“What was that about?”
“That man is a reporter for a gossip magazine. He is digging around, trying to find out who you are.”
“Thank you for making sure that I didn’t talk to him. But I really don’t have anything to hide. I mean, I don’t mind answering a few questions, if that means he’ll go away and leave you be.”
Marco drew her closer to him. “I mind. I don’t want him writing about you. I don’t want the world to know the details of my personal life.”
“If I didn’t already love you, Marco, I would now,” she said, and then realized what she’d done.
She put her hand over her mouth. “I mean…”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply, his mouth moving over hers with skill and passion. Bringing her body to life. Making her crave so much more than his mouth on hers.
“I’m very happy to hear that you love me.”
Marco lifted his head when the doors opened on their floor. He kept one arm around Virginia as he led the way down the hallway to their room. Her confession made him feel ten feet tall. Somewhere deep inside he was relieved that she cared as deeply for him. But mostly, he just felt a primitive need to reaffirm the bonds between them. To ensure that she knew she was his and that no other man would ever have a place in her life like he did.
He wasn’t sure if that meant he loved her or not, and he didn’t care. Right now he needed to make love to her. To cement in both of their minds how deeply she was his.
He unlocked the door and led her through the suite to the balcony. He wanted to make love to her with the night around them and the beautiful city of Budapest spread out in front of them.
“Why are we out here?” she asked, her voice soft.
“I thought it only fitting that we celebrate out here under the night sky. Since the moon and the stars are what brought you to me.”
“Did they?”
“Well, it may have been a strega curse, but the strega get their strength from the moon and the night sky—”
“So they do.”
She was so beautiful in the moonlight. It wasn’t that she was classically beautiful, but there was something about Virginia that always drew his eyes to her. She imbued a certain sexiness that never failed to make him hard. Tonight, standing in the minimal light, with her hair hanging around her shoulders, she was breathtaking.
He ran his finger down the side of her face, caressing her cheekbones and her long neck. He reached the pulse at the base and felt it pounding heavily beneath his finger. “Are you excited?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” he said. He continued caressing her skin, tracing the seam where her flesh disappeared under the gauzy fabric of her dress.
She shivered with awareness and her nipples tightened against the bodice of her dress. He lowered the straps on her sundress so that the bodice hung loosely over her breasts.
“Take your top down for me,” he said.
“Out here?”
“Sì,” he said. He stepped back and watched her. He wanted her to want this moment as much as he did. And he liked pushing her past her own sexual barriers. Slowly, she lifted one arm and then the other. She kept her breasts covered, one hand holding the fabric against her chest.
“Are you sure you want me to take this off?” she asked.
He nodded. “Do it now, mi’angela.”
Shaking her head and letting her hair fall around her shoulders, she let the bodice fall slowly away from her skin. Her breasts were full, her nipples tight, begging for his attention. She looked so sexy at that moment that he was almost overwhelmed, but he attributed it to the fact that he hadn’t made love to her today.
He stepped to her and leaned down to lick each nipple until it tightened. Then he blew gently on the tips. She shivered, her hands coming up to frame his head. She arched her back and thrust her breast against his lips. He sucked her deep into his mouth and felt as though he could find that one thing he’d always been thirsting for in her body.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her to his body. He attended her other nipple, and then tried to push her dress down her body, but it was too tight at the waist.
He found the zipper and lowered it. Her dress fell to her feet and he stepped back to look at her. She wore only a mint-green-colored thong and a pair of sexy heels. Her hair was tousled around her shoulders, her nipples red and beaded from his attention and her lips were swollen, begging for more of his kisses.
He caressed her body, sweeping his hands down her sides until he reached the satin fabric of her panties. He grasped either side and pushed them down her legs. Now she was completely naked.
“Now you are as nature intended for you to be,” he said.
“Am I?” she asked.
“Sì. You are exquisite. And I cannot wait to thrust myself deep into your body and feel your silky limbs wrapped around me.”
“You are a tad bit overdressed.”
“Then undress me,” he said.
She pushed his jacket off his arms, but instead of letting it fall on the floor, she took it to one of the patio chairs and draped it over the back. He enjoyed watching her naked body as she moved around the patio.
She unbuttoned his shirt next, taking her time to caress each bit of skin that she revealed. She lowered her head and dropped nibbling kisses on his chest. She pushed the shirt off and carried it over to the chair where she’d placed his jacket.
He realized that the minx was teasing him, and he was enjoying the hell out of it—and her. But he needed her. He wanted—no needed—to be buried inside her now. He was hard and he knew he would probably climax as soon as he thrust inside of her. But he wanted to make sure she came at least once before he did.
He lifted her up once she was back within arm’s grasp and carried her back inside their suite. He set her on the couch in the living room.
“I need you. Now.”
She nodded. “I need you, too, Marco. So much.”
“Show me how much,” he said.
She parted her legs and he saw the glistening of her body’s moisture.
“Open yourself for me,” he said.
