“Oh, baby, no.” He pulls me against him, and hugs me tightly, in the special way he does. “I’m so sorry for this. For all of it. We’ve been hurting for weeks for no reason.”
“I didn’t fuck Blake,” I say, the anger surging through me again as I push away from him. “I would never do that. How could you think that?”
“It looked really bad,” he replies with a sigh. “And I’ve lived that before.”
“The ex.” I cover my mouth with my hand.
“After my mother died, I was engaged to a woman, and I walked in on her having an affair with my cousin the night before our wedding.”
“Oh, my God,” I whisper and glance away, covering my mouth with my hand, but then I get pissed again. “And you immediately assumed that I’d do the same?”
“I was worried about Gianna back in Italy. I was excited to see you and whisk you away on a romantic trip to my home, and when I walked unannounced into your condo, I felt like I was reliving that scene in Italy all over again.”
“But nothing happened,” I insist. “Nor would it ever happen. Blake is in love with Emily.”
He simply nods, his eyes sad, mouth grim.
“It’s been a shitty few weeks,” he says quietly.
I simply nod. “One good thing came of it, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I went home too. To San Francisco. I confronted my parents and Jonathan.”
His eyes warm. “What happened?”
I lean against the couch again and cross my arms, wanting to touch him. Aching for him to hold me again.
“My parents are my parents. They don’t get it, and honestly, I don’t know if they ever will, but I told them how they made me feel and I felt really proud of myself when I left.”
“You should be proud of yourself. You’re so fucking strong. And Jonathan?”
“That was a surprise.” I frown. “He apologized to me.”
“Really.”
“He was actually…sweet. And it felt good to put some closure on it.”
He nods and smiles softly. “I’m so happy for you, Alecia.”
“So, what now?” I ask, waiting for him to make a move.
“Well, I can’t unlove you, cara. Trust me. I’ve tried. The past few weeks have been a hell that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”
“You love me?” I ask with a whisper. Finally, finally, he reaches for me, crushes me to him and holds on tight.
“Loving you is like breathing, Alecia. Being apart from you, thinking that I’d never hold you like this again, was agony. I love you so much, and I’m so sorry that I didn’t say it before.”
“I’m so afraid that you’ll hurt me,” I whisper against his chest. “I know it sounds stupid, but I can’t help it.”
“Love doesn’t hurt you, tesoro. People who don’t know how to love hurt you. You have so much love to give, and trust me when I say, I’m never going to stop loving you. I’d never walk away from you and you can damn well know that I’m going to fight for you. Remember what I told you that night in your condo? It’s you and me.”
“I missed you,” I murmur with a nod. “I missed us.”
“That’s the last time you’ll miss me.” He tips my chin up and smiles down at me softly. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
“Here!” Jules calls from the other side of the door. “You’re gonna need this!”
She slides a condom under the door, and Natalie giggles.
“Wait!” Natalie slips another with it. “Take two. You’ve earned it.”
“They’re still out there,” I mutter with a laugh.
“We’re not having sex in here!” Dom calls out. “And you both need to go away!”
“Killjoy!” Jules yells. “You should be thanking us!”
“Thank you!” I say. “Now go away!”
“We’re not appreciated,” Natalie says. “Let’s go eat cupcakes.”
“Will’s probably already claimed them all.”
***
“I think it went well,” I say, as Dominic escorts me up to my condo after the reception.
“I’m here with you, so yes, I’d say Jules and Nat’s plan went well.”
“The wedding, silly.” I nudge him with my elbow and then laugh and wrap my arms around his waist, lean my cheek on his chest and breathe him in as we wait for the elevator. “Okay, that went well too.”
“Are you tired?” he asks quietly, his lips in my hair.
“I’m fine,” I reply and lead him to my door. “Are you tired?”
He shakes his head slowly, his eyes pinned to mine as he slowly stalks me through my apartment.
“Are you hungry?” I ask.
