Secret Seduction (Secret Series Romance Novels)

by Jill Sanders

  There was no way they had just stumbled upon them in a barn in a large field in the middle of nowhere. There was no way they had gotten that lucky.

  He didn’t worry about being tracked anymore since they had both lost their phones. Well, lost everything actually. And they hadn’t even called her family to update them on their progress, so nobody knew where they were yet. He wanted to keep it that way.

  He knew that the other men were watching the airports in Rome and thought about taking a train instead, but knew that the train and bus stations might be watched as well. He just couldn’t chance it.

  So they’d walked into the car rental place with freshly dispensed cash from the ATM across town, and rented a small sedan.

  It was less than a six hour drive to Rome, but Jason knew they weren’t going to be taking the shortest route. He had mapped out a route on the car’s dash GPS which he thought might throw anyone off their trail. Instead of taking the most direct route, diagonal across the land, they were going to take the east route and head north until just past Pescara, then head southwest into Rome.

  After they had packed up their backpacks into the compact sedan, he started driving out of town. He was happy driving, he enjoyed taking the less-traveled roads that wound around the little villages. Taking the back streets meant that several times they would hit dead ends that the GPS didn’t show or streets that were too narrow for cars to pass through.

  But they enjoyed every minute and Katie couldn’t stop talking about how different Italy was than Greece. Here, everything just seemed… shinier -- her words, not his.

  It’s almost as if she’d come alive. She sat on the edge of her seat, taking in everything and talking about the buildings and people they passed.

  The scenery was flatter here than in Greece, but still seemed more beautiful. It seemed more populated, the roads and towns better maintained. Plus there seemed to be tourists everywhere. In Greece he could only see signs of tourism in the larger cities, whereas here, even in the smaller oceanside towns, people were enjoying the beaches and small town scenery.

  They stopped in a small town just off the waterfront for lunch and dined at a cafe in Via Molise. They sat on the street patio and ate the best pizza they’d ever had, as they watched people coming and going at the local shops. Italy felt different to him as well. Things looked cleaner, shinier, as Katie had said. The tourists seemed happier and more relaxed, almost as if they weren’t rushed. Plus the locals looked healthier and happier. The houses were better maintained and there were quite a few more of them. There were also many more towns here. The population here seemed triple what it had been in Greece.

  He could smell the ocean and when they finished lunch, they decided to take a break from riding in the car.

  They held hands as they slowly made their way the few blocks to the beach, where they watched people play in the Mediterranean under the warm sun.

  The water and white sands looked so inviting that Katie had removed her clothes and shoes and waded in wearing the swimsuit she’d purchased just yesterday. Jason finally broke down and pulled off his shirt and shoes and followed her into the cool water with just his shorts on. In the last year he had never felt this wonderful or this relaxed. He enjoyed holding onto Katie in the surf, holding her wet body next to his, and he thought about the excitement of taking her then and there in the cool water, but there were too many people around. He really enjoyed the feel of her wet body next to his; maybe they would have to take a shower later that night.

  He thought they would have to make it back down this way once things settled down, so they could spend more time on the white sandy beaches. After almost an hour playing in the warm surf, he knew they needed to head out. Dusting the sand off was easy since they had both dried off during the short walk back to the rental car. They shook as much sand off as they could and started out of town. They took the scenic route along the water’s edge for a while, and Katie stared off into the water.

  “I wouldn’t mind living here.”

  He smiled; he was thinking the same thing. Really, they didn’t have anything or anyone to go back to the States for. He could easily get a job anywhere. He still had a few credits before he could officially take the bar exam, but he could look into taking Italy’s equivalent and start his own practice here. Thinking on it, he silently watched the scenery pass by.

  A few hours later, they made the turn off to start heading west towards Rome. Most of the houses here were large, white stucco buildings with red, tiled roofs surrounded by acres of large fields and rolling hills. She told him that she had enjoyed seeing all the different countries during her year abroad, but that this place felt different. He agreed. He’d enjoyed their travels and the only thing that could have possibly made it better was if they’d done them together, instead of him following her, out of sight.

  He started thinking of the meeting ahead of them. Of her seeing her mother, fathers, and brothers. He’d known Rodrick and Kathleen all his life, he’d always looked up to the couple. After Jason’s father had died, Rodrick had taken him under his wing. He’d always known he could count on the man. He looked to Ric like he was a brother, something he’d never had the privilege of having himself. His mother and Kathleen had always been in the same circles. They’d attended all the events at the country club together. One year, the families had even vacationed together in Puerto Rico. He knew Rodrick and Ric felt hurt about Kathleen’s deception, and to be honest, he had as well. He’d taken it very personally, at first. After all, she’d lied to him as well. But after meeting with her and hearing her side of things, he just couldn’t stay mad. People made mistakes in life. After all, he wasn’t perfect, and he didn’t expect others to be either.

