Black Moon Rising

by Ann Simas

  “I decided on ziti because I thought it would be easier for the kids to eat,” Della said.

  “And a lot less messy,” Sunny noted, her tone wry. “Everything smells amazing. I love Italian food and this just plain hits the spot.”

  “We gots lots of aunties now, Mommy,” Carson said, stuffing part of a meatball into his mouth.

  “You do, huh?”

  He nodded enthusiastically and dropped his fork onto his plate so he could count on his fingers. “Auntie Libby, Auntie Angie, Auntie Della, and Auntie Maria. That makes four.”

  “Fow’a,” his sister agreed, shoving two ziti between her little rosebud lips with red fingers.

  “You certainly are lucky kids,” Sunny said, her heart near to bursting with love for them.

  “We gots uncles now, too.”

  “Is that right?” She shared a look with Libby, who looked completely innocent of having put such an idea into Carson’s head.

  “Yep.” He proceeded to list Luca first, then Luca’s brothers and male cousins, and finally, Trey. “That’s gonna mean lots more presents at Christmas time.”

  “Carson!” Sunny cried, appalled at her son’s assumption. “Honey, it doesn’t mean that at all.”

  “No mo’ pwesents?” Maisie asked, her lower lip jutted out about half an inch. “No pwesents!” She slapped her dimpled hands down on the table top with a loud smack. “Betta tell Santa.”

  The adults at the table cracked up, leaving Maisie and Carson to stare at them in startled surprise. When the children realized they had caused the laughter, they began to giggle.

  After dinner, Libby hustled her niece and nephew off to the tub for a spaghetti-sauce cleansing. The three Amorosis insisted on doing kitchen cleanup, so Sunny sat at the table and chatted with them while they worked. “You guys are going to spoil me.”

  “You deserve some spoiling,” Della said. “You’ve been through a lot recently.”

  “Like you haven’t,” Sunny replied.

  Della shook her head. “By comparison, you have me beat.” She poked her brother. “You want to tell her or can I?”

  “Go ahead. It’s your fault she stopped to help you that day,” Luca responded with humor.

  “My fault, my ass, big brother!”

  “Tell me what?” Sunny asked.

  “Boyson pled guilty without intent to his assault and battery charges today.”

  “You’re kidding! What does that mean, without intent? From my perspective, he clearly intended to hurt me.” Sunny had suspected the Assistant DA handling the case wasn’t one hundred percent certain of a conviction, but shouldn’t she been have consulted if the DA’s office was offering Boyson a plea bargain? She looked at Luca and asked as much.

  “It wasn’t a plea bargain,” he said. “Boyson’s attorney urged him to make the plea with the no-intent stipulation so he wouldn’t be looking at a twelve-year sentence.”

  “At least we don’t have to testify now,” Della said.

  Sunny agreed. She hadn’t been looking forward to facing Earl Boyson in the courtroom, but a reduced sentence troubled her. “How long a sentence did he get?”

  “He hasn’t been sentenced yet.” Della glanced at her brother. “I guess that’ll happen in a couple of weeks?”

  Luca nodded.

  Sunny frowned. “Why so long?”

  “Lawyers,” Della said, as if that explained everything.

  “I hope he’s not still on paid administrative leave.”

  Luca shook his head. “That only lasted while the department did the internal investigation. He’s been officially terminated since day before yesterday. His guilty plea encompassed the official misconduct charge.”

  Sunny worried her lower lip. “What kind of sentence do you think he’ll be looking at?”

  “Judge Kennedy can give him anywhere from two to six years, and fine him anywhere from two thousand to five hundred-K. The good news is, His Honor doesn’t take kindly to cops who violate department policy.”

  “Good,” Della said.

  Sunny, still recovering from Boyson’s brutal treatment, couldn’t disagree. She turned her attention to Luca, who said, “I wanted to tell you all this tomorrow tonight, over a candlelight dinner.”

  “Candlelight dinner, huh?”

