Barresi: Emily Trilogy: A New Orleans Mafia Romance

by Lux Miller

  SEVEN

  We’re halfway back down the mountain before anyone mentions my hair. Sure, we’ve been talking in clipped tones about our descent and when we need to take breaks or a sip of water… or in my case, a bite of fried kimchi, but it’s not until the steepness of the incline levels out that Luca brings up what I did up at the summit of the crater.

  “So...you, uh… wanted a haircut?”

  I shrug as I step off the railroad tie bridge and pop a squat in a small, grassy landing. “Not really, if I’m being completely honest. I’d grown accustomed to the length, but it seems as if each new stage in my life with you is going to require that I shed the old me. I just hope that you’re not angry with me for it.”

  Luca steps off the railroad ties and squats down beside me. He sighs, then nudges me gently. “I’m not in love with your hair, Emily. It’s going to take a bit of getting used to it being short again, but I will. You look absolutely stunning with any hairstyle, and I suspect, you’d be just as beautiful without any hair at all. I like it, though I hate to inform you of this — it’s horribly crooked.”

  I narrow my eyes at him as he shrugs, smirking at me. “Give me my knife back, and I can try to straighten it for you.”

  I’ve had an almost death-grip on the knife since cutting off more than half of my hair, but I couldn’t even begin to explain why. Maybe I’m still holding onto it because it’s a reminder of the sacrifice I just made up there for my marriage. The hair will grow back, so I didn’t lose anything of real value, but my willingness to do it just cements in my mind how devoted I am to this man. I shrug and hand the knife over to him, then turn my back to him without uttering another word.

  Neither Luca nor Mike says anything as the sounds of nature descend around us. I gather up the tendrils of hair that barely brush my shoulders at their longest and fling them back over my shoulders, straightening my back as I scoot back up onto a railroad tie. “If you think you can cut it straight, be my guest. Just cut it blunt like a bob. Is the blade sharp?”

  Luca nods as he opens the knife and slides the blade along the edge of his finger. Trickles of blood appear along the swirls of his fingerprint as he plops his finger into his mouth and smirks. “Extremely.”

  I can hear Luca shuffle on the railroad tie as he sits down behind me, stretching his legs around mine as he gathers some of my hair in his hands. He tugs gently, then moves to another portion of my hair. He continues doing this for several minutes, wisps of blonde tumbling over my shoulder and into my lap. I shiver as he blows on the back of my neck, then lightly brushes my shoulders with his hand.

  The gesture is strangely intimate, and it must be blatantly so, because even Mike clears his throat loudly, nodding his head in the direction of several onlookers who are legitimately gawking at Luca and I. Luca leans down and kisses my shoulder where he just brushed it off and murmurs, “We have an audience, but it’s mostly straight now. So, tell me love, if I’m allowed to know, what did you pray for?”

  I tense slightly, then glance up at Mike, who nods. Luca continues to plant butterfly kisses along my skin and up to my neck, brushing his lips along the outer shell of my ear. There’s no way something as simple as my husband trimming my hair should feel this intimate, especially when there are people staring at us. But up here on the side of Koko Crater, every nerve is firing on overdrive, and if Luca doesn’t stop, these people are going to get a lot more of a show than they bargained for when they stopped to watch.

  I close my eyes and let my head drop away from his mouth slightly, giving him better access to my neck as I murmur, “I asked for blessings...from Pele…”

  Luca nods, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me tightly against him as he continues to speak where only I can hear him. “The destroyer?”

  A jolt of electricity sizzles through me at Luca’s knowledge. It may be rudimentary, because Pele does far more than destroy, but for him to even know that much is incredibly sexy and amplifies my sudden wanton need. I nod slowly, “She is both destroyer and creator. So, I destroyed something in exchange for her blessings in creation...”

  Luca’s heart thuds against my back as he processes what I’ve just admitted. His body is tense as he pulls me against his chest tightly, holding me against him. After several moments of silence, he rests his chin on my shoulder. “So why the gin?”

