He looked down at me, speculative. “I’ve been saving a long time to open my own restaurant.”
“You should do it.” I squeezed his hand.
He sighed. “It’s hard to do something like that and still pay the bills in the meantime.”
“But if it’s your dream, you should do it anyway,” I urged as we took the stairs in his building up.
Nico unlocked the door, changing the subject. “So tell me a secret.”
“Is Mason home?” I asked, hesitating in the doorway. He’d already told me he wouldn’t be there, but I wanted to be sure.
“No.” He tossed his keys on the table. They had a flat full of furniture now. “He had business. And we have an understanding.”
“Do you tie a sock on the doorknob?”
He laughed, reaching for me. “So tell me something.”
“I’m a man in a woman’s body,” I confessed, putting my arms around his neck.
“Now I know that isn’t true.”
“I’m a woman who wants a man’s body,” I murmured, pressing my breasts against his chest.
“Well, that I believe.” He smiled, his eyes lighting up. “But you’re not getting out of it so easily. Tell me something real.”
“Something real…” I pulled away from him, wandering around the flat. Mason had come with practically nothing, so the apartment spoke more of Nico’s tastes, which meant a more classic Italian design. “I can’t think of anything.”
“You promised,” he reminded me, taking my hand and leading me to the sofa. “You’re such a mystery.”
“You want to know something real about me?” I asked, letting him pull me onto his lap.
“Yes.”
“Okay…” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I had a baby. With Mason.”
He was quiet for so long I had to look.
“And where is this baby?” he finally asked.
“She’s…” I blinked fast, looking away, and whispered the word. “Dead.”
“Ah bella…” He took a deep breath, taking my hand in his. “This explains so much…”
I gave a short, sharp laugh. “Her name was Isabella.”
“Oh no. All this time…” His eyes widened, his jaw dropping. “No wonder you didn’t want me to call you bella! I’m so sorry.”
He turned my palm over, kissing it repeatedly.
“She was stillborn.” It was so hard to talk about it, even now, but another part of me felt relieved to be sharing it-sharing her. “I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant. Almost full term.”
“That’s… tragic.”
Tragico. The ultimate tragedy. Yes, tragic was the perfect word.
“Is this why you got divorced?”
I shrugged, looking away. “Maybe partly. It was hard.”
“I can’t imagine.” He held me closer, cradling my head on his shoulder. “Poor bella…” He sighed, smacking himself in the forehead. “Stupid! I won’t call you that anymore.”
“No, it’s okay,” I assured him. “I actually like it.”
“You do?”
I nodded. “I miss her, and you calling me bella… it reminds me. In a good way. I love hearing her name.”
“Bella, bella, bella,” he whispered, kissing my forehead. “You are so brave, so sweet.”
I tilted my head up and pressed my lips to his, closing my eyes and losing myself in the kiss. It wasn’t difficult to do. Being with Nico always transported me somewhere outside of myself and yet kept me firmly present in the world at the same time.
The kiss deepened and I slipped my hand behind his neck, our tongues meeting, doing an electric dance. Wanting him happened so fast, it always surprised me.
“The bedroom,” I murmured.
There was more than just a bed in it now-a night table, a dresser. Nico sat on the bed as I closed the door. I went to him, so overwhelmed with my own confession I could barely stay on my feet. He pulled me into his arms, buoying me up.
“Are you all right?”
“Just dizzy I guess,” I whispered, running my fingers through his dark, thick curls. “Too much emotion in the past few weeks.”
“Poor bella.” He kissed me softly, his hands moving over my back, petting me.
“I don’t want to talk anymore,” I pleaded. “Let’s not talk.”
“Yes.” He kissed me more deeply, his tongue twining with mine, exploring the soft recesses of my mouth. I didn’t want to talk or think. I just wanted to be with him, to be as close as I could get to him. I thought briefly about Mason, and felt a little guilty, but I knew he would be gone for hours.
“Undress for me.” Nico leaned back on the bed and watched, expectant.
I slid my t-shirt off over my head, tossing it on the floor. My bra was front hook and that came off too. By the time I was unbuttoning my jeans, he was unbuttoning his own, freeing his cock. I bit my lip at the sight of it, at the casual way he stroked himself as I stripped for him.
When I was naked, I crawled up between his legs on the bed, nuzzling his hand out of the way and taking his cock in my mouth. He made a soft noise in his throat, watching me lick the head. I loved the way he curved under my tongue, the thick feel of it sliding into my mouth. He reached for my breast, letting it fill his hand, teasing my nipple as I sucked him.
“Touch yourself,” he said.
I reached down to part my pussy lips, my fingers sliding in the wetness, finding my clit and rubbing. Nico’s hands kneaded my breasts, thumbing my nipples, driving me to distraction. I couldn’t concentrate on sucking him when he did that and I squirmed on the bed.
“Come here.” He reached for me and I crawled my way up, peeling his shirt off as I went. It was his gondolier uniform, black and white stripes. I tossed it off the bed, letting him guide me further up, up, until I was straddling his chest. His eyes drank me in, his gaze moving over my breasts, down my belly, focusing on the parted, swollen lips of my pussy.
“So beautiful.” He used one finger to trace the swell of my mound, teasing my clit briefly, watching my face. “Touch yourself, Dani. I want to watch you come.”
“Like this?” I bit my lip, cupping my pussy, rocking my palm against my flesh. His eyes lit up when I parted my pussy lips, showing him more pink, giving him a glimpse of my hooded little clit. It was throbbing.
Nico slipped a hand down to grab his cock. I glanced back and saw him fisting the length, rubbing the tip with his thumb as he watched me. I held my pussy lips open with one hand so he could see, using the fingers of my other to rub myself, first my clit in little circles, then sliding down to my hole. So juicy, nice and wet. I rubbed the slickness into my clit.
“Faster,” he insisted, licking his lips. “Finger yourself.”
I slid two fingers into my pussy, using my thumb to strum against my clit, rocking on top of him. My breath came faster, my nipples hardening. I saw him looking from my breasts to my pussy to my face, like he couldn’t decide where to focus. He stroked himself faster, matching my rhythm, his eyes half-closed.
“It feels so good,” I whimpered, rubbing myself feverishly now. Nico fixated on my pussy, his eyes glazed, as I got closer and closer to orgasm. “Oh god. I’m gonna come. Yes! Oh now! Now!”
My body announced my climax, my hips bucking, pussy snapping closed on my plunging fingers. I cried out and arched my back, feeling dizzy and looking to steady myself. Nico’s hands went to my hips, holding me up, supporting me as my orgasm rushed through me, a fire in my veins.
“Beautiful,” he breathed, and I looked down, seeing how wet his chest was with my pussy juices. The hair there glistened with it.
“Oh my fucking god,” I said in English, rolling onto the bed with a soft groan.
“I don’t know about God.” Nico smiled. “But you can fuck me.”
I laughed, lifting my head to look at him, still so very hard, his cock dripping with precum.
“Do you want to fuck me?” I shifted on the bed, lifting my ass in the air. “Do you want to slide into my hot, wet, tight-?”
He groaned, shoving his pants and boxers down and rolling up next to me on the bed so fast I barely had time to register it. Then he was sliding his cock home, shoving my legs apart with his, driving me forward on the bed. I cried out as he thrust, deeper, harder, slamming the bed against the wall.