Only One Night: A Fusion Universe Novel

by Dani Rene

  Elisabet is the one who breaks the kiss before shuffling down my body. She reaches for my boxers, tugging them down until my cock flops onto my stomach. With those delicate hands that normally create delicious desserts, she grips me and teases me with the tip of her tongue. She swirls my cock like it was a fucking ice cream cone.

  The sight of her on her knees, her ass in the air with her mouth engulfing my dick is more than enough to send me shooting over the precipice, but I shut my eyes and try to focus on not coming too soon.

  Elisabet takes me into her mouth, the warmth of her taking over every inch. Her wide eyes lock on mine as I feel the blunt head hitting the back of her throat. My whole body locks, my hands fisting the sheets as I look down at the woman I love sucking me so deep into her mouth her nose is hitting my abs.

  Her hands grip my thighs, holding me steady as she swallows me deeply. Her soft hum sends my body into overdrive, and I can’t help but raise my hips before grunting out my release.

  Elisabet rises, sitting back as she regards me with a naughty grin. Her lips are plump, shimmering with saliva, and my release. She looks so beautiful; I stare at her for a long while before I decide it’s time to tell her about the surprise I have planned.

  Scooting up, I crook my finger, and she immediately crawls to me. Her body fits beside mine like it was always meant to be there. And I know that even though our journey has been rocky, I’m making the right decision.

  “I bought something for you this morning,” I tell her, pressing my lips to the top of her head.

  “Oh?” Elisabet tips her head sideways, looking up at me from where she’s nestled in the crook of my arm.

  “Well, it’s actually for both of us.”

  “Did you buy sex toys, Rome?” she teases, twisting in my arms until she’s facing me. Her smile is infectious, and I can’t help but grin too.

  “No. But now that you’ve brought it up, I’m not against teasing you with a few Bluetooth-controlled vibrators.” The thought of that has my cock stirring. I would love to drive her insane with need while we’re at dinner.

  “Ha, ha. What did you get?”

  “Well, I know you’ve said you missed home, and I’d love to see where you come from, so I booked two tickets to Italy for next week. Friday.”

  “What?” This bit of news has Elisabet on her knees beside me. Her shock painted on her face. But there’s a glint of excitement in her eyes, which makes this all so much better.

  “Yeah,” I say before turning to grab my coffee.

  “Rome, that’s too much,” she says, moving off the bed to grab underwear from the drawer. My gaze rakes over her as she tugs her panties up. When she looks at me again, she mumbles. “I can’t just leave.”

  “Of course, you can. We’ll be gone for a week. We can chat with Mia and see if she knows anyone who would be willing to look after the bakery for a few days. Elisabet,” I say, “this is going to be a break from everything we’ve been through. We can have a few days to just be together.” Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I stand and go to her.

  “But—”

  “No buts,” I tell her confidently. “You need it. And frankly, I wouldn’t mind a vacation with you. It’s one week.” Even as I implore her, I see the worry turn to excitement, and the concern turn to happiness.

  She gifts me a smile that makes my heart leap in my chest.

  “Okay,” she finally speaks, her voice small, a whisper of contentment, and I pull her into my arms. I know this was a good idea, and I can’t wait to be alone with her and have her show me around the place she grew up in.

  Chapter 31

  Elisabet

  A whole week away in the sunshine has been good for me. Rome was right — Italy was everything and more. Being back there has inspired me to venture back into cooking instead of just focusing on baking.

  But now that we’re in New York, about to see my father, I’m nervous, and all the tension that had a hold of me before we left is back. Even though he told me he wanted to meet Rome and he isn’t angry at me for running off without marrying Marco, I know my father will have something to say about my choices.

  Though I am a grown woman, I still feel like a wayward teenager when he’s around. My father has always made me feel like I’m doing something wrong. Being an only child, he doted on me like I was the most fragile thing he’d ever owned. I felt like I needed to breathe at times, but my father wouldn’t release me. Even though he was focused on work, he knew how to keep tabs on me. I spent my years needing space from his overprotective bodyguards he would have follow me around.

  I hated the life, but I knew that he was only trying to keep me safe. And even then, I still resented him for doing it because all his protection didn’t keep my mother alive. That was something I told him once, and I regretted it the moment it fell from my lips.

  He had no control over what happened. And I knew it. But I still blamed him for that day.

  “You look nervous,” Rome says from behind me as he steps toward me. I’m staring at my reflection, making sure my dress is perfect. My father was always about presentation, making sure everything looked perfect on the outside.

  “I am, sort of. My father isn’t the easiest man to get along with, and now that I’m going to walk in there and tell him that all his plans for me will need to change because I want something else, it's not going to go down well.”

  “I’ll be right beside you. And even if he doesn’t like what we tell him, he will have to come to terms with it at some point, because I’m not walking away from his daughter any time soon.”

  Rome’s hands land on my shoulders, the warmth calming some of the tension, his strength holding me up at this point. He’s taller than me, but I can see his eyes as we look at each other in the glass.

  “You seem so convinced that you won’t be scared off by my father,” I tell him with a smile, hoping to lighten the tension holding me hostage.

