“Did I just hear what I thought I heard?” The amused words were murmured in Bella’s ear. Marcus stood behind her, so she turned and looked up into eyes sparkling with humor. “Do I have to worry?”
Bella grinned. “Maybe. Did you see your parents?”
He pulled out his chair and sat next to her, nodding. “They’ll be over in a few minutes to say hello.” He stared bemusedly at Alice, who was still working on the biggest, richest piece of chocolate cake Bella had ever seen. “Alice, where are you putting all that food? Hollow leg?”
Alice smiled demurely but kept eating.
Bella laughed. “She can eat us all under the table. You should see her at the Chinese buffet.”
“She has a food fetish,” Myrtle added with a wink. “Why, she told me she and her husband used to have sex in the garden all the time.”
“Cucumbers and ears of corn make good toys if you’re in the mood to play.” Alice took another dainty bite of cake.
Marcus choked on his drink, but cleared his throat and shook his head wryly. “My nonna would’ve loved the three of you.”
Bella smiled at his words. So many people made the mistake of believing the elderly were sexless, but not Marcus. She didn’t either, not after meeting these three several years ago. Having Alice, Edna and Myrtle for friends was like having three bawdy grandmothers.
Suddenly, Marcus swore softly, and Bella looked where he was looking.
An older man and woman who were very obviously Marcus’s parents were headed toward their table, followed by a tall, slim woman in a form-fitting dress partially covered by an apron. Was this Marcus’s ex-fiancée? Bella swallowed. His parents, she could handle. But the woman who looked like an Italian supermodel?
Marcus put his hand on Bella’s knee for a moment, then stood. “Mama, Dad, Teresa, I’d like to introduce you to some friends of mine. Ladies, my parents made your dinner, and Teresa made your fancy chocolate cake.” He went around the table, introducing each of the older women. Bella smiled as his father made the rounds, calling them each signora and kissing their hands. “And this is Bella Massey.”
Bella smiled and held out her hand, even as her knees were knocking together.
His mother shook her hand, but his father ignored it and kissed her warmly on both cheeks. “Welcome. I hope your dinner was enjoyable.” She could see where Marcus got his charm and his good looks. He was going to look just like his father in twenty-five years, and Bella liked what she saw. His mother seemed more reserved, but still friendly.
“It was wonderful.” Bella looked down at her dessert plate, holding the barely touched cannoli. “Everything was delicious, but I couldn’t eat anther bite. I think I’ll have to take that home for later.”
Using the manners her parents had drilled into her as a child, she turned to Teresa and smiled. “The desserts all looked amazing. I had a hard time deciding which to order.”
Teresa smiled slightly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. You look like someone who likes food.”
A sentence that could be taken two ways, and maybe she was just being overly sensitive, but it sure sounded like a slam to her. To Marcus, too. His face tightened, and he opened his mouth to speak.
Fighting her inclination to slam right back, Bella took the high road and answered before he could say anything he might regret later. “I do enjoy a good meal, and this was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Good food, good wine, good friends, good conversation. What more could I ask for?” She turned to Marcus. “I think we’re going to head out now. It’s almost curfew for these young ladies.”
“Ha,” Myrtle replied. “Very funny.”
Edna tried unsuccessfully to hide her yawn. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I am getting a little tired.”
“I think these two lovebirds just want some time alone. I’ll bet they’re going on a hot date tonight after they take us home.” Alice grinned slyly and looked up at Marcus. “You should take Bella dancing. She loves to dance.”
Bella wanted to cringe. She wasn’t sure Marcus wanted his family to know they’d been dating, if you could even call it that. But his parents seemed fine with it. Teresa, on the other hand, looked pissed.
His mother shot Teresa a warning look before turning back to her son. “See these lovely ladies home, sweetheart. I’ll call you next week so we can chat.”
Marcus kissed his mother’s cheek, shook his father’s hand and turned to Teresa, as if to say something. But she didn’t give him a chance. She just gave him an evil glare, turned and walked away.
