Page 126 of Finally Mine
“Wait, wait.” He pulled back.
“What is it?” Her lids were heavy, lips plump, and Aldo couldn’t remember ever seeing anything sexier in his life.
“This.” He plucked the tiara off the plate and settled it on her dark hair. She went from bewitching fairy to seductive queen.
She looked at him for a beat, lips parted. “Aldo, take your pants off.”
They stripped with more speed than finesse. But when Gloria straddled his lap on the chair wearing nothing but the tiara, Aldo knew lust. And when she positioned his cock at her entrance and sank down on him, taking him in inch by fucking inch, he knew love.
She watched him through pleasure-heavy eyes as she rode him by fire and fairy light. Gentle, smooth strokes. He touched her everywhere, wanting to memorize the feel of the moment as much as the look of it. The kisses he pressed to her lips, her jaw, her breasts, weren’t enough.
The feel of her skin under his palms and busy fingers wasn’t enough. Every time she rose, he felt desolate only to be plunged into ecstasy, completeness, when she took him back in. She rode him leisurely, loved him decadently. And he worshipped her.
He tasted the tip of her breast, stroked the side of her face, her neck. And felt it build between them. The pulse in her throat hammered away. Aldo lifted her arm, tracing his thumb over the birds in flight. He knew what they were flying toward, what they were migrating to.
She touched the birds over his heart with two fingers, traced them as her breath grew shallow.
He loved her. She loved him. It was that simple. Their bodies loved and moved together with one mind, one purpose.
He wanted to devour her and be devoured. He wanted to give Gloria a piece of his soul. And then he realized he already had.
She was tightening around him, sighing into his mouth, and he felt it welling up inside him, climbing his spine. Pleasure and love intertwined into something different, something invincible, something that burned brighter than history and carved a way into the future.
Their lips met, their bodies shook, their hearts blended.
And when they finally shared their first dance much, much later, it was naked in the firelight.
71
Thanksgiving was here and giving Gloria big, mixed feelings. On one hand, she was looking forward to her first real holiday with Aldo. Halloween didn’t count. Not when they’d spent the evening judging the jack-o-lantern carving contest on Main Street. On the other, her mother was out of town on her annual Caribbean cruise with friends. A tradition that Gloria realized had started to help Sara forget about her estranged, abused daughter and the holiday they should have been enjoying together.
“I promise to change the date next year,mija,” her mother swore when Gloria dropped her off at the airport.
“Don’t you worry about me,” Gloria told her. “We’ll celebrate when you get back.”
While Gloria would have preferred a cheerful, cozy Thanksgiving at her mother’s house, she was willing to settle for second prize: Thanksgiving at Harper and Luke’s.
Her first real-life big, family holiday. Gloria was honest enough with herself to be glad someone else was hosting. Sure, she’d fantasized about being the hostess with the mostest someday, but that day wasnottoday. Harper, however, felt no such qualms about hosting a million people for her first time cooking for the holiday. Where lots of things still made Gloria nervous, nothing scared Harper.
They arrived bearing gifts. Gloria had the pretty floral centerpiece she’d made of short orange and peach roses arranged in neat rows, planted garden-style in a low, rectangular box and accented with glossy greenery. Mrs. Moretta carried a box of wine under one arm, and sweet, thoughtful Aldo brought up the rear with an array of specialty dog biscuits for Max and Lola.
Ivan the Terror was at home with a belly full of special turkey treats and his new stuffed drumstick.
They disbanded at the doorstep, Gloria and Mrs. Moretta following Joni back to the kitchen where female voices were raised and the heavenly scent of comfort food wafted. With a wink and a kiss, Aldo peeled off to the living room for football and beer with the menfolk that included Ty, James, Charlie, and Luke.
Gloria found Harper in the midst of chaos. She wore an apron and snapped orders like a chef in a wildly popular Manhattan restaurant on a Saturday night. Claire was running a hand mixer through an obscenely big bowl of potatoes. Sophie was wrapping foil packets of vegetables to roast on the grill. Harper was directing everything else.
“Joni, baste the turkey! Gloria, those flowers are gorgeous. Put them on the table. Mrs. Moretta, I need wine STAT!”
Gloria headed into the dining room to admire the table. It was funny. The last time she’d been in this room, a man had tried to kill her friend. A man who’d been there because of her. She looked down at the floor, the spot where she’d hit him and he’d gone limp. It hadn’t been the first time she fought back, the first time she’d hit him. But it would be the last.
“They did a good job with the door and window.”
She turned, spotted Luke in the doorway holding a bottle of beer loosely in his fingers.
The dining room window, the heavy front door, both had been replaced. “It was a scary night,” she admitted.
“Sometimes the past catches up with us,” he said hollowly.