  I can’t help but chuckle at his change of subject. He loosens his grip on me as he laughs as well, resting his hands possessively against my stomach. I glance over my shoulder at him and shudder as the overhead sun reflects off his eyes. They’re deep tones of silver, so iridescent in the bright sunlight that they almost look like the clear water of Hanauma Bay. “Because Pele can be an ornery bitch, and she’s often in a bad mood. She’s been raging on the big island for months now as her home, Kilauea, erupts. I figured that a bottle of liquor usually settles anyone’s moods… and Pele has long been rumored to favor gin.”

  Luca scoots back and climbs to his feet, reaching his hand down to me. I smile and take it, allowing him to help me up. “Well, maybe your offering to Pele will prove fruitful in the long run. If you want a baby that badly, all you had to do was ask. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since it was brought up on the plane, and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of seeing you round with my child. But I’d suggest you stop swallowing my offering if you expect me to impregnate you. And we’d probably better do it like three times a day too, just to be sure…I might even have to wake you up in the middle of the night sometimes to make sure that your body stays filled with my seed.”

  I roll my eyes and slap his arm. “Luca!”

  He shrugs nonchalantly, but the smirk on his face is telling. I wave my finger at him and laugh, “Oh no, you don’t. We’re not making love up here, Luca. For one, it’s dangerous. For two, it’s illegal. For three…”

  My voice is muffled as he presses his lips to mine, cutting off what I was saying. As I finally tear my lips from his, I sigh. “So the spirits of the island are getting to you too, huh?”

  Luca nods, sliding one hand down over my ass. He tugs me against him, and the unmistakable bulge in his board shorts presses against my hip. “You could say that. I told you, I can’t stop thinking about the prospect of a baby. However, we’re leaving O’ahu tomorrow on an island hopper, so I’d rather explore the area while we can before the sun sets. I’m putting my trust in you to show me the island the way the islanders see the island. You said something about snorkeling in a bay?”

  I raise one eyebrow as I look up at him, grinding my hip against his erection. “You hate open water.”

  Luca shrugs. “It didn’t look all that open from up there. Looked like it was surrounded by a reef. And…” He wiggles both eyebrows at me as he adds, “...you won’t be trying to get me to balance on a surfboard in water that’s probably over my head. If I get spooked, I can literally just put my feet down and stand up...right?”

  The uncertainty in his voice on his final question makes me smile. I know in actuality that he’s just trying to distract me from the boner in his shorts, but it’s working. Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, despite living on Hawai’i for ten years, is something I’ve never done. Saying that it tops my bucket list is probably not giving due credit to how amazing it would be. I nod quickly. “Yeah, the bay isn’t that deep. Not where we’d be snorkeling anyway. You’d really wanna do it?”

  Luca nods again and looks at Mike. Mike shrugs his shoulders. “There’s a beach I can chill on. This hike is about all this old man can handle as far as strenuous activities go. So is that the plan, then? Go by the rental house and get back into bathing suits for the evening?”

  I laugh at how ridiculous Mike makes it sound. “Welcome to island life, Makua. Where people have more bathing suits than shoes. And to think… Luca tried to question me on why I could possibly need as many bikinis as I brought. I only brought eight, for the record. And some, like the one I wore this morning, have more specific purposes.”

/>   Luca snorts as he makes a wise remark. “Like trying to turn your husband into a slobbering animal who can’t seem to get his dick to chill? I’m pretty sure I’ve been sporting a stiffy for like ninety percent of the day today.”

  Shrugging, I start taking the steps two at a time, calling over my shoulder. “He knows what he likes…”

  Luca catches up to me and wraps his arms around me from behind, lifting me off my feet with a squeal. He spins in his arms and lobs me up onto his shoulder effortlessly. “And so do I…”

  Gently slapping Luca’s back to put me down, he refuses and carries me down the rest of the incline and all the way to the car, stopping only long enough to grab my sandals. Despite me squirming as I dangle over his shoulder, we reach the bottom of the trail in record time and within the hour, we’ve swung by the rental house and changed our clothes into suitable snorkeling attire. Even Mike threw on a swimsuit, as he said, “Just in case.”

