Harmony (31 page)

“
I don’t think we should. You’ve had a rough night. Let me take care of you.” He tried to lift her from his lap. Harmony refused to release him. Instead she reached in the water and grabbed his shaft in her hands. Before he could stop her she guided him to her core and eased down on his length. Vinnie went stiff and she closed her eyes, allowing his girth and length to fill her completely. It was all raw emotion now. Having him inside of her seemed to anchor her to reality. She didn’t want to think the dark layers of their love over, she just wanted to feel something more than regret and pain.

Vinnie’s head dropped back and his lids lowered then closed. Harmony rose and fell on him using all her strength in the lower half of her body, rewarded with deep shudders under wave after wave of her rolling hips. Pleasure filled her to the root and she kept going, kept moving, and kept driving them both to the edge. Her inner walls felt tight, and his cock unbearably thick, but she kept going. He ran his hands down her sides gingerly. She winced and continued loving him. Soon he forgot the need to go soft and slow and was slamming forged steel up into her. She cried out, dropping her head on his shoulder and shuddered though another release.

She kissed his neck and the side of his face. “I feel better now. Do you?”

The lovemaking wasn’t his choice. But he was so weak for her he didn’t put a stop to it. He felt ashamed of how he ravished her knowing what she’d been through. Romano dried her, and himself. He only joined her in the tub to keep her close to him. The sight of the bruises on her body had him panicked with worry. Leftie had died too easily. He felt the insane urge to dig the bastard up and carve her name into his chest. He should have done exactly that before he sent him to hell.

Together they returned to his bedroom. She was wrapped up in his oversized robe, and he wore a towel tied around his waist. He tried to lead her to the bed, but she rejected the idea. Instead she wanted to sit on the soft rug near the fireplace he’d lit. He joined her and they lost themselves in the dancing flames.

“
I don’t understand my brother,” Harmony whispered. “He could have come to me.”

“
Could he?” Vinnie asked. “You love him, yes, but if he came to you and told you about Lewis and the things he’d done to him because of what he is, what would you have said?”

She closed her eyes and dug deep in her heart for the truth. “I love him Vinnie. There has to be something I can do for him now.”

“
You can do for him what I didn’t do for Antonio.”

Her eyes opened, she half-turned in his arms, curious. “What’s that?”

“
Let him go. Let him be his own man, make his own mistakes. It’s time to let go Harmony. If I had given Antonio the money he asked and set him free, he and Teek would be alive today.”

She sniffed. “I let him go then what will I have? I’m twenty-four and I have no kids, no family, no real friends left but Paulette.”

“
Yourself for starters. I saw what you did to Leftie, saw how hard you fought to save your brother. You’re stronger than most men I know, Doll. Strong and brave.”

“
Myself? Is that all I’ll have?” she pressed.

“
Me. You’ll have me. For as long as I’m alive. Always.”

She settled back against him. He leaned to kiss her cheek.

“
I’m thinking we should leave New York. Go West,” he said.

“
Together?”

“
Eventually, yes. I’m thinking you should leave first.”

Harmony sat upright. “First? What do you mean first?”

She turned and faced him. She sat facing him, her legs parted, his parted as well so that her bottom rested on the floor. Vinnie leaned back on his hands studying her face. She tried not to be self-conscious but she’d caught a glimpse of her red, swollen eye and it wasn’t her best look. “I don’t understand. Why do I have to leave first?”

“
Antonio made a mess of things. I’m not sure how bad. I need to fix things and I have a responsibility to these men. I can’t explain it further than that, and you can’t stay here Harmony, I need to know you’re safe.”

“
Where will I go?”

“
You decide. It’s time for you to be free. It’s what you wanted, right? Freedom, a life of your own?” he touched her face. “Pick a place. Any place.”

Harmony stared in his eyes for a moment. She managed a smile even though he was sure it pained her. “What places are coloreds and whites free to marry?”

Romano chuckled. He smiled sadly. “If I remember correctly, besides here, blacks and whites can marry in Kansas, Iowa, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico…”

“
Wait. I like the sound of it.”

“
Of what?”

“
New Mexico. A new place, where I can be free to be me, and love who I want.”

“
I hear it’s hot there, with desert like weather. Small towns, no real cities.”

“
Doesn’t matter. It’s where I can start over. We can start over.”

“
You sure you still want me?”

“
What do you think?” she took him by the face and drew his mouth closer to hers. He gave her a snort of laughter. Her lovely lids dipped and shut and he lowered her to the rug. He paused to kiss her, whispering his love for each part of her body. Instinctively her body arched toward him and he made sure to caress every bruise with his lips and gentle hands. His body moved to cover hers. Before he could love her properly he had to be inside her. A single thrust had his toes curling. The heat of her skin ignited his lusty, urgent needs. She was so moist, so welcoming, her body beckoned him to go the distance. He stroked forward, not stopping until he was balls deep. Her inner vaginal walls clamped down hard around his shaft, then released, and clasped and released again.

“
Yes baby, don’t stop.” She exhaled.

He thrust harder and she rolled her hips in response. It wasn’t enough; he burned for more of her. He widened his legs and eased up with his free hand on her hip to keep himself steady, and then he unleashed. He began to fuck her, go deeply in and out of her tight channel. Her whimpers became full-bodied groans. The moment she crested he knew it. Her back arched up from the rug and then sank back down as she released the loveliest sigh. Vinnie fell on top of her and pumped his ass full throttle until his balls emptied every bit of his seed into her core. He couldn’t sing her praises, or catch his breath. The shared orgasm slammed against him making him weaker than a newborn.