He smiles slowly, that dimple winking at me, as he shakes his head again and reaches for my hand, pulls me to him and lowers his lips to mine and kisses me gently, lightly, his mouth dancing with mine in the dark silence of my condo. My fingers find each of the buttons on his shirt and then I push it over his shoulders to the floor. He reaches for the zipper on my dress, but I quickly sink down, squatting before him, and make quick work of his belt, unfasten his pants, plant a kiss on his stomach, right between his navel and his cock as I stroke his already semi-hardness, kissing my way down to it.
“Alecia,” he whispers, as I lick around the rim of the head, and grin when he sucks in a breath and his abs contract. “Fuck.”
“I haven’t even done anything yet,” I say and grin up at him.
“You breathe and I’m hard, cara.”
He’s such a charmer.
Let’s see if I can make him lose his English.
I fucking love it when he speaks Italian to me.
I plant a sweet kiss on the tip, right over the slit and then smile innocently, watching him, as I open my mouth and sink over him, pulling him all the way into my mouth.
“Gesù hai intenzione di uccidermi,” he whispers, and I mentally high-five myself, clench my mouth around him and pull up, swirl my tongue around the tip and repeat the motion, over and over again.
He rips the pins out of my hair impatiently, tossing them on the floor, then sinks his hands in the strands, pulling slightly, making my panties flood. I love making him crazy.
Suddenly, he’s pulled me to my feet, kisses me hard, and lifts me in his arms and carries me to my bedroom. He sets me on my feet, and before I know it I’m stark ass naked and he’s lain me on my back in the middle of the bed, crawling over me with blue eyes bright with pure male lust.
“I love being intimate with you,” he whispers against my lips as he settles his pelvis against mine. “And I don’t just mean this, although, this is fucking amazing. I mean intimate.” He kisses me deeply, his tongue tangling with mine, then nibbles his way down my jawline to my ear.
“Explain, please,” I whisper, and then gasp when his hand journeys up my side to my breast and his thumb finds my nipple.
“Intimacy is who you wake up thinking about at three in the morning,” he says, then licks up my ear lobe. “It’s talking about your hopes and fears in the dark.” He tweaks my nipple again, then that hand travels down my side, headed south. “It’s the one person you give your undivided attention to when ten other people are fighting for it.”
I gasp when his fingers find my clit and press lightly, then slip down into my folds and simply slide back and forth through the wetness.
“It’s that person, always in the back of your mind, no matter how distracted you are.”
“God you’re good with both your mouth and your hands,” I say, and bite my lip as he leans up on his elbow to stare down at me. “You say such pretty things.”
“You like my mouth, mi amore?” he asks, making me grin.
“I know that word,” I say softly.
“Which one?”
“Amore.”
“Do you?” he says and nuzzles my nose with his before kissing down my neck, sending electricity zinging down my limbs. Dear God, his mouth is incredible.
�
��I love you too,” I whisper, making his head come up and his blue eyes widen.
“Say it again.”
I cup his face in my hands. “I love you.”
He sighs and drags his knuckles down my cheek. “One more time.”
I love you I mouth silently.
He closes his eyes for a heartbeat, then opens them and smiles that naughty, you’re about to have the time of your life, smile. He kisses my lips firmly, bites my lower lip, and then bites my chin softly.
“I love you, Alecia,” he says and buries his face in my neck, sucking and biting the tender flesh there. “And I’m going to spend the rest of the night showing you just how much.”
“This has possibilities,” I reply dryly, but my breath catches in my throat when he nips at my nipple, then sucks it into his mouth, pulling back with a loud pop.
“Possibilities?”
“Mm.” I circle my hips in invitation, but he just moves lazily to the other breast, circles it with his nose, nips at it, and watches it get hard.
“Your body is so responsive,” he whispers, and blows on my wet nub, making me moan.
“Dom,” I whisper.
