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Alicia
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Too early, it’s too early. I’m not aware I moan the words until the hot mountain I’m resting on moves and responds.
“It is too early, for you. Go back to sleep.” I open my eyes as Cesare rolls me onto my back. A kiss is pressed into my forehead, then he’s gone.
This time when the alarm goes off I come awake immediately. Wait, what? There’s a note on the bedside table from Cesare. A car will take me to work, with no close train between here and work it’s the best way. I sigh—he’s right. While I could take the bus, this far into the loop the buses would be packed.
Huh, he’s given me a whole hour to get ready for work before I left. Normally I give myself a half hour. I’m low-maintenance and love sleep too much to give up twenty minutes for the time it takes to do my hair. Oh well, I’m awake now. I’m slightly annoyed, I had wanted to send him to work all sexed up. Only as I get into the shower I’m reminded Cesare had woken me in the middle of the night for a long, slow, sweet lovemaking while he held me close from behind and I’m a little sore.
Woah, calm down on the lovemaking thing. Cesare wasn’t making love, was he? Okay, maybe after dinner it wasn’t lovemaking, but that first time and then when he woke me up, those were definitely lovemaking sessions. Head against the tile, my jumbled mind is wondering if he knows that.
Once I’m out of the shower I plug in my hair dryer and get started on my hair. This is why I normally take a shower at night, I hate how long it takes to dry my hair. Dressed, I walk out of the bedroom and am met by Grover and Claudine.
“Good morning. I’ve seen to Grover and let him out already. What would you like for breakfast?”
Normally, I have a breakfast sandwich heated in the microwave. “I’m not a fussy eater. Two eggs scrambled with toast sounds good. I am actually more concerned about the coffee situation.”
Claudine smiles. “Cesare is strict about his coffee. He has espresso, I make it on the stove with a pot. It’s an old-fashioned way that I must tell you makes all the difference in the world.”
I shrug. “I’m not usually into straight shots. I mainly drink it for the buzz. I prefer cream and sugar, more sugar than a normal person should probably have.” I’m not going to apologize for the way I like my coffee. I’m also not going to be able to hide it with her here.
“No worries. I can make it more of a drink than just the espresso. Why don’t you have a seat and let me prepare breakfast, and you tell me what you think when I’m done?”
“Sounds good to me. Thanks.”
Grover is treating me as if I’ve forgotten him. After many belly rubs and some kisses, he trots off to my room. Sooner than I would have thought Claudine is letting me know breakfast is ready. I wash my hands in the kitchen before going to sit down at the table. The eggs are fluffy on a plate with the toast cut into triangles, and there is butter on the table. As I tuck into the eggs I try not to be a pig, but holy crap these eggs are good. Claudine sets down a cup of coffee I’m relieved to see is almost blonde with the amount of cream and sugar. I take a small sip, then let out a little sigh. “This is so good. I love it.”
“Really?”
I nod. “Oh, yeah. I would never lie about coffee.”
She laughs. “You sound like Cesare.”
Blushing, I shrug. “Speaking of Cesare. I need your input. What kind of dinners does he prefer? I’m going to be making him and his brothers dinner. Do you have some recipes I can make use of?”
Claudine smiles. “I’ll get those together today. Let me know what you need me to buy.”
“Well, actually I was going to make dinner at the apartment above the office. I kind of planned on doing the shopping on my way back to the office.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh no, dear, there is no need for you to go shopping. I’ll put some menus together and buy for the week as well as make sure there are some staples you can work with in the freezer and cupboards. A word of warning, the kitchen isn’t quite as equipped as this one. It’s a beautiful kitchen but slightly smaller, without all the gadgets this one has.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”
A phone rings from the kitchen. I’m surprised at the phone I had missed on the wall. “That will be the front desk calling to let you know your driver is here. You have a good day, dear.”
“Thanks, you too.”
***
Cesare
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When I get into the office a package is already waiting from Diego Valdez. Dante hadn’t been too drunk to make the call. I open it then read through the report. I’m swearing fast and furious. Kelsey Kane, really? Kelsey is going to be a pain in my ass as she no doubt is in her father’s. I’m trying not to think too hard on how Valdez has uncovered that Kelsey has already told two different people she didn’t destroy the only copy of the voice recording of Bethany admitting she drove drunk, and is waiting to use it to get more money. Valdez had managed to corrupt the file found on her laptop computer hard drive, but there’s no way of knowing if it’s the only file. A search of the files on Kelsey’s cell phone hasn’t uncovered another file, in texts or applications accessed on her phone.
