Winter

by Michelle Love

She looked at Raffaelo, sleek in his dark suit, and smiled.

  “You look handsome in a suit.”

  He grinned, cocky. “Oh, I know.”

  She laughed. Boomer, who had been lying patiently on the grass, got up and gave a little woof. Despite Raffaelo’s initial wariness of the dog, they’d become good friends.

  “I’m actually going to miss this little monster when we go to Italy. Sure you don’t want to bring him?”

  “I do, but I don’t want to put him through that flight. Besides, Tyler wants to take him back to Connecticut.”

  “Shame.”

  She sighed and held her hand out to Raffaelo. “Come with me and help walk this pooch?”

  “Yes ma’am.” He took her hand, winding his fingers through hers. They walked down to the cove, the full moon lighting their way.

  Olly stood at the edge of the woods, watching Inca and Raffaelo walking along the little jetty. He watched them walked to the end of it, both of them looking around to make sure they weren’t seen. Then, to Olly’s shock, he watched Raffaelo Winter take her in his arms, slide his hands into her hair, and kiss her.

  Olly’s jaw tightened, and he slipped away from the scene before getting into his car. So, Inca was cheating on Tommaso with Raffaelo? He had to admit, he was shocked … stunned, actually. To say it was out of character for Inca to be unfaithful was an understatement—or so he had thought. An idea occurred to him then, one he couldn’t shake. And so, when he saw the Winters and Inca leave, hugging Tyler goodbye, he followed them home—at a decent interval, of course.

  The Winters’ security was laughably easy to get past. Olly walked around the perimeter of the house, checking in all of the windows. At first, all was dark and quiet. Then he saw the flicker of firelight from a large window at the rear of the property. He edged to the window and peered in. As he watched the three of them, he began to both smile and shake his head.

  Inca was fucking both of them—or rather, from the looks of it, they were fucking her, both absorbed in pleasuring Inca’s beautiful body. Olly couldn’t stop staring at them; the three of them were so gloriously good-looking that it was almost hypnotic to watch. Olly felt himself getting hard and turned away, making his way back down the grounds.

  “Hey!”

  One of the security guards had spotted him and was running towards him. Olly sighed. He had his gun, but he didn’t want to start any trouble. Instead, he got his badge out. “Police. Just following up a report of an intruder.”

  The security guard looked skeptical, but allowed Olly to leave. Olly drove back into town, deep in thought. Did the killer know about Inca and the Winters? Was Nancy’s murder a punishment for that? Kevin Harnett was still in jail, and now that Nancy had been murdered, it made no sense that Harnett was the serial killer; from talking to him, Olly had surmised that his only goal had been to kill Inca for leaving him. He didn’t possess the knowledge or means to escape justice if he was behind the other murders.

  Olly parked next to the police station and sat in his car.

  Like a cancer.

  He kept replaying Luna’s words in his mind. He still couldn’t believe that his sister had died, let alone shot Inca. They had grown up together … was Luna right? Was Inca to blame?

  No.

  Even in his grief, he knew she had done nothing to bring this down on them. It was the work of a mad man, a psychopath.

  He just hoped the killer wouldn’t get to live out his sick dream. Olly hoped beyond hope that Inca would be safe.

  The town seemed subdued, still, the week after Nancy’s funeral. When Inca took Boomer to the country park on Monday morning, she noticed no one else walking their dogs, no kids sledging in the snow. With a jolt, she realized that the whole island was mourning the loss of one of its own. She let the dog off the leash and walked slowly across the park to the beach, sitting on one of the large pieces of driftwood. The water, unusually calm, was an emerald mirror. Boomer bounded gleefully into it and Inca laughed, brought out of her reverie by the dog’s antics. She glanced around her. No one else was on the beach.

  In a few days, she would leave with Raffaelo and Tommaso for Italy, for sun, for heat, for escape. Tyler and Boomer would be in Connecticut—and there would be nothing left for her here. Would she ever come back? Her thoughts drifted to Olly and she felt sadness settle on her heart. Would they ever find their way back as friends?

  The thought that they might not brought tears to her eyes, and when Boomer came to check on his mistress, she hugged him to her and buried her hot tears in his fur.

