I woke with the sun streaming through the open balcony doors. I stretched my arms and winced at the pain in my shoulders and ribs.
‘Morning, princess,’ I heard the soft, low rumble of Alejandro’s voice beside me and despite the pain I was in, I felt the rush of heat between my thighs.
I groaned as I rolled over to find him sitting up in bed, fully dressed and with his laptop resting on his legs.
‘Morning. What time is it?’
‘Half past eleven.’
‘What? I’ve slept for over twelve hours straight. I need to get up,’ I tried to sit up but winced in pain.
He put his computer on the bed beside him. ‘The doc gave you some strong pain meds. They’ll make you drowsy. And no, you do not need to get up. You need to stay in bed and rest. Just like the doctor told you to,’ he ordered as he reached over to the nightstand before handing me a glass of water and three pills.
‘What are these?’ I asked.
‘For the pain,’ he said as he dropped them into my hand.
I swallowed the pills with a long gulp of water and handed the glass back to him. I lay back against the pillows with a sigh. Even if I wanted to argue with him about getting out of bed, I didn’t have the energy.
‘You look so hot when you’re being bossy,’ I smiled up at him.
‘Stop it!’ he warned.
‘What? The doctor never said no sex, did he? I’m sure we could find a way to work around my injuries.’
‘Don’t tempt me, princess. Do you know how hard it’s been lying next to you all night and not being able to touch you the way I want to?’ he growled.
‘Well, yes, I felt it in pressing against my ass in the night and it was very hard,’ I said and then started to giggle before the effort hurt my ribs. ‘Ooow,’ I winced.
He leaned down, brushing my hair back from my face, he kissed me softly before pulling back. ‘Rest for a few days, princess. Because you are going to need it. As soon as you’re fully healed, I am going to fuck you harder and longer than we have ever fucked before. You won’t even be able to tell me what your own name is by the time I’m done with you,’ he growled against my ear and I felt a rush of wet heat.
‘Your filthy talk really isn’t helping matters here,’ I grinned at him.
‘Are your panties wet?’
‘Soaking,’ I nodded.
‘Fuck!’ he hissed as he palmed his cock through his sweatpants.
We were disturbed by a soft knocking at the door and Alejandro jumped up. ‘That will be Lucia. She’s been checking in every fifteen minutes since she woke up over an hour ago.’
I nodded. ‘She must have so many questions.’
‘Come in,’ Alejandro said and a few seconds later, Lucia’s head popped through the doorway.
‘You’re awake?’ she said softly.
‘Yes,’ I said as I shifted myself up into a seated position. ‘Come in sweetheart.’
She smiled at me and walked across the room before sitting on the bed beside me where Alejandro had been just a moment earlier. So much had happened the night before. So much had been said that neither Lucia or I had understood. We both had so many questions. But last night had been about getting home, getting checked out by the doctor, and processing the shock of being free from that terrible basement.
Alejandro pulled up the chair from the dresser and placed it beside the bed before sitting down.
‘I suppose you have a lot of questions, Lucia?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘You said … You said Carlos was my father?’ she almost choked on the words.
He nodded. ‘Did you have any idea at all that Miguel Ramos might not be your real father?’
She shook her head. ‘No. None at all. I mean, I always felt different to them, but I thought that was just because I was a girl, and you know, not a psycho like him and my brothers. But, he was my father. He would have told me if he wasn’t – wouldn’t he?’
Alejandro rubbed a hand across his jaw. ‘I don’t think so. He wouldn’t have lost face. I know that my uncle Carlos and your mother had an affair. It lasted almost a year and it ended a few months before you were born. It seems that your mother chose Miguel and my uncle didn’t take it well. He was always a liability, but after your mother ended things, he completely lost it. He ended up in a mental health facility for over a year.’
‘And you really think he was my father?’ she asked.
‘Yes. And he certainly believed so too. And your mother. At least according to her old friend, Crystal.’
Lucia smiled faintly at the mention of Crystal’s name. ‘She was always good to me,’ she said softly. ‘Until the drugs really took hold of her anyway.’
‘So, is that why Carlos took us?’ I asked. ‘Because he thought Lucia was his daughter?’
Alejandro cleared his throat. ‘No. It was slightly more complicated than that. He knew that my father was getting ready to hand everything over, and he wanted to expedite that process so he tried to kill him. He also resented the fact that it would be me taking over the family business, rather than him.’
