By the time she returned, Theresa had also joined us. I refilled my cup of coffee and poured her one as well. We sat sipping our coffees in silence as Cass began to create the next batch of pancakes.
My mind hasn’t been able to stop going over the events from last night. How he felt up my back hole, promising, without saying anything overtly, that he intends to own me there. How he put his mouth on my pussy and brought me to the edge, only to pull back as I was on the verge of climax. Damn it! Why the hell did I tell him that I was going to come earlier? After he left, I tried to make myself come after, but of course, each time I thought I was going to climax, I wasn't able to take that final step toward the orgasm. I finally stopped, pulled my fingers out of my pussy, and licked them off, imagining that they were his fingers which had been inside me all this time. That it was his tongue which was licking the cum off my digits, his mouth which had closed around them, his breath that fanned my skin as he sucked off every last drop of evidence of my arousal.
My breath quickens, my palms dampen, and I squeeze my thighs together to try to clamp down on the growing hunger in my core.
"Aurora?" Theresa’s soft voice pulls me out of my reverie.
"What?" I scowl at her.
"You were telling us what Christian got up to?"
"Was I?" I pinch my eyebrows together.
"Mmm-hmm." She brings her cup of coffee to her mouth, but not before I’ve noticed the curve of her lips.
"This is not funny, Theresa," I snap. "This is my … my life we are talking about here."
"Oh, honey." She lowers her cup to the table and reaches over to grasp my hand. "I’m not laughing at you, at all; it’s just—"
"Just?"
"Interesting that he has you all tied up in knots."
"It’s not very comfortable, I can assure you of that."
"Ever since I’ve known you—and I admit, until now, I’d only ever seen you from a distance—but what little I’ve known of you, you’ve always come across as someone calm and composed, someone who knew what she wanted in life—"
"Which was to be a doctor," I agree. "It’s why I took the chance of going to study medicine in England when Michael offered it to me."
"I’m surprised you did, actually." She glances at me with a shrewd look on her face. "I thought you also wanted to get out of the Mafia way of life."
"Was I that transparent?" I wince. "And considering we never really spoke to each other all through our growing years, I’m surprised you gathered so much."
"I guess I am perceptive." She raises a shoulder. "I could tell from a mile off that you hated having to be obligated in any way to the Mafia."
"Given my father was the personal doctor of the Sovranos, there was no escaping them. Don’t get me wrong," I shuffle around in my seat, trying to find a more comfortable position, "they helped out my father and my family. You could say that without the Sovranos’ help, we couldn’t have survived and come this far. But I had always hoped that I’d find a way to leave the Mafia when I was older. Find my own way in the world and be independent, without having their presence looming over me. I had hoped to discover who I am, away from their influence. It’s why, when Michael offered me a chance to go study medicine in London, I jumped at the opportunity. Oh, I knew it probably meant that I’d have to come back and pay my dues, but I always thought it would be in the form of offering up my services as a doctor for a while. If I had known it would also mean that his brother would decide to—"
"To—?" Theresa cocks her head. "To marry you?"
"Yeah," I blow out a breath, "marry me. Maybe I would have refused."
"Is that all there is to this situation?" Cass murmurs as she glances at me over her shoulder. "You sure there’s nothing else you want to tell us?"
I bite the inside of my cheek. Oh, there’s so much more; you have no idea. I shake my head. “No, nothing more to tell. Why?”
She peers at my features, then nods, "Just an instinct, that’s all."
"Well, thank you for your concern, but no, I am happily engaged," I raise my left hand so the light from above shines off the ring, "and can’t wait to be married; it’s only—"
"That you can’t wait to physically be with him, hmm?" Theresa leans forward, eyes shining. "There was a time when I was sure that Xander was going to propose to me, you know? He had taken me for a drive to our favorite restaurant with an amazing view. It was outside of Palermo and slightly off the beaten track, where we wouldn’t risk running into anyone we knew. I was sure that he was going to tell me that he loved me and propose to me, but instead…" She swallows. "Instead, he told me how he had met someone, a man who he couldn’t get out of his mind. Someone who was artistic enough to fascinate him, but also so macho that he made Xander go weak at the knees. Someone who he had fallen head over heels in love with, but who, apparently, didn’t reciprocate his feelings."
"So Xander was in love with him?"
"He definitely seemed to have feelings for him." Theresa stares down at the batch of pancakes that Cass has slid in front of her.
"Eat," Cass orders as she places another stack of them in front of me and a third in front of herself. She slides into her chair, then glances around the table. "What do you girls want? Syrup? Butter?"
I reach for the melted butter and pour some of it over my pancakes.