Her thighs twitched and she drew her own hands down her body. But she hesitated at the top of her thighs. “I’m not sure I can….”
He took her hands in his and brought them to her mound. “I want to taste you, Virginia. Don’t you want to feel my mouth on you?”
He kissed her lips again. Thrust his tongue deep inside her mouth and sucked on her lower lip before leaning back to see her reaction.
She nodded and he felt her hands move between them.
The pink of her flesh looked so delicate and soft with the red rose petals around it.
“Hold still,” he said.
He leaned down, blowing lightly on her before tonguing that soft flesh. She lifted her hips toward his mouth.
He drew her flesh into his mouth, sucking carefully on her. He held on to her thighs, holding her in place as he carefully tasted her essence. He wanted to strip away all of her barriers, so that she’d never forget this night and the confession she’d made in the car.
He felt the frantic movements of her hips against his mouth and then her fingernails dug into his shoulders. He lifted his head to look up at her.
Her eyes were closed, her head tipped back, her shoulders arched, throwing her breasts forward with their berry-hard tips, begging for more attention. Her entire body was a creamy delight.
He lowered his head again, hungry for more of her, feasting on her body the way a starving man would. He used his teeth, tongue and fingers to bring her to the brink of climax, but held her there, wanting to draw out the moment of completion until she was begging him for it.
Her hands grasped his head as she thrust her hips up toward him. But he pulled back so that she didn’t get the contact she craved.
“Marco, please.”
He scraped his teeth over her clitoris and she screamed as her orgasm rocked through
her body. He kept his mouth on her until her body stopped shuddering, and then slid up her.
“Your turn,” she said, drawing him up next to her on the couch. She reached for his belt and he lowered his zipper while she unfastened it. He lowered his pants and boxers in one quick move. She took his erection in her hand and followed with her tongue, teasing him with quick licks and light touches.
He arched on the couch, thrusting up into her before he realized what he was doing. He pulled her from his body, wanting to be inside her when he came.
He pulled her up his body until she straddled him. Then, using his grip on her hips, he pulled her down while he slid into her.
He pulled her legs forward forcing them farther apart until she settled even closer to him. He slid deeper still into her. She arched her back, reaching up to entwine her arms around his shoulders. He thrust harder and felt every nerve in his body tensing. Reaching between their bodies, he touched her between her legs until he felt her body start to tighten around him.
He climaxed in a rush, continuing to thrust until his body was drained. He then collapsed against her.
“You are mine now, Virginia Festa.”
“And you are mine, Marco Moretti.”
“For now,” he said.
Eleven
Virginia was happy to be back in Valencia for the Grand Prix of Europe. It felt like her life with Marco had started in Spain. She and Elena were in the pit area, hanging out together. The last three weeks since Budapest had been the best of her life.
She and Marco had turned a corner in their relationship, and contrary to ruining things, her confession had drawn them closer. Marco blew her a kiss from behind the wheel of his race car as he went out for a practice run on the track.
Elena slipped her arm through Virginia’s. “I’m so happy for you and for Marco. He’s needed a good woman in his life for a long time.”
“Has he?” she asked. Though she knew it was silly, she was jealous of the women in Marco’s past.
“Yes, he has. He and his brothers made that silly vow, and I thought that Marco would never date a woman like you.”
“What vow?” she asked. She knew that no one, save for the Moretti brothers, knew about her contract with Marco.
“The one they took never to fall in love.”
Virginia swallowed hard. She told herself that the vow Marco had made long ago had nothing to do with her. She was here to break the curse anyway, even if he had made a deal with his brothers.
There was a loud screeching sound of wheels on asphalt, and then a boom that shook the ground around them. Since her back was to the track, Virginia had no idea who had crashed. Elena’s face went deathly pale as she stood next to Virginia. She gripped the other woman’s hand as she turned toward the track.
Flames and smoke engulfed the car and she couldn’t make out anything other than the sight of fire trucks rushing to the scene. Everyone went still. The only sounds were those coming from the emergency vehicles. No one spoke in the pit area until, finally, a man that Virginia didn’t recognize came over to them.
“Keke isn’t responding on the radio. They are cutting him out of the car now.”
Elena started sobbing and Virginia saw her own fears realized in Elena’s eyes. “Is he alive?” Elena cried.
“Yes. I will take you to the hospital where he will be airlifted.”
“Yes. That will be fine. But I can’t leave here until Keke does.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Virginia asked. She wrapped her arm around the other woman. She had no idea what to say, how to offer comfort. Part of her was still afraid that Marco wasn’t all right, though he hadn’t been near Keke.
Her heart was racing. The acrid smell of smoke filled the air and the JumboTron screen rebroadcast the crash in slow motion. Virginia knew that if it were Marco’s crash, she wouldn’t be able to watch it, so she drew Elena away from the pit area and to Keke’s trailer.
“How are you feeling?”
Elena said nothing, but silent tears ran down her face. Virginia hugged the other woman close. This was horrible. They knew nothing, and Virginia realized that the officials mustn’t have heard anything yet. Elena needed someone to tell her something.
