“Jesus, Tiny, now what are you doing?”
“Shhh. Just let me.” Dropping to my knees, I ran both hands all over his cock. It felt firm and thick and hot. I gripped him with one hand and rubbed the silk-smooth tip with the other. Immediately it was slick with a few drops of liquid warmth. I want to taste him.
The moment I put my lips on him, Joey braced himself against the door with two hands again. “Oh, fuck. Oh my God.”
I rubbed my lips back and forth over the slippery tip before sliding it into my mouth and swirling my tongue along its velvety surface. I wasn’t sure, but I thought Joey’s knees might have buckled a little. Then I sucked on it as I rubbed my hands up and down his solid length. Joey inhaled sharply.
“You better stop, Tiny.” His voice held a warning.
But I didn’t want to stop.
Taking him out of my mouth, I held him in two hands and licked him like an ice cream cone, all around. Then I slipped my wet lips over the top again and took him in as far as my throat would allow, but I was still able to wrap my hands around the base. My mind raced ahead to the way he could tear me apart, and my own legs trembled. Slowly I lifted and lowered my mouth again and again, while he breathed heavier and harder and said fuck more times than I’d ever heard anyone say it. Placing one hand on his hip, I braved pulling him into me a bit, not too fast, but at a quicker rhythm. I loved feeling him hit the back of my throat.
“Jesus Christ, Tiny. If you don’t stop now—”
I pulled him from my lips with a little pop. “I won’t stop, so you might as well enjoy yourself. It’s my first time, you know. How am I doing?”
“Oh, fuck,” he said again as I slid his hot, hard cock between my lips once more. Joey must have given up on bringing things to a halt because he began to thrust into my mouth, tiny little stabs that sent bolts of lust straight between my legs. My underwear was damp and I imagined how fucking amazing it was going to feel to have Joey’s unbelievable cock pounding into me. The thought of it had me moaning, my mouth and throat vibrating with sound.
Joey stiffened and gasped, his erection throbbing as he swayed forward. Immediately my mouth was filled with pulsing hot liquid, but I’d been expecting it and didn’t stop. I waited until his body had shuddered and stilled and only the sound of his labored breathing could be heard over my fast-beating heart, and then I slipped him out of my mouth and swallowed.
“God, that was incredible. I wish I could’ve seen you,” Joey said when he could speak again, “although it probably would have been over even faster.”
“Guess I’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“Oh, Christ.” Joey dropped to his knees in front of me and took my head in his hands. “I’ve thought about you so many nights, but even my fantasies didn’t get this good.”
“Really?”
“Really. That was…oh, forget it. There are no words to tell you how that was for me. I’m sorry, I wish I could find some.”
“We need to stop apologizing to each other.”
He kissed me hard on the mouth. “You’re right. We do.”
“But we might have to apologize to your mother for ruining Sunday dinner if we don’t get back upstairs.”
“Just wait. One more minute won’t hurt.” Joey pulled me in close, laying my cheek on his chest and wrapping an arm around my waist. As he spoke, brushed the hair back from my face with his other hand. “Thank you for coming here today. For writing me that note. For taking a chance on me.”
I picked up my head but pressed me to his chest again. “Let me finish. The day I saw you after I got back in town, even before all the stuff with your dad, it hit me how I felt about you. Remember when you pushed me into the dirt at the boathouse? I think I fell in love with you that moment.”
I laughed. I did remember that—he’d made me so angry that day, but when I’d pushed him and he’d pulled me down with him, something had stirred within me at the feel of our bodies pressed together. At the time it had just made me angrier.
“And I wanted to tell you, but I just couldn’t. I thought you’d laugh in my face, maybe even spit in it.”
“I probably would have. Just to spite you.”
“But every time I was near you, I felt it like a punch in the gut how bad I wanted you.”
“You hid it well,” I said. “After that kiss in the boat, I thought there might be something happening between us, but you acted so aloof, as if you weren’t even affected. It drove me crazy.”
“I’ve got a good poker face,” he said seriously. “That kiss fucking terrified me.”
