With all the big-ticket items being assembled and secured by the family men, Mama Lina, Carrie, and I spent most of the day shopping for decorations to add the finishing touches. When we finished and returned to my house, I was beyond thrilled with the progress the guys had made. They unloaded the pictures, lamps, and throw rugs from my trunk and made quick work of getting those items into place.
I couldn’t wait for Damon to get home. His late night at work would mean a long night of anticipation for me.
“You guys did such a great job today—and you were so fast! I couldn’t have pulled this off without you. Thank you so much for all your help.” I made sure to make eye contact with each man while I spoke, letting them know their hard work didn’t go unnoticed. Their mumbled replies and uneasy glances left little doubt they weren’t used to receiving accolades.
“I’ll drive Miss Lina and Miss Carrie back so you don’t have to make the trip, if you’d like.”
“That would be great, Joseph. Thank you.”
Joseph gave one quick nod of his head, but I didn’t miss the appreciative smile that flashed across his face just before he turned away. After a hug and kiss goodbye from Mama Lina and Carrie, I was alone in the enormous house, impatiently waiting for Damon to walk in so I could surprise him. To help pass the time, I decided to tackle the bags of nursery decorations Damon and I picked out together. When I finally heard the garage door opening, I rushed out to greet him.
Damon looked tired, with his unkempt clothes, disheveled hair, and heavy eyes. When he looked up at me, standing in the doorway waiting for him to reach me, his expression brightened. “You’ve been up to something. What have you done?”
“Stop reading my mind!”
“Doll, I don’t have to read your mind to know you have something to confess. It’s written all over your face.”
“I actually don’t have anything to confess. But I do have a surprise for you. I’ve been waiting for you to get home for days now.”
“For days? Really now?”
“It felt like days anyway. Now, come with me. I can’t wait any longer.”
“That’s exactly what you said to me last night.” That mischievous grin covered his handsome face, making me instantly quiver inside from the simple reminder alone.
“Follow. Me.” I tried to maintain my stern tone and face, but that was impossible when he smiled at me that way.
“Yes, ma’am. Lead the way. I’m all yours, wherever it is you’re taking me.”
When we reached the door to the basement, I glanced over my shoulder at Damon, intentionally keeping my face passive as I turned the doorknob.
“Now, this is what I’m talking about. You can meet me at the car every day so we can finish initiating every room in the house. The basement is a great idea for tonight, doll.”
“I’m glad you think so.” The stairs were lit with scattered night-lights. When we reached the bottom stair, I flipped on the overhead lights and closely watched his reaction.
He was speechless as he slowly walked through the room, checking out all the new additions and décor. When he finally turned back toward me, I held up a sign that read My Cave, My Rules. My Wife Said So.
He threw his head back in laughter before covering the ground between us in two long strides. “You did all this for me?”
“Of course. You’ve done so much for me, I wanted to surprise you with something I knew you wouldn’t do for yourself. It’s my turn to spoil you, and you deserve it. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I fucking love it. This is awesome, doll. It’ll be put to good use, believe me.”
“I was thinking, as you start to take over from your dad, your brothers and your men could come here for the family meetings. They could even bring their wives or girlfriends so I’d have more friends than just your mom and sister. This room is isolated enough from the rest of the house that you wouldn’t be bothered by us upstairs, and then you wouldn’t have to stay gone so much.”
“You wouldn’t mind all of them coming over every week?”
“Not at all.”
“You know, doll. I have no idea how I ever lived without you before, but I know without a shadow of a doubt, I can’t do it now. You’re the absolute best, and I love you more than I love my next breath. Come here.”
He placed his palms on my cheeks before he slanted his mouth over mine, teasing my lips open with a seductive slide of his tongue. Then he delved deep inside, and the rest of the world faded away. It was a soft and slow kiss, unhurried yet commanding as he melted me from the inside out. My heart raced and my chest heaved as my need for him increased. With every pass of his lips, the tingles inside me increased until I was certain my body would detonate from his simple touch.
“You’re absolutely perfect,” he murmured against my lips, his masculine voice sending goose bumps fanning out across my skin in response. “And right now, I want to fuck you on that pool table more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life.”
“How do you want me? On my back or on all fours?”
The sexiest growl rumbled through his chest and worked its way up his throat. I loved when I made him lose control—no matter how brief it was.
“Both. Fucking both. Right now.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jillian
“Are you nervous? Are you getting cold feet? Do I need to put on my running shoes so I can catch you when you take off?”
Damon stood in the hall outside the door of one of our guest bedrooms while I attempted to get dressed. For our wedding ceremony. While he was trying to be funny with the barrage of questions, I wasn’t feeling the humor.
My dress didn’t fit.
I knew it. I’d predicted this would happen, even waiting until a week before the wedding to pick up my dress. Even though I had extra room around the waist just seven days ago, the twins had filled in the gap and then some. To add insult to injury, my boobs decided all on their own to pass Go a few times, collecting more volume with each go-round. My dress wouldn’t zip past halfway up my back, but it wouldn’t have mattered even if I could suck it in enough to make the zipper move more. My fucking boobs were spilling out over the top of my strapless dress.
