Twins for the Mafia Heir (The Warwicks #3)

11. Achilles

Chapter 11

Achilles

M ore than being legally tied to a woman I don’t know or love, more than having to introduce this stranger to my daughter as a new mother-figure, this is what I’ve been dreading.

Taking a new woman into my bed. Touching her, and being touched by her, in any way that reminds me of Madeleine. I haven’t allowed this for three years. There was a part of me that had committed to it never happening again. I’ve craved carnal pleasure, of course, but whenever that craving became too powerful to ignore, I would satisfy myself rather than seek out a brothel.

Then Raleigh sat herself in my lap, and the warm softness of her body awakened a hunger in me that I didn’t expect- and haven’t stopped feeling since. I’m infuriated, insulted, bucking at Fantasia’s orders and disrespect for my grief.

But I’m also… curious to have more.

Raleigh’s hand is clammy in mine as I pull her into the room and close the door behind us. I don’t flip the switch on the wall- the silver moonlight coming in through my windows feels more fitting. I turn to face her, searching the planes of light and shadow on her face. She follows suit, her grey eyes glowing. I can see the pulse jumping in her neck, see how shallowly she’s breathing.

Is she afraid, or excited?

I squeeze her hand, calling her attention to my face instead of beyond it. “I won’t hurt you, Raleigh,” I promise her.

She nods, but when I step closer, my free hand cupping her cheek, her breath catches hard. “How about this? Close your eyes now,” I order, my voice quiet. Raleigh’s lips part, like she’s going to protest, but I brush my thumb over her eyebrow, coaxing. “Close them, Raleigh. Just for now. Just focus on what you’re feeling.”

Her slender throat works with a swallow, but she does. Despite everything she grants me that trust, and she closes her eyes. It’s like a spotlight being turned off, and I feel the loss of it as much as I feel relieved not to be standing under its gaze. Perhaps it’s foolish of me to put up walls between us when we’re about to be naked in bed together, but if this is going to happen only once, I can’t let myself get too attached.

I release her hand and step over to the door leading between my room and Sidony’s. Mrs. Garrow assured me earlier that she would watch over Sidony during dinner and put her to bed on time, but I lock the door just in case.

Raleigh sucks in a break at the click, but doesn’t move or open her eyes. Returning to stand in front of her, I begin to undress myself. I don’t let myself think about the act, don’t let myself consider how she would look at me if she got to watch me do this. My entire body is already pulsing with anticipation.

“You don’t need to fully undress,” I tell her, remembering her understandable hesitance to take off her bra, even when she faced away from me. “Do you want to keep your shirt on?”

“F-For now,” Raleigh says, too quickly. She swallows. “Please.”

I wonder if her slight figure is a source of insecurity for her, which is a shame. “Very well,” I agree, and take the front of her jeans in my hands.

She sucks in a breath, but her eyes close more tightly instead of flying open. I undo the button and zipper of her jeans and pull them down, crouching to untangle them from her ankles and set them aside. When I reach for her underwear, though, my face is very close to the dip of her hips. I pause, and Raleigh jolts a little at the feeling of my breath on her stomach. Her hand comes up, brushing over my hair, but she pulls back before she can take hold.

There needs to be foreplay if I want to keep my promise not to hurt her. Whether with my tongue or with my fingers, I need to prepare her body for me, and keep my head at the same time.

My fingers brush over her hips as I hook my fingers under the straps of her underwear. Raleigh sucks in a shaky breath as I pull them down her legs, leaving her bare from the waist down.

My mind returns for the thousandth time to the weight of her in my lap, the feeling of her legs straddling me, the wetness I began to feel right before my body betrayed me-

I push to my feet, keeping my breath even with some effort. Come on, Achilles. Are you really losing your head over the first woman you’ve seen naked in three years ?

“I’ll take you to the bed,” I say. “Keep your eyes closed.”

“Okay,” Raleigh agrees shakily, and holds her hand out for me to take.

I pull her to the bed, then take her by the shoulders and guide her to sit on the edge of it. Raleigh doesn’t see me kneel, but she must hear it, because her hands ball into bracing fists. My hands grip her knees, and she gasps when I spread them wide open.

