way, have you ever been here during the day? Like a regular customer instead of breaking in?” I tease.
As Logan steps into his shoes, he replies, “No.”
And he knots his fingers with mine, leading the way back toward the elevator. A sliver of serenity grows inside me – it’s the start of the healing process.
We travel down to his convertible and toward Mary’s apartment, not twenty-five minutes from Club 7. My little boy is already asleep, so we continue to my pool house after buckling Adam’s car seat in Logan’s vehicle.
The garden lights are turned on when Logan and I arrive at my house, which is odd, and abruptly, my mother throws open the back door of the mansion, sprinting around the pool toward me.
Adam stirs, so I take him out of his seat and hand him over to Logan. “I didn’t know she was back. I thought she was still with my aunt.” I dart out and close the car door, blocking the window with my body. Adam doesn’t need to witness her irate demeanor if he wakes up.
My mother points her finger to the car and snarls, “Logan’s back? What are you doing with him?”
Remaining calm is becoming exasperating, and I’m done with defending myself to her. “Yes, Mom. He’s back and everything’s been cleared up. Dad was killed by the guard.”
A line creases her forehead. “No one bothered to tell me that or that he’s returned?”
“No one’s involving you because you’re so angry and throwing around false accusations,” I defend.
Her lips thin into an unbending line, but she tilts her head to the side to peek inside the vehicle. “You also still have the boy!” Her glare shoots to me. “I don’t even know you anymore.” My mom has become a shell of the person she once was.
Fed up, I blurt out, “I feel the same way about you.” A crack forms in my heart, and I sense t
hat she’s pulling away from me. She’s disappointed and inconsolable.
“They’re not staying in this house,” she protests, bitterness lacing her tone.
Shocked, I can only reply, “Then they won’t, Mom.”
“You think Logan is going to help you? That he’s a good man? He’ll suck you down with him into that mafia life. I’ve protected you for nothing, Rosalia.”
A tear rolls down my cheek. “I didn’t need the protection you and Dad gave. I love him, and he loves me. You’re seeing problems where there are none. I was already involved in that life through Dad. I don’t know what to say anymore to get through to you.”
“Love,” she repeats with malice. “There’s a difference between lust and love.”
“I know that,” I point out calmly.
We glower at one another for endless seconds until my mother swivels around and yells, “I’m selling this house, Rosalia. You need to move out.” She shuts the back door, taking a piece of my heart with her, because in the end, she’s still my mother.
Maybe she’ll despise me forever, but I choose to believe Logan. It might be a stupid decision to make. Nonetheless, I’ll always be a woman who makes choices with the heart rather than the mind. It’s an inherent trait to recklessness.
CHAPTER 51
Logan
For the first time since holding baby Logan, I’m embracing a child in my lap. It feels weirdly normal, although Alessa’s pissing me off, arguing with Rosa. I cover Adam’s ears with my hands to protect him until Alessa stomps away. Then I attempt to get out, but Adam rouses again, opening his eyes and glancing around.
“Hey, it’s Logan. Remember me?”
His tiny brows pull together and his lips start to tremble, so I add around a smile, “Rosa’s right there.” I point outside the passenger seat window.
His sleepy, grey eyes light up. “Mommy?”
Rosa comes back inside, and my soul fractures when I notice the moisture in her eyes. She strokes Adam’s cheek as he leans back into me.
“He calls you Mommy?” I ask.
“Sometimes he does. I don’t correct him.”
She is a true mother to him.
Rosa stares out the front window of the car to her pool house. “I need a place to live.”
“I heard. You can live with me, Rosa. The apartment has already been decorated to your taste mostly.” I rub Adam’s back, as he’s still groggy.
She casts me a questioning look. “You kept what I picked out?”
“Didn’t change a thing. Well, not everything has been delivered, but your curtains do brighten the place.”
She smiles sadly. “I don’t know. I can’t drag Adam from place to place.”
“But you have to move now, so you’ll be somewhere temporary anyway.”
“That’s true.” She bites the inside of her cheek. “I can stay with you – for now – until I find an apartment.”
“How are you going to afford an apartment?” I probe, not that she has to worry about that; she won’t move out of my penthouse once she’s in.
“I don’t know. I have an inheritance from my father. But I wasn’t going to make any definite plans until I’ve adopted Adam officially and I’ve graduated. I still have one exam to pass.”
Impressed, I stop circling Adam’s back. “You managed to still graduate on time?”
“Well, I hope to graduate next month, in May, with my class, yes.” A tentative smile crosses her face. “There were a lot of late nights studying, but Mary helped by babysitting Adam.”
“I’m here now too, cricket. You’re not alone anymore.”
She blows out a heavy puff of air and sifts her fingers through my hair. “Thank you.”
“Why don’t you pack a suitcase with the essentials for you and Adam? I’ll arrange for movers to bring over all your furniture or anything else you want tomorrow. I can ask Janey to help us. She’s Luca’s secretary and can take care of anything.”
“Okay. I’ll just throw some stuff into a bag,” she says and jumps out of the car.
Meanwhile, Adam has reentered dreamland.
To my surprise, Rosa actually returns within minutes with a large bag and two of those huge turquoise pillows of hers, stuffing them into the back seat of my convertible.