  By the time we make it down to the Bay, go through the required orientation video, and rent our snorkeling equipment, the sun has begun to dip in the sky. We still have hours before sunset, but I know that it’s easy for time to get away from you. Despite the unpredictable currents, I slipped on a yellow string bikini that covers my asscrack and not much else. The triangle top contains my boobs, but I make sure that Luca double-knots all of the strings that I can’t reach on my back. There’s a ton of kids here, and the last thing I need is to be issued a citation for indecent exposure.

  I wiggle my t-shirt up over my head and toss it at Mike, who’s sitting in a luxury beach chair complete with cup holders and sunshade. He flings his hand out just in time to catch the shirt without looking up from the tablet he’s pulled out. I giggle and slide my feet into the snorkeling fins that came in the pack of gear I rented. Luca snorts as I waddle over to him. “Okay… please tell me the fins don’t really make you walk like that…”

  I pout at him and point at his feet. “Why don’t you put yours on and see? I bet your ass wiggles more than mine when you end up waddling.”

  I step past him and walk up to the water’s edge, sighing as the gentle waves break onto the shore. Around me, the air is filled with the squeals and screeches of children as they frolic in the crystal-clear warmth of Hanauma Bay. I pull my mask down over my face and put the silicone end of the snorkel into my mouth, then motion for Luca to join me. He rolls his eyes, but quickly ditches his shirt before securing his feet into his own set of fins.

  He waddles up to the water’s edge beside me, and I grin around the mouthpiece of the snorkel as he pulls his own mask down over his face. I can’t really say much of anything as I loop the waterproof camera’s strap around my neck, but there are several women on this beach staring at Luca like they want to rip what little bit of clothes he still has on to shreds. I get it sister, he’s fucking hot. But he’s also fucking mine.

  I hold my hand out to him, and he takes it as I lead us out into the waist deep water, where it’s so clear you can see the dozens of brightly colored tropical fish zipping by under the surface without even having to squint.

  Once he’s gotten used to being in the open water of the bay, I let go of Luca’s hand and shift my body into a floating position so that we can swim over the reef. Luca follows my lead, swimming along beside me, one hand on my lower back at all times. When we clear the first section of reef, I drop my feet down into the water and rest them against the sandy bottoms. The water is clearly deeper here as it begins to take on a turquoise hue around us, but I can still touch the bottom, even if just barely.

  Luca follows suit, then suddenly, he’s motioning wildly at me. I shake my head because I can’t translate his wild hand signals. Finally, he throws both hands up in the air and points behind me, then unhooks the camera from the strap around my neck. Nervously, I turn around, worried there might be a shark or something else about to try to take a bite out of me. Instead, I find myself face to face with what may be the most serene and beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes upon. I know better than to touch it, even though every fiber of my being is drawn to it. I stand there, frozen in place as it swims closer to me, stopping just inches in front of my face.

  Despite being able to breathe through the snorkel that’s above the water line just above my head, I find myself holding my breath as it edges closer and closer. Finally, I feel its slimy, reptilian skin brush across my stomach, and I feel my heart jump into my throat as it head butts me in an attempt to move me out of its way. I step to the side, and it ambles along slowly, its flipper and finally its shell brushing against my skin. Once the sea turtle has swam past both of us completely, I motion with a single finger to the brightness above us and push off the bottom of the bay.

