Saved: a dark romance

by DD Prince

  “Feet hurt?” I ask.

  “A little,” she admits as we’re stepping into the lobby of the building.

  “So, you’re gonna wanna get those shoes off as soon as we get in the door?” I ask.

  “Definitely,” she mumbles with a smile.

  “Too bad,” I muse, pushing the button for the elevator.

  “Why?” she asks, “Do you want to go somewhere before we head up?

  “No,” I shake my head. We get in the elevator. It’s just us.

  The doors close.

  “I wanna fuck you in those shoes and nothing else,” I say, giving her a heated look.

  She startles, surprised, and then smiles a sexy smile, “I could manage to wear them another half hour or so.”

  “Half an hour?” I scoff, “Try three hours.”

  Her eyes widen. I reach into my jeans pocket for the key to the condo.

  The elevator doors open and I lift her off her feet and carry her, like my bride, to the condo.

  She’s flushed. She looks wanton. I can’t wait to sink inside her.

  Inside, I take her directly to the bedroom and toss her onto the bed. She bounces.

  I rip my shirt off, breaking all the buttons, and kick my shoes off.

  She reaches behind her, one hand under, one hand over her shoulder and fiddles until she undoes the zipper on the back of the dress.

  “Freeze. Don’t move,” I order. She is breathing heavily, looking very aroused.

  I’ve toed off my socks and dropped my jeans and boxer briefs. I put a knee to the bed and stalk toward her.

  I pull the dress up over her head and toss it. She’s wearing a black strapless lace bra and matching panties. Thigh high stockings.

  “These stay on, too,” I tell her as I run my hand up the fabric and snap the elastic that’s holding them up.

  She blows out a breath and reaches for my face. Our lips connect and she’s trembling.

  “Love you, mi pequeña flor,” I say and she melts into me.

  “I love you so much, Alessandro. Um…”

  “What?”

  “Should I call you something else? Do you want me to try to call you Lex?”

  “No. I’m Alessandro to you. It’s okay.”

  “Really? ‘Cuz…”

  “That’s who I am for you and for you, it’s not bad, so no. It’s okay. I love my name on your sweet lips. It’s the only time I’ve loved that.”

  She beams at me. I lavish attention on her tits, undoing the bra. Her sexy panties are staying on, though. I push them to the side and my fingers find her absolutely soaked.

  I yank them to the side and then I guide myself inside. Her legs wrap around my backside. I fuck her slow and sweet until she cries out into my mouth and I spill inside her silky heat.

  We’re spooned together, but she’s trying to be the big spoon. She’s rubbing my chest, kissing my back.

  “Next time…” she says but then stops.

  I wait.

  She doesn’t finish.

  “Next time…” I say, giving her the opportunity to finish.

  “Can you be rough?”

  I’m taken aback.

  She quickly squeezes me. “That was amazing. I love it like that. But I also like the way …” she doesn’t finish.

  I wait.

  I feel the tension coming from her. “Sometimes when I touched myself when you weren’t with me, I’d imagine you being rough, like you were in the beginning. And just sayin’ that was really good, but it was no three hours.”

  I slap her ass. She squeals and looks tweaked for a second, like she’s worried I’m seriously pissed. “You’re gonna get it however I wanna give it to you,” I turn over and face her. “You’re mine, Holly, and you’ve got a big responsibility taking care of this.” I grind my hips against hers and I’m getting hard again. “Sometimes I might want slow and sweet. Sometimes I might wanna make your eyes water and make you wonder if you’re gonna get choked to death on my cock.”

  Her eyes bulge. “Good to see you’ve still got your edge.”

  I laugh, hard. Fuck, but I love this girl.

  “I’ll show you my edge. Sometimes, I might make your ass bleed. Sometimes, you’ll wonder if you wanna lock this monster up.”

  “Never…” she breathes and snuggles in, “You’re my monster. But you’re like Sully from Monsters Inc. You can roar and be scary but I know what’s in here.” She pokes my chest.

  I shake my head.