  “I am,” Rome answers confidently. He tips his chin up in a show of confidence. “Because I love you, and I would do anything for you. And if he can’t see that, we will have to show him. I’ll have to show him. Even if it takes a lifetime.”

  His words have my chest tightening. “What?” Shock overtakes the nerves, and I turn in his arms to look at him. “What do you mean?”

  A small smile tilts his lips; the playfulness I’ve come to love about Rome is back, and my heart skitters in my chest when he drops to his knee in front of me. He takes my left hand, holding it in both of his.

  “I wanted to ask his permission, but since you’re so nosy,” Rome says. Chuckling as he shakes his head, he continues, “I wanted to ask you if you’d do me the honor of giving me more than just one night only?”

  I’m staring at Rome. He becomes blurry as I look at him holding onto my hand. He doesn’t move; neither do I. My lungs struggle to pull in air. The beating of my heart is the only thing I hear, a rhythmic melody that forces me to my knees as well.

  “I mean, you don’t—”

  “Yes,” I interrupt him. “Yes, I’ll give you more than one night. I’ll give you the rest of my life,” I tell him easily. “I’ve spent my life holding back, keeping myself hidden from a life I wanted because I had to please everyone else around me. But with you, I know what I want and what I need. And I’m tired of putting my happiness on hold for everyone else.”

  Rome pulls me into his arms, wrapping me in their strength. Slowly, I realize that everything I never knew I wanted is right in front of me. Back in Portland, I have the bakery I’ve always wanted, I have a home, friends, and now I have a man who loves me for who I am.

  “I can’t believe I just said yes,” I mumble into his shirt, holding onto him in the hopes that this isn’t some dream that’s going to disappear the moment I open my eyes.

  The house looks just like it did when I was last here. I don’t know why I thought it would have changed. That it would’ve perhaps been less foreboding, but it’s still as scary as it was when
I was younger.

  With Rome’s fingers laced through mine, we make our way to the door. The garden is lush, the men guarding the entrance all dressed in black, and as we near them, they offer me a curt nod.

  I’ve known some of them all my life, and they’re still as intimidating as they were the first time I came across them. By the time we reach the door, which is etched with an intricate pattern, my heart is attacking me with a rhythm that threatens to stop me in my tracks.

  I reach for the door knocker and bang it three times against the heavy wood. It doesn’t take long for Maria to open the door and gasp when she sees me.

  “Elisabetta,” she says, her voice filled with happiness, and her smile lights up her face. “I cannot believe you’re here.”

  “Neither can I, Maria.” I grin as I step inside and wrap my arms around her. She holds me close for a long while, but when we finally break contact, I gesture toward Rome and introduce her. “This is my boyfriend, Rome, and this is Maria. The woman who was there for me after my mother passed away.”

  I can see the tears that shimmer in her eyes, but she blinks them back, her focus on Rome as she shakes his hand. “You take care of my girl,” she tells him, unperturbed that he’s so much taller than her.

  “Always,” Rome promises, and just then, I hear the clearing of a throat, and I look up to see my father at the top of the sweeping staircase.

  “Elisabetta,” he says, and even though I was expecting him to be angry with me, I don’t see it written on his face. Instead, I find sadness, laced with . . . guilt?

  “Dad,” is all I can manage before he’s down the steps and in the foyer. Pulling me into his arms, he holds me close.

  “I’ve missed you, Tesoro,” he mumbles into my hair, and I know my father won’t hate Rome as much as I thought he would. Only because he’s missed me, and if there’s one thing I know about my father, he wants me to be happy.

  Chapter 32

  Elisabet

  We break our hug, and I take my father in. He’s aged a lot over the years, and I wonder if his job is finally getting to him. Nobody can live the life he does and not feel the effects.

  “Dad, this is Rome,” I tell him, stepping aside so the two men in my life can meet. The tension emanating from my father is clawing at my chest. I want them to get along, but even though my father may want me happy, he’s not going to give in easily to a man he’s just met.

  “And you’re the man that’s been looking after my little girl?” Dad asks, holding out his hand, and I watch them shake.

  “Yes, sir,” Rome says. “I love her very much.”

  Dad’s hand tightens on Rome’s, and the air suddenly becomes stifling. “Love?” My father’s head tips to the side, then he glances at me. “You're in love?”

  “Yes, Dad,” I respond with confidence. I hope he’ll see that I’m no longer the little girl he wants to rule but a woman who has her own mind and is confident enough to make her own decisions.

  “Then I guess it’s time for us to sit down, and I can get to know this man,” he says, tugging Rome along with him, and I follow behind. They’re both larger-than-life characters, and I know that their personalities will most probably clash. But what makes my heart happy is knowing that they both love me.

  “Sit,” Dad says as we reach the dining room table. He takes the head of the table while I sit to his right, and Rome beside me. Dad looks up at me, staring at me for a long while before he speaks. “It’s been too long, Elisabetta,” he tells me. “And I’m sorry for my hand in it. I wanted you to know that my choices may not have been what you wanted, but I tried my best.”

  “I know, Daddy.”

