by Toby Neal
“Dolf, I want you to know that I’m not ashamed of loving you.”
Dolf’s voice softened and his eyes filled. “I’m not ashamed of loving you, either.”
“But I’m a little afraid of what your mother is going to say.”
Dolf barked a laugh. “You’re scared?” He took her hand and held it over his heart. It was beating rapidly. “I’m mildly terrified.” He smiled down at her.
“You better sit down.” Avital led Dolf back to the couch and pushed him down, keeping her hand on his chest, checking his heart rate.
“I’m fine, babe.”
“Says the man who almost died.”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her palm to his lips, kissing it. “I told you I’d never leave you.”
“I know.” She straddled him and he rested his hands on her thighs, holding her against his growing erection. He was always ready for her. Despite his weakened condition, Dolf Luciano was taking full advantage of having her at his disposal, and she appreciated it every single time.
She kissed him, holding his face in her hands. “I’m nervous about telling your family but, at the same time, there’s a part of me that’s excited.” Avital talked with her eyes closed, not wanting to see Dolf’s reaction until she’d said all she needed to. “They need to know that you are the man you are, not just half of Nando. You’re not just the brains, and you never were a tin man.” The back of Dolf’s knuckles caressed her cheek, and she opened her eyes. His gaze was gentle. “You’re good.” She continued. “I want them to see that. I want them to see what Nando saw and what I see.”
“And you think the fact that we’re together is going to show them that?” He looked away from her, his mouth tight. “Besides, I’m not that good. I fight dirty when I’m cornered. I didn’t want to stop for those kids on the bus….”
“But you did. And you gave them what you could, to help them. And I’m not a bit sorry you took out half of Newton’s cops.” Avital stroked his neck and slipped her fingers under his shirt, running them along his collarbone. “Your capacity for love is obvious when we’re together. I think they’ll be happy for us.”
Dolf barked a laugh. “The cold son who steals the favorite son’s widow while on the road. I don’t think my mother is going to be happy.”
“The world is filled with death and danger now. What we have is true love, Dolf. And no one who loves us could be unhappy about that.”
He looked back at her, his hands running up her thighs and holding her hips, pulling her closer. “I love you. I love you with every cell in my body. I hope you’re right about my family, about Mama. But it really doesn’t matter. I know what we have, and no one else’s opinion about it will change that. You’re mine.” His words were definite, as if making a vow.
Avital kissed him, and he didn’t pull away. His hands slipped under her shirt and wandered up to her breasts, his fingers cold against her warm skin as his thumbs tweaked her sensitive nipples. She shivered with pleasure.
The fire crackled in the background and a tang of smoke permeated the air. Dolf stood up, holding her, and she squeaked in protest, but before she could form words he’d turned them around and set her down on the couch, settling himself between her legs.
He shrugged off his shirt, exposing his smooth hard chest. “I’ve been thinking about this since you left.”
“Oh really?” She let her eyes travel over his defined pecs, luxuriate on the curve of his abs, and finally land on the bulge in his pants.
“Yes, I have.” He unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it open, then pushed her bra down, staring. “I love your breasts, Avital.”
“I’ve noticed.” She laughed.
“Ever since you walked out the door I’ve been thinking about getting them back in my mouth.”
“Dolf, you really should take it easy,” Avital said, not really meaning it. She certainly didn’t want it easy. Sex seemed to be helping his recovery. Perhaps in her future practice, Avital would recommend regular intercourse as a part of any illness recovery program. The thought of that blurb on a brochure made her grin.
Dolf unbuttoned his pants and pushed them off. Avital reached for her own waistband but he stopped her with a hand. “That’s part of my plan.”
She lifted her hands and held them out to the side, palms up. “Far be it from me to interrupt a man’s plan.”
Dolf leaned over and kissed her breasts, reaching around to undo her bra. He eased her out of it, along with her shirt.
