Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 680 -

*Caterina*

We walked to our room quickly, Elio's hands never leaving my body. I could tell by the grin that he couldn't seem to keep off his face that he was proud of how I'd handled myself in the meeting.

I was proud, too. I'd been so afraid when I came to Italy that all the trauma of losing my father would paralyze me and prevent me from being an asset to the family, but it turned out I was stronger than I ever realized.

The second the door to our room closed behind us, Elio pressed me against it, one hand under my chin and the other up against the wall next to my head. I was caged in the best way.

"Do you have any idea how fucking amazing you are?" He murmured as he pressed his forehead to mine.

I smiled up at him. "Hm... I don't know..." I hedged.

"You are a miracle, Cat, a goddamn miracle." He took my mouth in his, keeping his fingers on my chin to hold me in place.

His kiss could only be described as worshipful. I was the altar at which he came to give his offering. He lavished me with kisses, moving from my lips to the curve of my throat and back again.

"You have no idea how proud I was to have you at my side today. Every man at that table was sitting up straight and listening to you, not because I brought you, but because you demanded their respect." He moved his hand from my chin to the dip in my waist, his fingers dug in slightly, as though he wanted to remind himself that I was real, that we were here together.

"I've always thought of you as my princess, but today you were a queen."

His words were as intoxicating as fine wine, and I was quickly getting drunk off them. What I loved the most was that I found myself agreeing with him. I knew that my father would've been proud to see me take on his legacy as an equal part of the family. I was nobody's little girlfriend. I was the daughter of Vinny Leone, here to carry on what my father started.

Elio knelt down and helped me step out of my high heels. I looked down at him regally, finally feeling for the first time what I had wanted all along-that we were true equals. I saw it in his eyes. He respected me the way I wanted to be respected. He would protect me, but in return, I would protect him.

We were in this together, fully.

As he stood back up, he trailed his hands up my body, lightly touching each curve until he stopped at my cheeks. He held my face as he looked into my eyes, and for the first time, I felt truly seen. There was no misunderstanding between us. He knew me.

"You are everything to me," he whispered.

The reverence in his voice brought tears to my eyes. To be loved like this... it felt almost terrifying. It was like being peeled back to who I was at my core, and I wondered how I had ever survived not being understood at this level.

This was the realest love I'd ever felt, the truest relationship I'd ever had. He saw the tears in my eyes and swiped them away with his fingers before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to his chest. I could hear his heart beating against my ear, and I knew it would be the sound that would always bring me comfort.

"I love you," I said, my words muffled. I pulled out of his embrace so I could look into his eyes once more, "I love you, Elio, so much."

"I love you, Caterina. I always will."

Pressing his forehead to mine once more, he ran his hands up under my shirt and splayed his fingers over my ribs, just resting there, enjoying the small points of contact. I reached out and untucked his shirt, pushing my hands up under it until I was resting them against his bare chest.

We breathed in tandem, the desire between us growing with each breath until it felt impossible not to tear our clothes off so that we could touch more of each other.

I pulled my hands away from him and tugged at my outfit, quickly pulling it off as he did the same with his suit. Once we were both bared to each other, he pressed me against the door again, reaching down to hook one leg around his waist so that I was open to him.

I felt his body pressing against mine as he kissed me, and I felt myself growing wetter with need as his hardness moved against my most sensitive places.

When I was on the verge of collapsing with desire, he easily reached down and gripped me under the ass so that he could carry me to the bed as I stayed wrapped around him. Our mouths never once broke contact. It felt too important to stay connected. I couldn't bear the thought of losing it even for one second. We continued our kiss even as Elio sat down on the edge of the bed, straddling me over his lap. He let go of my ass so that he could move his hands up to massage my breasts, rubbing his thumbs enticingly over my nipples as he thrust his tongue in my mouth.

I moaned and rocked against him, more than ready to take him. I braced my hands on his shoulders as he moved his mouth down my throat and dragged his tongue first across one nipple, then the other. I arched my back, desperate to give him more access to my body.

Finally, he put his hand between us and used his fingers to circle my clit. His movements were smooth, but I could feel the tightness in his shoulders as he tried to tamp down his own desire in order to spend more time on me. That lovely familiar feeling welled up in my core and I knew that I was going to orgasm in seconds. Elio knew too, he watched my face and saw the way my mouth popped open as I got closer and closer. He smiled up at me, momentarily forgetting his attention on my breasts as he watched the pleasure that I knew was evident on my face.

I kept my eyes on his. I wanted to see the look on his face as he dragged my orgasm from me. With one more circle, I was gone. I was caught somewhere between a moan and a shriek as he continued his smooth motions. Elio chuckled at my erratic noises, loving the effect he had on me.

Gently, Elio moved me so that I was lying flat on my back. I almost felt self-conscious as he looked down on me, laid totally bare in front of him, my thighs slick with my release, but then I saw the look in his eyes as he stared down at me. There was nothing there but the purest love I had ever seen. I had nothing to be scared of with him.

Quickly pulling on a condom, he positioned himself over me, bracketing my head with his arms. He kept his eyes on me as he pushed into me. I saw the way his jaw clenched as the first wave of pleasure overtook him just before he leaned forward so that he could kiss me, his mouth moving in time with his thrusts.

I writhed and moaned beneath him, allowing myself to fully let go in the moment. Everything was perfect. There were no more secrets between us, nothing left to hold us apart. Our connection had never been stronger, and I felt it as he moved within me. This was what I had wanted from Elio all along. Knowing that we'd finally gotten to this point made our lovemaking all the better.

He closed his eyes as his hips began working harder, thrusting into me with more and more fervor as he got closer to his own orgasm. His movements hit me exactly where I needed, and before long we were both climaxing together, desperately moaning each other's names as our pleasure overcame us.

"I love you," he whispered over and over again, his body heavy over mine as I whispered the same words back.

When he rolled off me, I was far too exhausted to do anything. Seeing that I wasn't going to get up, he adjusted me so that I was laying on my pillow, then tucked the covers up around me before he got up. I wiggled around a bit to get comfortable.

Although he was only gone for a few seconds, I had already started to fall asleep before he came back. He slipped into the bed behind me, pulling me close to his chest and draping his arm over my waist, where I could feel him rubbing lazy circles against my skin with the very tips of his fingers. His touch made me shiver against him.

"Careful, you'll get me going all over again," he murmured so close to my ear.

I smiled as his breath gave me goosebumps.

"Maybe that's exactly what I want," I challenged, wiggling against him purposefully.

He laughed but soon stilled me with his hand. "I would love to spend all night worshiping your body, but I'm exhausted. That was... amazing."

My heart glowed at his words. I was happy to know that it had felt different to him too. Something about finally agreeing to open ourselves up to each other and be fully honest had deepened our relationship in a way that I never knew was possible.

Elio's breathing evened out and his hand over my waist went limp. I closed my own eyes, nearly on the edge of sleep myself.

A loud knock on the door made me nearly jump out of my skin. Elio startled awake, sitting up and looking around as though there was an intruder.

There was another loud knock, making us both look toward the door. I glanced down at my naked body and lay down in the bed, doing my best to cover myself up.

Elio got out of bed and grabbed his nearest pants, pulling them on as he walked toward the door. When he opened it, I was unsurprised to see Alessandro's face over his shoulder. I slunk lower into the bed, unwilling for Alessandro to see me like this.

"I have news," Alessandro said.

I had no idea what it could be, but I knew that if he was coming to us this late at night, it couldn't be anything good.