Page 13 of A Sense of Guilt
Epilogue
“You scared ten fucking years off my life,cara.”
Rosa laughed breathlessly then moaned as explosions of pleasure ignited within her. “I think I lost about the same amount.”
“Seems only fair.” Gino growled, licking and nibbling his way down her neck. “If you’re going out ten years early, then I sure as fuck am, too. No way do I want to be on this earth without you.”
Gino’s words filled her heart and Rosa tightened her grip on his shoulders. “Less talk, my love, and more showing me how grateful you are that I’m alive.”
Gino moved a little lower, licking at her nipple, sending shafts of fire through her torso before he bit down, making her cry out. “Oh, I am grateful, baby. Let me show you.”
He lifted up onto his arms, held her gaze, and began to move. His hips began a slow torturous glide, driving his cock in and out of her in a steady, hard rhythm. One that soon had Rosa lifting her hips to match it. When she tightened her inner muscles against him, Gino cursed, his rhythm faltering.
“Fuck, Rosa,” he moaned. “Hold on, baby, this is going to get wild.”
And then he began to move, and he delivered exactly what he promised. The speed at which he drove his body in and out of hers had Rosa spiraling toward her release at a frightening pace. She dug her heels into the mattress and lifted her hips against him. The pace he set was not sustainable, and Rosa felt the ripple of her orgasm a split second before Gino slammed into her and stilled. As she rocketed into a maelstrom of pleasure, she reveled in the way Gino roared her name to the heavens.
Gino slumped down on her, holding some of his weight up from her on arms that shook, and Rosa basked in the feeling of him pressed against her.
Gino lifted his head and stared down at her. “That’s twice now.”
Rosa frowned. “No, I’m pretty sure we’ve made love more than twice tonight.”
Gino grinned. “Damn straight! The night is still young and the memory of those gunshots and watching you fall to the ground are too clear for me to want to stop now. But that’s not what I am talking about. That’s twice where I thought I was coming to save you, and you’ve gone and saved yourself.”
Rosa laughed, shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure that Marissa saved my ass tonight. Her and that knife she threw. Who knew that woman could throw like that?”
“Shocked the shit outta all of us,” Gino said as he moved to lie on his back, pulling her with him so that she blanketed his body. “I think Nico’s definitely in love with her now. As soon as he realized Marissa had grabbed the knife, spun, and thrown it with deadly accuracy all in one movement, he told her his heart stopped beating for anyone but her. I’m certain he’s not being serious, but he has no chance with her.”
Rosa ran her fingers lightly through the dusting of hair adorning her lover’s chest. “Why not?”
Gino grabbed her hand, lifted it to his mouth, and pressed a kiss to her fingers. “Wrong man, wrong time, wrong family. Marissa’s got her own demons, and a story that is hers to share.”
Marissa would share her story with her one day if she needed to. Rosa was fine with not knowing. The woman had more than earned her privacy. She’d given Rosa a place to stay, her friendship, and had saved her life.
Gino had gotten to her moments after she landed heavily on the floor that afternoon and had her up and in his arms a heartbeat later. Once he had assured himself that she was alive, he allowed her to see around the room. Marissa was standing there apologizing for the words she’d said. She could hear police sirens in the distance but getting closer, Gavriil was issuing orders, and the room had erupted in chaos once more. But it all dimmed and fell away when she saw who was standing beside Gavriil.
“Abuela,” was the only thing she managed to say before she fell into her grandmother’s arms, sobbing. She’d been surprised to hear about how Sofia had taken her own son down, and the two of them had cried for the time they had lost and everything each of them had had to endure over the past two years. It had been an emotionally charged afternoon, but one she would never forget.
“Thank you, Gino.” Rosa sighed and snuggled closer to her man. “You did exactly what you said you’d do. Myabuelais here, and she’s safe.”
Gino pressed a kiss to her head and held her a little tighter. “No need to thank me,cara.That woman is smart as hell, took down an entire cartel, and has a mean right hook.”
Rosa looked up startled. “She hit you?”
Gino nodded, and Rosa narrowed her gaze. “What did you do?”
Gino barked a laugh. “Your grandmother struck me, and it’s somehow my fault?” Rosa just held his gaze, and he grinned. “Yeah, okay, so she wasn’t too happy that I left you behind.”
Rosa smiled back. Her grandmother was a force to be reckoned with. Rosa recognized that the inner strength Gino was always telling her she had came from Sofia.
“You’re free, Rosa,” Gino whispered. “You can go anywhere, be anyone you want, and no one can stop you.”
“Damn straight I can, and I know exactly where I want to go, and who I want to be.”
She pulled herself up so she could look down at him. His eyes seemed troubled, and Rosa leaned down to press a kiss against his soft lips. “I want to go wherever you are, and be who I am when I’m with you.”
Gino’s expression cleared immediately and the happiness that swept into his expression brought tears to her eyes. “Is that right?”
Rosa nodded. “Yep. That okay with you?”
Gino rolled them over in a slick move that had him sliding deep within her, making her groan as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him tight against her.
“That’s more than okay,cara,” Gino murmured as he began to move within her. “That sounds like absolute perfection.”
Her last thought before she was dragged beneath the wave of sensation that was making love to Gino Esposito was that it sounded like that to her, too.
The End
