After Christmas dinner, we all moved toward the sofas. The beautifully decorated Christmas tree towered over us and illuminated our surroundings with the gentle glow of the electric candles. Before I could sit down beside Adamo, Gemma approached me.
“I’m sorry that I was rude and didn’t welcome you right away. Christmas is hard for me…” She swallowed. “But I shouldn’t vent my sadness on you.”
“I’m sorry for what happened to your family. I hate that mob business kills so many innocents.”
“Thank you,” Gemma said with a small smile. “I’m glad Adamo found you. I’ve never seen him so happy before.”
Adamo was talking to Fabiano, but I could tell that he was half-listening to my conversation with Gemma.
After Greta did a short ballet performance that Kiara accompanied with the piano, Kiara began to gather up the dishes. I helped her and carried a stack of plates over into the kitchen. I wondered if Adamo had mentioned a conversation to her as well. It made me feel awkward. I wasn’t embarrassed about my past but I preferred for people to judge me for my actions today and not for something that was done to me more than a decade ago.
She noticed my curious gaze and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Adamo always seemed so restless when he came to visit, especially during the Christmas holidays, but today for the first time since I’ve known him, he looked as if he exuded calm. He’s arrived. You are his anchor and no matter where you two live or if you keep traveling with the racing camp, he’s found his home in you. That’s wonderful. We all need something that gives us roots so we can grow for the future, and you are each other’s roots.”
I bit my lip, my throat clogging with emotions. “Thank you, Kiara. I never meant for it to happen. I didn’t think I could really trust someone like I trust Adamo.”
Kiara nodded. “I never thought I could experience what I have with Nino, but the past doesn’t have to define us. We shouldn’t let it.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
The door swung open and her two sons rushed in. They pressed up to her. “Mom, can we have cookies before bed?” the shorter boy, Massimo asked.
“It’s Christmas,” Alessio reminded her.
Kiara laughed, and I fell in as well. They reminded me of my half-brothers. When sweets were concerned, they could be quite cunning.
A moment later, Adamo came in with a couple of empty glasses, but it was obvious that he was checking on me. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him.
“I’m fine,” I said before he could ask.
Adamo nodded. “I knew you’d be.”
I stifled a smile. I’d always wanted someone at my side who knew I could handle myself, who didn’t treat me like a damsel in distress, and I’d found that person in Adamo.
She stood against the horizon, illuminated by the sinking sun, completely naked except for her biker boots. Her red hair glowed like flames in the last rays and her pale, beautiful body appeared almost pearlescent. I got out of the tent and watched her a bit longer.
She was so fucking gorgeous. She turned and met my gaze. A smile broke free on her face. It wasn’t one of the fake smiles, weighed down by darkness from the past. It was a free, honest smile. That didn’t mean she didn’t still harbor darkness. We both did. It was what made us understand the other so well. But we controlled our darkness now, like a tamed beast behind iron-bars. Sometimes we let it out to play but mostly it slept peacefully in its corner.
I still felt as stupidly in love with Dinara as I’d been when I’d rushed to Chicago to convince her father. We’d grown closer, Dinara and I, and even her father grudgingly tolerated me. We’d even celebrated the orthodox Christmas together in Asper for the first time this year.
Dinara bit her lip in that teasing way she had, turning fully to me so I could see the length of her naked body. One of her hands cupped her breast, teasing her piercing, as the other slowly slid down her belly to the apex of her thighs with the soft patch of red hair. Blood rushed down my body, gathering in my cock. She and I always took time away from camp, so we could fully enjoy each other’s company.
I strode closer to her, taking her in and the way she stroked herself. When I stopped right in front of her, she was panting softly, her lips parted. Two fingers worked her clit, spreading wetness all over it. I grabbed her hips and sucked her pierced nipple into my mouth. Her fingers moved faster on her clit and she let out a sharp moan. I sank down slowly, tracing my tongue over her belly before I arrived at eye level with her pussy. Her fingers circled her bundle of nerves and her lust had already gathered all around it. The sight of her glistening folds made my mouth watery. I leaned forward and teased her fingers and clit with my tongue, tasting her sweet arousal. Her fingers didn’t cease the circling of her clit. Instead, they soon began to fight my tongue for dominance. After she came, I pulled her down on my lap. Making love to her still felt like a revelation every time.