  As I break the surface of the water, I yank off the snorkeling mask and gasp for air, my lungs burning from holding my breath. Luca surfaces seconds behind me and pulls his own mask off. He shakes his head quickly, the longer strands of his unruly hair whipping around his face. “That… was incredible…”

  I nod because that’s all I can manage to do in my state of shock. My entire body quivers as the brevity of what just happened settles into my mind. “Yeah,” I finally manage to stammer out. “Honu… in the flesh… she touched me…”

  Luca raises an eyebrow. “I take it that’s a good thing?”

  My shoulders shrug as I’m inexplicably drawn to Luca, my body moving of its own volition until I’m in his arms, which he wraps tightly around me. I feel almost silly as emotion overtakes me, tears spilling out of my eyes and cascading down my cheeks. I nod slowly and swipe at the tears, then glance up first at Diamond Head behind us and then up at Koko Crater that breaks up the clouds in the sky. “I have to believe that Pele has answered… and that she sent Honu as a sign of her blessing…”

  EIGHT

  Despite the sexually charged energy crackling between Luca and I all day long, by the time we trudge out of the bay and up to the changing area, neither one of us is particularly in the mood for giving into primal urges. Between surfing this morning, hiking the Koko Crater, and snorkeling for almost two hours, my thighs are on fire, and even if I was dying, I don’t think I could lift one to give Luca access anyway.

  Sure, I absolutely let Luca into the shower with me. In truth, I didn’t really give him a choice, and he didn’t argue. He’s had his hands all over every inch of my skin, but besides several quick, heated kisses with my back pressed up against the wall, neither of us has managed to actually instigate any intimacy. Even though he didn’t surf this morning, I’d be willing to bet he’s feeling the burn too.

  While Luca and I allow the steamy water to relax us, Mike hops into one of the stalls near us, warning gruffly, “I can hear you. No frisky business in here. There might be kids, and they don’t need to hear the two of you.”

  Luca rolls his eyes as he pulls away from me, then trains them back on my naked body. “Yes, dad…”

  The tone is sarcastic, but the smile that spreads across Luca’s face is real as he ribs Mike. But Mike doesn’t miss a beat as Luca leans into me, kissing my neck as his hands grip my waist, turning me around so that my back rests against his chest. “Just doing my job, son…”

  I groan as the hot water beats down on us, tilting my head to let it run down my face with a sigh. My entire body is thrumming with need, but I can barely stand as it is, with much of my weight resting against Luca, who in turn, is leaning against the wall. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he murmurs in my ear.

  I smile and nod. “I know. You tell me often enough that I’ve started to believe you.”

  Sighing, I roll my eyes as my stomach grumbles. It’s been hours since we ate brunch, and I can feel my energy levels tanking. Luca chuckles as he rests a hand against my flat belly. “Hungry too, it sounds like.”

  I yawn softly, then give my head a bob as I stand up off him. “Starving. I could go for something local. How do you feel about sushi?”

  Luca shrugs as he lets me go, then cuts the water off beh
ind me. He reaches over the shower door to grab the two towels we left hanging there and lazily wraps one around his waist. “I’ve honestly never had it. I’ve had loads of seafood local to New Orleans, but I’ve never eaten sushi there. I’m willing to try it, though I’ve been told it’s an aphrodisiac.”

  I giggle as I wrap my own towel around my body. Shrugging my shoulders, I turn around and look up at him, “Probably is, but Banzai has the best, uhm, basically it’s like a huge sampler platter… and you get all kinds of stuff. We only ate there once or twice when I was a kid, but I still remember the huge platter they brought out. I certainly wasn’t allowed to eat a lot of the sashimi or sushi, just tastes here and there. That was adult food, and I was a kid. They let me and my cousins eat edamame and frushi, which is fruit inside of sticky rice. I was like eight, so if any of it was an aphrodisiac, I didn’t notice.”

  Mike clears his throat from outside the changing area. “Not that the two of you need it. I’m pretty sure you could eat a burger and still want to rip each others’ clothes off. Ooh… if y’all are getting sushi, can we grab me a burger somewhere beforehand? I don’t eat anything raw. I like my stuff good and dead.”