20
April
Alicia
Grover whimpers under my desk. I put down the quilt I’m working on before getting up to go let him out to pee. I’m home today because I’m ridiculously late on a quilt. I should be able to finish it today, but I was urged to go ahead and take tomorrow off too just in case. After working on it all morning, I’m almost done. It didn’t feel right taking a day off; however, Hannah and Dante laughed off my guilt. Right now things are quiet in the office, so I was to enjoy my time off, as the office will get really busy within the next few weeks.
As I wait for Grover to do his business, my eyes wander around. For about the fifteenth time I think of Dante’s place. How hard would it be to at least soften the edges of this place? Maybe some paint on the walls, a few rugs. The area in front of the folding doors to the balcony is almost fourteen feet of open area where a sitting area feels like it should be.
Claudine comes in from the hallway with a large, beautiful bunch of pink tulips. “I couldn’t resist. A little something to liven up the place with the days being so gray and dreary the past few weeks.”
“They’re beautiful. I think it would take more than some flowers to liven up this place though, you’d have to empty out an entire floral shop.” I sigh.
Her smile is conspiratorial. “You want to do something about it?” I want to say yes yet I hesitate, worried about what Cesare would say. “Cesare would love it if you did something that made this more your home, not just his.”
I’m touched, knowing she wouldn’t have said it unless she had heard him say it first. “Okay, yes. I am dying to do something to this place. I have some ideas but I’m not sure how to put it all together.”
“I know. We call in professionals.” She pulls out her cell phone from her pocket. “I still have the number for the designers who did Dante’s place and work for Cesare and Dante. I’m pretty sure they’ll be willing to drop everything to do this.”
From her side of the phone, it’s clear she’s right. The conversation only lasts about three minutes. I run to get dressed, feeling sloppy in a loose shirt and pajama pants. Thinking of the women designers who are always perfectly turned out in designer names I couldn’t even pronounce, I change into a cashmere sweater dress and black tights. Once I’m dressed, I take the time to straighten my hair then swipe on some makeup.
As I come out of the bedroom the doorbell goes. It scares me, I’m so unused to hearing it. Grover barks at me for being an idiot. Two of the three women I had met the first day come in, followed by an assistant who is carrying a laptop. I’m surprised to see two of them. There is a marked change in the way they treat me since the last time I met them, when they acted as if I were annoying them. I know the tall blonde is Esme, but I can’t remember the redhead’s name. I decide to go with not remember either of their names because I also don’t know the assistant’s name. They aren’t pleased by that but they laugh it off, though not very well.
“I’m Petra, this is Esme and Jolene is the one with the computer. Jolene, get the measurements for the rooms, starting with this space. Claudine said you were looking to change the space. What did you have in mind?”
***
Alicia
I check my watch as I come up in the elevator. I’m freaking exhausted. I want to take a nap, only it’s almost six thirty so I’m pretty sure Cesare will be home soon. He promised an early night and dinner out. I wonder if I should change, I’m pretty sure I broke a sweat as I tried to keep up with Esme and Petra today. One store, one ginormous store with what felt like a football stadium’s worth of furniture. Both women carried a measuring tape and their cell phones and managed to bark orders like drill sergeants. The furniture is going to be delivered tomorrow in the afternoon, after the men come in to put up the wallpaper in the morning, and the art will arrive in the afternoon with people who can put it up.
I’m excited but I want it to be a surprise for Cesare. I decided to go with wallpaper to avoid the issues with painting, which would take freaking forever, and there were really great wallpaper patterns that were nothing like the flowery crap I had first thought of when Petra suggested it. We’re also only going to do one accent wall so it won’t overwhelm a room. I hope it looks as good as i
t did on the computer mock-up.
When I open the door to the condo, I’m surprised to hear Cesare whistling. He’s home already? I follow the whistling into the kitchen, where he’s stirring a pot on the stove. It’s been three months since the first time I saw him, and I’m waiting for the time when I stop getting weak in the knees when I see him. Except I don’t know if I’ll ever stop getting weak when he smiles at me like he is right now. “Hey, what are you doing home already?”
His arms come around me as he pulls me close. “I seriously underestimated how much I was going to miss you not being at work. I’m pretty sure I didn’t get anything done today. Then when I got the email from Esme about the changes to the condo, I couldn’t wait to come home and reward you for having good taste.”
“Ah, I wanted it to be a surprise.”
He laughs. “No, you were afraid I wouldn’t like it.” God, he just gets me. He brushes a kiss across my lips. “Don’t be afraid, talk to me. I hate the idea of you being afraid to talk to me, to share your fears or concerns. I told you, you’re mine to keep and protect, and those things include keeping you happy, knowing you’re safe to come to me with stuff you’re worried about. You’re not alone anymore, Alicia. I know this is new to you, but I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.”
His kisses are soft and sweet. Vaguely I’m aware of Grover barking, then his little nails are digging into my tights.
“I swear, Grover, you can be such a pain. We’re kind of in the middle of something.” Grover just barks and takes off toward the balcony. “I always knew deep down I was a cat person.”
Cesare laughs as he pushes me toward Grover. “Go take care of him. I’m about to put on the pasta now that you’re home.”
“Okay.”
During dinner we go over the mock-up of the changes. I show him the samples of wallpaper in the few cases where I doubted my choices. Cesare is insistent he likes what I chose.
We take our shower together, where Cesare asks me sweetly to come into the office to have lunch with him tomorrow even though I’m going to be off. I promise I will, then push him onto the bench and climb onto him. He groans as he guides his thick cock into me. He surges inside me. Every time his first thrust deep inside me steals my breath, my soul when we become one. There is no me, there is no him; it’s us, something new, something unbelievably exquisite. I know he feels it too: his heart slams against his chest and my own answers him back. It’s a moment of perfection seared into me, into my whole being.
Feeling him deep inside me, fitting me so perfectly, that magical moment when we become one, it hits me. Mine. Forever. Cesare is branded into my heart, my very soul. He’s mine forever. The same way I belong to him, he’s mine to keep and protect and to do everything I can to make him happy. I’m so lucky the things that make him happy, also make me happy. “I want your cock in my ass, please, Cesare. I’m done with the toys. I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you fucking me and coming inside me. Please.”
Groaning, Cesare shakes his head. “I’m too close, cara, too damn close.” He groans as he yanks my mouth to his. Hell, how does he do this to me every time? It doesn’t matter I’m on top, he’s in control of my body, of me. I can’t fight him, don’t want to. His hard hands on my hips control me. More, please more. I’m begging, pleading, desperate for my orgasm, so damn close. Harder, faster he brings me down on him, yes, yes right there. I’m plunged headfirst into the waves, and they crash into me, threatening to wash me away. Shaking, I cling to Cesare as he groans into my skin, and I feel him explode inside me. Hot, wet, mine, my body grasps him from inside, wanting everything he has to give me.