There was sure to be a nipple incident if I pushed my luck.
“I’m way past the running stage now. It’s more of a fast wobble. Like Weebles.”
His quick burst of laughter quickly covered up by an exaggerated cough didn’t go unnoticed. “Doll, I told you before. I don’t care what you wear, as long as you marry me. You can say the vows in maternity shorts and an oversized T-shirt. I don’t care. Honest to God, it wouldn’t bother me. I’ll go change out of this monkey suit and match you.”
“Damon, I’m not getting married in maternity shorts.”
I heard a thud on the other side of the door and knew without asking the noise came from his forehead hitting it.
“Jilllllll-eeeeee-annnnn.” He drew my name out in long syllables, pouring on the charm and keeping his voice reassuring. “You know I love you, right?”
“Yes, I know you do. You know I love you too.”
“Then you know I mean this with all the love in my heart.” He paused for dramatic emphasis. “Get your ass out here and marry me right now.”
“Nope.”
“I’ve got it! I exchanged her dress for one almost exactly the same pattern. She’ll be dressed in just a few minutes. Damon, get downstairs to your spot where you’re supposed to be and stop harassing my sister-in-law before she crawls out the window and shimmies down the drainpipe out of desperation.” Carrie always did have a way with her brother.
“If that dress doesn’t work, wrap a white sheet around her and call it a designer gown, Carrie. Get her down the aisle and in front of the altar.” After his demand, the hard footfall of his steps diminis
hed, so he’d at least followed her instructions.
Carrie rushed into the room, breathing heavily while carrying an extra-large garment bag. “Here, sis. This is just like the original dress, only better. The waistline is much higher, right under your boobs, so it’ll give your stomach plenty of room.”
She hung up the bag on the coat rack and unzipped it. I held my breath until she stepped out from in front of it. “Oh, Carrie, it’s perfect. I love it even more than the original.”
She was right—the bodice design of the original dress was way too tight all the way down to where I used to have a waist. But the replacement was exquisite—a strapless white dress with champagne gold applique that started on the breasts and flowed down the skirt. When I stepped into it, the zipper slid all the way to the top without a problem. My fuller breasts filled the strapless bodice with ease, keeping it snug but not too tight. With my veil in place, I was ready to walk down the aisle.
Barefoot. Because my feet were too swollen to fit into my shoes.
Carrie handed me the bouquet of flowers—deep purple Chapeau de Napoléon roses mixed with lighter purple morning glories and white calla lilies. Carrie was my gorgeous maid of honor. She slipped into her dress that was the same deep purple as the roses, with a halter top neckline and a high waist. Then she picked up her bouquet and flashed a nervous smile.
“It’s time, Jillian. Are you ready?”
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life, Carrie. I’m walking toward the rest of my life—happier than I’ve ever been. The crazy hit man I fell so desperately in love with is waiting at the end of the aisle for me. We’re getting married inside our home, filling it with so many happy memories and promises and declarations of our commitment to each other. Before we know it, our home will be filled with the sounds of our babies. This is more than I’ve ever even dreamed of having, and I can’t wait to start this beautiful new life as married partners.”
“Married partners in crime.”
“That too.”
We laughed together like young schoolgirls until we heard a quick rap on the door.
“Damon, she’s coming out now. Cool your jets.”
The door slowly opened, and there stood my soon-to-be father-in-law, dressed to kill in his black tuxedo and white shirt. He didn’t even try to hide the mist in his eyes after he took a good look at me in my wedding gown.
“Cara, you’re so beautiful. I’m honored to have you on my arm and present you to marry my son. Come with me, bella. He’s waiting—very impatiently, I should add.”
I slipped my hand around his proffered elbow and gave it a squeeze. “You look very handsome yourself, Dad. Let’s take a stroll and see if we can find your son.”
The music started when Carrie and Marco stepped into the double doorway of the great room. When they’d taken their places on either side of the aisle, the wedding march began.
“Here we go, cara. I’m so proud to call you my daughter. Damon couldn’t have picked a better woman than you. I love you, Jillian.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
The room was full of people—all of them were my new family. Blood or water, it didn’t matter. We’d stick together through the good times and the bad times. The man of my dreams watched me with a heated gaze, his eyes traveling up and down my body several times on my approach. When we finally reached him, I read his lips when he mouthed the words to me.
“You are stunning. I love you so much.”
Vincenzo announced he was presenting me to his son, but he refused to acknowledge he was giving me away. The crowd laughed along with us, and it felt so right in my soul. Our wedding was a celebration of our love, and that included all the laughter that came with it. Uptight and formal was never my style anyway. Vincenzo joined my hands with Damon’s, then used his big hands to cover ours.