  “Your mother would’ve been proud of you,” he says then, making my heart ache in my chest. “She was always the one telling me that you’ll be a handful, and after she died, I realized that I couldn’t be both mother and father. I wasn’t like her. She was far stronger than me.”

  “You were strong for me,” I tell him. “You were the one who showed me that being independent was the way you survive in a cruel world.”

  He smiles. It’s a sad one, and I want to go to him, to hold him and tell him that I’ll always be his little girl, but he speaks. “I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you. I had a long talk with Marco.”

  “Oh?”

  “He told me that you asked him for help, and that made me realize that I wasn’t the easiest person to come to. My focus was on work instead of my daughter, and that’s where I failed you.”

  “Dad—”

  “Let me finish,” he says, holding up his hand. “I’m here, and I’ll always be here. I should’ve made you feel like you could come to me with anything.” Then Dad’s eyes land on Rome. “And now that you’ve found someone to share your life with,” he says. “All I can say is that I’ll be here until my last breath to support you both.”

  “Thank—”

  “However,” he interrupts me once more, his shrewd gaze focused on the man beside me. “If I ever hear that my daughter has cried, has been hurt, or that she’s been in any danger, I will come for you, Rome Donovan.”

  My heart catapults in my chest. “How did you know his name?”

  Dad smiles. “I have my ways.”

  “Marco came to see me as well,” Rome tells my dad. “And let me tell you the same thing I told him. Elisabet is special. She’s given me a new lease on life, and I will do everything in my power to make sure she lives her dreams. I want to see her smile every day and hear her laugh every moment I’m beside her. And if ever she does cry, it will be tears of happiness.”

  “Rome—”

  “And if ever she is sad, or heartbroken, I will be there to pick up her pieces and hold her until she can find her way back to herself.”

  Tears burn my eyes, as my gaze flits between both men who talk over me as if I’m not even there. But I can’t even be angry about it because my heart is full.

  “That’s what I needed to hear,” Dad says, nodding with a grin on his face. Our dinner is served at that moment. I’m lost in the quiet of both men agreeing to care for me with all they have.

  “Your father loves me,” Rome tells me as we step into the apartment. He looks so satisfied with himself, I can’t help but laugh. “What?”

  “He tolerates you because he knows I love you,” I tell him while wrapping my arms around his waist. “And he knows that if he were to forbid me from seeing you, I’d only do it anyway.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that the man who raised you just can’t accept that you may love another man more than you love him?” Rome teases, tapping the tip of my nose with his index finger.

  “Don’t be cocky.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, it’s a bit difficult for me not to be cocky. I mean, you know how big it is,” he retorts, rolling his hips against me, and even though he’s not hard, I can feel the bulge on my stomach.

  “Rome.”

  “Just saying, sweetheart.” He winks playfully before swooping down and scooping me up. Without another word, Rome carries me into the bedroom I know I’m not getting any sleep tonight because he’s going to be proving his point until I’m a satisfied mess.

  Chapter 33

  Elisabet

  The sun sets on the horizon, giving off a golden glow to the view. The ocean has turned a darker shade of blue, while the beach sand is taking on the same hue of the reddish-orange of the sky. Even though it’s nearing early evening, the air is still heavily humid.

  I push my sunglasses up onto my head and sit up straighter. Watching Rome in the ocean has been rather fun, but I need to talk to him. I stand, shaking off the nerves that have hold of me.

  When I glance down at my hand, I still can’t believe the ring that sits on my finger now makes me Mrs. Donovan. A smile dances on my lips as I make my way toward the water’s edge.

  It’s so beautiful out here, the tranquility offering a relaxing few days. Belize was certainly a good choice for our honeymoon. When I reach the shor
e, I stop and watch as Rome saunters out of the water, droplets trickling down his chiseled abs, and I can’t help but lick my lips.

  My husband.

  It’s still strange thinking it, let alone saying it. He comes right up to me and grabs me, lifting me in the air, causing a squeal to fall from my lips.

  “Put me down!” My squeal is loud, but all he does his chuckle. He sets me on my feet before he shakes his head like a dog, splashing cold droplets all over me. “I’m going to get you back for that,” I warn him.

  “And I can’t wait for that,” he says with a mischievous wink.

  “Can we talk and walk?” I gesture to the practically empty beach, but Rome’s dark gaze narrows when he looks at me. “It’s nothing bad,” I tell him. “I promise.”

  He laces his fingers with mine as we take a slow stroll down the sand, warmth still keeping my feet snug as we make our way toward the cabin.

  We rented our own place for the week, and I’m enjoying not having anything to do but eat, rest, and spend time with my husband. He squeezes my hand, drawing my attention back to the here and now.

  “There’s something I need to tell you.” My voice is so quiet, but I know he heard me. We stop, just as the last arch of the sun disappears, and we’re drenched in a dark pink and purple bubble. “I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure, and I got a call when you went swimming.”

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Rome’s expression is filled with concern.

  “Before we left, I went to the doctor. You know, the usual checkup before our trip.” I’m stalling, dragging it out for as long as I can because the moment I say it out loud, it’s going to be real. But let’s be honest, in a few months, it’s definitely going to get real.