  “It’s almost as if I can feel the history in my blood coming alive.” Katie interrupted his thoughts, and she looked at him as he smiled over at her. “It’s hard to explain, even the smells are just… right.” She looked over at Jason and realized he was quiet, almost too quiet.

  “What’s going on?” She leaned against the door and watched him drive the windy road.

  “Hmm?”

  “You. You’re awful quiet.”

  “Just enjoying the drive, enjoying you.” He flipped on the wiper blades as a light rain started to hit the windshield. Somehow the rain made the field even greener. He could make out a light rainbow and silently wished she’d change the subject.

  “I’m not buying it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You know,” his smile faded, knowing how determined Katie was, “she’s going to be there.”

  “Oh! I knew you were thinking about something. I just hoped it was something other than her.”

  He chuckled, “You say her like it’s a curse word.”

  “It is in my book.” She propped up her feet on the dash and crossed her arms, then looked out the window. He could tell she was trying to avoid this conversation.

  “Katie, you’re going to have to deal with her at some point in your life. What about your brother and his new wife? Are you just planning to never spend family holidays together? And do you ever want to meet your brother Dante?”

  “I don’t know. I was going to start with meeting my BD first, then see where it led.” She pouted and looked out the window, quietly.

  “Well, at least that’s a start. You have heard that they are together right? They married again shortly after your parents’ divorce was final.”

  She had; it had been all over the news. Her mother had finally, twenty-six years too late in her book, divorced her father and had moved to Rome to be with Damiano Cardone.

  “Why do you think I was meeting him in Greece?”

  He laughed, “Well, I know she’s been worried about you since the day you took off. She was on her way there, you know.”

  “Where?” Katie sat up and looked at him.

  “To Boston, to see you.”

  “What?” This was news to her. The last she’d heard from her mother was a quick c
all which had interrupted a very awkward conversation with Jason.

  “She showed up right after I got back to your place and started looking for you. I knew you’d taken your passport and wallet, but had left some major items behind. Like the iPhone I bought you for Christmas.”

  He looked sad and she felt bad that she’d forgotten the damn phone.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “I figured that, since you had also taken a pair of shoes I knew you hated and left your comfy clothes behind.”

  “You really do know me that well.” She thought for the first time in over a year about all the items she’d left behind. “Where is all my stuff?”

  He looked over at her and smiled. “Storage.”

  “Good, that’s good. I’d hate to see all my Gucci bags go to Goodwill and sell for a dollar, or worse, go to that blond girl down the hall from me.” They both laughed.

  A few hours later, they drove into Rome. The evening traffic was heavy and she was very tired of sitting in the car. She didn’t know what the plans were, where they were going to stay, but she knew she wasn’t in the mood to meet any of her family tonight.

  “How about we stop and get dinner and a hotel.” She was surprised the thought came from Jason, since she’d just been thinking the same thing.

  “You read my mind.”

  Less than an hour later, they found a wonderful bed and breakfast and lucked out that the place had a cancellation for the night. It was a beautiful old brick building right across from the Colosseum. Third Floor Bed and Breakfast, the antique sign read.

  When they got to their room, he opened the curtains and they both gasped at the beautiful sight of the Colosseum out their window. They couldn’t have asked for a better, more romantic room. After dropping off their bags, they decided to spend the rest of the evening pretending to be tourists. Actually, they really were tourists, since neither of them had ever been to Rome before.

  They walked across the street, hand in hand, and enjoyed going around the Colosseum for almost an hour. They even joined a tour group, learning the history of the Colosseum and watching several of the plays and skits that were going on around the building. When he pulled her close in a dark stone hallway of the underground Colosseum walkways and kissed her, she would have sworn she felt the whole building vibrate with her.

  Then they walked over to the Arch of Constantine. It was a lot larger than Katie had thought. She’d seen it on several movies and never imagined all the detail that could still be seen seventeen centuries later.

  They had purchased a disposable camera and had taken plenty of pictures of each other along the way. At the Archway, Jason asked a woman to take a few pictures of them standing under the archway. He’d quickly kissed her for one, and in the other they’d smiled at each other. She couldn’t wait to have the film developed, and silently wished for her iPhone and its digital photo abilities.

  From there they walked over to the Temple of Venus, where Jason bought her a small trinket from one of the many carts that lined the streets. The bracelet had the image of Venus, the goddess of love and bringer of good fortune, or so the salesman said in broken English.