I smiled. “Good.”
“You terrify me.”
“I do?”
“Yes. Because in all my life, I have never wanted to be as close to someone as I want to be to you. I’ve never wanted to make someone happy the way I want to make you happy. I’ve never wanted to protect someone the way I want to protect you.” He dropped his head to speak low in my ear. “And I’ve never wanted to do to another person the things I want to do to you. Oh my God, the things I’m going to do to you…”
My stomach fluttered at the gravelly intensity in his voice. “What’s so terrifying about that?”
“It’s terrifying because I think I’m a pretty tough person, but I had no idea how… unprotected you would make me feel. That probably doesn’t even make sense.”
“No, it does.” Wrapping my arms around his torso, I thought about what Bridget said, how you make yourself vulnerable when you love someone, and I knew that’s what he meant. “But you don’t have to worry. I feel the same. I thought I was going to die of fright on the way over here.”
“Why?”
“I had no idea what to expect, after last night. All I knew was that I had to see you and tell you how I felt. Then it would be up to you.” I paused. “But I did have a few fun things in mind to persuade you if you gave me any trouble.”
Joey laughed. “I was too easy, then.”
“I got to do one of them anyway.”
He groaned with pleasure at the memory. “That’s true, you did. And next it’s my turn.” His tongue flicked at my earlobe before he took it in his mouth, sucking gently. “But I need more light,” he said, kissing down my neck as I arched back slightly. He moved a hand to the other side of my throat and held me against his mouth as he whispered hot words against my skin. “I want to see your body while I worship every inch of it with my tongue. I want to look in your eyes when I get inside you. I want to watch you lose control, over and over again…” He circled the flat of his tongue on my neck before closing his mouth over it and sucking hard.
I think I whimpered.
With a low laugh, he released me. “So now, I’m going to button my pants and we’ll go back upstairs, suffer through what is sure to be the longest fucking Sunday dinner in the history of men, and then I will spend the rest of the night—and hopefully a hell of a lot more nights in the future—doing and saying things to you I’ve only fantasized about.”
My belly flipped. “Should I be scared?”
He helped me to my feet and leaned in close. “Terrified,” he whispered.
Oh. My. God.
How the hell was I supposed to get through dinner?
#
Giggling like schoolchildren, we raced out of the pantry, avoided meeting anyone’s eyes in the kitchen and scurried back up to the apartment. Joanna eyed us suspiciously when we entered.
“I thought you said you were just going to the pantry, Joey Lupo. What did you need there again?” She transferred a huge plate of what looked like meatballs coated with breadcrumbs from the table to a counter near the stove, tossing him a knowing look over her shoulder.
“Uh…” At the sink washing his hands, Joey looked over his shoulder and met my eyes. I had to clap a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. “I forgot,” he said.
“What? What on earth has gotten into you two?” Joanna looked back and forth between us, scrutinized my neck for a moment, and shook her head. �
�Forget it. I don’t want to know.” She took the apron she was wearing and threw it at Joey. “Finish these up, the oil is hot. I always overcook them. And Tiny, why don’t you help me set the table?”
“I’d be glad to.” I couldn’t stop smiling. Joanna must have thought we were crazy. “Just let me wash my hands.”
In the bathroom, I noticed Joey had sucked my neck so hard a bruise had formed. I slapped a hand on it and laughed silently as I looked at my rosy cheeks in the mirror. After trying unsuccessfully to arrange my collar to cover the red and purple spot, I gave up and went back to the kitchen. When Joanna’s back was turned, I flashed Joey my neck and he burst out laughing. I slapped his shoulder and Joanna turned to us, rolling her eyes. “Honestly. We have company for dinner. Pull yourselves together!”
But pulling myself together was out of the question. Just watching Joey prepare Sunday dinner for his family was enough to make my legs quiver and my insides clench. Whenever he turned around and I got a glimpse of his gorgeous face, flushed with heat from the stove or maybe from what we’d done—I nearly swooned.