  He sent her a look that offered up promises of pleasures aplenty. “That, and more.”

  Her insides started to sizzle again. How did his voice manage to ooze sex like that?

  “Hell-oo,” Della said, grinning. “There’s a kid in the room.”

  Luca tweaked her nose and said, “You’re about as much a kid as I am a leprechaun, squirt.”

  She biffed her wet fingers in his direction, dotting him with soapy water.

  Luca shrugged with a laugh and went back to drying.

  “Six years isn’t long enough, if you ask me,” Angie said, wiping down the table.

  “I agree,” Della said, “He should have at least got double that for what he did to Sunny.” She handed her brother another pan to dry. “Do you think some of his other assault victims will come forward now that they know he’s behind bars and can’t get to them?”

  “I hope so,” Luca said, his tone grim. “It’s not right how that he’s gotten away with battering people.”

  Angie placed an antique wire chicken egg basket in the center of the table and said, “What he did puts a stain on the department, too.”

  Sunny asked, “What’s happening with Toady?”

  Luca opened his mouth to answer, but Della beat him to the punch. “His attorney wanted to make a deal, but the DA wouldn’t because I’m a cop’s sister. I can’t say I’m sorry the DA wouldn’t plea bargain, but I’m not really looking forward to testifying, either.”

  “I hear you,” Sunny said. “I wasn’t looking forward to having to face Boyson in court, but I suppose I’ll still be called in Toady’s case.”

  “You’re definitely on the DA’s witness list,” Luca confirmed.

  Sunny took a deep, shuddery breath. “Boyson scares the you-know-what out of me.”

  “He can’t hurt you now,” Luca assured her.

  Sunny wished that made her feel better, but it didn’t, and for some reason, her mind tracked back to the latest vision.

  Before she could figure out why, Luca continued. “Being a cop, Boyson’s going to have some tough days in lockup.”

  “I have no sympathy for him,” Della said. “At least this Toady creep doesn’t seem to have a mean streak in him like Boyson does.”

  “Right,” Luca agreed, his tone facetious. “Toady tried to take you out by hitting you on your bike, and then he planned to kill you and Sunny with fatal doses of Rohypnol. There’s no comparison whatsoever.”

  Della opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. After a moment, she said, “I take your point, but remember, he did draw the line at killing Sunny because she’s a mom.”

  “Nonetheless, he injected her with Rohypnol,” Luca shot back, “which very nearly killed her, despite his claims to the contrary.”

  Della handed him the last pan, shoving it at him a little harder than seemed necessary. “Do you always have to be right?”

  Luca grinned at her. “Only when I’m not.”

  “You are such a smart ass. No wonder Mom says you’re a bad influence on the rest of us little ones.”

  He muttered something in Italian that Sunny took to be far from complimentary, but his youngest sister laughed and said, “Back at’cha, bro.”

  Once cleanup was completed, Della planted her hands on her hips and said with a dramatic flair, “ I’m going to take off. I seem to require more beauty sleep since Toady tried to off me.”

  “Thanks for the amazing dinner,” Sunny said, hoping Luca wasn’t going to follow suit. “Feel free to show off your culinary skills to us anytime.”

  “Don’t think I won’t!” Della said laughing. “Mom says the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The more I practice, the better my catch will be.”


  Libby stood in the doorway with one child on either side of her. “If that’s the way it’s done, I’d like to sign up for some cooking lessons from you.”

  Della shook her head, smirking. “I think you already have your catch sewn up, but I’ll be happy to teach you what I know.”

  “All this insider chick-talk is making my head spin,” Luca said. He looked at Sunny. “Meet you outside on the patio after you get the little people down for bed?”

  “She can meet you out there now,” Libby cut in. “I’m perfectly capable of getting two small children tucked in, right guys?”

  Carson and his mimic began to jump up and down. Aunt Libby always read them one extra story, prolonging their bedtime, so what was there to protest?