  “It suits you.” He took his time putting it on her wrist. For a small, cheap trinket, Katie held the gift dear to her heart.

  By this time the sun was setting, and they ended their tour of Rome back at the Colosseum, watching the sun sink low behind the large walls, lighting the sky in a spectacular array of light and colors.

  Tourists clapped their hands when the sun finally dropped below the great walls, leaving everyone in its shadows. She pulled Jason’s head down and kissed him to more cheers from people around them. Laughing, they walked back to a cafe just down the street from where they were staying and ate dinner under the stars, with the street lights blinding her to anything else but him.

  She never imagined being with him like this. She looked across the table and noticed that the bruising on his face had disappeared almost completely. She knew that he still had to have the small stitches, which sat just under two white butterfly bandages under his longer hair, removed. But his face was back to normal and he had never looked as good as he did sitting across from her in the most romantic setting she’d ever witnessed. Her mind quickly turned to the pleasure she was imagining under his hands. How had it come to this? Was she always going to be thinking about having his hands on her?

  Looking across the table at him, she saw him smile at her and she could tell he was thinking almost the same thing as she was.

  “If you keep looking at me like that…” he let the statement drop off.

  “What? Will you punish me? Spank me? Maybe I want you to spank me. Maybe I want you to punish me.” She didn’t know where all that had come from, but when she saw his eyes cloud over, she knew she was in for it, and her excitement doubled.

  “Check!” Jason raised his hand and waved at the waiter.

  After paying, he took her hand and they walked quickly towards the bed and breakfast. They made it back to their room, but barely. They were both breathless when they came together behind their room door, and she knew it had nothing to do with the two flights of steep stairs they had just climbed.

  His hot mouth melted her control and he held her against the wall until she pushed him and reversed their positions, almost knocking down a picture from the wall. Now his back was against the door and she enjoyed watching his amusement at her boldness. She nibbled his lip and ran her hands over him quickly.

  “Little rough, aren’t you?” he asked, and she answered him by taking his bottom lip between her teeth and nibbling on it. Then she was pushing his hands away from trying to untuck her shirt. She stood back and slowly unbuttoned her blouse, almost making a show out of it, removing it slowly. Then she followed it with her skirt, until finally she stood in her sexy black bra and panties in front of him.

  He stood there, leaning against the door, breathless.

  “My God, you are beautiful.”

  Walking slowly towards him, she removed his shirt in one fast motion. He was sure she’d popped a few buttons, but he didn’t care. Then she quickly removed his belt and started in on his jeans.

  “Katie?”

  “Don’t! Let me,” she moaned as she started trailing kisses down his chest until she hit the top of his jeans.

  Then she pulled them over his hips and smiled as he groaned her name.

  She wasn’t going to let him control the speed this time. This time she was in charge and wanted, more than anything, to see him squirm under her hands and mouth. She wanted to show him that she could be in charge, that she could give him as much pleasure as he’d shown her the last few days.

  She slowly pulled his jeans down his legs and watched as his arousal pushed against his skin tight boxers briefs. Then, slowly, she freed him and held her breath at how beautiful he was. She reached for him and ran a finger up and down his length, enjoying the fact that he held his breath as he watched her face.

  “Let me know if I do something you don’t like,” she whispered.

  Then, as she watched his face, she leaned in and kissed him, then licked the trail her finger had just taken. He grabbed her head and moaned, so she continued to experiment with her mouth, giving him pleasure and arousing herself at the same time.

  “Katie,” he said, then he grabbed her under her arms and hauled her up. Taking the dozen or so steps to the large four-poster bed, he dropped her on the soft mattress and was inside her before she could think.

  He held himself above her, looking into her eyes until finally, she grabbed his hips and forced him to move.

  “Please, Jason, I need you.”

  “I need you, too, Katie, too damn much.” Then he was moving quickly and his thrusts became almost violent as they were both overwhelmed by each other.

  The next morning they decided it was time to finally call her family. It had taken him quite a bit to convince her that they needed the extra help in figuring out who was
after her. Plus, they needed to find out where to meet everyone.

  She would have been happy continuing on her travels until she became tired of it all and returned home to Boston. But Jason had convinced her that a trip to meet Damiano Cardone was the next move they needed to make.

  After the call to both her fathers, it was agreed the best place to meet would be at the New Edges Corporate office building, which happened to be only a few blocks away.

  They checked out of the B&B and left their bags in the rental car, which they decided to leave parked in a small spot they had hunted down the day before. Then they set off on foot for the short journey.