I opened my mouth in shock. ‘He had your father shot? His own brother?’
Alejandro nodded. ‘He wanted to destroy our family. He wanted to ruin me so that he could legitimately take my father’s place. He knew that I would burn this city to the ground to find you. He counted on me getting myself killed, or just being so lost without you, that I’d self destruct.’
I nodded my head while Lucia sat beside me in stunned silence. It was all so much to take in.
‘Perhaps he would have eventually used your freedom as a bargaining chip? Who knows what was going through his mind. He was loco. But, he knew that the easiest way to get to me was through you, princess. Then when Lucia came into our lives, that just added more fuel to his jealousy. I honestly think he would have never harmed you, Lucia. I think he wanted to try and be a father, at least in the only way he knew how,’ Alejandro finished.
‘So, that was why they treated me okay?’ Lucia asked. ‘Well, compared to Alana anyway?’
‘Yes. It would seem so,’ he nodded, looking at me and frowning slightly, as though he was thinking about what I’d endured at his uncle’s hands.
‘Do you think it was him who killed Blake?’ she asked.
‘Probably. My uncle was the kind of man who could make things like that happen, and it would fit with my theory of him wanting to step into the role as your father and protect you.’
‘So, I’m not a Ramos after all, then?’ Lucia asked.
Alejandro shook his head. ‘No. A Montoya through and through,’ he smiled at her.
She smiled back.
‘What are your plans now, Lucia?’ I asked her, wanting to focus on something positive. ‘Now that Blake is gone, and you’re not running from anyone. What are your dreams, sweetheart?’
‘I guess I still need to apply for emancipation,’ she shrugged.
‘Unless you’re happy to stay with us until you’re eighteen?’ Alejandro suggested. ‘It’s only one more year.’
‘What?’ she sat up straighter. ‘Really? You’d both be okay with that?’
‘Of course,’ I replied.
‘You’re family now, kid,’ Alejandro added.
‘What about your future though? What would you see yourself doing in an ideal world?’ I asked.
Lucia leaned back against the pillows, her hand resting on her bump, and sighed. ‘I always wanted to go to college. I’d have to work my ass off and get a scholarship, but my grades are good even despite the school I’ve missed. I figured I could put the little man here in daycare, and then I could pick up some shifts at the shelter and he could come with me.’
I lifted my arm, wincing at the pain, and wrapped it around her. ‘Sounds perfect,’ I said as I felt a wave of tiredness washing over me.
‘Mind if I stay in here with you guys for a while?’ Lucia asked softly as my eyelids fluttered. Suddenly, they felt very heavy.
‘Sure. I’ve got some calls to make. I’ll sit on the balcony. Why don’t you watch the TV? Looks like Sleeping Beauty here is about to fall asleep again,’ Alejandro chuckled.
I opened one eye sleepily. ‘Hey, I heard that.’
He leaned down and kissed my forehead. ‘Get some rest, princess,’ he said softly.
I nodded feebly. I heard the muffled sound of the TV in the background, and felt Lucia’s warm body curled up next to mine as I drifted off to sleep.
I woke with a start, my heart thumping in my chest. It was dark and it took me a few seconds to realize that I was at home and not in Carlos’s basement. My back was pressed against Alejandro’s hard chest and I heard him breathing softly behind me.
I’d spent most of the day drifting in and out of sleep. I’d woken a few times, taken some pain meds and eaten a little food, but I’d barely been able to keep my eyes open. I’d never felt so exhausted in my life. Alejandro said it was a result of the pain meds the doctor had given me and also my body’s reaction to the last few days. I supposed I had hardly slept in that basement. It wasn’t easy to sleep when you were tied to a chair and in fear for your life, and I had been too worried about what might happen to Lucia to stay asleep for too long.
Now though, I felt fully rested. The heat from Alejandro’s body made me feel safe and secure, but it was stirring something else in me too. I missed the feel of his hands and his mouth on me. I rolled over, shifting onto my back, wincing at the pain in my ribs and shoulders.
Alejandro stirred. ‘Are you okay, princess?’ he murmured.
‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Except for …’
‘Except for what?’
‘I want you,’ I breathed.
He groaned out loud. ‘You’re killing me here, princess. I want you too, but I’m not fucking you while you’ve got a fractured rib. Now, go back to sleep before you make me even harder than I already am.’