Valdez advises he is still digging into Kelsey to find something bigger that can be used to make her drop her next attempt to blackmail Bethany. The file is pretty damn complete; it has me worried there might not be anything else. I’d pay a million to make this bitch go away, but the problem with women like this is once they find a well, they keep at it until it runs dry. Her father is interesting; his name sounds familiar only I can’t say from where. I shoot Valdez an email thanking him for what he has so far and telling him to dig into the father for me. Almost immediately I receive a response telling me he found something interesting enough—while looking into Kelsey he was already on it. I turn to work, reassured by having Valdez on the matter.
Only my emails don’t hold my attention for long. I’m wondering when Alicia will be here. I hated leaving her in bed but she needed the sleep. I’d been a greedy bastard and woken her up to take her again. Hell, if it hadn’t been for the bruise on her breast stopping me, I would have taken her again this morning. Except damn, the bruise had looked large—I hated the sight of it on her body. Never mind that not once had Alicia complained about the way I handled her, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out when I had given her the bruise. I’m going to need to be more careful with her. It isn’t going to be easy. I had been sure having her in my bed would take the edge off my hunger, only it hasn’t eased. Instead it became more intense on a visceral level to hear her moans, to feel her body shiver and quake against me, to taste her mouth and lick her sweet pussy as she flooded my mouth with the proof of her desire.
Christ, I move to lessen the pressure on my thickening cock. Tonight can’t come soon enough.
***
Alicia
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The day goes by fast. Dante is excited about working with a new client looking for mixed commercial and residential real estate. I spend the day putting together a selection of properties with estimates of earnings on a quarterly and yearly basis. At lunch, I order in from the local deli then take my lunch and Cesare’s into his office with a request to Hannah not to put through anything that isn’t time sensitive. With a smile, she assures me she won’t.
I knock on his door. There’s a hesitation as I know he’s wondering who it is before he says to come in. “Hi, it’s now one o’clock and time for lunch.” Carrying the bag to the small sitting area, I sit on the couch and begin opening up boxes. “I got you the chicken parmesan sandwich because Hannah said it was your favorite with olives and peppers. Come on.” He gives me a look as if he’s trying to figure out how to turn me down. “I’m not above bribery. If you stop working for forty-five minutes and relax and have lunch with me, then I’ll—” God, how can I blush even thinking of the words? “I’ll suck your cock.”
Cesare laughs. I consider throwing his sandwich at him. Asshole. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. I wasn’t.” He’s coming toward me, I’m still wanting to throw the sandwich. “I wasn’t laughing, I promise. You just said what I’ve been wanting you to come in here and say since I left you this morning.”
He takes the container and sets it on the table, before yanking me against him. “I’ve been hard all fucking day for you. It was a silly daydream that I was sure wasn’t going to happen. And I’ll take you up on, later tonight. I’m going to draw the line and attempt to keep it together enough not to fuck you in my office like the greedy bastard I am.”
I pull him down to me, kissing him with all the pent-up need I’ve been feeling myself. The kiss goes from hot to burning us both up in seconds. When Cesare ends the kiss, we’re both moaning. “I’m trying, Alicia, help me,” he whispers into my mouth. It doesn’t help when he kisses me again. Not fair.
Then my stomach growls, dang it. It isn’t easy but I manage to untangle myself from him. “I am pretty hungry.”
“Me too, you have perfect timing.” With a last lick of my lips he lets me go.
Lunch goes by too fast. I can’t remember what we talk about. He asks me about my quilts, I remember that, then we’re talking about Grover. Then the phone rings and it’s over. With a soft press of his lips against my temple he pushes me toward the door. I go with a sigh.
At the end of the day, I have a text waiting from Claudine telling me she did all the shopping and everything’s in the apartment. She tells me she made sure she let Grover out before she left for the day. Knowing that, I decide to go ahead and go straight to the apartment upstairs. Although I did want to change into something more comfortable than work clothes, the only reason I was going back to Cesare’s was to let Grover out.
I take the elevator upstairs. The doors of the elevator open directly into a foyer. I’m impressed by the place. There’s hardwood running throughout, but here thick carpets separate the areas. The kitchen is a heck of a lot better than my kitchen even if it isn’t as nice as Cesare’s.
There are three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom and all of them could be master bedrooms they are so large. There’s a comfy couch in a soft upholstered tan and an oversized matching chair in front of a large flat-screen television. The dining room isn’t huge, the table is a simple round wooden table that seats four with a fifth chair against the wall.
I go into the kitchen and check out the refrigerator. Wow, there’s enough food in here for a month of dinners. Since I have more time tonight than I was thinking I would, instead of the pesto with chicken I was going to make I decide to go with comfort food.
When everything is prepped I check the clock. Oops, actually cutting it close. I send a text to Dante not to order dinner tonight, that I’m cooking it in the apartment upstairs and it should be ready a little after seven thirty. His response is a question: is he supposed to tell Cesare? I respond the dinner is for all three of them. Dante responds quickly with a happy face and says he’ll let Enzo know.
