by Sophia Renny
Willa felt another climax building. She sucked in a deep breath, undulating her hips, pushing forward so that his pubic bone rubbed against her clitoris with every down stroke. She gasped his name over and over, her voice rising along with the pounding of her heart.
This was Joe inside of her. Joe. She marveled at how well they fit together: two pieces making a perfect whole; two lonely hearts finding their home in each other.
This time, she did hear her own scream. It seemed to echo off the walls, reverberating in her core. Her inner walls squeezed around his erection, pulling a deep, frenzied groan from him. He buried his face in her neck. He gave several quick thrusts, holding himself still on the final stroke as his climax pulsed deep inside of her.
His chest, hot and damp with sweat, settled over hers. She felt the heavy thud of his heart against her breast. For a few moments he lay still, panting against her neck. Then he slid his mouth slowly upwards, pressing lingering kisses against her skin. He lifted his head, his eyes finding hers, searching, asking.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She could only smile, tremulous, replete.
He smiled back and then he kissed her.
Chapter Eleven
She melted into his kisses, opening her mouth to the heat and the taste and the thrust of him. Their tongues tangled in a long, lazy exploratory dance. When she sucked the tip of his tongue between her lips, he groaned and laughed at the same time.
“Minx,” he breathed against her mouth.
He pulled back, carefully slipping out of her. He released her hands. He took her by the waist, scooting her on her back across the bed until she was on it fully, her head on a pillow. She watched him dispose of the condom before crawling after her, lying on his side to face her. He hooked one arm beneath her head, the other across her hips, and dragged her against him, belly to belly.
“You are so lovely,” he whispered.
He kissed her again.
She kissed him back ardently, running her palms across his chest and shoulders, delighting in the freedom to touch him. He had a gorgeous physique, lean but muscular in all the right places. She especially liked that place on his chest where she felt the heavy thud of his heart. She rested one palm there as her other hand drifted down to his stomach. She twirled a teasing finger in his concave belly button before sliding her hand lower to touch his burgeoning erection. She rubbed her thumb across the damp tip, then wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed, loving the way he twitched and grew in her hand.
She drew back from his mouth to whisper, “Ready for more?” She delighted in the lilting, teasing sound of her own voice. She’d never spoken that way out loud before.
His surprised laugh ended on a moan. “God, Willa. I’ve never recovered this fast. See what you do to me?”
He reached for another condom, rolling it on quickly before turning back towards her. His hand traveled from her waist to her thigh and lifted her right leg to drape across his hip. He thrust his pelvis against her. “Put me inside you,” he demanded.
She brought him to her opening and sighed her delight as he slowly buried himself inside her. She slid her hand from between their bodies and grabbed his flexing buttocks, digging her fingers into his firm flesh, urging his body to meld completely with hers.
He scraped his fingernails lightly up and down her thigh as he captured her mouth; his delving tongue matched the thrust and pull of his hips. Their breathing escalated until the point where he had to break away, burying his face between her breasts, his entire body quaking with the force of his release.
Her own, quieter orgasm chased his. She cradled him against her, pressing her face into his hair, her fingers caressing his temple, the shell of his ear. His body relaxed completely against her.
They slumbered, his erection still hard inside of her.
She drifted awake a short while later to the feel of him slowly withdrawing from her body. He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”
She propped herself up against the headboard and stretched her arms above her head. She felt a pleasant ache inside of her and in her thighs and lower back. She felt deliciously used and sated.
Joe returned with a glass of water. He set it on the nightstand and climbed into bed, sitting beside her. He pulled the comforter up to their waists. He reached for the water.
“Thirsty?” he asked.
“A little.”
He offered her the glass, watching as she took a few sips. He drank some too, and then set the glass back on the nightstand. He put his right arm around her shoulders, drawing her close, cupping her head against his chest. She draped her arm across his stomach.
“This isn’t going to be easy,” he said after a while, his voice rough.
She didn’t have to ask what he meant. “When will you tell her?”
“Tomorrow. No point in delaying.”
She brought her hand to his chest, resting her palm over her favorite place. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You haven’t done anything wrong. This was inevitable. I was stupid to think that if I stayed away from you my feelings would go away. They only grew stronger.”
“It was the same for me.”
“That breakfast was torture. Sitting there with both of you. I knew then that I was on the verge of breaking her heart. But I still fought against doing that. Today, when I saw you fall into the water… The thought that I might have lost you… I knew for sure there would be no turning my back on this.”
“Do you think she senses that something’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I haven’t slept with her since I met you. Actually, a while longer than that.” He sighed. “Everything felt right when I proposed to her. She was so happy. Her parents were thrilled. Sylvie and Tony were supportive. In my head, I thought I was just putting an official stamp on something that had already been in place for years. But—just a few days after I proposed—I felt like walls were closing in on me. I began to wonder if maybe I’d allowed myself to get caught up in the magic of the holidays. I’d been feeling sentimental about my mother. She and Julia’s mother had talked of Julia and me getting married since we were kids. They’d planted the idea in our heads.” His tone turned grim. “Breaking Julia’s heart is cruel. But to keep things as they are, to marry her in spite of the way I feel, would be crueler. I’m an asshole. I shouldn’t have asked her to marry me in the first place.”