  Sorrento, now…

  And now she was here, her physical injuries almost healed, but still hurting inside for what had happened. More than that, she was angry. Angry at Kevin for tormenting her all those years; angry at Olly for playing fast and loose with her heart; angry at Luna …

  Angry at herself. Had Luna been right? Was her perceived beauty a cancer? Was she really responsible for Kevin’s actions? Olly’s?

  No.

  She knew she wasn’t. It disgusted her that she was judged merely on her physical attributes.

  I’m more than someone’s idea of beauty, she thought savagely.

  What she would take responsibility for, though, was her acceptance of the strange relationship between her and the Winter twins. Because it was odd, she knew that, and she knew she was being careless with both of their hearts. If their love for her caused a rift between them, she would never forgive herself.

  A cool breeze blew in through the open window, and she shivered, but enjoyed the sensation on her hot skin. She heard voices in the hallway and looked up to see Raffaelo push open the door. Tommaso was behind him, and she smiled at them.

  “Hey, how was the meeting?”

  “Long and deathly dull,” Raffaelo said, pulling off his tie.

  Tommaso grinned.

  “He’s not wrong, Principessa. How was your evening?”

  Inca slid off the window and padded barefoot to them. “Lonely.”

  Raffaelo smiled down at her, bending to kiss her. “I think we can do something about that. What do you say, Tommaso?”

  Tommaso’s fingers were already at the zipper of her dress, pulling it slowly down to kiss the length of her spine. Inca shivered with pleasure as Raffaelo’s lips found her throat.

  “I think, mio caro, I need to shower first. Would you care to join us?”

  In the shower, Raffaelo kissed her thoroughly, while Tommaso, his face buried in her sex, teased and tasted her, nipping her clit with his teeth until her legs shook. Then he stood, his smile wide, his eyes lazy with desire.

  “Fuck her, Raff. Fuck her hard.”

  God, when he did that, Inca felt herself growing wetter and wetter. Raffaelo picked her up and carried her, still dripping with water, to the bed and pulled her on top of him. Raffaelo, his cock purple with blood and huge, thrust into her. Inca clawed her fingers into his back as she cried out and Tommaso moved behind her so he could enter her from behind.

  They found their rhythm easily, so practiced were they now at this game. After they’d all come, they would begin the kinkier games—the brothers dominating her entirely, tying her up, taking their turns to fuck her. Inca reveled in the lovemaking; it had freed something inside of her, something wild and uninhibited and wanton. At the end of the evening, Tommaso would ask for his favorite thing; he liked to watch Raffaelo and Inca fuck while he jerked off. Inca would lie under Raffaelo as he moved inside her, watching both his beautiful face as he moaned with pleasure, and then Tommaso, his eyes alive with lust as he watched them.

  When they fell asleep was when she felt most secure, held by both of them, loved by both of them. For her, since they had been in this beautiful country, she had found where she belonged. During the night, just before dawn, she might wake or be woken by one of them, and they would make love gently. Lovingly.

  It was Raff who woke her this morning, his lips against hers. He slid inside her and they moved together slowly, their gaze inten
se on each other.

  “I love you so much,” she whispered, and he smiled, kissing her.

  “Il mio amore,” he said softly and stroked her hair away from her face. Inca bit into his shoulder to muffle the cry of her orgasm, a mellow, intense thing, and they lay back. Beside them, Tommaso slept soundly, and Inca ran a fingertip over a frown line between his eyes.

  “Is he okay?”

  Raffaelo sighed. “I’m not sure. Inca, there is something you should know about Tommaso; he’s very sensitive.”

  Inca looked at him in horror. “Oh God, do you think …”

  Raff smiled, hushing her with his mouth. “Not about this. Not about us. You’ve seen how he is; he loves this whole situation. No, what I meant was … we’re here in Italy, where we both want to be. The only thing is—our father is here too. He and Tommaso do not have the best relationship.”

  “Why?”

  Raffaelo hesitated. “That’s not for me to tell you—I just know that when our father comes here—and he will come here—Tommaso will need both of us to get through it.”

