I shook my head. “That is the past, and it’s got nothing to do with us.”
Giulia smiled sadly. She knew as well as I did that it had everything to do with us, but the past with Gaia wasn’t something I’d share with her. It wouldn’t serve any purpose but to destroy whatever tentative bond that was forming between Giulia and me. She was young. Maybe that was why I was willing to try at all. I didn’t want to be the one to destroy her loveliness.
“Okay.” It wasn’t. Giulia’s body language made that clear.
“What else?”
“Spend time with the kids and me. Family time. Be home for dinner, be home on Sunday. I want to get to know you, what you like to do in your free time, what you enjoy doing.”
I tried to remember the last time I’d done something I enjoyed doing that didn’t involve my line of work. I couldn’t.
“Don’t tell me there’s nothing you like to do except work. There must be something else you enjoy besides torture and killing.”
So uninhibited with her words. It was a breath of fresh air. I hummed, cupping her head harder. “I’m good at both.”
“I don’t doubt it,” she whispered, shivering. “I love to paint and do Pilates.”
My fingers on her neck loosened. “Paint?”
“Yes, canvases. Still lifes, landscapes, animals. I’m not so good with the human body, but I’m trying to improve. That’s what was in the huge package. My canvases.”
I hadn’t paid much attention to Giulia’s belongings. Maybe I should have shown basic interest in my wife’s life before I dragged her into the mess that was my own.
“And Pilates helps me stay fit, and it’s good for my mental health too.” She fell silent. “You look at me as if I’m talking nonsense.”
“You’re not,” I said. “You just keep surprising me.”
“In a good or bad way?”
“Good.”
She shrugged. “That’s good.”
It was. But good things always came with a price. “Have you painted since you’ve arrived here?”
“No, I was busy settling in, and the kids and Loulou keep me on my toes.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “And I’d need a room to paint. The fumes need to be contained.”
“There’s a vacant room beside my office. It’s got a nice view of the garden and direct access to the terrace.”
Giulia’s face lit up. She lowered herself and propped her chin up on her crossed arms on my chest. “Thank you.”
“How are things between you and my children?”
Her mouth thinned, but I wasn’t sure why. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, even though there obviously was. “The kids and I are getting to know each other. I think I can gain Daniele’s trust through Loulou, and today Simona let me carry her without crying.”
“About the dog—”
Giulia jerked into a sitting position again. “I don’t want to give Loulou away, and I won’t lock her inside a room. It’s not fair to her. What’s your problem with her anyway?”
“Apart from the fact that she’s not trained very well?”
“That’s hardly her fault. Did Gaia never work with her?”
I tensed. “The dog came at a difficult time.”
“I think Loulou is good for this family, and I really like her.”
“Then keep her, but train her.”
“Will Elia stay my bodyguard?”
“Of course, he’s a good choice.”
“Because he’s not interested in women.”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering how exactly she found out. She misunderstood my expression. Worry tightened her face. “You knew, right?”
“Of course, that’s why he’s allowed to be your bodyguard.”
Giulia huffed. “Trust?”
I smiled darkly then wet my thumb and pressed it to that little pink button, which teased me from its prime spot between those pouty lips.
“We’ll work toward that. But even if I trust you, that doesn’t mean I’ll trust any man around you.” I dipped my thumb between her folds, gathering her wetness before I swiped it over her clit again.
Giulia leaned back, bracing herself with her hands against my thighs, giving me better access and a beautiful view. Her smile turned teasing when my cock brushed her lower back. “Not such an old man after all, hmm?”
I circled my thumb faster, enjoying how Giulia’s hips moved, chasing my finger. I was in my early thirties, definitely not old, even if I’d felt it in the last few months and especially in comparison to Giulia. “I’ve got a lot to make up for.”
Curiosity flickered in her gaze, making me regret my words. “Blow me,” I ordered before she could ask. She cocked an eyebrow, her mouth pursing in mock indignation. Fuck, she was too goddamn lovely.
“Tell me something you like to do first. A hobby.”
“Apart from eating your pussy?”
She shook her head, opening her mouth for an undoubtedly insolent comeback, but I grabbed her by her thighs and flipped her around. She cried out in surprise, her breath hot on my cock and her ass propped up in front of me. I slapped her ass cheek in warning then bit down. Giulia jerked with a choked gasp.