Had I never noticed the way he moved? Joey didn’t have Enzo’s height or lithe grace, but his muscular body brimmed with caged aggression, more feral than feline. Even doing mundane things like bending for something low in a cupboard or reaching high on a shelf, or moving from the stove to the icebox to the table, his physicality spoke volumes about the way he’d move when unrestrained by clothing or convention.
I lost track of how many times I licked my lips and crossed my legs, tight.
Somehow we made it though dinner, although I was fairly certain we weren’t fooling anybody. We sat next to each other, and neither of us did a very good job of paying attention to conversation. When we weren’t sneaking glances at each other or sharing secret smiles, we were just staring at our plates, grinning like idiots, and several times I caught both of us eyeing the clock, willing its hands to move faster so this dinner would end and we could be alone. I don’t think I ate more than three bites, although the food was delicious.
“Tiny, how old are you now, dear?” Joey’s oldest sister Therese smiled at me from across the table, which had been extended to accommodate all the adults.
“Twenty. I’ll be twenty-one next month.”
“And are you working or going to school, or does your father keep you busy at home?”
“Well, I’ve been working for Bridget at the store and I attended nursing school at the University of Detroit for a bit over the last year or so. I’d like to go back, if I can save up tuition money.”
“Oh.” She took another bite from her plate and chewed thoughtfully. “So you’d like to work a while then, before you have a family?”
“I’m sorry?”
Therese exchanged a look with Joanna. “Do you plan on having a family?”
Joey and I locked eyes for a second. “Uh, I… haven’t really thought about it. Not too much, I mean. My own sisters have kept me pretty busy.”
“Oh, they should be plenty able to care for themselves by now, shouldn’t they? You should start thinking about your own.”
“Therese. Leave her alone,” Joey scolded. “Tiny can make her own decisions.” He scooped another helping of roasted zucchini onto his plate and turned to me. “Can I get you some more?”
I shook my head—I still had a full plate of food.
Joey’s sisters exchanged another look.
“So, Joey,” Therese said. “Going back to Chicago now that Ma is settled at Marie’s, I hear?”
Joey sipped his wine. “That’s the plan.”
I set down my fork and picked up my wine as well.
“I wish you wouldn’t go,” Joanna piped up. “I’ve been trying hard to convince him to stay and run this place, Tiny, but he won’t listen to me. Maybe you’ll have more luck.”
“Basta, Joanna.” Joey’s voice held a warning.
She put her hands up. “Don’t get mad, I’m only saying it because I think you’d be so good at it. And it’s breaking Ma’s heart to have to sell.” She lowered her voice to a whisper and gestured toward the other end of the table, where Joey’s mother sat with the older adults.
“Nice. Pin Ma’s broken heart on me now, too.” Joey forked a rice ball with vehemence.
“Well, anyone can see she doesn’t want to give it up. It was her dream to run this place. And Papa’s too.”
He glared at her and she dropped the subject. But from that point on, something in Joey was less than it had been. He still smiled at me affectionately, and in his eyes was a promise of what was to come later, but I knew that he’d been bothered by the mention of his father. We hadn’t even spoken about what he planned to do with the information Enzo had given him. And what about Chicago? Would he still go? Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. I’d just gotten him. Would I lose him already?
Over cannolis and coffee, I brooded a little. As thrilling as falling in love was, Bridget and Joey were right—it left you vulnerable, unprotected. Had I offered my heart to Joey only to have it broken when he left? Was he still bent on seeking revenge for his father, or would I be enough to convince him to leave the past alone?
Then there was the other kind of danger—the kind that might occur once Enzo realized I’d been less than truthful about Joey and me. And even though I hadn’t exactly lied, I knew he wouldn’t see it that way. Fear seized me, and my coffee cup clattered against the saucer in my hands.
Joey put his fingers on my wrist, and I looked into his concerned eyes, which made me hot through the center all over again. Lord, when would his family leave? I was desperate to get him alone. At the same time, we both glanced behind us at the clock on the mantel. When we realized it, we shared a genuine grin, and my hands steadied.