  “Princesa, I’m new to the sweet but sometimes, I’m gonna be so sweet I’ll give myself a toothache.”

  “I look forward to that. Truth or dare?” she says, then whispers, “Pick dare.”

  “Uh…” I pretend I’m pondering it, “Dare?”

  “I dare you to sit on my face,” she says, her eyes lit with challenge.

  I’m not someone to back down from a challenge.

  And I’m fuckin’ thrilled that she’s down to do that after how many times I did that way too rough. I decide I’m gonna see if she can handle it rough again.

  ***

  I’m on the balcony, drinking coffee, and reading the newspaper online. I’m reading about my father’s case.

  “Ang called. Wanna go meet up with everyone for dinner tonight?” she asks.

  “Mmm… not ready for that.”

  “Why?”

  “Dinner parties have never been my thing.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “You should go,” I say.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll stay with you.”

  “Naw, go. Spend time with your sister.”

  “I only wanna go if you do. It’s gonna be all couples.”

  “Not ready to do the social thing, Holly.”

  “It’s okay. Maybe another time,” she shrugs.

  “Don’t count on it,” I mutter.

  She looks downtrodden.

  “I’m gonna take a run. Drop you at your sister’s for a bit?”

  “I’ll just stay here,” she mumbles.

  I’d feel better if she weren’t alone, but Dario told me the place has a state-of-the-art security system, so I tell her I’m setting the alarm and then I change into running clothes and go.

  Holly

  His phone is ringing. He’s forgotten it in the bedroom. I look at the screen.

  It says Mena.

  Dr. Jimena.

  I decide to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh. Holly? It’s Jimena.”

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “Well… I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  “I’m… good…” I feel awkward.

  “Good?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is he around?”

  “No. He just went for a run.”

  “Can you ask him to call me?”

  “Sure.”

  “Take care, Holly.”

  “Dr. Jimena?” I ask.

  “Please call me Mena. We’re family now, right?”

  “Right.” I say. “I just wanted to say thank you. For all you did for me. For the time you took to give me insights. You know...”

  “You’re welcome. I wish I could’ve done more for you. For a lot of people.” She goes quiet. I can imagine how much guilty she probably carries with her. My heart hurts for her.

  “How is he?” She interrupts my reverie.

  “I think he’s doing okay. At first it was… you know. But, I think he’s doing better.”

  “Good. Ask him to call?”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Absolutely. I just wanted to say hello.”

  “Oh. Okay. Take care.”

  “You, too. Hope to talk to you soon.”

  “Maybe we can do dinner sometime,” I add.

  “Say when and where and I’ll be there,” she says softly.

  “Take care.”

  “You, too, Holly. Bye.” She hangs up.

  He’s back, hitting buttons on the alarm panel.

  I put his p
hone down.

  “What were you doing?”

  “Jimena called.”

  “Don’t answer my fuckin’ phone,” he snaps and grabs it from me.

  I’m in shock.

  “S-sorry.”

  He tosses it on the sofa.

  “What did she want?”

  “She said she just wanted to say hi, see how you’re doing. I told her I hope we can get together for dinner or something.”

  He rolls his eyes.

  “She hates my guts. She may have helped me with that medication, with her warnings, but believe me, that’s only because she hates me slightly less than she hated him. Family reunions on that side of my family aren’t gonna happen. Don’t answer my phone again.”

  “I won’t. But maybe she understands that you were just doing what you had to d---”

  “Not now,” he snaps, “Goin’ for a shower.” He disappears into the bedroom.

  I sit there, lost in thought for a good long while. My phone makes a text alert noise and I blink myself back to reality.

  Angie: You wanna come shopping tomorrow?

  Me: Sure. What are we shopping for?

  Angie: A triple stroller.

  I phone her.

  She answers before the end of the first ring.

  “Hey!”

  “Triplets?” I ask.

  “Triplets!” she confirms.

  I’ve got tears in my eyes. I am so thrilled for her.

  “Oh Ang…”

  “Now you have to come tonight. We’re telling everyone at the dinner. I’m telling you because you won’t come. Make him come! We’re celebrating. All of us. Venetia at seven.”