At the first press of my thumb at the top of her clit, Raleigh claps her hand over her mouth to stifle her cry, and I have to hold in a reaction too. Her skin is so soft, so warm . And as I drag my thumb in tiny circles, I’m fascinated at the way Raleigh’s body responds at just this touch.

What sounds will she make when I’m thrusting myself into her pussy-

“Lay back,” I order. Raleigh obeys, revealing the full length of her clit to me. I change the pattern of my touch, rubbing up and down her seam. Raleigh’s hand grips the coverlet, her knuckles turning white. Wetness touches the pad of my thumb, and fascinated, I push against it, sinking my thumb inside her.

Raleigh gasps. She’s hot and tight and getting wetter by the second. I immediately pull my thumb out and replace it with my first two fingers, thrusting in deeper and pressing up into her G-spot. Raleigh bucks and whines. The sound echoes in my ears until it’s all I can hear.

I press my cheek against her feverish thigh, my lips brushing against her skin before I catch myself. I pull my fingers out of Raleigh, the sound of her cry echoing in my ears, and stand over her. Her eyes are still squeezed tightly shut, but now I find myself wishing she would look at me and I could see into her.

“I’m going to lift you,” I say, and don’t give her the chance to respond before scooping my hands under her shoulders and ass and plucking her off the bed. Raleigh throws her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, clinging like a starfish. Her face presses without shame into my shoulder.

The feeling of our bodies aligning, even with her sweater between us, shocks every one of my senses like a lightning bolt to the spine.

I climb into the bed and turn us so we’re on the mattress lengthwise and only put her down when her head can sink into the pillows. When I sit up away from her, Raleigh loosens her grip on me reluctantly. I find myself weighing and measuring the differences between this moment and putting Raleigh to sleep less than twenty-four hours ago. Her eyes are still closed, leaving me to observe her without concern, but now we’re naked and about to bridge the gaps between our bodies.

Suddenly, the space between us feels fragile. I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want her to open her eyes. If she opens her eyes, I’ll see something I don’t want, or feel something I shouldn’t.

As if I’m not feeling far too much already.

I should warn her that I’m about to penetrate her, but I don’t know what words to use. I could ask her if she’s ready, but it’s whether I’m ready or not that’s in question. If I put myself inside her, will I be able to control my pace, or will I lose my head entirely?

I grip Raleigh’s hips and angle them up. Raleigh sucks in a breath, bracing herself.

“Relax,” I tell her quietly. “Let me do everything. If you tense up, I’ll hurt you.”

Raleigh releases her breath shakily, and I feel her release her control over her own muscles at the same time. Her weight is in my hands.

Her body is mine to use.

I edge against her, testing her looseness. Keeping myself from thrusting right into her pussy is almost a greater test of my control than I can manage. My arms are trembling, and I squeeze her hips hard, trying to relieve the feeling. My baser thoughts are roaring at me to take her, fuck her, bury myself in her lithe body. I hold myself back.

Then Raleigh chokes off a sound. “A-Achilles-?” she gasps.

And my control suddenly snaps .

I plunge inside her, filling her pussy up until our bodies slap together. Raleigh throws her hands over her mouth to stifle her scream. I find myself stunned by the sensation of her, how hot and wet she is. We haven’t even really begun, but both of us are breathless.

“Are you all right-”

“Yes,” she gasps. “Yes, yes - It feels-”

I shift inside her, and she whimpers with pleasure. I pull out slowly, and plunge back in, and she responds to every sensation with a new sound. Every movement I make inside her causes her body to writhe.

Fuck… She really likes this.

And I can’t deny that I do too.

I look down her body as I brace myself over her, watching as I disappear inside her with every thrust. I wasn’t sure if she’d be able to take all of me, but I’m going up to the hilt and barely brushing against her cervix.

I try, unsuccessfully, not to think about how easy that makes sex for the two of us.

I pull out and push back harder, maintaining my slow pace but deepening the penetration. Raleigh’s hands grip at the coverlet, desperate to find something to cling to, before giving up and reaching for me instead. Her arms wind around my neck, pulling us both deeper into the mattress.

Our bodies lock together so perfectly, it feels like we could be a single living thing. She breathes, hot and heavy, into my shoulder. Her heartbeat pounds in my own chest. With every new thrust, I lose my mind a little more in her, and in this radiant pleasure.

And I don’t care.

In fact, I don’t want it to ever end.