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Chapter Twenty-Two
The room is breathing. The walls are moving in and out, each inhalation pulling the flames closer, each exhalation adding fuel to the fire that is roaring. I call out, lying on the ground, my ankle snapped, bones protruding, blood seeping into the dry earth, screaming at the window so far out of reach for Donvino.
“Donvino! Donvino! Please throw the dog down! Donvino! I can’t move!” My gaze flies to the fingerlings of dancing fire that is racing across the parched lawn. Where is he?! Why is he not coming to the window with Earnest? Where are they?! Fire licks at my toes. I shout and try to drag myself away when I hear a sound above me. Crying in pain and terror, I glance up as flames leap from the grass to my clothing and see Donvino standing at the window, his body engulfed with flames, the small dog in his arms nothing but molten lava.
“Just let the fire take you, Arlo,” Donvino calls down to me, his voice the voice of a demon from the depths.
“No! Donvino! No!” I screech as the flames envelope me and then there is nothing but heat and blackness.
“Arlo, wake up. Everything is safe.” I snapped out of the night terror with a shout, my face damp with tears and sweat, my heart thundering in my breast. “That’s it, it’s okay now. See, there is no fire. See?” Donvino gathered me into his arms, lifting me from the sodden sheets to his lap, where I curled into him like a child. Weeping copious tears, I stayed safely wrapped in his arms until the worst of the horror had passed. “Shh, I will always keep you safe,” he cooed, stroking my back as I trembled. “Things are safe now. We’re in your room at the villa.”
I felt a cold nose nudging at my arm. I lifted my elbow to allow Earnest, who had taken to sleeping at the foot of our bed in a cushy doggie bed, to slither his way into the hug. The dog wiggled in tightly, licking at the tears dripping off my chin.
“Oh gods above, when is this going to end?” I gasped, nose fully stuffed and eyes burning from crying.
“It will pass with time,” Donvino assured me just as he had done nightly for over three weeks. Shouldn’t I be getting over the memories of that dreadful night by now? Donvino certainly isn’t having episodes every damn night. I curled into him further, legs full of worried terrier, and buried my nose into his throat. The smell of his skin, the lingering aroma of soap, and the strong throb of his pulse eased me, slowly, as it always did. I kissed that thudding pulse point, sniffling, my body wired now. No way was I going back to sleep anytime soon. Earnest wiggled free, the hug a bit too tight for him now. I heard him jump to the floor, then settled as I continued to pepper Donvino’s warm skin with kisses.
“I love you. Never leave me. Promise that you will never leave me,” I whimpered between kisses, working my way up over his scratchy chin to his lips. I clutched his head, fingers tight to his scalp, and plastered my mouth to his. I don’t care if we both have morning breath or middle-of-the-night breath or whatever kind of breath. We’re both breathing. He is breathing. That is all that mattered right now. Life. His heart thumping along, the hitch in his breath as I wiggled around on his lap, the slow rise of his cock against my bare ass. “Make love to me, please. I need to know that we still have that connection.”
“I don’t want to push you,” he replied gruffly, easing me into a sitting position on his thick thighs, his words belying what his body was doing. We’d not had sex since the night of the fire. Neither of us was even thinking of that. We were both too busy recuperating mind, body, and soul. But now I found that I needed him more than I needed oxygen.
“I’m the one asking. Please, I need to feel life and love surging between us,” I begged, grasping at his shoulders as I licked at the corners of his mouth. He sighed into the kiss, finding my tongue with his. We tasted deeply. Our hands roamed over each other, seeking intimate places that pleased. Places that we knew well. I pinched his nipples, he toyed with my hole, and soon we were both mad with want. The nightmare slipped away as he reached for the small bag of goodies my great-aunt had procured for us. I thought I would die on the spot when she handed me a tasteful blue bag from the local pharmacy filled with condoms, lube, and anal discomfort cream. Ginerva knew we were not sleeping in our separate rooms as did Vittoria. Giada was under the impression that we were so, to keep the peace, Donvino would sneak out of my room at five every morning to ensure his grandmother didn’t find him in my bed. Yes, it was silly, but then again, a lot of the things that the older generation clung to I’d found to be odd. If it made her feel better about us, we would play the game until we could find a place of our own.