Marcus swore, but his mother put her hand on his arm and shook her head. “Let it go, honey. I’ll have a talk with her.”
Bella watched the whole exchange with a pile of rocks in her stomach. Obviously, Marcus still had some kind of feelings for his ex. How could he not? She was everything Bella wasn’t—model-slender and gorgeous, sophisticated and Italian, her nearly black hair and dark eyes a perfect complement to Marcus’s good looks. Bella was ordinary, overweight and average-looking, and most definitely not Italian.
She suppressed a sigh, but she couldn’t say the same for the thought. How was she supposed to compete with that?
Chapter Five
Marcus followed Bella’s car back to the nursing home and escorted the women to their rooms. After everyone was settled, he and Bella headed out to the parking lot, standing between her car and his bike.
“Thanks for riding back with us.” Bella kept gazing around, as if she was uncomfortable and couldn’t wait to get away from him. “I’m going to head home.”
Marcus frowned. This was not the same Bella from before dinner, who’d possessed his mouth so thoroughly he figured taken would be stamped on his forehead. This was the Bella from the other night, the one unsure of herself and her own appeal, and he hated seeing her like this. “Did I do something wrong?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “No, I’m just being stupid.”
He raised a brow and stared at her until she spoke again.
“Teresa’s beautiful.”
Marcus would lay odds she didn’t realize how wistful her voice sounded, but that was something he could clear up right away. He tucked a wayward lock of hair back behind her ear. “I guess so. You remember asking me why I asked you out, that night I came to play poker here?”
Bella nodded.
“I asked why not you. You’re a beautiful woman, inside and out. If it was only on the outside, you wouldn’t have caught my interest. I’ve been there and it’s not somewhere I want to go again. Sure, I appreciate physical beauty as much as the next guy, but your laugh is what made me come up to your table when we were on that training run, and it was your kindness to those three women that made me come back the following week.”
He couldn’t tell if he was getting through to her or not, but everything he’d said was the sheer, unvarnished truth. If his mother and nonna had taught him anything, it was that real beauty lived below the skin, in the heart of the woman. When he looked at Bella, he saw strength and kindness and purpose and vulnerability. It shone from her clear blue-green eyes and on her flawless pink cheeks and came out in every word she spoke from her incredibly sensual mouth. She was comfortable in her own skin, and it showed in the way she carried herself. It turned him on and made him want her, in any way she’d take him.
Even on his knees.
“May I come home with you, Bella?” He lifted her chin and kissed her softly, permission be damned. “Can we spend some time together tonight?”
A small spark lit in Bella’s eyes, and Marcus hoped that meant he’d gotten through. Her voice was low and throaty. “For a while.”
With a lighter heart, he got her into her car and safely buckled, then followed her the short distance back to her house.
* * *
&
nbsp; “How about a little self-esteem, Bella?” She muttered the words to herself as she waited on the porch stairs for Marcus to park his bike in the driveway behind her car. She snorted. She usually had it, but who could look at Teresa whatever-her-last-name-was and not feel inadequate? She shoved her insecurities back into the far reaches of her heart and grinned. So what if his ex was gorgeous? Hot, sexy Marcus was here with her, and possession was nine-tenths of the law.
Marcus stopped a step below her so they were eye level. “Better now?”
She nodded. “Yep. You?”
“Yep.” He gave a one-shouldered shrug and grinned. “So. Are we going to stand out here all night?”
Bella laughed. “We could. It’s a nice enough night. Although I’m not sure I want my neighbors watching what goes on over here.”
He raised that eyebrow again. “And what’s going to go on over here?”
She moved to the door and looked back at him over her shoulder. “Well, you’ll just have to wait and see. Are you a patient man?” Deliberately, she dropped her voice. “I hope so.”
He stumbled on the step. “You’re killing me.”
She just laughed.