‘You don’t have to fuck me,’ I whispered. ‘But you could do other things, couldn’t you? And one of my hands is working perfectly.’
He sucked in a breath. ‘Stop it. Now.’
‘Alex,’ I pleaded. ‘I need you.’
‘Alana!’ he groaned.
‘Please?’
He sighed, his warm breath dancing across my neck and making me shiver. ‘If I make you come, will you promise to tell me to stop if anything starts to hurt?’
‘Yes,’ I panted.
‘And then you’ll go back to sleep?’
‘Yes. After I’ve reciprocated, obviously.’
‘No reciprocation necessary. I’ll be just fine,’ he growled. ‘Now, if we’re going to do this, you’ll have to lie still.’
‘Okay,’ I whispered.
His hand slid over my abdomen until he reached the hem of my tank top, he pulled it up with his fingertips until he had access to my panties. His fingers slipped beneath the band and he pushed his hand inside the soft cotton, palming my pussy before slipping his fingers through my wet folds and over my clit. I groaned loudly and instinctively took a deep breath.
‘Oow,’ I winced and silently admonished myself. He was going to stop if I wasn’t more careful.
‘Relax,’ he whispered in my ear. ‘I know it’s hard but try and steady your breathing. Deep breaths will hurt. I’ll take it slow.’
I nodded and focused on taking steady, regular breaths.
‘You ready?’ he growled.
‘Yes.’
His fingers started to circle my clit, softly and slowly, with just the right amount of perfect pressure. He nuzzled my neck as he lazily teased me with his fingers and I felt the wet heat searing between my legs.
‘This is fucking torturous, princess,’ he growled in my ear. ‘I can smell your delicious cream from here and I am fucking desperate to bury my face in your pussy right now.’
‘Then do it,’ I gasped as I felt another rush of cream at his words.
‘You honestly think you’d be able to keep still if I get my mouth on you?’ he chuckled. ‘You’d be grinding that hot little coño on my face and I wouldn’t be able to stop you.’
I closed my eyes as I tried not to move. I wanted to arch my back and press my hips into his fingers and it was a huge effort not to.
He must have sensed my frustration. ‘You want my fingers inside you?’ he breathed, his hips pressing against me lightly, but enough that I could feel his rock hard erection.
‘Yes,’ I panted.
He slid through my slick folds until he was at my opening. ‘Breathe,’ he whispered right before he pushed two fingers inside me.
I groaned out loud again but this time my pleasure far outweighed the pain and I managed not to cry out.
He pumped his fingers slowly as he swept the pad of his thumb over my clit. I heard his own breathing becoming faster as he pressed his groin against me and rubbed his cock gently against my hip.
‘Is this okay?’ he rasped.
‘Yes.’
He continued lazily finger fucking me as he ground himself against me with as little pressure as he could manage.
My orgasm built slowly, starting from the tips of my toes and all the way up to my thighs as they started trembling. I felt the tightening deep in my core and I sucked in a deep breath.
‘Easy, princess,’ he whispered.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on his fingers rubbing at the sweet spot inside of me. I felt my walls tightening around him, pulling him in further and he groaned in my ear. The feelings of euphoria and energy coursed around my body as his fingers worked me expertly, as though he had known my body for a lifetime.
I was on the edge but I couldn’t let myself fall, not unless he said so.
He pressed his face against my neck, his stubble scratching the delicate skin. Our short, shallow panting matched each other breath for breath and our bodies were covered in a thin sheen of perspiration. The effort of hardly moving while we were both so close to the edge was ecstasy and torture at the same time.
‘Alana,’ he hissed, rocking his hips with slightly more force and I knew that he was close too.
‘Come for me, princess,’ he growled and I had no choice but to obey him. My orgasm rolled over me in one huge, long, delicious wave. I melted into the mattress, feeling completely spent and entirely boneless. I was half aware of a damp patch at my hip and realized Alejandro had finished too.
‘You just made me come in my shorts, princess,’ he growled before nipping at my earlobe.
I laughed softly. ‘That was incredible, Alex. Thank you.’
‘You ready for more sleep now?’
‘Hmm,’ I said, my eyes already closing.
‘I love you so fucking much, Alana,’ he said, wrapping an arm around my waist.
‘I love you too, you sex god,’ I mumbled sleepily.