“Rise up,” Donvino huffed, and I quickly did as asked. He was slick and fast, his slippery fingers finding my entrance and then gliding in. My nails dug into his shoulders as he sucked on my neck while opening me up. I could feel the tension in him. His powerful muscles were coiled like a spring, and his cock was hard and hot against my buttocks. Since we had given up condoms weeks ago, as soon as he deemed me ready, he moved me into place. “Sit down, take me into you.”
I lowered down onto him, the burn exquisite. Fuck but he was thick and long. With a grunt and a grimace, I eased down, took him into me, and then began moving. Up and down, like a piston firing, I rode him as hard as I could. Each thrust filled me, stretched me, reawakening a vital part of me that only this man could touch. Both of us were on the edge in mere moments, his eyes dark as coals, his mouth puffy from my kisses.
“Love you,” I gasped as my orgasm steamrolled me. I came without him even touching my cock, ropes of cum speckling his belly and chest as I rose and fell with abandon. He stiffened as soon as my ass tightened. Hot rushes of spunk filled me. I whimpered at the sensation, reveled in it, and then fell forward. He held me in place, tensing his ass to rise up for more depth as his finger bit into my hips. I cared little if I had bruises. All I cared about was this moment. The rush of life, the sharing of love, the knowledge that we were both here. “Love you so much.”
“I love you, my rainbow dreamer,” he ground out, his body still pulsing deep inside.
I kissed him shakily and let my brow fall to his shoulder. With infinite care, he moved us around, his cock slipping out when he rolled to his side, with me still in his arms. I felt a wet streak of spend on my ass. We’d have to strip the sheets before going back to sleep. Not that I would be nodding off tonight. I wiggled into him, chest to chest, spent cock touching spent cock, and stared into his dark eyes. The moon was bright tonight, round and fat and white in the starry sky. He was a god in this light, or any light, to be honest.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I lay there watching him. He cocked an eyebrow. “For the dreams. For not being able to move forward. I feel as if I’m holding everything up by being so stuck in the past. Why can’t I get over it?”
“Maybe because there is no closure yet,” he offered, pulling up the thin coverlet of safflower and white. My skin pimpled as it settled over my hot flesh. “Maybe because it was terrifying.”
“You don’t wake up screaming every night,” I pointed out as I traced his collarbone with my index finger. “I hate this. I’m not able to move forward at all. I know we have to make decisions about what comes next, but I’m mired in this damn quicksand of fear.”
“Shhh.” He placed his mouth to mine and the kiss spun its magic. “We are not in any rush. I want you healed and happy and healthy then we will work out the future.”
“But all our dreams…”
“Are just on hold. Now, close your eyes. Let me pet you to sleep just like Earnest.”
I rolled my eyes. As if him petting me is going to…oh that’s nice…his fingers on my face were so relaxing…I love him…his touch…his gentleness…love…him…
***
A month later, the villa gardens were still alive.
Sudden showers—now a daily thing thank all the gods of Olympus—had left the grass damp, the air clear, and the Arno slowly rising. Bees merrily buzzed from bloom to bloom, birds splashed in the overflowing baths, and droplets of rain dripped from the dark green leaves enveloping the pergola. The temperatures were in the high 60s to low 70s most days. The humidity had eased off as well. It was perfection.
I was seated on the dock, tossing a ball into the water for Earnest, who, I had to assume, had Labrador blood in his genealogy because man, did he love the water. I’d have to do some reading on terriers. Maybe they all were water lovers, or maybe it was just Earnest.
Vittoria’s dogs were seated at the gate, in sweaters as the temp had slipped a bit of late, staring down at us as if they wondered about the mental stability of that bossy terrier with the new collar and sparkly tags. He also had been micro-chipped and was in line to be neutered. We didn’t discuss the neutering in front of him, though. Best not to have him hear he was going to be balless in ten days.
Lucia was sprawled out behind us, soaking up the rays, and lifted her head only when Earnest would return to the dock, prancing up the stairs that had been added for him just yesterday and shaking. The cat did not appreciate the shower, but she was loath to leave her new friend.