  Inca nodded, her eyes fierce. “He’s got us, Raff. I won’t let your father hurt him.”

  Raff kissed her. “I know you won’t.”

  Inca looked over at her sleeping lover. “Sometimes, he seems so much younger than you,” she said softly. “And yet other times, he’s so …”

  “Bossy?”

  She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “Yes.” She giggled and Raff joined in, shaking the bed so that Tommaso opened one eye.

  “I’m trying to sleep, rompicoglioni,” he grumbled, which only made Inca laugh harder. She stroked her fingers through his messy curls.

  “Come join us, beautiful boy,” she said in a low purr. Tommaso grinned and pulled her down on top of him, her back to his chest.

  “Let me in,” he murmured into her ear and she gasped as he thrust into her ass, his fingers locked over her belly. He nodded to his brother. “Take her, Raff.”

  Raffaelo grinned and moved so he could plunge his cock into her cunt. Inca sighed happily as they fucked her … God … would she ever get tired of this?

  She loved when they went out into the city together to hang out at one of the cafes or visit the bar at one of Raff’s clubs. Walking through the streets, arm-in-arm with them both, she would look at people staring at them and wonder if they could tell she was having both of the beautiful men at her side. That she loved being fucked hard and long by both of them; that she would do and try anything with them.

  That she had never been so happy in her life. Here, in this glorious city, she could forget the horrors back home and bury her head in the sand about the fact that more than one person had tried—and failed—to kill her. She could forget that she would have to go back to face her adoptive father, her friends … Olly.

  Olly’s devastation at Luna’s suicide knew no bounds. He had refused to see Inca, and she knew he blamed her for his sister’s death. He and Tommaso had nearly come to blows when Tommaso demanded that a thorough investigation be made into whether Olly had put Luna up to it. She’d used their dad’s old service revolver—a gun that Olly had thought safely locked up in his gun cabinet. It was the same gun used to kill Scarlett.

  “What a fucking mess,” Knox had said to Raffaelo when they’d dragged the two men apart, and Raff had hauled Tommaso out to his waiting car and told him to stay there. Raffaelo sighed and apologized to Knox.

  “It’s okay, dude,” the other man had said sadly. “There are no winners here. Tell Inca I hope she feels better soon.”

  “Come see her,” Raffaelo had urged him. “I know she’d like to see you.” He had looked across the room to where Olly was slumped in a chair. “I know she’d like to see a friend before we leave for Italy.”

  Raffaelo had told Inca all of this as they flew to Sorrento, a few days after she was released from the hospital. Knox had kept his promise and visited her, and he too had told her that Olly didn’t want to see her.

  Inca was sad, but resigned. “Just tell him I’m sorry, and I love him, and I still love Luna.”

  “I will, sweetheart.”

  They’d hugged each other tightly and Inca had felt moved to tears. “I’m so sorry about everything, Knox.”

  “It’s not your fault, baby. Everything is just fucked up.” He let her go and studied her. “You okay? What’s Tyler doing?”

  “He said he’s going to stay with Nancy’s family for a while. He doesn’t want to come back here yet either.”

  Knox sighed. “Just tell me you won’t disappear forever, Inca.”

  “I promise.”

  Inca called Tyler in Connecticut after lunch. It was still early there, and her adoptive father sounded depressed and lonely. “Come to Sorrento,” Inca begged him, but he demurred.

  “No, sweetheart. I think it’s best if you stay there and be happy with Tommaso. Your mother would not want you to be in Willowbrook. I’m staying in Connecticut for the time being. Nancy’s nieces and nephews seem to want me here. They love Boomer too.”

  “I miss you, Popsicle,” she whispered, and she heard him let out a shaky breath.

  “I miss you too, Bubba. And I don’t want you blaming yourself for any of this.”

  But she did blame herself—how could she not? Raffaelo, seeing her blue mood, suggested they go into the city and distract themselves. Tommaso told them he was flying to Milan that afternoon for a meeting.

  “Since when?” Raffaelo looked startled. Tommaso smiled.