Avital’s skin felt like it was on fire—the crackling of the flames mirrored the sensation of her nerves as Dolf kissed her and the smell of him, rich and heady, filled her senses.
He moved down and lavished her breasts with kisses, sucks, and swirls of his tongue, taking his time, teasing her until she was writhing on the couch, begging for him to take off her pants. He just laughed against her breasts. “I told you I was thinking about this. I was thinking about doing this for hours.”
“What! Come on.” She thrust her hips up and he laughed again. “Don’t make me wait.”
“Always so demanding, Dr. Luciano.” He slowly unbuttoned her jeans and lowered the zipper, the sound of each metal notch releasing raising goose bumps over her body.
She was going to come just from him undressing her.
He slid his hands into her panties, taking them off, and then cupped her feminine heat with a rough palm as he leaned up and took one of her nipples back into his mouth. She arched off the couch towards him. Her whole body was alive with sensation. She’d never wanted anyone so badly in her entire life.
“Please,” she begged. Dolf kissed down her ribs, licked around her belly button, then lay a pattern of kisses along her womb before blowing gently at her center. Avital squeezed the couch arm above her head, her nails digging into it.
He licked her and she moaned. It only took him a few minutes and she was on the very edge, writhing against his mouth. His strong hands held her thighs down.
It was that sensation of him holding her in place that released her climax. Dolf was her anchor in this crazy world. As long as she had him, Avital Luciano was going to survive—and thrive.
His power and the sense of security he gave her was the sexiest thing she’d ever felt. Her body shuddered in rapture as the thought ricocheted around her mind, splintered, and became nothing but pleasure.
Dolf kissed the inside of her thigh gently as she came back down. Her hands released the couch cushions, slowly relaxing. Her eyes were shut as she enjoyed the final tingles of her release.
“That part went according to plan,” he said.
Avital laughed. “Is there more?”
“There’s more.” His voice was husky and she opened her eyes to see what he was doing.
Dolf pulled her to the edge of the couch and sat her up, kneeling between her thighs on the floor.
Avital worried for a split second about his health, but then released that fear as his hands clamped around her wrists and held them above her head. He spread her wide and looked straight into her eyes as he slowly entered her. She wrapped her legs around his hips and arched up towards him, offering herself.
He filled her and she cried out with the completeness of it. With his free hand, he stroked her breasts, first one and then the other. He lowered his head and sucked one into his mouth as he increased his pace and growled against her skin.
Avital struggled against his hold on her wrists, but only so that she could feel his strength more completely. He loved controlling her as much as she loved him doing it.
He moved her to get a better angle, letting go of her wrists to grab her hips. She slid her hands down to stroke his strong chest, his flat, dark nipples.
“Leave your hands where I put them,” he commanded harshly. Avital obeyed, wrapping her fingers around each other over her head and squeezing the back of the couch. His dominance made her spiral tighter against that edge.
Sweat shone on Dolf’s brow, his dark eyes going that deep olive green
she loved as he stared down at her, searching and found, the two of them. “I could do this forever.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” she gasped on each thrust.
He sped up, and his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her hips, angling her just the way he wanted her—just the way she needed it, craved it, owned by their passion.
Her head arched back and she cried out as her body was overcome by a cascade of pleasure, colored sparks rippling along her nerves and lighting up her eyes as his gaze met hers. She broke open—every single part of her lifting off the couch, spreading out over the entire room, over the entire world, and then coming back together, suctioning back inside with an incredible explosion of joy.
Dolf gave a harsh cry, the sound of a raptor capturing prey, and collapsed over her body, sucking her nipple between his teeth and biting down. The pain, mixed with the intense pleasure of his climax, sent her off again. Avital was obliterated and reborn in a second—she was everything and nothing—she was giver and receiver, she was woman, child, mother, sister, lover, wife. She was whole and complete.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Dolf
JT hit the remote on the first gate of the Haven’s high, cement-fenced compound. Dolf leaned out the window of the back seat to look over the swath of fields, browning with oncoming fall, the windmill, the pond—and gave a long, low whistle.