“Yes, amore.”
“You sure know where my buttons are.”
He grins. “And yet, I find new ones all the time.”
He moves down the bed, spreads me wide, and before I know it, his mouth is latched onto my clit and he’s sending me over into a mind-numbing climax.
I grip onto his hair and cry out, riding the wave of the orgasm, then sigh when he moves lower, kissing me intimately. His tongue is inside me, and then he nibbles on my lips.
“You’re so damn beautiful down here,” he says, watching his own fingers tickle through my folds. “So pink.” The tip of his finger nudges my clit, and I tense up again, my hips surge, and he chuckles “Sensitive.”
“Maybe a little,” I agree.
He cocks a brow and tips his head down to press a kiss to my clit, making me sigh with pleasure.
“Okay, a lot.”
“I’m forever craving you,” he whispers and slips two fingers inside me, slowly moving them in and out.
“Oh, my.” I tip my head back, close my eyes, and grip onto the sheets. Jesus, the sensations he sends through my body should be illegal.
“Watch me,” he demands. I’m a panting, quivering mess as I lift my head and watch him press his lips to me, gently at first as his fingers are still moving lightly, but then he gets rougher, more forceful, more urgent.
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” I moan, unable to look away from him. “You’re so damn good at that.”
“It’s you,” he mumbles around me. “It’s you.”
I cry out as I come again, my hips jerking, rocking shamelessly against his face, and finally he’s climbing up me and slipping inside me in one fluid motion. He braces himself over me, not moving, brushes my hair off my cheek, and lays his lips on mine.
“It’s all for you.”
He kisses me deeply, and I can taste myself, and him, and it’s the best kiss we’ve ever had. It starts slow and lazy, but my hips won’t stay still. I start to pulse under him, clenching, rolling, until he tears his lips from mine on a long groan and begins to fuck me in earnest, moving fast and sure, staring into my eyes.
He braces one arm on the headboard, and the sight of his toned, sexy body takes my breath away.
“You’re unbelievably hot,” I tell him honestly. “Seriously, your body is incredible.”
He smiles arrogantly, but when I tip my hips up and clench down on him, he closes his eyes and swears under his breath in Italian, turning me on even more.
“Fuck,” I agree. I reach down and press on my clit, and that’s it, I tip over, coming loudly, violently.
His eyes open and he watches me raptly, and when I’m done, he pulls out, turns me over, pulls my ass in the air and slams back inside me. He smacks my ass and rides me hard and fast.
“You’re mine, Alecia.” He presses his lips to my shoulder, then bites me gently and groans as he comes.
“Mine.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Three months later…
I can hear him whistling in the bathroom, the shower running. I can picture his tight, naked body, soapy and tanned under the water.
I’m tempted to get my lazy ass up and join him, but the bed feels nice, and I’m not anxious to get this day started.
I’m nervous.
I roll over and see the photo on Dom’s side of the bed of the two of us in Italy and smile. I think it’s the cheesiest selfie we’ve ever taken, but it’s his favorite of us, so he framed it and stuck it there, next to his bed.
I rest my head in my hands, and as he continues to whistle away in the bathroom, daydream happily about the day he surprised me with that trip…
“Close your eyes, amore,” he whispers against my cheek. Summer is just beginning to give way to fall, and the air is lighter, almost crisp, here near the water. He’s brought me back to the pier near my condo, with the locks of love that he still sneers at, and we are enjoying our wine in the grass.
I follow his instructions, expecting him to tell me a sexy story, but instead I feel him place something in my lap.
“If that’s a puppy, you can just take it back where you got it. I don’t do pets.” My lips turn up in a grin as he laughs.
“Not a pet, puppy or otherwise, cara,” he assures me. “Open your eyes.”
In my lap is a plain white envelope, with nothing written on the outside.
“A Dear John letter?” I ask dryly.
