“Maestro de tu universo,” he murmured against my breast.
Gripping his hair with one hand, I jerked his head up to meet my gaze. “I don’t think so, egomaniac.”
AJ grinned. “Fine. It’s a pene or verga.”
“Same in Italiano…it can also be cazzo in Sicilian.”
“I know it wants to be in this,” he said, cupping me between my thighs over my panties.
I giggled. “That would be a vagina…or for you since you’re crude, it would be pussy, and that’s figa.”
“Cueva en español.” As his fingers slipped inside to rub over the wetness he’d caused, he murmured, “Tu coño me vuelve loco.”
“I have a crazy pussy?” I teased breathlessly.
Amusement danced in his eyes. “No smartass, your pussy drives me crazy.”
I laughed. “Right back at ya,” I said, before working him harder over his boxers.
AJ’s mouth met mine in a frenzied kiss. Our tongues swirled against each other as our fingers worked to free one another of each other’s underwear. After I tugged AJ’s boxers over his hips, he pushed me up on my knees to pull my panties down my thighs. Easing me onto my back, he then slid them down my legs and tossed them over his shoulder. He kicked out of his boxers before his body hovered over mine.
Even though this was about making love, I’d already had enough foreplay. “I want you inside me, AJ,” I pleaded.
Turning me onto my side, AJ spooned up beside me. Gripping under my knee, he lifted my leg up and then guided himself inside me. With one thrust, he filled me, and I cried out. His warm lips nuzzled my neck while his hand slid around my ribcage to cup my breast. “Oh baby, you and that sound. Do it again.”
He pulled out of me all the way before easing slowly and deliciously back inside again. This time, I whimpered. The next time he pulled out, he slammed back into me, and I did cry out. “Fuck,” AJ murmured.
His movements inside me became almost like a piece of music he might play. They varied between fast and hard and then soft and slow. I felt so in tune with him and so reconnected. He must have felt the same way because we came together. Even though it was early in the evening, he snuggled closer to me. His hand slipped around my waist to rub my belly. Even after he stopped, he kept his hand pressed against my stomach. It wasn’t long before he was snoring softly against my neck. As I began to drift off, I tried once and for all to put the ghosts of my past to rest, hoping, more than knowing, that everything was finally right for me when it came to AJ.
23
Peering out the window of AJ’s uncle’s car, I took in the surroundings of Guadalajara. While AJ sat up front rattling along in Spanish to his Tio Diego, Abby was smooshed between me and Jake in the backseat. Rather than a hotel, we were staying with AJ’s abuela who had a house in the heart of the city. From what I gathered, she had a soft spot for AJ like Mama Sofia had had for me. While I was thrilled to be staying with her and meeting all of AJ’s family, I was a little intimidated by the fact that Abuela didn’t speak English.
Turning to Abby, I asked, “So what do I do to not look like the out-of-place gringa?”
She giggled. “Just kiss both their cheeks and say ‘mucho gusto’.”
I nodded. “Okay, I think I can do that.”
“And I promise to let you know if anyone is talking smack about you. Okay?”
I laughed. “Yes. Please do.”
We turned onto a street with houses in rows pressed so tight together they even shared a retaining wall, rather than the townhouse approach I was used to back in the states. Since the house was practically on the street, we pulled into small garage. The moment I stepped out of the car, I was ambushed by AJ’s relatives.
“This is my mom, Mari,” AJ introduced, patting a woman with a shoulder-length bob haircut. With a curvy frame, she was a lot shorter than AJ, and I assumed he’d gotten his height from his father.
Mari’s arms were immediately around me, squeezing me tight. “Oh Mia, it’s such a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure meeting you, too. AJ has told me so much about you.” With a smile, I added, “Especially about how you like to spoil him.”
She laughed as she pulled away. “Yes, I’ve probably set him up to be utterly taken care of by you.” She wagged a finger. “But don’t you dare let him get away with that,” she instructed.
AJ snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think that will be a problem.”
Mari and I laughed. “No, I don’t think so either.”
A tall man, who could have been an older version of AJ, stepped forward. He gave me a warm smile as he offered me his hand. “I’m Joaquin.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Before I could say anything else, a handsome, muscular guy stepped in front of me. “Mucho gusto,” I began. But when I leaned in to kiss his cheeks, he jerked me to him and then proceeded to lay one on me. I squeaked against his lips before pushing my hands against his chest. When I stumbled back, the guy grinned at me and winked.
AJ huffed a frustrated breath beside me. “And that would be my dickhead brother, Antonio.”
Relief momentarily flooded me that this was AJ’s gay brother and not some overly amorous relative who had ideas of girlfriend swapping. “Uh, nice to meet you.”
“Admit it, Mia. I’m a better kisser than this douchebag.” When I widened my eyes, he laughed. “Just teasing you.” He then leaned in to bestow a chaste kiss on my cheek. “It’s a pleasure meeting the mother of my future niece.”
I gave him a sincere smile. “Thank you.”
He then grabbed AJ in a bear hug. “Glad to see you, big brother.”
AJ grunted. “I just saw you yesterday when I came by the house, twatcake,” he huffed. But I noticed he did squeeze Antonio tight.
“Where’s Cris?” AJ asked.
With a roll of his eyes, Antonio replied, “Miss Cristina took the kids up the street to the market for some sweets.”
AJ’s brows furrowed. “You mean Abuela didn’t make a cake?”
Antonio grinned. “Of course she did. It’s just Cris’s kids are too Americanized from having a gringo for a father.” He jerked his chin up at me. “Just like your daughter will probably turn her nose up at most of our food.”
I laughed. “Well, in her defense, she has been fed the majority of Italian food the last four and a half months.”
“Is she going to be back for lunch? I really wanted Mia to meet everyone.”
“I think she and the gringo mentioned taking the monsters to the zoo.”
I grinned at Antonio’s summation of his nephews, Jase and Luke. AJ had told me the five and seven year olds were a handful. I also knew from some comments AJ had made that Cris was the most Americanized of her family. I could tell he didn’t like how she distanced herself from her roots.
“Alejandro!” a voice called, cutting through the noise of who I assumed to be AJ’s aunts, uncles, and cousins behind us.
We whirled around to see a petite, elderly woman, with her flowing white hair tucked back in a bun, coming toward us. She wore a multi-colored housedress. When she got to him, AJ bent down so she could bestow two kisses on his cheeks. “Mijo,” she cried, before wrapping her arms around him. He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her grey head. All the while he spoke softly to her in Spanish. An aching burn rippled through my chest at the sweet sight before me as my mind went to Mama Sofia. It was times like these when I saw true maternal love at its finest, I realized just how much I dearly missed Mama Sofia. It was hard not becoming teary watching AJ with his abuela.
When Abuela pulled away, her gaze immediately honed in on me. I shifted nervously on my feet as she stared at me, sizing me up. “Abuela, ella es mi novia, Mia.” He turned to me and smiled. “This is my grandmother, Isabella.”