  “I’ll work on him,” I say.

  “Love you,” she says.

  “Love you, too,” I tell her and hang up tearfully.

  I’d already told her he’s not up to being social yet. I hope I can get him to come.

  I meet him in the bedroom, he’s coming out of the bathroom, just a towel around his waist sitting low, showing off that perfect Adonis belt.

  “Um…” I start.

  He jerks his chin up at me. He still looks miserable.

  “I got some news,” I say.

  He waits.

  “Angie and Dare are having triplets.” I smile.

  “Good for them.” He folds his arms over his chest, obviously knowing there’s more I have to say.

  I wring my hands a little bit, “They’re having a celebratory dinner tonight at the restaurant, and that’s why they want everyone there. No one else knows yet and…” I stop.

  He rolls his eyes.

  “Can we please? Just for a little while.”

  “I already told you to go without me.”

  “But it’s gonna be everyone and---”

  “Holly, fuck!” he clips and thrusts his hand through his hair.

  I slump my shoulders and turn to go to leave. He grabs me by the elbow.

  “Fine, fuck. We’ll go. But you’re paying for it.”

  I’m startled.

  He throws me toward the bed and I land on my belly.

  He rips my yoga pants down and then he’s slamming inside me.

  I wasn’t ready. I wince.

  He grabs my ponytail too hard and I shriek. He growls into my ear and then his teeth clamp down on my throat and I instantly lubricate him. Tingles and goosebumps break out everywhere.

  “Gonna use you. Rough. Hold on tight.”

  “Yeah, baby,” I breathe and he hammers forward over and over and then switches and slides his cock right into my butt. I squirm at the pain and then his fingers slide under my hip and his fingers go inside my pussy, his thumb to my clit. He works it so hard and so fast that I’m surprised there aren’t sparks flying off me.

  I cry out his name and he yanks my hair so hard tears prickle in my eyes. A tear rolls down my cheek. He kisses it, and then groans out his climax as I feel him spill inside me.

  I go limp. He’s off me. I crawl up a bit more and face plant into the bed. He tenderly kisses the center of my back and moves back and I catch sight of him walking, in the buff, back into the bathroom.

  If I have to pay this kind of currency to get him to do what I wanna do? I can totally handle it.

  ***

  “We have an announcement.” Dare bangs his butter knife on a wine glass. Ang is drinking apple juice in a wine glass and the whole Ferrano family is here, even all the kids. Bianca the hairdresser and Nino her husband, Tino and his girlfriend Sherry, too. Zack has his arm around Tessa and Tessa’s two boys are there, too.

  Everyone eye in the place is on my brother-in-law.

  “You all know that Angel’s pregnant. We had a hard time getting here but we feel very blessed that God didn’t just grand us a baby. He’s granted us three. Ferrano Triplets are comin’.”

  The room breaks out in oohs and ahhs. Tommy throws his arms around his younger brother and gives him a hearty hug. Tia squeals and throws her arms around my sister.

  I’m beaming with joy.

  “You knew!” Luc accuses.

  I shrug, “We couldn’t come initially so she had to tell me to get me here.”

  I’m standing off to the side, Alessandro at my side. He’s been uncomfortable and on the quiet and broody side, but he’s trying. He’s not used to family gatherings, obviously. His father was crazy and demented and cruel. The only normal part of his childhood was just him and his mom so he’s just not used to this.

  I’ve stayed close. Zack and Tommy tried to engage him in conversation, small talk, but he’s been giving off a ‘back off’ vibe all night.

  When everyone else has given their hugs and kisses and words of congrats, he grabs my hand and moves up to where Dare and my sister stand. He shakes Dare’s hand and gives Ang a kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations,” he says.

  “Thank you,” my sister beams as two waiters walk around refilling champagne glasses.

  “Got a minute?” Dare asks Alessandro and then they disappear, leaving me with Ang.