In her living room, she kicked off her shoes and curled up on one end of her sofa, leaving the other side for him. Once she was done with him, that was. He stood over by the fireplace mantel, looking at the assorted family pictures that lived there.
“You were a pretty cute kid.” He grinned, holding up a picture of her with her parents, her hair in pigtails and two front teeth missing.
She wrinkled her nose. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
She let him look at the pictures a few minutes longer, and while he was turned away from her, she allowed herself to look her fill. And oh, she liked the view from behind, Marcus’s beautifully muscled ass filling out those leather pants. The thought tickled her brain, and then she remembered. Commando. She smiled slowly, a wicked thought taking shape in her mind.
“Marcus.” She said his name sharply, and his hand twitched as he set the picture back down.
He turned slowly, his big body tense, his arousal making a mouthwatering bulge at the front of those tight leather pants. When he faced her, he waited. His expression held both anticipation and dread, and for the life of her, she couldn’t tell which was stronger.
“Come sit down.” She patted the spot beside her, deciding to go slow. This wasn’t a race, and this was new to her too. She’d played with bondage only a handful of times before, but she’d always been the one dominated. She’d wondered, though, if the vague dissatisfaction she always felt during sex would go away if she was the one in charge. Not in the nonsexual part of the relationship—she wanted an equal partner for that—but in the bedroom.
He strode over, his gait off-kilter because of the erection behind his zipper. She watched, nearly salivating as he sat, shifting his pants a little to give himself a bit of breathing room.
She’d fix that.
“Spread your knees. And lace your fingers together, your hands behind your head.”
The pulse in his neck pounded furiously and his throat constricted as he swallowed hard. He hesitated for one excruciatingly long minute, and she wondered if she’d gone too far.
“Marcus?” She made it a question rather than an order, and when he looked at her, she let him see the concern in her eyes as she bit her lip. “Is this too much to ask of you? Tell me if this isn’t what you want from me.”
“I want it,” he admitted roughly. “But I hate that I want it. I just—” He looked pained. “I just wish I could turn it off.” He swore, then spread his knees and locked his fingers behind his head.
His body looked absolutely incredible, but Marcus himself looked miserable.
Time to back things down, lighten things up. She didn’t have much experience, but she knew when something was wrong and knew when she’d want her partner to back off. “Hmm. I’ve changed my mind. Put your knees together.”
He frowned, but he did it. And whether he knew it or not, much of the tension drained from his body.
She braced her hands on his shoulders and moved to straddle his lap. She lost her balance, on purpose, and his hands flew down to grasp her waist and hold her steady. She bent close and pressed her lips against his, squeezing those broad shoulders with her hands. “Thank you.”
His hands tightened on her waist, and he opened his mouth, leaning into the kiss, taking an active part in it. “You taste like cannoli cream and coffee. Delicious.”
Bella moaned and leaned forward, allowing him to move her body where he wanted. Which was to settle her down atop his straining erection. She couldn’t help herself. He flexed his hips, and she whimpered. Heart racing, she used the leverage of her hands on his shoulders to push back, to put a little air between them.
“Jesus,” she muttered. “Give a man an inch.”
A devilish grin flashed across Marcus’s face. “I think I’ve got enough inches for you already, thanks.”
Laughter bubbled up from deep inside her, and she knew she’d made a good decision. It wasn’t right if he hated himself for his feelings. So, at least for now, lighter was better. He seemed to accept her desire to dominate. He just didn’t seem to accept his own need to submit.
She rocked against his impressive erection, feeling it throb beneath her. She still felt powerful and in control, but for Marcus, this seemed easier. “Do you like fantasies?”
His eyes darkened, and a wicked smile lit his face. He leaned closer, put his lips up against her ear. “I love fantasies. Tell me yours?” His voice was low, his breath a warm puff against her skin. She couldn’t stop the shiver or the goose bumps that raised along her flesh.