“You’ve said that she’s your best friend.”
“And that’s what tears me apart. I’ve felt so guilty for not sharing her excitement about the wedding and guilty for wishing for things that I thought I’d put behind me—those lonely, hungry feelings I thought I’d buried a long time ago.” He shuddered. “I’m about to shatter every dream she’s ever had about me and her. Tomorrow is going to be brutal.”
Willa cleared her throat. “When you told me about Julia…and when I met her… At first I felt guilty, too. I saw how much you cared for her. But then I thought about the things Tony shared with me, about how much you’ve sacrificed for him and your sister, putting them first in everything.”
She sat up so she could look him straight in the eye. Her voice was fierce. “Don’t get me wrong. I admire what you’ve done for the sake of your family. But you can only do so much, Joe. You’re not a goddamn saint or martyr.”
He frowned back at her, looking startled. And then he threw his head back and laughed, loud and long. He wrapped both his arms around her, hugging her close as his laughter faded into chortles. “Oh, Willa,” he said, catching his breath. “You should see your face. You look like you’re ready to fight someone.”
She pulled out of his arms, but only so she could crawl on top of him, straddling his lap. She grabbed his face between her hands and brought her face close to his. “Listen to me. For most of my life, I let my father dictate my every direction. Since I moved here, I’ve learned that it’s okay to be selfish sometimes. It’s okay to do what you want, not what others expect fr
om you. It’s time to put yourself first, Joe Rossetti. To live your dreams for a change. I won’t allow you to feel guilty about that.”
He tightened his arms around her waist. His smile was sweet. “I’m listening. And you’re living up to your name.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wilhelmina. I looked it up. It means ‘strong willed warrior’ and ‘resolute protector’. Are you going to protect me, Wilhelmina, my strong, fierce warrior?”
She nestled into him, smiling against his neck. “You’re going to try and make me like my name, aren’t you.”
“It’s a pretty name. But so is Willa, my little mouse. How about I just use the full version when I’m trying to prove a point.”
She laughed. “Only if I can do the same. What’s your full name?”
“Joseph Francis Rossetti.”
“Mm. I like it.” She tweaked one of his flat, penny-brown nipples. “Maybe I’ll call you Francis when I’m mad at you.”
He smacked her bare bottom. “Only if you want to get spanked.”
She drew back, her eyes wide as she searched his teasing expression. “You’re into that kind of thing?”
“I might be. I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” He wiggled his hips, drawing her attention to his lengthening erection. “I’m finding I want to try all kinds of things with you, Willa.”
She discovered that he loved to be touched. Everywhere. His body quivered as she tracked her fingernails across his nipples, trembled as she flicked her tongue under his armpits, shook as she licked a trail along his groin. He was vocal in his appreciation of her mouth and hands, his groans escalating in volume, her name a shout on his lips as he reached his peak.
And he loved touching her in return. It was a rare moment that he didn’t have his hands on her, caressing the slender arch of her neck, the lobe of her ear, the swelling mounds of her breasts, the curve of her stomach, the damp, hungry places between her legs. He wasn’t shy about exploring every nook and cranny of her body, the promise of future sinful delights in his eyes as he watched myriad colors of pleasure flush across her face and neck.
She also discovered that he liked to call the shots in bed, his dark, intense voice commanding she turn this way or move that way, hands guiding, directing. She didn’t mind this at all. She craved it, was enthralled by it. It was rapturous not having to think or to analyze or to observe things from a cold distance. This was one place where she didn’t want to think at all, only feel. She surrendered body and soul to pure emotion, moving solely on instinct and the whims of her lover.
They loved. They dozed. They loved some more. He was insatiable, his energy unflagging. “I can’t get enough of you,” he groaned in her ear in the dark hours of the evening, pounding into her from behind as the heavy rain pounded on the roof. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
She took him into her mouth, a new experience for her. He showed her how he liked to be touched, murmured dirty, searing words of encouragement as she found his pleasure spots.
He took her in the shower, lifting her up and onto him, her legs anchored around his back.
They returned to bed and slept for a while.
It was long past midnight when Willa slipped out of bed and threw her robe on. After using the bathroom, she padded into the kitchen and pulled a pizza from the freezer.
Joe walked in a half hour later, jeans hanging loose on his hips, the top button undone. He scratched his bare chest, sniffing the air. “Pizza?”
“Sausage, mushroom and cheese.” She turned back to the oven, feeling a momentary, inexplicable bout of shyness. He was just so damn handsome and virile; the last few hours suddenly seemed like a crazy dream.
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. One hand found its way between the folds of her robe and gently cupped between her legs. “How do you feel?” he asked, his warm breath wafting across her cheek. He smelled of peppermint. He’d brushed his teeth.
