“Aria, swear it.” He spoke in his Capo voice, the voice that made his men follow him and had his enemies cowering in fear.

I curled my hand around his neck, playing with his black hair, and brushed my lips across his. “No.”

His eyes tightened. “No?”

“No. Have you never heard the word before?” I teased him as I repeated the words I’d said to him on our wedding night.

“Oh, I hear it often,” he said, playing his part.

My face broke into a smile, but his remained dark. “Aria, I’m serious.”

“So am I, Luca. I protect the people I love. You’ll have to accept that.”

He shook his head. “I can’t because you act without thinking whenever you act out of love.”

I shrugged. “That’s how I am.”

He rested his forehead against mine. “I won’t lose you because of it.”

“You won’t lose me,” I whispered, my palm pressed against his Famiglia tattoo over his chest.

Born in Blood. Sworn in Blood.

Maybe I hadn’t made a blood oath, but what bound me to him was stronger than any oath. I was bound by love. “I’ll always be at your side.”

His eyes softened. “Let’s go on our honeymoon next week.”

Surprise washed over me. “Really?” I asked, excitement bubbling up. We’d been married for two months and there had never been talk about a honeymoon, in the beginning because our marriage hadn’t been one of love but of convenience, and later because I thought Luca was too busy.

“What about the Bratva? Won’t they attack again?” Their attack on the Vitiello mansion in the Hamptons two weeks ago cost several of Luca’s men their lives, and almost cost me mine. I’d lost my childhood bodyguard Umberto, had seen him get shot in the head, and writing the letter to his widow and children had broken my heart.

“They will attack again, but not soon. They’ll have to recuperate after losing Vitali. I can’t be gone for long, but my men can handle things without me for a week. Matteo holds almost as much respect as I do. He can take over for a while.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. “Where will we go?”

Luca kissed me before he straightened with a smile of his own. It was an expression he reserved for me, and it made my heart swell with love. “My father had a yacht in the harbor of Palermo and now it’s mine. We could spend a week yachting along the Mediterranean Sea.”

I searched his face to see if his father’s death bothered him, but even though the man had died only a few weeks ago, Luca didn’t show a hint of sadness. Salvatore Vitiello had been a man who’d instilled fear but not admiration or fondness in others. I didn’t know him well enough to be sad about his death, and if I had known him I definitely wouldn’t have been either.

“That would be amazing,” I said eventually. I’d never been to Sicily, and I would love to see where Luca’s family came from.

“You were in Italy before?” he asked.

“Only once,” I said with regret. “Father took us to Bologna for his uncle’s funeral, but we only spent a day there before we visited Turin and Milano. It was beautiful. I always wanted to return, but Father was too busy being Consigliere and he didn’t allow us to go without him.”

“Then that’s settled,” he said. “A week to ourselves.”

“I can’t wait,” I whispered, my mouth finding Luca’s. I tightened my hold on his neck as his tongue slipped in. His hand trailed down my shoulder, then my side and over my thigh. I shivered at the gentle gesture.

Because of my injury, Luca had been careful when we’d made love, and again his touch was excruciatingly gentle as he parted my legs and stroked me with expert movements. I held his gaze as he entered me with two fingers before he replaced them with his length, his tip nudging my opening. I wrapped my legs around him and took him in, still marveling at the fullness. Our mouths moving over each other, Luca thrust into me at a slow pace. I could feel his entire length as he slid in and out, and tension began coiling in my center.

Luca drew his mouth away and rasped in my ear, “Come for me, love.”

I moaned as he angled his thrust upwards. Then his mouth was back on mine and his tongue caressed me in a delicious dance. His gray eyes bored into mine. He didn’t touch me like he usually did, and I moved my hand to reach between us to touch my clit and send myself over the edge, but Luca gently pushed it away. “Let’s try to make you come with my cock only.”

I’d never managed to come without additional friction, but I was willing to give this a try. He linked our fingers and pressed them to the marble surface. He thrust into me again at the same angle as before, and I gasped at the pleasure that vibrated down from the sweet spot he hit. My eyes were wide as I held his possessive gaze. Every time we made love, he seemed to brand me as his anew. Luca was one of the most possessive men I knew, and I had grown up among Made Men.

He hit the same spot and I gasped. It felt wondrous but I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to come like that, yet Luca was in no hurry as he targeted the same spot over and over again with slow, hard thrusts.

“How does it feel?” he rumbled thickly, sweat glistening on his chest as he slammed into me again, shoving my ass back on the marble counter, but his hand dragged me back to the edge and held me in place for his next thrust.

I licked my dry lips. “Good,” I gasped out as the pleasure spiked again. My toes curled and my walls began to spasm.

“Yes, love,” Luca growled. “Come for me.”

His tongue dipped between my lips as he hit my sweet spot again and I arched up, eyes shutting tightly. I ripped away from Luca’s mouth, my head falling back as I cried out my release. Luca tensed, slamming into me harder before he let out a guttural groan and came inside me. I shook against him, my orgasm intensifying as his length twitched within me.

When I could talk again, I whispered, “Wow. That was incredible.”

Luca smirked, his eyes dominant and pleased. “It was. I love that you can come with only my cock.”

I frowned. “Is that not normal?” A hint of insecurity slipped into my voice. Luca and I had been sleeping with each other for over a month, but I was still far from being experienced.

Luca cupped my cheek and pulled me closer for a sweet kiss. “You are anything but normal, Aria. In every regard.” I didn’t stop frowning. He chuckled. “It’s a good thing, trust me. I love that you can come like that. Many women need to have their clits touched, and even then some don’t find release during sex.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. I couldn’t imagine that any woman wouldn’t come during sex with Luca, but I didn’t want to think about other women with Luca. He was mine alone.

Luca kissed me again before he slowly pulled out of me. “I’d better prepare everything for our honeymoon.”

I grinned. If someone had told me before my wedding that I’d be this ridiculously happy with Luca, I would have declared them insane.

LUCA

I had a hard time focusing on Matteo’s voice. All I could think about was Aria and all the ways I wanted to make her come on our honeymoon.