His interest in her imagination seemed genuine, but she couldn’t be sure. Still, she wouldn’t know unless she bared her soul and shared her most intimate, graphic fantasies with him. As he nuzzled her neck, she gave herself a mental slap. Jesus, what was wrong with her? Wasn’t she asking him to bare his soul every time she gave him an order? And how many times had he done that for her already?
She sucked in a deep breath, one that ended in a shudder as he licked and nibbled at a tender spot near her collarbone. “I’ve lain in bed at night, touching myself, imagining you tied to the headboard of my bed. Your chest is slick with sweat, and I’m kneeling between your legs, licking your cock. It’s glistening from all the attention I’m giving it, and I can tell you’re on the edge.” She paused as she rode him through his leather pants, waiting to see how he’d react to her words.
Marcus drew back, his jaw locked as if he was holding himself under strict control. “Jesus, Bella. Tell me more.”
His words thrilled her, satisfied a part of her that had been left unfulfilled by past lovers. And they hadn’t even had sex yet. That thought kept her going, encouraging her to reveal more of her most private thoughts. “I slow down a bit, because I don’t want you to come too quickly. So I move off to the side where you can see me, but you can’t touch me. And I’m not touching you. I’m touching me. You’re breathing hard, watching me tug on my nipples, seeing how aroused I get when I slide one finger, then two, deep inside my pussy, twisting them around. You’re begging me to let you come, but I’m not ready yet. You’re not ready yet. No, I’ve got one more thing I want to do to you.”
He pressed her down against his cock, his voice desperate. “Keep going. Shit, this is like high school sex with porno flick details. Please, don’t stop. Tell me what you want to do to me.”
The power in the moment felt heady, intoxicating. Bella closed her eyes, still rocking back and forth on his erection, picturing the scene in her mind. “My fingers are drenched with my own juices. You’re looking desperate, and I know there’s one thing you’ve never tried, and I want to do that to you. I climb back between your legs, lift your balls out of t
he way, and press gently on the sensitive skin underneath them. I slide my fingers backward, toward your ass, and when I get there, I slide one slick finger into your hole. You’re panting now, and you’re begging again. Another finger, you moan, and since I know you’re loving it, I slip a second one in. I slide them in and out, stroking your insides like you stroke mine when you have your hand in my pussy. You’re so close to coming now, and while my fingers are still inside you, I turn around and sit on your cock, riding you until you explode.”
As Bella finished her story, her heart raced, and her pulse pounded in her ears. Had she gone too far? Would this turn him off? She never stopped moving, never stopped rocking against him, but she bit her lip and slowly opened her eyes, almost afraid to see what he thought of her fantasies.
Marcus appeared to be in sheer agony, sweat sliding down his temple, teeth clenching and unclenching. His eyes were wild, and arousal darkened his cheeks. He breathed hard, obviously on the edge of orgasm.
She leaned forward, licked the sweat from the side of Marcus’s face and twisted her hips once, twice, three times. “Come with me, Marcus. Now.” She toppled over the edge of climax, taking him along for the ride. His shout of completion echoed hers.
She collapsed against his chest, and he stroked her back until her breathing and his slowed to an almost normal pace.
“Thank you,” he said roughly.
“For what?” She shifted so she could look at Marcus’s face, and dread pooled in her stomach as his big body went tense beneath hers. She tensed too.
His chocolate-brown eyes were deadly serious. “For slowing things down. For...” He flushed, and his gaze skittered away.
“Marcus? Talk to me.” She reached out to touch his cheek, but he pulled away, and she flinched.
His voice was raw and low. “You are one sexy, wildly incredible woman, and God help me, I’d kill to have you do...” He bit off his words with a curse, then lifted her off his lap and stood. His hands shook as he raked them through his hair, tugging at it as if he was at the very end of his emotional rope. “Shit, Bella, I can’t do this. I’ve got to go. I’m so sorry.”
Forbidden Desires Page 4