She smiled at his thoughtfulness. Her body relaxed against his. “Just a little sore.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I got a little carried away that last time.”
She turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed his chin. “You’re not really sorry.”
He grinned wolfishly. “No.”
She giggled at the sound of male pride in his voice.
“Mmm. I love it when you laugh like that,” he said. He reached between her legs again and rubbed his thumb over her clitoris in gentle exploration. His cheek—slightly rough with the growth of new beard—brushed against hers. “This belongs to me now,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m going to take good care of it.”
She shivered with delight and buried her blushing face in his neck. “You’ve taken very good care of it so far.”
“I wish you had a bathtub. I want to pamper you in a bubble bath.”
“My new house will have a bath.”
“Mmm, yes. A huge tub. Big enough for two.”
She smiled at the vision of sharing a bath with Joe in the bathroom he’d designed for her.
After a while, he reluctantly withdrew his hand from between her legs. He brought both his arms around her waist, pressing her even closer and rested his cheek on top of her head. His chest moved in slow, deep breaths.
Willa played with the comma of hair at his nape with one hand while the other made soothing circles on his naked back.
“Tell me this isn’t just a dream,” he pleaded gruffly.
“It’s not a dream.”
His embrace tightened. He slid one hand upwards, grasping her nape as he angled his head to kiss her deeply.
Joe. Joe.
The sound of the oven buzzer eventually pulled them apart.
“Do you have wine?” he asked as she opened a drawer to retrieve an oven mitt.
“In the pantry. I like red.”
“Me, too.”
She took the pizza out of the oven and placed it on a cooling rack while he opened a bottle of cabernet. “Do you drink wine often?” she wondered.
“I’m Italian.”
She laughed at his blunt response. “I didn’t drink much until I moved here. The girls got me into it.”
He sat on one of the barstools, watching her as she set out a couple of wine glasses. “What was Collette up to today, asking me to come over here?” he wondered. “Do you think she forgot that she had other plans?”
Willa compressed her lips, debating how to respond. Then she shrugged. “She was plotting.”
He paused in the process of pouring the wine. “Plotting?”
“The girls all noticed right away how you were looking at me. They wanted this for me.”
“Did they know about Julia?”
“They found out about her when I did. But that didn’t stop their conniving. They were convinced that you were into me.”
“And they were right.” His forehead creased. “I didn’t do a very good job of hiding my feelings, did I. Do you think Veronica has caught on?”
“I don’t know. I think she might suspect something.”
“I’ll have to talk with her. I don’t want this showing up on the episode. That would only hurt Julia more. I can’t let that happen.”
Willa sliced the pizza and carried the pan over to the counter. She tore some paper towels from the dispenser and set them out as placemats. She came around the counter to sit on the bar stool next to him. “I don’t know if bringing Veronica’s attention to us is a good idea,” she said as she grabbed a piece of pizza. “She keeps telling me that the wall unit is the centerpiece of the episode. If she knew about this, she might edit scenes to put the focus on you and me instead.”
His frown deepened. “Maybe.”
They were silent for a while as they devoured the pizza.
She took a sip of wine, then said, “Tony’s going to be upset about this, too.”
His mouth flattened into a grim line. “I know.”
“He loves Julia.”
&nbs
p; “I know,” he said again. “She practically raised him.”
“No. Not like that. He loves her.”
Joe gave her a startled look. He slowly shook his head. “You’re wrong about that. She’s family. He made a promise to her once that he’d never make her cry. That’s what he told me a couple of weeks ago when he reminded me of the promises I had made and asked me to back away from you.”
It was Willa’s turn to shake her head. “The girls see it. I see it, too. He’s in love with her. Maybe he doesn’t fully realize it yet. I wonder how things would have played out if you and I hadn’t happened. If he would’ve ever said anything to you before the wedding took place.”
He gave this some thought. Then he shook his head again. “No,” he said, half to himself. “It can’t be true.” He looked down at his unfinished slice of pizza, forehead knotted with confusion and disbelief.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. But I thought you should be prepared for his reaction when you tell Tony about us. It might be worse than you expect.”
After a minute or two of silent contemplation, Joe lifted his head, swiveling the bar stool to face her directly. “Even if it’s true,” he murmured. “That doesn’t mean that Julia feels the same way about him.” His voice turned husky, his gaze intense and direct. “You can’t force someone to love you, Willa. It’s either there, or it isn’t. It just…is.”
Her heart fluttered. She took a deep breath. “I know,” she agreed softly.
He set his right elbow on the counter, propped his chin in his hand. “I looked you up online, you know,” he informed her, his gleaming eyes roving across her flushed features.
“Oh?”
“Wilhelmina the Whiz Kid. You were a sensation back in the day, just like you said. There were several articles and a few videos.” His teeth flashed in a teasing grin. “You were an adorable kid. What happened to the glasses?”
“Those were just for effect. My father’s idea.”