  Ten or fifteen minutes later, I’m a spectator in the Ferrano comedy hour as Tessa and Luc argue over who of the two makes the better tiramisu. Tommy steps back to the group and says, “Easy. Tia does. Just like she makes the best lasagna.”

  Tia gives him a horrified look, like she wants to shoot him. Tommy and Dare’s sisters both shut their mouths and glare at their oldest brother.

  “Holly, time to go.” Alessandro says into my ear. We say our goodbyes, his are a bit awkward and rushed, and then we go.

  We’ve got a BMW convertible of Tommy’s that’s on loan.

  We drive the short trip back to the condo in silence.

  “Thank you for doing that for me,” I say, when we get inside.

  He doesn’t answer me. He goes right for the booze and pours a big glass.

  “What were you pulled away for? Is there some news or something?”

  He shakes his head, “No. The boys wanted to talk business.”

  “Business?”

  “Business opportunities. I’m not ready to make any decisions yet. But I’m thinkin’ you and me should maybe take off. Go spend some time on a beach. Have that honeymoon we never got.”

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  He nods, “Yeah. Tonight confirmed what I already suspected. I’m not ready to be around people.”

  “I’m people.”

  He gives me a little smile, “Yeah, but you’re different. You’re my person.”

  “I am,” I confirm and approach him, deciding I want to seduce him.

  “You look very handsome tonight,” I say. He’s in jeans and a wine- colored button-down shirt. I’m wearing a sapphire blue cocktail dress that Ang had sent over for me. I’ve got on high-heeled strappy sandals with it, and I love the way he looks at me in these clothes. I love seeing him in jeans, too. He wears a suit extraordinarily well but he also fills out jeans and tight dress shirts very very nicely.

  I approach him and run my hand up his chest. I roll up on my tiptoes a
nd that hand moves up to his jaw as I touch his lips with mine. He grabs my hair and holds me with it while he deepens the kiss.

  “Let’s go to bed,” he says, “Tomorrow, pick an island and we’ll go.”

  “Woo hoo,” I say softly and he rewards me with a gorgeous smile.

  He said he wasn’t gonna be good at this husband business, but so far, he’s way better at it than I’d even hoped for. And after we make love, I decide to tell him just that.

  Truly

  Holly

  We are back in Portland and on our way to my sister’s house from the airport. Alessandro isn’t ready to commit to putting down roots here yet. He wants to wait and see what’s what, he says. Ang and Dare have left their condo vacant for us so we’ll stay there again, for now. We’re heading straight to their house for a meeting he has with the Ferranos and some guy that works for him.

  We had an amazing two weeks in Jamaica. We danced. He can dance! I can’t, but I drank a lot of pina coladas and I tried.

  We lazed. We had sex every single day. Sometimes it was sweet. More often, it was dirty and very very naughty, especially the one night I drank all those pina coladas. We had sex in the alley behind the nightclub at the resort we were staying at. It was dirty and amazing.

  We ate like pigs. We laughed. We went snorkeling and climbed where that beautiful waterfall is in Ocho Rios. We tried all sorts of new foods, and our delayed honeymoon was a dream come true.

  We avoided heavy topics and I think I got to know him better. I think maybe he has gotten to know himself better. He’s been sweet and demonstrative, and I’ve had the best two weeks of my life.

  I’m not pushing him for answers about the future, where we’ll settle. I’ve seen him reading up on his father a couple times. I’ve read up on him, too, and the stuff he’s being tried for? Murder many times. Lots of other criminals. Sex trafficking. Moving guns, including in the Middle East and Africa to known terrorists.

  Not good. No mention of Alessandro. An article I read said that Sandro the Butcher had one son, Jesse Romero, who had died in a meth cookhouse explosion in Portland about a year and a half ago. I knew that had something to do with the Ferranos but had no idea what the rest of the story was.

  I read that Sandro’s uncle, a man named Juan Carlos Castillo, was killed just before Jesse in a big turf war in Morelia, Mexico. His death was grisly. He’d been found dead, decapitated and castrated, his own genitals cut off and stuffed into his mouth.