Hello LAlaland (Lost in LAlaland) by Madi Merek Page A

rasp echoed in the cold air between us. “Wini, please . . .”
    I pulled my arms out of his, knuckles scraped from the wall, and launched myself at him. Tony remained still against my lips, his arms suspended at his sides as the shock of my attack registered. When he relaxed against me and allowed himself to accept my affection, the heat between us was electric, tearing through the wet air around us. The rain mixed with our kisses as our lips moved against each other’s. His fingers pushed into my tangled hair and gripped the strands with harsh tugs. When I gasped in protest at the painful sensation, Tony slipped his tongue deeper into my mouth.
    Tony gripped my thigh, pulling it up over his hip to give him perfect access to my center, and pushed us back against the bricks. The harsh surface dug at my skin and snagged my dress, but I didn’t care—I could make a dozen more. Having him after months of denying myself almost caused me to come right there on the street corner as I ground myself against his leg.
    A blinding flash of lightning shocked my system. My eyes flew open, and I ripped my mouth away from his as a scream tore from my throat.   The storm was right over our heads in every sense, billowing through the buildings surrounding us and swirling inside of us. Tony grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him, ushering me back toward the restaurant. I followed him through the puddles, where the pavement dipped and rose and water ruined my perfect shoes, to a door behind the restaurant that led upstairs and opened into a beautiful loft.
    When Tony pressed into me on his plush bed minutes later, I came apart beneath him. His name rang from my lungs as I screamed out in ecstasy. He pumped into me with determination, resolving to make me feel his love like nothing I had ever felt before or would ever feel again. I felt it when his climax poured into me as he came.
    Hours later, I lay across his chest as we watched the storm surrender to the sunrise over the New York skyscrapers. Surrender like I had, and like Tony had to me. It would not be the end, but the beginning of us. I placed a soft kiss on his salty skin and murmured, “I love you, Anthony.” The light that shone in his bright blue eyes was more powerful than the rays of sunlight conquering the sky outside the window, and he gifted the words back to me. Everything else was forgotten when he pulled me on top of him and slipped inside me again.
    I’d been undone by him—wrecked—and every moment of it was utter perfection.

Chapter 8
    Eight months later
    The entire room was a flutter of activity. I, however, reclined back on the settee, noshing on a cannoli with a content smile. Wrapped beautifully with a white peony on top, it had been specially delivered by Mikey, one of the delivery boys from La Mia Farfalla . My groom knew me well, and the gift had been reminiscent of when I’d first left him and ran away to New York. How times had changed.
    After a wonderful night of making up, Tony and I had spent the next few months falling in love all over again while hashing out all the fears and hesitations I had of what it would mean to be together. He reassured me what was mine was my own, and whatever we would build together in the future would be ours. When he asked about how involved I wanted him to be in Walter’s life, I reminded Tony that my little boy already had a wonderful father. We agreed that Tony would be a good male role model for Walt, showing him how to properly love and treat a woman, and Walt took to him right away when Tony took him to see the newest superhero movie. I was content in the fact that I hadn’t made a new family for myself, I simply expanded on the one I’d already built.
    “Winn,” Ashley called to me from the bathroom, interrupting my musing. “The wedding planner says it’s time for you to get the dress on.”
    Rolling my eyes, I made no rush to put down my dessert. Tony had waited this long for me, and surely he