“I make the rules in this house, honey, especially in this bed.”
A shiver worked its way down her spine. I massaged her ass, enjoying the sight of her arousal.
She gripped my cock and sucked me sharply into her mouth, causing me to twitch up with a groan. As unexpectedly as she’d sucked me, she released me. “Tell me one thing,” she demanded softly before she sucked me deeply into her mouth again.
I squeezed her ass hard in warning. “Suck me. Don’t talk.” I drew her pussy lips into my mouth. Her moan vibrated against my balls before she sucked them into her mouth. “One thing.” She slipped her arm between our bodies. It brushed my chest then her fingers bumped against my chin. I pulled back to watch Giulia slide two fingers into herself. I almost came right then. Her tongue darted out, licking up my pre-cum.
“Quid pro quo.”
I chuckled then exhaled sharply as her teeth grazed the sensitive underside of my cock and her fingers kept pumping into her pussy.
“I used to play pool,” I growled. I was so desperate for her mouth, so desperate for her fingers to keep fucking that sweet pussy, I would have told her everything in that moment.
She threw a triumphant smile over her shoulder. I wouldn’t have it. I pressed my mouth against her pussy, my tongue fighting her fingers for dominance. She moaned loudly, which died when I pushed her mouth back down on my cock, my fingers tangling in her silky hair. I thrust up, deeper than before. She struggled to take me in but didn’t back down. Her fingers pumped into her pussy and my tongue teased them and her folds, her clit, every delicious inch I could reach. She started to spasm on top of me, moaning around my length. I kept thrusting into her mouth. I wanted to prolong this, but with her body coming apart on top of me, her fingers chasing her orgasm, her taste on my tongue, I couldn’t hold back.
I tightened, my fingers on her neck twitching and my thrusts becoming jerky as I came harder than ever before. The feel of her hot mouth around my cock as she tried to swallow was perfection. Giulia slumped down on top of me, her fingers becoming slack, and I, too, lay drained on the mattress, my heart speeding in my chest. After a moment, Giulia pulled away and coughed.
Fuck. I’d held her down when I’d come in her mouth. I hadn’t even asked if she was okay with it. I sat up slightly, but Giulia still only lay there with her cheek against my thigh, breathing hard. I brushed her hair to the side so I could see her face. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks red. “Are you all right?”
Her eyelids peeled open and the corner of her mouth drifted up. “Yeah, you?”
I stared at the girl on top of me, the woman, my wife, marveling at her strangeness. It wasn’t something I’d ever appreciated, and yet here I was, unable to resist her body and charm. I rubbed my thumb across her ruby lips. She nicked my skin with her teeth and gave me a coy look. “You need to teach me how to play pool.”
“I have a pool table in the cigar lounge.”
“Please don’t tell me you smoke cigars. My father and uncles do, and my grandfather did too. It’ll remind me of them if I smell it on you.”
That was the last thing I wanted—reminding my delicious young wife of the old creepy men in her family, and I was fairly sure she knew. It was a good thing I didn’t like cigars anyway. “If you don’t like the scent, I won’t smoke them.”
She narrowed her eyes then smiled. “Why do I get the feeling you never liked them to begin with?”
She pushed up and crawled back up to me, nestling against my chest, her cheek on my shoulder. “Will you teach me?”
“It won’t be the first thing I’m teaching you, so why not?” I said in a low, possessive voice.
She rolled her eyes. I wished I could say it annoyed me. “We could play a round now?”
“It’s late. I have an early day.”
“Come on. It’s not even eleven. Entertain your young wife.”
“All right,” I said to my own surprise. Giulia was playing the right cards, and she knew it, and yet I didn’t feel played by her. She wasn’t doing it to better me or for even less noble reasons, she was just… her quirky self. I knifed up, taking Giulia with me. She pressed a thankful kiss to my mouth and slipped out of bed, so full of energy it was admirable. It was hard to resist her enthusiasm. I swung out of bed and straightened, stifling a smirk at her appraisal. Giulia never tried to hide that she liked my body. I picked up my pajama bottoms from the floor and dragged them over my hips.