“You’re funny today,” he says with a smile and tucks my hair behind my ear. I love that he is forever touching me. I’ll never get tired of it. “Open it.”
Inside is an itinerary, for two, to Italy.
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
“I want to show you Italy. I want you to meet Gianna.”
“I want to meet both,” I reply, and then throw my arms around him. “We’re going to Italy!”
“We are.”
“When?”
“Whenever you like. The tickets are open-ended, so we can go whenever it’s convenient for you to get away.”
“You might be the best Italian boyfriend ever.”
He laughs, lays me back in the grass, and kisses me silly, sending tingles all through me.
Charming Italian.
“You have to get out of bed,” Dominic calls from the bathroom.
“I will,” I reply. “This picture is cheesy.”
He sticks his head out of the doorway and scowls at me. “I love that picture. You’re beautiful in it.”
Then he’s gone again, bustling around in the bathroom. The water is running. I hear him snatch his toothbrush out of its holder.
Honestly, I love that damn picture, it’s just fun to tease him about it. That was my favorite day in Italy.
“I get to crush the grapes with my feet?” I ask excitedly. “Like in ‘I Love Lucy’?”
“Something like that,” Dom replies and leads me into a barn with a big tub that looks like a water trough. A man dumps a bucket of grapes in it and grins at Dom.
“Tutti pronti,” the man says and walks away.
“What did he say?” I ask.
“All ready,” Dom replies. “Are you ready?”
“I’m going to stomp around in the grapes?”
“Yes.” His eyes are full of mischief as he leads me to a bucket of warm water, and helps me rinse off my feet, then holds my hand as I climb in the large tub and step into the grapes.
“This feels…weird.” I stand still, facing the open doors of the barn, where I can see the rolling hills of Tuscany and lines and lines of vines. It’s the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.
Aside from the one in Washington, at Dominic’s vineyard.
“You have to stomp on them, tesoro,” he says.
“Why aren’t you doing this with me?” I ask suspiciously as he aims his phone at me and snaps a picture.
/> “It’s more fun this way.”
“Uh huh.” I begin to walk, scrunching up my nose at the way the grapes squish between my toes. It smells earthy and good, but feels so weird. “This is kind of gross.”
“You’re so funny,” he says with a smile.
“I can’t believe you do it this way for all of your wine,” I say, as I trudge through the grapes.
“We don’t,” Gianna says from the doorway. “I can’t believe you’re making her do that.”
“I knew it!”
Dominic is doubled over, laughing.
“You’re such a shit,” I say with a laugh. “My feet are going to be purple forever.”
“Just for a few days,” he says, and wipes his eyes. “You look like you’re having fun.”
“Please get me out of here.”
He lifts me out of the tub, sets me on my feet, and holds his phone up, getting a selfie of us with Tuscany in the background, laughing, delighted with each other.
“You know,” Gianna comments as she watches us. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy, Dominic.”
“I haven’t been,” he replies, and rests his forehead on mine. “Until I found her.”
“Get your ass out of bed!” Dom calls from the bathroom.
“You’re bossy,” I grumble, as I roll out of bed and tug on panties and a bra, then decide, screw it, and throw his white shirt on from yesterday and join him in the bathroom. He’s standing in front of the mirror, shirtless, and leans his hands on the vanity as he watches me.
“You’re going to wear my dirty shirt to meet your parents?” he asks with a grin as I hop up onto the vanity next to him and swing my feet back and forth.
“You know, you don’t have to go,” I reply reasonably. “They’re nice enough, but you shouldn’t have to endure it. I can go alone.”
“No,” he replies simply, and combs his hair.
“I still can’t believe they called,” I say with a frown, watching Dom. “I mean, I told them to, if they ever wanted to have a relationship with me, but I didn’t expect them to actually do it.”
Big, gigantic butterflies take flight in my belly as I think about meeting up with my parents for lunch. They flew up here just to see me.
With Me in Seattle Bundle Two Page 100