“You’ve got some place here, bro.”
“This is just the beginning.” JT’s voice rang with pride as he navigated up a long, graveled driveway to a second, interior gate surrounding a pleasant but nondescript-looking log cabin on a knoll.
Mama and Lucy were out on the porch, waving.
Dolf looked at Avital, squeezing her hand. She squeezed his back, even harder. JT’s friend Roan, a tall Native American complete with an eagle feather in his braid and worn buckskins, turned to them from the front seat. “You will like it here,” he pronounced. It felt like a blessing.
When they’d told JT they were together upon his arrival at the farmhouse, he’d been surprised but kind. “Congratulations. You two have obviously been through a lot, and deserve a little happiness.”
Now, JT flicked a glance between their faces as Avital leaned her head on Dolf’s shoulder in the back seat. “Don’t worry about Mama. She’s going to be surprised you two are a couple, but when she hears about the baby—that’s all that’s going to matter to her.”
“I hope you’re right, or we’ll turn this truck around and head into town,” Dolf said. “I own about half of it.”
JT jammed on the brakes just before the next gate, turning to look at Dolf over his shoulder. “What?”
“I bought everything that came up for sale in North Fork from two years ago on, after you told me your plan,” Dolf said, squeezing Avital’s hand again. His brother’s acceptance of their relationship was a balm, but he might have just lost that with this revelation.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” JT’s bold black brows drew down over his hazel eyes—Mama’s eyes, when she was less than pleased. “I went through hell worrying I’d never get all of you out here, feeling like a freak for getting this place. It was like being Noah building the ark, all by my own damn self!”
“Turns out you weren’t alone, and you aren’t the only Luciano with a touch of the Sight,” Dolf said. His brother’s hot gaze burned his face. “How do you think I’ve done so well with investing? I saw this coming as much as you did. Turned all my assets to gold. Unfortunately, the Humvee containing several million in gold bullets was stolen. Long story, but I hope you and Roan will help me get it back. I’d like to use those assets to start a bank in town, help get the economy going around here.”
JT stared at Dolf for another long moment, then shook his head. “You should have told me.”
“I’m sorry. I know I should have. I just…keep things close to the vest until they’re a sure thing.”
“You always were the best poker player of all of us. You’re full of surprises, bro.” JT seemed to relent. “I guess owning half the town will help us keep it safe out here.” JT hit the remote, and the inner gate opened.
Mama and Lucy launched themselves off the porch, along with a barking Pinocchio and a dignified gray wolf belonging to Roan. Butch barked back, and Slash added a yowl to the mix as they pulled up in front of the house.
Avital was engulfed in Mama’s embrace as she got out of JT’s Range Rover and Lucy embraced Dolf hard, kissing his cheeks. “Dolf, you’re so thin!”
“Scorch Flu will do that to you.”
Mama came and took his face in her hands, pulled him down for kisses on his cheeks and forehead. Her face was wet with tears. “I was worried sick. I couldn’t lose both my twins!”
“Thanks to Avital, I made it. She saved my life.” Dolf snaked an arm around Avital and pulled her up against his side, kissing the top of her head.
“You saved my life, too.” Avital looked up at him, her eyes encouraging. They had discussed how to tell the family, and decided it had to be right away, right up front—the longer they tried to hide, the more awkward the situation would become.
Dolf cleared his throat and met his mother’s gaze. “Avital and I are together now.”
The color drained from Ana Luciano’s face. Her gaze flicked back and forth between them, finally capturing Avital’s. “Is this true?” she demanded.
Avital nodded. “We…fell in love.”
“And Nando hardly cold in the ground?” Ana’s hands flew to her hips and she seemed to swell, splitting an irate gaze between the two of them, color rushing to her cheeks. “I can’t believe you’d dishonor his memory like this!”