  “Come give me a ’night-’night kiss,” Sunny said, extending her arms. The children ran across the room and piled into her lap, lavishing her with hugs, as well as kisses. “Sweet dreams,” she said when they climbed down.

  They gave everyone else goodnight hugs and kisses, further delaying their bedtime, then ran back to Libby, insisting they had to walk Della to the front door and wave goodbye.

  Libby caved into their demands, as they knew she would, and after a noisy farewell from the front porch, tiny footsteps could be heard scampering off to the bedroom.

  Angie gave Luca a hug and said, “I’m off to my room to read. The only romance I get is from books, you know, and I finally found a good one, although one of the firefighters that came to the house this morning definitely has possibilities.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Sunny.

  “I hope you’re not suggesting I should have another asthma attack so you can call 911 again.”

  Angie shrugged, her eyes twinkling. “No, but he did invite us down for a tour of the fire station. I’d have to borrow the kids, of course, because it might look funny if a grown woman showed up alone.”

  Sunny laughed. “Of course.”

  “See you in the morning.” She wiggled her fingers at them over her shoulder and left the room.

  It was almost comical they way everyone was so transparent in their efforts to make sure she and Luca had some time alone.

  . . .

  Within minutes, the house was quiet. Luca leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his wide chest, studying Sunny.

  She pushed away from the table, slid her chair in, and faced him.

  If they’d been at his house, she had no doubt that they’d be having dessert in his bed. So much for being a woman with willpower.

  But they weren’t at his house. They were at her house, where his cousin, her sister, and her two children were currently engaged in various nighttime activities. There would be no dessert in Sunny’s bedroom. At least not tonight.

  “Let’s go out to the patio,” Luca suggested again. He shoved away from the counter and moved toward her with that long-legged stride of his.

  He extended his hand to her and she took it, loving the feel of his larger one dwarfing hers. “Do we need jackets?”

  “No, it’s warm out, but if you get cold, I’ll warm you up.”

  She blinked up at him. “I’ll just bet you will.”

  He grinned. “How about some star-gazing?”

  “I’m up for it.”

  “Wait here while I arrange some privacy.”

  That sounded promising.

  She watched from the patio door as he moved the oversize chaise out to a far, dark corner of the yard. She heard more than saw him adjust it to recline.

  Dessert of some kind, for sure.

  He came back for her and said, “Shut off the kitchen light.”

  She did as instructed, then let him guide her out to his newly devised love nest. She kicked off her sandals and curled her toes in the grass. He removed his boat shoes and placed them next to her sandals.

  Luca was such a big man, Sunny never would have imagined that the two of them could lie side-by-side on the chaise, and technically, they didn’t. She ended up half on top of him, which was fine by her.

  He slid an arm around her back, settling her intimately against his chest.

  She angled one leg up on top of both of his, liking the feel of his hair-roughened manly thighs and calves against the smoother skin of hers. She moved her leg up and down his, coming perilously close to the juncture of his thighs.

  “You’re courting with fire,” he whispered, his voice husky.

  Before she realized what was happening, he resituated her full-length on top of his body, capturing her mouth before she could protest. As if she would.

  Nothing would have been better than to strip naked on top of him. Of course, that not only would have been reckless, but completely out of character for her.

  While their tongues dueled, he slipped his hands under her tee and worked them around to her breasts. Sunny lifted herself a little to give him better access.

  He broke the kiss and said, “The minute I realized you didn’t have a bra on, all I could think about was tasting you.” He grasped her sides and lifted her so he could do just that.

  The pressure against her still-healing rib made her gasp.

  “Oh, geez, Sunny, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, it was just a twinge.” She reached over his head and grasped the top of the chaise, pulling herself upward.

  Luca wasted no time indulging himself.

  Sunny moaned from the sheer pleasure of it, wondering at the lightning bolt firing from the tips of her breasts to the most womanly part of her. She really needed to feel his bare skin against her breasts. “Luca?”