And when his relative finally gathered their hats, purses, and children to leave, my pulse began to race.
Chapter Thirteen
Goodbyes in Joey’s family were endless. Endless! Just when I thought he’d hugged and kissed the last relative goodbye, there was another one standing with open arms. All of them hugged me and kissed my cheeks as well, and his mother made Joey promise to send me home with a big plate of food for my father and sisters. She and Marie’s brood were the last ones out the door, and she looked around longingly at the front room before going.
Her eyes were shiny with tears, and I understood. It must have been hard for her to move out, leaving all the relics of her past here. She pointed a finger at Joey. “You take her right home. I don’t want her father to think I don’t raise a gentleman.”
“Ma, for cripes sake.” Joey turned her by the shoulder and steered her out the door into the hallway. He looked back at me. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to see them off.”
Nodding, I watched Marie’s two young children scurry out after them, which left only Marie and I in the front room.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” she called, securing her hat to her head. Then she turned to me, a smile on her lips. “He’s crazy about you.”
I dropped my eyes to my shoes. I’d worn my nicest ones, the black heels, even though they were a bit much for Sunday dinner. “Oh, I don’t know.”
She laughed. “Yes, you do. I could see it last time you were here, but today it’s even more obvious. I think even Uncle Manny could see it, and he’s half-blind!”
A smile took over my face. “Well, maybe we won’t have to hide it anymore.”
“Oh, I hope not. You’d be perfect together. Just don’t let him go running off to Chicago, for heaven’s sake. What’s that boy thinking? He should stay here. Then Ma wouldn’t have to sell this place.”
“We…we haven’t really had a chance to talk about that yet.” And I really wasn’t terribly interested in doing a lot of talking tonight.
Swoosh went my insides.
I crossed my legs at the ankle and stood with my thighs pressed tightly together, as if Marie could read my mind. On a small table to my right, the statue of the Virgin Mary eyed me su
spiciously.
“He’s just always been so stubborn, you know. He gets an idea in his head and thinks he has to follow through with it, even if it’s the dumbest idea ever. And we all know he’s had plenty of those!” She shook her head. “Madonna, the things he put Ma through… Some days I know she’s just glad he’s still here.” She crossed herself and put her hand on my arm. “If he loves you, and I believe he does, then he’ll stop all that gang nonsense and settle down.”
“I don’t know that I’m—”
She waved a hand in the air to stop me. “Forget I said anything. Honestly, my mouth runs away from me sometimes. And I’m terribly emotional these days.” Dropping her hand to her pregnant belly, she laughed. “I fall apart at the drop of a hat. Just you wait and see—oh, for Pete’s sake, I’ll stop pestering you now—”
“Impossible.” Joey appeared at the door. “You’ll never stop pestering. But unless you want to walk home, you better go down and get in the car.”
“I’m going, I’m going. Good night!” She waved and disappeared down the stairs.
Joey shut the door after her and leaned back against it. “They know.”
I smiled. “They know.”
He reached into his trousers and pulled out the handkerchief with my lipstick confession on it. “I left this on the counter by mistake. Joanna found it.”
My eyes went wide, and I clapped my hands to my face. “What!”
Grinning ruefully, he said, “I was just so excited to get you alone, I thought I put it in my pocket, but I guess I didn’t. She gave it to me just now.”
“After showing the rest of your sisters, no doubt.” My cheeks were searing hot under my palms.
“No doubt.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Not at all. I want to tell the entire world I’m in love with you”—and here my breath stopped—“but not tonight.”
My insides went from simmer to full boil. We’re alone.
Inside a heartbeat we lunged for each other, locking together from mouth to hip. Joey lifted me right off my feet, and I twined my legs around him. Walking backward, he tried to move us around the sofa and into the dining room, but since neither of us was willing to break off the kiss and look where we were going, we kept bumping into things. First we pushed the sofa and coffee table out of place. My leg knocked a lamp off an end table and his elbow nudged a painting of Jesus off the wall. We thumped the china cabinet and the contents rattled precariously.
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