Harmony wrapped her sweet arms around him and held him to her chest. “I love you.” He panted. “I love you so much, Songbird.”

“
I love you too.”

Eleven

Sacrifices…

Three Days Later –

Sun burned bright over his face , he squinted, turning away from the heat. After a few minutes he awoke. The room appeared as nothing more than a blur of shadows. He waited and his vision focused. Songbird had left his bed. Waking to her soft warm body pressed against his had become a satisfying consistent in his life. He missed her before his lids parted. He and his men were all keeping a low profile. Every newsman in the city ran a story on what they labeled ‘Bloody Sunday’. So many men’s lives had been cut short, even the connections he had with the police gave him little cover. All he could do was wait out the heat.

“
Morning.”

His head dropped over to the left. She sat next to the window with the curtain drawn. She stared out at the street, sipping something from her cup. The home remedies he’d rubbed on her face and body had healed her bruises quickly. There was little evidence of what that bastard had put her through. He was grateful. Each time he saw evidence of her pain, murderous rage churned in his gut.

“
Come back to bed,” he said, missing her deeply.

“
In a minute. I like sitting here,” she smiled. “Watching you sleep.”

The night had been sweet, and his cock twitched with remembrance. He wanted to roll over to her soft body as he had done the past two days. How the hell would he ever be able to let her go now? “How’s your brother. Check on him this morning?”

There was a lovely gleam of happiness bright in her chocolate brown eyes. She turned her sweet smile back to him. “Good. He’s in a lot of pain but I think that means he’s on the mend. No fever, so I know that’s a good sign. This morning he was sitting up. I made him lie back down so he wouldn’t overdo it. We are leaving today? Right? Going back to the cabins? I think I want to ride Mary again.”

“
Yes.” Romano placed his arms behind his back.

“
Were you serious about joining me, in New Mexico Vinnie? Be honest please,” she said rising and walking over to the bed. He shifted his legs so she could sit on the edge of the mattress. He lifted his hand and brushed the side of her face with his knuckles. She caught his palm and kissed it.

“
Yes. I never want to break a promise, Songbird. If there’s breath in my body I’ll always find my way to you.”

“
Remember when I told you I would dream songs? I dreamt one last night. Want to hear it?”

His eyes stretched in surprise. Her singing was the second favorite thing he loved about her. Morning serenades seemed too good to be true. “Yes. I want to hear it.”

True to her word she favored him with her lovely voice and a familiar song was cleverly altered with new lyrics that spoke of their adventurous love. Her breath hitched between verses and she released a soft sultry moan before easing into a sweet melody. She sang of a new start and fresh choices, and he was lost in her voice. He barely heard the words. There was something uniquely serene about how he felt when she sang. She brushed his lips with a very faint kiss. Romano reached for her thigh and waist to bring her to his lap and she straddled him on the bed. He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her, ending the sweet song with her moaning through their kiss. He rolled her and dragged his lips from her mouth to her neck then tore open the front closed collar of her robe so they could travel down to the lovely breasts he’d previously ignored. Harmony yanked the sheets from his waist that had him wrapped tight, and he kicked them free as well. With his mouth he worked his tongue licking and sucking her plump nipple. She responded with mewling whimpers that excited him.

He eased down and tossed the bottom half of her robe open so he could dip his tongue in her navel. She spread her thighs wider and started to sing again. After all the many times he’d made love to her, it was the first time she ever sang to him this way. The temperature of his blood spiked and his heart beat at an uncontrollable rate. Her voice was as smooth as milk and honey. Romano groaned, trailing his tongue through the spry hairs of her thick bush down to her sweetly swollen pussy. His tongue toggled her clit and her voice lifted into soprano.

Vinnie chuckled.

He took her hand encouraging her to assist, and she plied herself open for his exploration. The tip of his tongue did a delicious swirl at her center and her hips undulated upward with quick jerky movements. Her singing stopped but her desperate pleas for more increased. She came hard for him and he buried his nose, lips, and chin in her essence. Harmony rolled away groaning. Her tormented groans were a heady invitation for him to give her more. He turned her to her stomach and flipped the robe over her ass to her back. Romano wiped his face over the plush mounds of her round ass cheeks and smacked the left one hard. She giggled. She lifted her hips, spread her knees, and buried her face into her pillow. He placed the head of his cock at her entrance and slowly pushed inside until he was balls deep. He halted and held her by the hips to prevent her from moving and causing him to break control.

“
Vinnie, don’t stop,” she groaned in disappointment. Her inner walls tightened then loosened, and then tightened again trying to draw him deeper if that were possible. Romano pressed the side of his legs against her outer thighs and urged her to close them. She did as he ordered and her pussy clamped down even tighter on his shaft. He exhaled noisily almost dropping his load.

He closed his eyes and began to move in and out of her slow and easy. He rubbed her ass and down her spine with one hand and held tightly to her hip with the other. She pushed back against him repeatedly forcing him to return to her tightness after every withdrawal. Soon another orgasmic explosion was unleashed and he was pounding his love for her into her backside, spraying her womb with his release.

Harmony dropped first and he fell on top of her. She giggled. “I don’t think we can leave this bed.”