She saw a race official and waved him over. She used her rudimentary knowledge of French to try to communicate with him. “Have you had any word on Keke’s status? His fiancée is beside herself.”
“Nothing yet. Ms. Hamilton is welcome to go to the official trailer and wait there for word.”
The official moved on.
“Do you want to do that?” she asked Elena.
“Yes. I think that would be good. Oh, God, Virginia, I’m so scared.”
“Don’t worry. Everything will be okay,” Virginia said, then realized that she had no idea if everything was going to be okay. But she refused to think negatively. She offered a quick prayer that Keke would survive his crash.
“Let’s go,” she said to Elena.
When they got to the trailer, the officials were immediately very helpful in getting Elena a comfortable seat and a drink, but they had no information. After ten minutes, Elena turned to her.
“I can’t take this. I just need to know that he’s alive.”
“Okay. I will go find out what I can. You wait here, so the officials can find you.”
“Thanks.”
Virginia raced back to the viewing area. She saw Dominic Moretti walking through the pit and ran over to him. If there was any man who could get answers for her, it was a Moretti.
“Dominic, do you know what’s happening?”
“I’m not sure. How’s Elena?”
“Beside herself. We can’t get any information from anyone. I’m not even sure who to ask. But she needs something—to know Keke’s status.”
“I will see what I can find out.”
“Grazie,” she said, but didn’t let go of his arm.
“Was there something else?”
“Um…have you heard from Marco?”
Dom grasped her shoulder in a very reassuring way. “He’s fine. Still out on the track. They won’t let him close to Keke’s car, either. I’ll tell him that Elena is anxious to hear from her man, in case he gets to talk to Keke.”
“That would be great. Would you tell Marco…just that I’m glad he’s okay.”
“I will relay your message to him. Keep close to Elena. Here is my mobile number so we can keep in touch.”
She programmed Dom’s cell number into her phone so that she’d have it.
Keke was pulled from the wreckage of his car and airlifted to the local hospital. Marco had to finish his lap and still hadn’t qualified. But knowing his best friend was in the hospital tinged everything.
Almost forty minutes after the crash, they were all back in the garage. Still wearing his jumpsuit and sitting on a chair drinking a bottle of water, Marco waited for the officials to reopen the track. Virginia had phoned to say that she was going to accompany Elena to the hospital. There had been fear and worry in her voice, and he hadn’t had the words to soothe those fears.
He had no idea what was going to happen with Keke. He’d lost only one other friend to racing, but they all knew that it was a risk, driving at superfast speeds in cars designed more for speed than safety.
“Do you have a minute for us?” Dom asked as he and Antonio came into the garage area. His brothers looked tired and worried.
“Yes. What’s up?”
“Are you okay?”
“Sure. Crashes happen. Remember the twenty-four hours at Le Mans, when we were kids? Everyone thought Nonno wouldn’t walk away from that…but he did.”
Dom and Antonio both looked at him and Marco knew they were two of the few people in the world he couldn’t fool with his glib tongue.
“It really does not matter how many crashes we’ve seen. Keke is your best friend.”
“I know, Dom. I keep seeing it replaying in my head. Keke—is better than he drove today.”
Dom pulled a chair up next to him and sat down. “What do you mean? You think he deliberately crashed?”
“No. Not at all. He is too professional to do something like that. I think that he has something to lose now, and that made him second-guess his instincts.”
Marco didn’t say it out loud, but he was thinking that he had something to lose now, too. The new life that he was starting to carve with Virginia. He hadn’t said anything to her, but he’d been thinking that once the racing season ended he’d go back to the States with her for a few weeks. Maybe convince her to move to Europe permanently.
“How do you know this? Did Keke say something that made you think that Elena was a liability?” Antonio asked, as he leaned his hip against one of the big toolboxes in the area.
Marco shook his head. “Nothing like that, Dom. It’s just that you get to know a man after spending so much time together.”
“The same way that brothers know each other,” Antonio said. “We look at the world the same way because we have a shared past and dreams of a successful future.”
“Exactly,” Marco said. He knew his brother was trying to allude to the fact that Marco had let Virginia grow too close.
“Let’s discuss something else. Elena went to the hospital and will let us know once Keke is out of surgery.”
“That is good. I’ll head over there when you go out to take your qualifying laps,” Dom said. “We need someone from Moretti there.”
“Yes, we do. Is there any chance that the wreck could have been caused by sabotage?” Antonio asked.
Marco hadn’t even thought of that. Had he used his perception of how Keke felt about Elena to color his version of what had happened on the track? “Why do you ask?”
“Because someone is out to ruin us. The corporate spying is one thing, but now that we are on to them, maybe they’ve changed tactics,” Antonio said.
“It could be, but security here is very tight. Pedro would be the one to ask, but I have to warn you, he’ll be offended that you are asking. He prides himself on being the best in the business.”
“If he’s the best then he won’t mind a few questions,” Dom said. “I’ll talk to him.”
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