“I bring even more color to your home,” she teases theatrically, fighting so admirably not to drown in sorrow like her mother.
She buckles Adam back in and gets into the car again before I shift it into drive. “I’m afraid my penthouse will suffer a little.”
She merely smirks as I maneuver the vehicle to the West Loop, parking inside the garage of my high-rise and carrying Adam up while Rosa takes her pillows and bag.
It’s long past midnight by the time I place Adam on my king-size bed. Bending forward, I switch on a few small spotlights as Rosa rummages through her bag and comes up with Cars pajamas. Adam grumbles when she changes his clothes.
Then, lastly, we remove our formal clothing. Rosa wears a white nightgown, and I keep my boxers on. Both exhausted, we drop onto the bed on either side of Adam, who’s lying on his stomach. And I’m pleased when Rosa extends her arm over him to touch me, stroking my side softly.
We lock eyes, and a sense of peace softens my soul. The demons of regret are being chased away by her presence. Her willingness to always show affection has led to a companionship I’ve never had with a woman or will ever have with another.
Suddenly, a loud snore from the little man between us has us breaking out in a laugh while I trace my knuckle over her dimple, tucking her black hair behind her ear until her eyes droop.
“Goodnight,” she whispers huskily. “Ti amo.”
“I’ll love you forever, cricket,” I vow to her after her eyelids flutter closed.
Mine follow close behind, and I drift off into a restful sleep.
CHAPTER 52
Rosalia
“Rosalia Calderone,” the professor announces from the raised podium on the lawn where my class is gathered behind him during the graduation ceremony.
Somehow, I can’t believe I’m here on campus – wearing my cap and gown – after all the mayhem of the last several months.
He hands over my bachelor’s degree in biological chemistry, enabling me to work in research & development in the pharmaceutical industry, which has been my goal from day one. “Well done, Rosalia.”
“Thank you.” I accept it as the sunlight sneaks through the trees, basking me in its golden warmth when I stroll down toward the first row as the others receive their diplomas.
Glancing into the audience, seated on rows of wooden chairs on the trimmed grass, I watch my support system on the sixth one. Logan is handsome, as always, in his navy dress shirt and slacks, with a brown suede belt – the one that brings back numerous, joyous memories – and Adam is snuggled in his lap. Strands of Logan’s dirty blond hair fall over his forehead as he dips his head and whispers something to Adam, tickling his neck. Adam beams, swatting his hand away. My heart swells observing a man I perceived as arrogant six months ago turning into a loving parent. It’s ridiculous how much more attractive this side can make him, and it’s fruitless to oppose the strength of Logan’s love. He’s a man who’s devotedly committed once he’s made up his mind.
As if he senses my gaze on him, he looks up and a naughty grin curves his mouth, easing up all the way to his sapphire eyes. Adam stands on Logan’s thighs as Logan steadies him, and he waves with such enthusiasm, so I lift my hand and smile at them. Then I bring up my degree for a picture when Cam – who’s sitting next to Logan and accompanied by Adriano, Mary, and Henry – holds up her phone.
A month ago, when Mykhail and my father died and Logan left, I was afraid I’d be alone on this day. I’ve suffered much loss, but I’ve gotten a whole lot in return. My family might not consist of the same members anymore, but at least I’m surrounded by love, affection, and friendship. Without it, I never would’ve survived.
When the last graduate hops off th
e podium, our professor speaks, “Congratulations, class of 2016. You may move your tassels from the right to the left.”
In unison, we shift our tassels and say cheese for a series of pictures. And with a loud cheer, we toss our hats into the air, enjoying the ritual that marks moving from one stage of life to the next. Classmates begin to seek one another out, and after a few exchanges, I go back to my family.
“Rosa!” Adam sings.
“Sweetie,” I return as he climbs off Logan’s lap.
As Logan stands up, he frames my face in both hands and presses his lips to mine. “Congratulations, Rosa.” He folds his arms around me, blanketing me in his warmth and kissing my hair before he releases me with a gentle squeeze. He senses my repressed melancholy– I invited my mom but haven’t seen her.
Everyone congratulates me at once, but I catch Logan muttering something to Henry, who then takes off with Mary, and Adriano assists Cam as she gets up. Being close to her due date, her stomach is so big that she wobbles upward.
“We’re going ahead to your apartment,” she says, motioning to herself. “Clearly, it takes me a little longer to get to the car.”
I laugh as they disperse and Logan tells me, “My gift is at home.”
“Oh, I’m intrigued.” I remove the gown, more comfortable in my red jeans and white, loose-fitting blouse that hangs off one shoulder.
Adam meshes his fingers into Logan’s as Logan places a kiss onto my bare shoulder, asking, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Have you seen my mom?”
He shakes his head. “Do you want to call her?”
Biting my lip, I nod and reach inside my back pocket to take out my mobile and contact her. It rings and rings.
“Hello?” she answers distantly.
“Hey,” I reply – she knew it was me from caller ID. “Are you coming to campus? The ceremony is over.”
Awkward silence follows before she says, “Rosalia, I can’t, not while you’re with him.”
“But it’s my graduation. I miss you,” I admit honestly, trying one last time to repair our broken bond.