  “I’ve neglected my work for too long, and there’s a chance we could get a meeting with the government’s environmental department at last. I have to be there for that. Hey.” He kissed Inca softly. “Promise me you’ll miss me?”

  “You know I will,” she whispered, and pressed her lips to his.

  “When will you be back?” Raffaelo waited for them to draw apart before asking.

  Tommaso rubbed a hand through his hair.

  “I think tomorrow night, but could be longer. You’ll be okay?”

  Raffaelo grinned. “Of course. Look, call us when you get in.”

  “I will.”

  Raffaelo and Inca walked through the streets of the city before finding another café to sit in. Inca looked around it. “You know, I do miss running the teahouse,” she said quietly. “I used to love the social aspect more than anything, but also the smell of the teas, the organization. I miss working.”

  Raffaelo stroked his hand down her cheek. “You know, we could always open a teahouse here. I’m tired of running clubs— I’m about fifteen years too old to be in them, for one thing. Maybe we could open a chain.”

  Inca smiled. “Ambitious.”

  Raffaelo grinned. “Okay, so I took the idea and ran with it. How about, then, we just open one? Totally your baby.”

  “I do have the money from the Sakura.”

  “No,” he said. “That’s your nest egg. Let me finance it.”

  Inca pondered. “Halves?”

  Raffaelo rolled his eyes. “Fine. Let me just …”

  He trailed off, suddenly staring over the other side of the small square. Inca followed his vision. “What is it?”

  Raffaelo’s eyes raked the street then he shook his head. “No, sorry. I just thought I saw someone.”

  “Who?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Sorry, anyway, yes. So we’ll go scout some locations around the city … in fact, why don’t we do that now?”

  He seemed in a hurry to move, and Inca didn’t question him. They strolled hand-in-hand, trying to spot empty storefronts or other suitable locations, but by the time they ate dinner at a local eatery, Inca felt tired, just wanting to go back to the villa.

  She took a long soak as Raffaelo caught up with some business calls. She was just drying herself when he came into the bathroom and stopped, his eyes soft on hers.

  “So beautiful,” he said simply, and she went into his arms, feeling his hands roaming over her bare skin.

  To
night would be the first time since they had been a threesome that Raffaelo and Inca would spend the night alone and she knew he was as excited as she was. She reached down to cup his cock through his pants. Already she could feel how swollen and hot it was.

  “Put that inside me, Raffaelo Winter,” she whispered and, with a growl, he carried her to the bed, shedding his own clothes quickly. His cock stood proud and thick against his belly as he covered her body with his own. Inca stroked his face.

  “What do you want to do to me, Raffaelo?”

  “Everything,” he groaned, gathering her to him. His lips were rough against hers, his cock already nudging at the entrance to her cunt as he thrust inside her, not able to prolong his desire anymore.

  Inca took him in, her nails digging into his buttocks, urging him deeper, her gaze fixed on his. “Fuck me hard, Raff,” she gasped, and he obeyed, slamming his hips into hers, stretching her legs wider. His mouth clamped onto her shoulder, his teeth biting down, causing pain, but she cried out, begging him not to stop as they fucked.

  Animal instincts took them over; Raffaelo, keeping his focus on her, reached into the nightstand and pulled out one of the dildos they used, sliding it into her ass as his cock reamed her vagina mercilessly. She clawed at his back and bit his lower lip with her teeth, drawing blood. It was as if they wanted to merge and sink into the other, however painful it might be.

  They came quickly, then Raffaelo tugged her to the floor, grabbing a silk tie and binding her hands behind her back. He pressed her legs apart and clamped his mouth over her sex, his tongue hungrily seeking her clit, before plunging deep into her cunt. Unable to touch him, Inca moaned and wriggled with pleasure; his hands roamed over her belly; his thumb fucked her navel in rhythm with his tongue in her cunt.

  Raffaelo felt like a man possessed. Not giving her the chance to recover between orgasms, he flipped her onto her stomach and thrust into her ass, fucking her hard until she cried out with pain and pleasure. He felt animal, feral in his desire, his desperation for her limitless. And when his cock slammed back into her cunt, he felt himself explode inside her, his thick cum shooting deep into her belly.