  “What, love?”

  “Take off your shirt.”

  He hesitated only a moment. She pushed herself up, straddling him, and pulled off her own tee, then helped him tug his off when he tried remove it without upsetting her.

  Sunny felt his erection though their clothes and couldn’t help squirming against it, drawing a guttural moan of pleasure from him.

  He reached up and fondled her breasts, teasing the nubs with his thumbs.

  Sunny pressed herself harder against his groin.

  “Come back to my mouth, Sunshine.”

  She leaned forward, giving him access as she held herself up with an hand on either side of his head.

  Sunny had the uncontrollable urge to beg him to get himself inside her. Right now.

  A woman she didn’t recognize, delirious with passion and longing, almost opened her mouth to utter the words.

  A woman with common sense, someone she did recognize, knew she shouldn’t be having sex in her back yard.

  Another woman, one she also recognized, who was capable of conflict resolution, had another option. She lowered herself, shifting to her side, which made it easier to unbutton her shorts and lowered the zipper.

  Luca didn’t need a diagram to figure out her message. He gathered her back into his arms and slid a big hand down inside her panties. One touch ignited her, but this time, Sunny didn’t worry about expending her night’s quotient of orgasms. Luca had already taught her a little something about that, and she knew there was more to come, if she wanted them.

  When she’d come twice, he said, “I’d rather be inside you, Sunshine, but since I know that’s not feasible right now—”

  She pressed her lips against his. “I’d love to return the favor, if you’d like to unzip your pants.”

  He chuckled. “I might need some help. I’m afraid I might do some damage if I try it one-handed.”

  Excitement rippled through her. She raised up, straddled his knees, and went to work undoing the snap of his jean shorts before she lowered the zipper over his erection. She liked that he had on boxer shorts, making access to him easier. “You’re amazing, Luca. Every inch of you.”

  “And you haven’t even seen me in my birthday suit yet,” he said, amused. He reached up to take her breasts in his hands again. “I can’t wait to see you completely naked. I’m going to enjoy exploring every inch of you.”

  Sunny shuddered with desire. Ever
ything he said, everything thing he did, every touch…it was fire in her veins. “I’d like to taste you,” she said, “but it feels funny to do that in the yard. Will you be okay if I just use my hands?”

  “Anything you want to do is going to be fine by me, Sunshine. Trust me on that.”

  Every time he called her by her given name, Sunny’s pulse went into overdrive. She’d hated the name growing up, but when Luca said it, it came out like a warm caress that sent her into a frenzy. She took him in her hands, but she couldn’t resist one quick taste, despite her earlier sentiment.

  Apparently, Luca liked it, too, because his body seized in a release that shook him and left him trembling.

  Chapter 24

  . . .

  Sunny spent the next morning imagining what a night in Luca’s bed would be like. Foreplay, nakedness, coitus, and whatever else they felt like doing. For hours. With no interruptions. All night long.

  Sex with Zach had been pleasant but not earth-shattering.

  Did that mean she hadn’t loved him?

  Did it mean that she did love Luca?

  If that were true, how was it even possible after knowing him for less than five weeks?

  Her mind was such a jumble at the moment, she couldn’t really sort out any of the dozens of questions she had about her current situation, let alone how it pertained to a new man in her life.

  Zach had been her first and only relationship involving sex. He’d been gentle with her, taught her things, but he’d never incited unquenchable passions within her. He’d had feelings for her, of that she had no doubt, especially after reading that last letter, but he’d loved his job with the SEALs more than anything. It was sad that what he’d felt for her in the beginning hadn’t been the love of a husband for his wife, but more that of a friend for a friend. Who knows where they’d be today if he’d brought the passion he gave to his work home to the marital bed?

  Sunny hadn’t known a relationship could be so much more than what she had with Zach, but now that she was beginning to see that it could be, it was hard to stop thinking about it.

  In fact, it was impossible to stop thinking about it.