I slide the meatloaf into the oven then set the timer. I’m questioning the recipe to do half cauliflower and half potatoes, but I like how much healthier it is and start chopping up the cauliflower. A few minutes after seven thirty the timer on the oven goes off as I hear the elevator doors open. I’ve already put the potatoes on the table along with the French green beans.
Dante is smiling big. “This smells really good, meatloaf?”
“Yes, the meat is a mix though of hamburger, spicy Italian sausage, and lamb. So it’s not boring.”
“Oh hey, Enzo, this is Alicia. Alicia, this is Enzo.” He’s as tall as Cesare only not as wide. He looks like a blend of Cesare and Dante, and a dimple flashes in one cheek as he sees me.
His hand is huge as he shakes mine. “Hi, nice to finally meet you.”
“You too.”
Cesare is leaning against the doorway watching me. I don’t know why I’m shy now. Slowly he walks toward me; sliding an arm around my waist, he kisses my cheek. “Thank you.”
God, I just want to sink into him and never let him go. Then I remember there are two other people in the room. “You’re welcome. Come on, I’m hungry.”
Enzo deems the small wine refrigerator a disaster. Dante gets up to poke through the cabinets, before finding a few bottles of red wine they both agree will work.
“You guys take your wine seriously.”
Dante laughs. “Enzo does for sure. Good wine makes good food even better. When you slow down to sip the wine, you slow down to enjoy your food instead of shoveling it down.”
I think of the dinner with Cesare last night. We had lingered over dinner in a way I never had before. I thought it was because we were enjoying each other, but Dante was right—you couldn’t gulp wine, and slowing down to sip the wine and enjoy the flavors had me taking more time over my dinner.
Two hours later and we have truly slowed down. I had taken out the blackberry sorbet and it’s long gone. It was a surprise to have all three of them get up to clean the dishes and the kitchen without me making a move. Dante assured me they were well-versed in the cleaning up part of cooking.
Enzo gets a call, then makes a face as he sends it to voice mail. Dante hits him on the shoulder. “Come on, man. Call her back.”
Shrugging, Enzo stands. “I had a late night last night. Tonight, I need an early one. Alicia, thanks for dinner, it really was the best meatloaf I’ve had in a long time. I’m looking forward to having a much prettier face than these ugly assholes around.” With a salute, he’s gone.
Dante shrugs. “I’m pretty. You guys ready to head home? Want me to call for a limo, Che?”
Cesare nods. His arm goes around my neck. “You ready to go home?”
I love the way he says home. I nod as I nuzzle his cheek. “Very ready.”
***
Alicia
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Once the door is closed to Dante, Cesare pulls me into his arms. “I’ve been suffering all night. A thousand times I wanted to kiss you, only I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop at a kiss.”
“Hmmm...I think you’re going to need to prove it,” I whisper as my hands go around his neck to bring him closer to me.
Slow, thorough, sweet, his kiss is another lesson in all the different ways to make love. I have no awareness of how we made it into the bedroom already when I’m picked up and set on the edge of the bed. Cesare is between my legs as he tugs at a button, then frustration has him tearing my blouse open. “If you keep ripping my clothes off me, I’m not going to have anything left when my time is up.”
Cesare nips at that perfect spot where my neck and shoulder meet. Oh god it goes straight to the heart of me. “Good. I like the idea of you walking around naked. The better for me to enjoy every inch of your delicious body.” He undoes the catch of the bra between my breasts, and I swear his eyes glow as they run over my body.
Blushing, I shake my head. “You’re nuts. Your body is a work of art. You look like you should be in a museum or something, not me.” He presses his hard cock against me as if he knows what he’s doing to me.
A hand goes into my hair to pull me back for me to meet Cesare’s eyes. Why does the control he has over me turn me on? Is it weird I love his hand in my hair and want him to pull tighter? Then all thought is gone when he spits out angrily, “Bullshit, you go into those museums and you’ll see woman after woman with bodies like yours reclining on beds and sofas half-naked as their men looked on, adoring or in most cases coveting the women they couldn’t have. Much as I did for more days and nights than I care to count. I’m simply sad knowing you’ve lost some of the curves you had when I first saw you.”
I press a hand to his cheek, god I love having the freedom to touch him. “Okay, I’m convinced you find me sexy—I’m not going to question it anymore. Or I’ll try really hard not to, but I’m not sad I lost some of my curves. It hasn’t been much, but this is the size I’ve felt most comfortable at in the past. I feel better in this body.”
His eyes darken as his jaw tightens, then he sighs as he nods. “What makes you happy is what matters.”
