Page 15 of Sins of Bliss

Allowing me to guide her movements, she kicks a leg over and lowers herself so she’s straddling me. When our bodies are flush together, I can feel how wanton she is—her wetness seeping through the thin fabric of my pajama bottoms.

Vinnie’s fingers curl around my bicep—around the cherry blossoms encircling my skin—and with her other hand she traces the outline of the bandage on my chest with a touch so featherlight I’m not entirely positive she’s actually touching me.

“I hate seeing you like this,” she tells me as she moves her fingers from the edge of the bandage and dusts them down toward my waistband.

“I have endured much worse pain, though perhaps not physically. I will be fine, piccola ladra.”

“It hurts me too,” she says, but before I can question it, her hand palms me through my pants and I am caught off guard by her touch.

“Vinnie,” I groan, and it’s as though she reads my thoughts as she pushes the elastic of my waistband down and frees my length, taking it in her palm.

Bracing on her knees, she aligns us and sinks down until I fill her completely. Her walls clench around me, and simultaneously, our bodies shudder.

Being inside her feels like coming home. It’s a comfort and a privilege. Something that I’ve missed and craved.

I pull her face to me again, resuming our kiss as it was earlier—slow and full of passion. Neither of us moves or begins our lovemaking. Being connected is enough, the contact more fulfilling than any orgasm could be when our hearts were in such a precarious place.

Time passes, but we stay in the moment.

“Can you forgive me?” Vinnie asks some time later once our kisses slow. I’m still hard, fully seated inside her as she straddles my hips, her upper body twisting slightly so her head can lay against my shoulder, opposite of where the bandage is.

“I already have, piccola ladra. My heart is yours to do with as you please, including breaking it. You own it completely. You own me, even if I cannot be with you. I long for things to be different, Vincenza, but I respect your decision and I won’t try to fight it. Just please give me tonight. Allow me to pretend you are still mine.”

“Iamstill yours,” she whispers, but we both know it’s a lie, even if she wishes it were true. It ignites a frustration deep inside me, one that hurts deeply. A simple glance at the ring on her finger reminds me her words and her actions do not align.

Expelling a deep breath, I say nothing, but she must sense my exasperation. Shifting upright, she leans forward to kiss me, and begins slowly rolling her hips as she presses her palm onto the part of my chest where her head just was.

My hands gravitate to her hips, and I begin helping her move up and down my shaft. She pauses each time I fill her completely, then together we’re moving again. She’s careful not to touch my chest, but the increased movement sends a jolt of pain through me.

Wincing through it, I push the uncomfortable feeling away and open myself up to the pleasure. Her wetness coats me, allowing her to slide easily along my length. Small moans tumble from her lips with every slow movement we make together.

The air is heavy with sentiments—thick with passion, and pleasure…and pain.

Instead of a reunion, it feels like the goodbye we were never given.

An onset of emotions slams into me and I find myself overwhelmed with the urge to cry. It’s a feeling I’m not accustomed to, and it takes me by surprise.

Grabbing her by the face again, I kiss her.

I kiss her like it may be the last time. I kiss her as I thrust my hips upward and move inside her, memorizing the way she tastes and feels. I kiss her like there’s not a ring on her finger, and she’s stillmine.

My body screams at me to stop—the movement sending the pain through me like a cataclysmic earthquake, threatening to rip my skin in two. But I ignore it as tears spring from the corners of my eyes and I can’t decipher if they’re from the pain in my heart or in my body.

Wordlessly, I bring my hand between Vinnie’s legs and stroke her clit, rubbing it in precisely the way I know brings her pleasure.

It takes mere seconds before I spot the signs of her body allowing the orgasm to crest. Her body begins to hum in a way that tells me she will detonate soon. Pride blooms in my chest as I watch her face contort, knowing I’m the man unraveling her in the same way she has the power to unravel me.

It’s a beautiful thing to watch her release overtake her body, and as she cries out, she cups her hand over her mouth to muffle the noise.

If we had the time, I would continue to draw the pleasure from her over and over, but this is not the place, nor am I in the condition to keep pushing my body. Instead, I give myself over to the pleasure, allowing my own orgasm to flow from me as I follow her over the blissful edge of release.

Once I’ve stilled inside her, Vinnie leans her forehead against mine as we catch our breath. It takes everything inside me not to tell her I love her. I want to tell her how beautiful she is, and how much she means to me, but the words gather as a lump in my throat and I bite my tongue, refusing to say as much.

No matter how beautiful this moment just was, she isn’t mine.

As though the spell is broken, Vinnie climbs off me as gently as she can, bending to pick up her clothes that are discarded on the floor.

“I should go,” she mutters, not making eye contact with me. “I have an early flight.”

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