Cassio asked me to put Daniele to bed that night. He looked exhausted and as if he couldn’t bear his son’s rejection one more time.
After tucking Daniele in, I picked up one of the picture books I’d ordered and began to read it to him, but his focus was on Loulou who’d curled up in front of the bed. I patted the mattress. “Come on, Loulou.”
Her ears perked, and she jumped up onto the comforter between Daniele and me. His tiny fingers found her fur, and he kept stroking her as I read the book to him. “Do you want Loulou to stay with you?”
Daniele nodded.
“But if you walk around the house, you’ll wake her. Can you stay in your own bed?”
He considered that, his head tilted to the side, then he gave a decisive nod. I smiled before pressing a kiss to his forehead. Turning on his dim nightlight, I walked to the door and extinguished the lamp.
“Goodnight, Daniele.” I began to close the door when a soft voice rang out.
“G’night.”
I froze. Slowly, I turned around, but Daniele hid under his covers. I swallowed and left. As if in trance, I headed downstairs, finding Cassio in the cigar lounge, setting up the pool table for our game. One look at my face and he came toward me. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Daniele said good night.”
Cassio took a step back. “He talked to you?” Surprise mixed with disappointment in his voice. First Loulou, now me.
“He only said good night, but it’s a start, right?”
He nodded slowly, but I could tell it hit him hard that Daniele spoke to me first. I wrapped my arms around his middle. “You’re gone a lot, so Loulou, Simona, and I are the people he relates to. You should make time to take a walk in the dog park with us or have lunch. When you see him, he’s always tired and not in the right mindset to bond with you.”
“We could spend his birthday at the beach house. Daniele loves it there.”
I grinned. “That’s perfect. I want to bake a cake and decorate everything with dinosaurs. Maybe we can invite Mia and her family so Daniele has someone to play with. Her daughters are close to him in age, right?”
“One’s a year younger, the other is two years older. And that sounds like a great plan.” He brushed my bangs away from my forehead.
“Do you still hate them?” I remembered what he’d said about my hair the first time I met him. It had hurt back then but not so much now. Our tastes were very different. At least Cassio had by now mostly given up dressing me the way he wanted.
“There’s nothing I hate about you,” he murmured.
My heart thudded wildly. I scanned his face, trying to determine what the tone in his voice meant. His lips found mine, halting my thoughts. His kiss became forceful as he gripped my hips and hoisted me on the pool table. I squealed in surprise. Cassio positioned my butt right on the edge and pushed my legs apart. It was horribly uncomfortable, but I’d be damned if I said anything. My short plaid skirt rode up. “What about my skirts? You don’t hate them either?”
Cassio licked a hot, wet trail up my inner thigh. I squirmed, stifling a giggle. Part of me wanted to shove him away, but the other wanted more. “Not as long as they allow me quick access to your sweet pussy.”
He kissed me through my panties.
“You’re really into oral.” I pushed up on my elbows to see him between my legs. He always went down on me before sex and sometimes just because. He didn’t rush it either. He took his time, and it was amazing. Seeing him enjoy it as much as I did was a major turn-on.
“Fuck yes. I could eat you all day.” He dipped his tongue between my folds, my panties still between us. “Is that a complaint?”
I grasped his short hair, trying to push him back down so he’d lick me. Talking was the last thing on my mind. “Absolutely not. Your tongue is magic.”
He chuckled and the deep rumble caused another flood of wetness to trickle out of me. He hooked his fingers in my panties and dragged them down slowly. I lifted my butt to make it easier for him then spread my legs wider. “What about you, honey, do you like to get on your knees and suck my cock?”
“Yes,” I pressed out, sliding closer to his mouth. He smirked. Instead of his tongue, his index finger began to tease me lightly. He dipped it in, drawing out my arousal. “You want me this badly that you’re going to ruin the pool table.”
“I don’t care. Please stop teasing me. I need your tongue.”
His smile turned darker. “Do you remember when I told you that only I give orders in the bedroom?”