The feel of her warm mouth around my cock as she tried to swallow was perfect. Gianna slumped on top of me, her fingers loosened, and I too lay drained on the mattress, my heart pounding in my chest. After a moment, Gianna pulled away and coughed. Damn. I had held her back when I came in her mouth. I hadn’t even asked her if she was okay with it. I stood up slightly, but Gianna was still lying with her cheek resting against my thigh, breathing heavily. I brushed her hair to the side so I could see her face. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks were red.
“Are you all right?”
Her eyelids opened and the corner of her mouth lifted.
“Yes, are you?” I stared at the girl above me, the woman, my wife, marveling at her strangeness. It was not something I had ever appreciated, yet there I was, unable to resist her body and her allure. I rubbed my thumb over her ruby lips. She scratched my skin with her teeth and looked at me shyly.
“You must teach me how to play billiards.”
“I have a pool table in the cigar lounge.”
“Please don’t tell me you smoke cigars. My father and uncles do, and so does my grandfather. I’ll remember them if I smell them on me.” That was the last thing I wanted: to remind my lovely young wife of the creepy old men in her family, and I was pretty sure she knew it. It was a good thing I didn’t like cigars anyway.
“If you don’t like the smell, I don’t smoke them.” She squinted her eyes and smiled.
“Why do I get the feeling you never liked them to begin with?” He stood up and crawled back to me, snuggling against my chest, his cheek on my shoulder.
“Will you teach me?” “It won’t be the first thing I teach you, so why not?” I said in a low, possessive voice.
He rolled his eyes. I wished I could say he was annoying me.
“Could we play a game now?”
“It’s late. I have an early day.”
“Let’s go. It’s not even eleven o’clock. Entertain your young wife.”
“All right,” I said to my surprise. Gianna was playing the right cards, and she knew it, yet I didn’t feel I was being played by her. She wasn’t doing it to better me or for even less noble reasons, it was just-her eccentric self. I stabbed myself, taking Gianna with me. She gave me a grateful kiss on the mouth and slid off the bed, so full of energy it was admirable. It was hard to resist her enthusiasm. I got out of bed and straightened up, stifling a smile at her assessment. Gianna never tried to hide that she liked my body. I picked up my pajama pants from the floor and dragged them over my hips.
Gianna slipped into her nightgown and grabbed the baby monitor, then rushed toward the door, holding out her hand. Shaking my head with a giggle, I took her hand and let her drag me down. I couldn’t remember if I had ever been so spontaneous. Maybe as a teenager, but that time seemed like a lifetime ago. Gianna’s eyes went wide as we entered the cigar lounge, which rarely functioned as such, only when my father or acquaintances insisted on cigars. The faded smell of smoke persisted, but it was not very noticeable because Sybil always worked her magic with air freshener.
At first, I would occasionally play billiards alone or with Faro, but even that seemed like an eternity. Recently, work filled every waking second of my days as I tried to keep people from talking about Gaia by creating new incidents to talk about. But my brutality at work did not attract the attention needed to divert attention from the gossip surrounding my wife’s death: after all, it was old news. Gianna absorbed it all. In addition to the four armchairs in front of the fireplace, there was a professional pool table. Gianna rushed over to the cues and picked one up.
“Show me?” Fuck yes. I had suffered sleepless nights with less fun things than teaching Gianna to play pool.
Gianna was bent over the table, trying to hit the eight ball. Her tongue was stuck between her lips in concentration. My chest was pressed against her back. I had sent most of the balls into their respective pockets and, once again, my hand guided Gianna’s as we sent the eight ball flying into her hole. Gianna smiled, twisted her face and pressed an enthusiastic kiss to my lips. Simona’s shout echoed from the speakers, reminding me that our lives could not be filled only with pool nights and sex. I straightened up, the weight of my responsibilities returning to my shoulders and with it the worry that it would not last. Gianna grabbed the baby monitor and we headed for Simona’s room.
As usual, Simona’s cries increased with each passing moment, and the more she cried the harder it was to calm her down. Gianna turned on the lights and went into the bedroom, but I waited on the threshold, wanting to see how she was doing.
Gianna bent over the crib and lifted my daughter, holding her to her chest. I was always the one who pulled her out of bed when she cried. Simona fell silent and stared at my young wife. I waited for the inevitable outburst, a cry even worse than before, but Simona only emitted a small cry.
“Shh. You are the cutest thing I have ever seen.” And then Gianna leaned down and kissed my daughter’s left cheek and then her right. “With the cutest chubby cheeks I can imagine.” My heart was pounding in my chest, an erratic staccato I could hear in my ears. I couldn’t move. Simona reached out to Gianna’s bangs and tugged at them, but my wife just laughed and blew out air, sending her hair flying upward, making Simona’s eyes widen. Then she giggled.