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Chapter Twenty-Two
ROSIE
“He did what?” The line crackles and I think maybe I’ve heard Esme wrong.
“He’s restructuring The Family Tree, so he got rid of some of the Captains and he’s replaced them with women.” Her voice cuts in and out, but I heard enough to understand what she said.
“Why?” I ask as I make my way downtown. I booked a cooking class this afternoon under a fake name and was looking forward to making a walnut and coffee cake with butter icing. It was a treat to myself after dealing with the Bruno family. I hated messy kills; poison was my specialty but sometimes you needed to make a splash. I was also hoping to meet some new people, some non-Family people since Lola was still out of town and Cato was busy working as a spy for Julian now. It had been part of their punishment and a way to earn forgiveness from The Family. I was alone again.
“Apparently he wants to make The Family stronger.” Esme sounds impressed and I try to ignore the pang of jealousy in my chest. I miss him. I shouldn’t miss him. He wasn’t mine to miss.
“Well, fuck. There go my main supporters,” I laugh as I reach the building. There was no point in stressing about it right now, instead, I was going to bake away my worries. “I have to go, we’ll talk later.”
I climb up two flights of stairs to the culinary studio where the class takes place, except there’s no one here. I frown, looking around and quickly double check the address on my phone.
“Am I in the wrong place?” I ask myself quietly.
“I paid for a private lesson,” a familiar voice calls. I don’t have to turn around to know it’s Julian. I’d recognize that smooth timbre anywhere.
“I’m sorry, are you looking for a fight?” I say crossing my arms and glaring at him.
He holds his hands up in surrender and offers me a small smile. “No, I just want to make a cake. With you.”
I’ve missed his smile. I’ve missed the way he smells. I’ve missed him.
Fuck.
He takes a step towards me. “Consider it a negotiation talk.”
“There is no negotiating to be done between us Jay,” I say firmly as I move back. If he comes too close, I don’t know what I’ll do. I might kill him just to end the way my chest feels like it’s tightening.
He takes another step and hands me an apron from the counter. “Give me a chance, just while we make a…”
“Coffee and walnut cake,” I supply. He bought out the whole class, but he didn’t even know what we were making?
“While we make a coffee and walnut cake,” he smiles again. “That’s my favorite actually.”
I look away as I whisper, “I know.”
I don’t miss the expression on his face as I sigh and place my bag down. “Don’t get any funny ideas. I’m here for the cake.”
I grab the instruction card that the tutor was supposed to run through with us and have a quick read. It looks like Julian has arranged for all the ingredients to be left out and we’re going to work through it on our own.
“First we need to shell the walnuts,” I say grabbing one of the small hammers and a handful of walnuts.
Julian eyes me warily. “Why aren’t they already done?”
“Because this is a class where we do it from scratch,” I say brandishing my hammer like Thor. I grab one of the walnuts and place it on the counter, slamming the hammer down. I can feel Jay flinch next to me as the nut shatters. “Why are you here? What do you want from me?”
“I’ve been trying to think of a way we can work together,” he explains as he begins measuring out the butter.
I snort, bringing my hammer down again. “That’s impossible, Julian. I want everything you own, it’s as simple as that.”
He’s now pouring the sugar into a bowl on the scales. I watch him out of the corner of my eye as he meticulously checks the weight, he’d be good with positions if he was this careful with cake. “But there’s a way I don’t have to die for you to get it.”
For a moment it feels like my heart leaps into my throat, but I swallow and shake away any stupid thoughts I have. This cannot end happily ever after; we don’t get those kinds of endings.
“I highly doubt it,” I say with a sigh as I place my walnut pieces into a bowl and use the electric whisk to beat the butter. “You’re not just going to hand everything over to me and walk away.”
“No. I’m not,” he says as he slowly begins to add sugar to the butter. “I’m going to do what I should have done in the beginning and make you my Queen.”
I turn the whisk off and set it to one side. “I’m sorry, I think I’m going a little deaf, what did you just say?”
He grins at me. “Be my partner. Marry me and share everything equally.”
What did he just say? Has he lost his mind? I drop the egg I’m about to crack on the counter and it smashes, egg yolk running onto the floor. “And why would I agree to this?”
He winks. “Because we both know you don’t want to kill me, I’m too pretty.”
How can he be so flippant about what he’s saying? Is it just a joke to him? Does he realize how many uproars this will cause in The Family? They won’t stand for this. They can’t. There’s too much bad blood between my family and his for this to ever work, and yet I find myself saying, “How would this marriage work?” His grin gets wider, if that’s even possible and I flick egg yolk at him.
“You’re not that pretty,” I grumble but it’s too late, I’ve already shown my weakness and his hands come around my waist as he nuzzles into me. “It would work the same way most marriages work. We’d be a team in all matters. We’d fuck, fight and love each other while ruling over our Kingdom fairly.” He’s proposing a genuine marriage, and all without batting an eyelid. “The Family will fall into line; I’ll make sure of it.”
I raise a brow. “Fairly?”
“Meaning forgiveness in some circumstances…” His voice trails off and I understand what he’s offering.
“And punishment in others,” I finish firmly for him. He wasn’t judging my methods or how I chose to handle issues, he just wanted to make sure we were on the same page and that there was a balance between the two. He was the light to my dark, the calm to my rage and it shouldn’t, but it worked.
“Do I get a crown?” I tease, and find myself forgetting how to breathe as he lifts me onto the counter and wraps my legs around his waist.