It’s all his fault; how can I not love him when he says things like that? As my brain catches up to the wayward thought, I hide my face against Cesare’s hard chest, terrified he’ll read me. Pressing a kiss to his silky skin, I force the thoughts out of my head. Later, when I can freak out all on my own. “In that case, what would make me really happy is to taste you again.” I’m still surprised by how much I liked it. Okay, I was a little surprised by how much he came and it made a little mess, but it wasn’t as gross as I was afraid it would be. I especially loved watching Cesare and the way he was lost in pleasure; seeing him that way made everything worth it.
Oh shit, it’s so hot the way Cesare steps back, then moves me off the bed by my hair then down to my knees. I’m soaking wet. This can’t be normal. Then I don’t care, because I’ve finally got his pants down. A work of art, every inch of him, I swear. I don’t care if it’s not normal how wet it’s making me to touch him and taste him. Tangy, sweet, the taste mixes with the scent of him, musk and leather, rain, and something all Cesare. A groan from him sends a thrill through me. Last night I was nervous and more focused on doing what I saw in the videos; tonight I take my time to find out what Cesare likes the most. Once again as I stroke down the hard length of him, I marvel at how large he is, yet he fits perfectly inside me. Cesare had been right—he fit as if he were made for me.
The base of him captures my attention. I remember reading how the soft sac should be handled carefully. I’m also remembering how quickly it sent Cesare over the edge last night. While I’m not close to done, to see if I’m right, I slowly cup and massage him there. His whole body shudders as he hisses my name.
The hand in my hair tightens, drawing me up off my knees. He turns me around, pushing me against the bed. His hands are rough as he yanks down my slacks and panties together. A few fingers run over my slit of me, finding me wet for him. Then the head of his cock slides along my lips before pushing in slowly, too slowly, I moan. I love the way his hands go down on my hips, gripping me tight as he pushes deeper, more. I’m tender from yesterday, but it’s a sweet ache I welcome because Cesare inside me assuages the hunger I’ve been feeling all day as if I were empty, incomplete and now I’m whole again. Does he know? Unlike yesterday his strokes are slow, deep yet gentle as he finds his home inside me. This is even more decadent than the hunger of yesterday. Slow, yes, please more, I whimper as I cling to him deep inside.
Cesare pushes me down flat on the bed, causing me to arch my back, and this time when he slides inside me oh god he hits that spot, that perfect heavenly spot, slow and deep his thick cock rubs that spot. I’m begging for faster now, yet Cesare maintains the slow thrusts driving me insane. Tighter I grasp him inside, more fiercely and oh goodness, my efforts are answered by a growl from low in his chest and finally a hard thrust against that spot. Yes, yes, more, harder, a little harder and oh yes. I come in a hot rush that has me shaking and trembling. From deep inside I feel Cesare’s cock thicken before spilling into me, causing a shiver to run up my spine.
I lose track of time until I feel Cesare begin to pull out. A little moan escapes—I hate the loss of him inside me. I’m picked up and settled on the bed. Drowsy, I watch as Cesare picks up our clothes then puts them in a hamper. He turns off the lights as he gets into bed beside me. I’m grateful for the cover of darkness when Cesare pulls me into his arms. I go willingly, settling my head on his chest.
A hand runs up and down my back. “You didn’t have to make dinner. I don’t want you to feel like you have to cook or clean or anything like that for me.”
I shrug. “I told you I like to cook. I’m used to taking care of my own needs, whether it’s making dinner or picking up after myself. Besides, I’m not happy that the only time I would get to see you is for an hour or so at night. I really enjoyed tonight. Enzo is interesting, none of you guys are what you appear. A billionaire hedge fund virtuoso who looks as comfortable in a silk suit as you do, but he’s also an ex-Ranger. Dante said it jokingly that Enzo could kill a person while rappelling in on a rope from a helicopter but he wasn’t joking, was he?”
Cesare is quiet for a long moment. “No, he wasn’t. I’m glad to know you would have welcomed me home early then. I planned to leave the office at eight to join you for dinner.”
“Cesare, that’s too late. Even eating dinner at seven thirty is kind of late for me. Unless I’m intruding on you and your brothers. I want to have dinner with you guys and I love cooking.” Tonight, I caught a glimpse of what it was like to be a part of a family, a laughing, loving family. Even though it made me a tiny bit sad to see what I missed out on growing up, that sadness was diminished by how welcoming Dante and Enzo were. They teased, and joked as if they had known me their whole lives. Enzo asked me about my trading, telling me Cesare told him I made the money I needed with a trade. Then unlike most men, he listened to my thoughts on the market and the strengths and weaknesses of certain companies and how those affected their stock, and then he complimented me.
Cesare gives a small shrug. “You aren’t intruding. If it’s what you want then so be it.”