“We honor his memory by being together.” Dolf’s voice rang out, and he stepped partway in front of Avital to shield her from his mother’s wrath. “We both loved Nando more than anyone. Avital’s pregnant. Her baby needs a father, and whether you see it or not, Nando would have been okay with this. Happy about it, actually.”
His mother’s hand came up to cover her mouth as she stared at Avital’s still-flat stomach. “There’s a baby? Nando’s baby?”
Dolf didn’t correct her—it would comfort his mother to think of the child that way. “Yes.”
“Congratulations! I couldn’t be happier for both of you!” exclaimed Lucy, throwing herself into the breach to hug and kiss Avital again. “We will have a little reminder of Nando to love!”
Lucy turned to Roan and threw herself into his arms, a wide grin splitting her face. The stoic man grunted at the impact but didn’t push her away as she bounced in his arms. “I’m going to be the best aunt in the world!” Lucy turned to JT and hugged him, too.
Elizabeth, smiling and pretty, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, came out onto the porch and peeled off a pair of latex gloves. “Welcome to the Haven, Dolf and Avital! I’m so glad you two are finally here. We were all really worried when you were out of touch for so long.”
“No kidding. We’d have sent out a search party if we’d known where to look,” JT said. He walked up onto the porch and slung an arm around Elizabeth. “You two aren’t the only people with news. Elizabeth and I are engaged.”
Now it was Dolf and Avital’s turn to congratulate, but Dolf hadn’t lost track of his mother, who’d walked back into the house. Dolf gave JT a meaningful glance, and his brother took the hint, saying loudly, “Why don’t we all pitch in and unload the truck, take their stuff down to one of the bedrooms? We’ll have to shuffle things around a bit now that they’re going to be in one room together….”
Dolf turned and kissed Avital, brief and hard. She patted his chest and gave a small nod. Dolf let the rest of the adults deal with their belongings and the pets and followed his mother into the house. She stood in the living room with her back to the door, fussing with a curtain.
“Mama.” He put a hand on her shoulder.
She twitched away. “I have to get dinner going.”
He followed her into the kitchen, a rustic affair but with a big, profession
al-grade Viking stove that JT had no doubt installed with Ana in mind. She lit the burner and began filling a pot with water as Dolf struggled to explain.
“I know this is a surprise, and it might seem too fast—but trust me when I tell you, Nando was okay with it. He wanted me to take care of Avital. He told me so. He even left his half of the house to me, so that I could ‘have a home there.’” He made air quotes. “I know my brother, and he always knew how I’ve felt about Avital. He was okay with it.”
She put the pot on the stove. “Are you sleeping together?”
Dolf felt his face heat. “Yes. We love each other. We came through several life or death experiences getting here. It brought us closer together than would ever have happened in normal life—but honestly, Mama…it would have ended up the same. We are meant to be together.”
“Is it your baby? Or Nando’s?”
Dolf threw his hands up. “Isn’t it enough that you’re going to be a grandmother? Would it matter, really, Mama? We are the same, Nando and I!”
She skewered him with a glance. “You may have the same DNA, but you are not the same.”
“How well I know that.” Dolf’s voice was low and his heart heavy. “I could do no right, and Nando could do no wrong in your eyes. I’m sorry you lost the twin you loved.”
Ana turned fully to him, hands on her hips again, hazel eyes flashing. She was five foot two of intimidation, and he took a step back.
“Is that what you think? Oh, Dolf, how little you know a mother’s heart!” Her lip trembled and her eyes filled. “Nando was easy to love. He and I got along. You, I never understood. You were a closed book to me. But did I love you less?” She put her hand over her heart, the tears spilling. “My precious boy, you are so complex, so secretive, always with your obsessions. I worry over you. I don’t understand you. But not love you?” Her voice broke and her arms opened. “Caro Adolfo, you always made my heart proud. And in standing up for the woman you love, taking on her child, you make me proud again.”
Dolf stepped into her arms and was engulfed in the feeling of coming home. His eyes burned and a weight lifted off his shoulders. “I love you, Mama.”