Pulling me down to meet his lips for a kiss, he murmurs, “Rosie Asaro, I’m going to fuck you when you’re wearing nothing but a crown.”
“I feel like you have a fetish for fucking me in kitchens.” I grin at him as he quickly yanks my jumper up over my head and tosses it aside before pushing my skirt up.
“I like seeing you messy, smelling like cinnamon and cherries, good enough to eat.” He kisses down my neck with each word, nibbling and biting, swirling his tongue over every dip and groove. Exploring me with his mouth like he wanted to commit me to memory.
He pulls down the soft cups of my bra, sucking my nipple into his mouth without mercy, without tenderness, only want and need as he feasts on my body. His other hand glides down my back, fingers dancing down my spine, overwhelming my senses before he pushes my hips closer to him.
Rocking gently, I grind against him. The harsh feel of the denim against my lace thong drives me insane and I groan loudly.
Julian steps back, and I pull at his jumper. “Wha—what’re you doing? Why did you stop?”
“I still have some apologizing to do.” He pulls his navy jumper off and places it by mine.
“That is not a reason to stop right now,” I grumble as he undoes his belt buckle and undoes the button on his jeans.
“But apologies are better given down on my knees.” With a devious smirk, he gets down onto the floor. “Baby, I am going to make you come and then I’m going to flip you over and fuck you hard until you’re begging me to stop.”
“That will never happen,” I say smugly. I love it when he’s rough with me. When he just takes what he wants unapologetically. That’s the Jay I fell in love with.
Julian pushes my legs apart, opening me up for him without hesitation. Kissing my thighs, sucking my skin gently before lavishing it with more kisses, he moves up slowly. When his face is inches away from my pussy, he gently blows across the already sensitive flesh, making me shiver.
Using his thumbs he parts my lips and places a tender kiss on my clit, teasingly. I should have known he was only toying with me when moments later, he sucks the sensitive flesh hard, making my body spasm. His tongue worships me, repeatedly. Over and over again, while his hands move up my thighs, over my stomach, down to grab my ass. I start whining, begging for his cock inside me and that’s when he’s decided I’ve had enough taunting.
“Come on, Rosie. Come for me.” His tongue flicks over my clit, unrelenting. Every suck and swirl was punishing and ruthless as he tried to pull my orgasm from me.
He slides a finger inside me, fucking me in time with the tempo from his tongue, driving me wild as my hips began to buck against his face.
“Jay, oh fuck. Jay!” I cry out, grabbing hold of his golden hair and riding his face like it was my damn job. He adds a second finger, and that sends me over the edge, my body clenching as I try to stop myself from clamping my legs shut around Julian’s ears.
“We’re not done yet, my love,” he murmurs against my sensitive pussy, my body twitching with every word.
Lowering my legs and getting to his feet, he strips my skirt off me and turns me around, until I’m bent over the worktop, my tits squashed against the cold metal, and slightly sticky from the residual icing sugar and the egg that I’d cracked earlier.
He quickly rids himself of his shoes and jeans, kicking them aside. Grabbing my hips, I watch over my shoulder as he admires the view, hands moving over the back of my thighs, and up over my ass lovingly.
“One day, I’m going to fuck your ass too. And then I’ll have owned every single part of you.” There’s that primal, animal instinct flaring up again. And holy hell, if I didn’t get butterflies hearing him talk like that.
I flash him a saucy grin. “Mmmm, I never knew you were so filthy Jay. I think I like it.”
Without warning, he slams into me, forcing a low groan from me as he fills me up in a way that only he can. Fisting a handful of my hair, he pulls me upright, my back arching against his chest as he leans down and bites on my earlobe. “We both know you love it.”
His fingers dig into my tit as he fucks me, the other still knotted in my hair.
“I do,” I grunt with another pump.
He thrusts hard, slamming my hips against the counter and I couldn’t care less than I do right now, enjoying the bite of pain with his weight pinning me in place.
The hand in my hair shifts lower, coming around my throat the way I like it. I’ve never trusted anyone else enough to let them put their hands around my throat, but he was different. His thumb presses down as he fucks me, making my mind go hazy and fuzzy around the edges. I didn’t often come from just penetration, but like this I could. I can feel it building, and the way he dominates every sense and every feeling has my nerves on edge waiting for release.
The other hand comes down and gives my ass a playful smack. Grabbing a bottle of olive oil from the counter, he pours it down my crack. I turn my neck to kiss him over my shoulder, our mouths clashing together as the golden oil sticks between us. The slick liquid is slightly greasy as he uses a thick finger to massage my tight hole before sliding inside. Fuck.
Yes.
He doesn’t stop fucking me, his other hand still around my throat as he pounds into me. Jay pushes me closer and closer to the edge, my orgasm building like a storm gathering as he pushes another large finger inside me, making me feel so incredibly hot and full as he stretches me out. The double penetration of my body is the ultimate display of power and his need to own every inch of me.
Mouth by my ear, he whispers, “You are mine. My Queen. My everything.”
The over stimulation drives me wild, and my thoughts are no longer coherent, just jumbled images and words as he seems to fuck all sense out of me.
Want more.
Deeper.
Harder.
So.
Fucking.
Full.
Yes.
More.
Almost.
There.
As his teeth clamp into my neck, a second orgasm is ripped from my body, leaving me a sobbing mess as I collapse against the cool stainless-steel counter.
This is what should have been mine all along.