“There’s something I’d like to say. I’ll make it brief. Jillian, when I first met you, I knew you were different. I had a very strong feeling you’d change my son for the better, that you’d bring the light and love and laughter to him that had been missing for most of his adult life. You’ve done more than that. You’ve made him a better man, and I didn’t even think that was possible. Lina and I are ecstatic to call you our daughter, now and forever. I could never fill your father’s shoes, and I don’t even want to try because he had to be a very good man to raise such a wonderful daughter as you. But I hope you’ve saved a small place in your heart for me to be your new dad.”
Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I rose up on my toes and kissed Vincenzo’s cheeks. “I love you, Dad. You have a very special place in my heart, and you always will. Thank you for everything you said. Words can’t express how much it means to me.”
When Vincenzo took his seat next to Mama Lina, Damon and I turned to face the priest. The vows were a blur because all I could think about was how happy I was, how happy he still made me after everything we’d been through. A family bigger than I ever could’ve hoped to have. Our twin babies that would join us in only a few months. The sister I never had. But most of all, I was marrying a sexy as hell, dangerous bad boy, secret romantic, protective alpha man who showered me with love and spoiled me to no end.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
In true Damon Marchetti fashion, he broke tradition when he circled his arms around me, dipped me with a sudden lurch to the side, and turned me into putty in his hands with his obscenely inappropriate but insanely hot and sensual kiss. Public display of affection? No. Had a cop been present, we’d have been arrested for having public mouth sex.
The priest presented us to our guests as Mr. and Mrs. Damon Marchetti, and we were greeted by loud cheers and thunderous applause. Damon leaned over to me, kissing me on the cheek before whispering in my ear.
“You’re all mine now, doll. I have papers on you to prove it.”
“What a coincidence. You’re all mine too, and I have the same papers to prove it.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. Speaking of fucking, can we tell everyone to get out now? We need to consummate our marriage as soon as possible.”
“No. We have too much cake to eat for everyone to leave just yet. But I’m sure I need help with my zipper or something.”
“Fuck the zipper. I have a better idea.”
We walked back up the aisle arm in arm and with smiles so big I thought our faces might permanently freeze that way. The family began filing out of the great room and moving outside onto the covered terrace, where the cake and finger foods were laid out for our reception. But Damon steered us in the opposite direction, toward the library on the opposite side of the house.
“What are you doing, Damon?”
“I wasn’t kidding, doll.” He closed and locked the door behind us. “Now, this may seem a little familiar, but since we still have to take a bazillion pictures, this position will have to do for now. Bend over the back of the couch and hold on to something. Tight.”
He lifted the back of my dress and hissed when he saw I wasn’t wearing any panties. I heard his zipper lower. A hand gripped the back of my neck before he positioned his cock at my entrance, sliding it up and down me, teasing and driving me out of my mind. Then with a sudden thrust, he filled me so fully I felt my delicate skin stretch. The hand on the back of my neck squeezed, and then he placed his other hand on my hip. His deep lunges at that angle hit the sweet spot every time, making my body crave him more with every movement.
Though it was the same thrilling sensation he’d always given me, our union was also different that time. We were literally one person, our bodies so connected it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Our love and our life together felt the same way—only whole and complete when we were together. Mad with love and insane with need that only intensified when he was inside me. The feeling of being so completely loved and worshiped while also
feeling so completely satiated by the one man who was capable of taking me to the highest highs.
Unquestionable. Unstoppable. Unyielding.
Passionate. Consuming. Relentless.
Our love for one another matched the ferocity of our lovemaking in every way. The words he spoke, the pleasure he gave, and his fingers digging into my skin created the perfect storm of hedonism and decadence. I was unable to hold back any longer. The free-falling sensation began low in my abdomen and quickly spread until I couldn’t stop the shudders and shakes that tore through me. Feeling my violent and forceful release, Damon followed close behind me before his upper body collapsed onto my back while supporting his weight with his arms on either side of me.
“Mrs. Marchetti, I think you’re already trying to kill me. That was so fucking hot.”
“Mr. Marchetti, if I were trying to kill you, it would be with a knife at your throat while you slept. Not while you’re making me scream your name in ecstasy.”
He chuckled and kissed the back of my neck, where I was sure the light bruises from his hold on me would begin to show within the hour. Not that I minded, but I did hope our wedding guests were well on their way out the door by that time.
After cleaning up, we rejoined the festivities on the terrace. Cutting the cake, feeding each other, throwing the bouquet and garter—all the traditional wedding activities. We also took more pictures than should be allowed, but I knew once I saw them, I’d cherish them all. Then a slow song came over the speakers, drowning out the multitude of conversations and making everyone pause to watch as Damon and I had our first dance as husband and wife.
After several lines of the familiar love song, I glanced away from Damon for a split second—long enough to see Carrie step into Lorenzo’s arms, and their bodies began to sway as one.
“You invited Lorenzo.” I jerked my eyes back to Damon, his knowing smirk squarely in place. “Are you turning soft, Damon?”
“I’ve already shown you once today exactly how hard I am. Sounds like I need to prove it to you again.”
Warning [Part Three] Page 18
