Designing Hearts

  “Tesoro,” he whispered. “Your pussy is addictive.”

  She smiled. “I bet you say that to everyone.”

  “No. I haven’t felt like this with anyone else.”

  Moonlight streamed through the window and fell across her face. Veronica’s gaze met his. Stephano shivered. If two days was all she could give him, then he would gladly overdose on her until she left. Her warmth enveloped him. Pushing deep into her, his cock flexed with the need to release, but he was a gentleman. Ladies first.

  Stephano’s slow, steady thrusts became more frantic. Pressing his lips against her ear, he murmured in Italian how beautiful she was. He stroked the supple skin on her thigh. Her grip tightened on his shoulders. She tilted her hips. The slight shift added pressure to the base of his cock. Caused him to spasm. The legs of the bed scraped the hardwood.

  Surprise flashed in her haunting eyes. Then, an expression of peace spread across her face. It was a beautiful thing to make a woman climax. But, she was no ordinary woman. Her back arched. When she trembled, so did he. Warm caressed his ear. Veronica released his shoulders. Her hands flowed down his sweat-soaked back to curl around his hips. With her urging, he rushed into her as far as his cock would go.

  “Oh. God. Stephano,” Veronica panted.

  His body tensed. His sac clenched. He couldn’t hold it back any longer. With a grunt, he slammed his pelvis against her. For some reason, the only French phase that popped into his head was “have a nice day.” And that’s exactly what he shouted when he came.

  Instead of rolling onto his side, he collapsed on top of her. He wasn’t ready to break the connection. Veronica wrapped her hands around his waist. Her lips brushed his shoulder. They lay that way for a few minutes before her soft voice pierced the silence. “Stephano.”

  “Yes?”

  “I can’t breathe.”

  He rolled off of her and onto his back.Veronica curled into his side. She draped her thigh across his. Stephano took her hand and placed it on his cock. Tracing the path of her spine with his fingertips, he closed his eyes.

  “Don’t think,” he murmured,” that your cooking lesson is over.”

  She giggled. “Damn.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The rumble of thunder woke Veronica the next morning. Dark skies hovered outside Stephano’s window. Drops of rain were sprinkled on the glass. The bedside clock read eight a.m. His arm was draped across her waist. Gingerly, she sat up and tried to maneuver around it without waking him.

  He stirred long enough to twist onto his other side. Soon, he was asleep again. Standing, Veronica made her way to his closet. She put on one of his white button-down shirts and left it unbuttoned, while she padded to the kitchen. Coffee was what she needed. Veronica moved to the counter and discovered his machine was broken, but found a jar of instant in the cabinet. After filling a kettle with water, she put it on a burner.

  Veronica wandered into the small living room. He only had a sofa and a television. No pictures. No lighting. Shaking her head, she opened the double doors that led to a small Juliet balcony. The air smelled like rain but the dark clouds were breaking up. The balcony overlooked a quiet street.

  The kettle whistled. Biting a nail, she went back inside. Her mind worked. Last night, he had confessed that he didn’t like living here and had hoped to be closer to the inn. He also told her of his plans to have late night dinner service, but didn’t know how it would work. She added water to the brown crystals. Stirring the mixture, she walked to her tote bag and retrieved her notebook.

  As she scribbled notes in her journal, a naked Stephano emerged from the bedroom. Yawning, he stretched and made his way toward her. Veronica gazed at his solid torso, tattooing the memory of his perfect body into her brain for easy access when she was back in New York. Smiling, he bent and kissed her on the lips.

  “The whisperer is awake,” he said. “And already working.”

  Instead of walking around the sofa, he climbed over the back and squeezed in behind her and took the mug from her hands.

  “It’s black,” she warned.

  “I like it black.” He paused to drink half of it and then set the mug on the floor. “See, you can cook.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes. “It’s instant. Why haven’t you gotten a new coffeemaker?”

  “No time. What are you working on?”

  He slipped his hand inside her shirt and massaged her breast. Then, his hand snaked down her torso to stroke her clit. Closing her eyes, Veronica sighed. What was she working on? She couldn’t remember. The journal slipped off her lap and fell to the floor. Oh. Right.

  “Ideas for your inn,” she moaned.

  “You can tell me about them during the drive.”

  She raised her eyebrow. “Drive? Where are we going?”

  Stephano kissed her. “It’s a surprise.”

  Two hours later, Veronica was loaded into the passenger side of the Jeep. When he started the engine, a classic Police song filled the cab. He still wouldn’t tell her where they were going, so she’d dressed in the only thing she brought from the inn: a white T-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Since he was also casually dressed, in a black T-shirt and cargo shorts, she felt better about her choice.

  Before leaving his condo, she called to check on Guido. Lena assured her that he was having a ball. Veronica ran her hands through her hair. She again left it loose instead of styling it into a ponytail. As they zipped through the street toward a rural area, she realized this was the happiest she had been in a long time.

  “So, what are your ideas, whisperer?” Stephano asked.

  Veronica twisted in her seat to look at him. “How do you feel about separating the inn?”

  Stephano glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

  “What if you ran a full service restaurant in the location you have now, and the built a separate hotel? Except for your six rooms in the village, there are no places to stay. You could expand and have more tourist traffic in the evenings. Someone else can run the inn and you can focus on the restaurant.”

  Veronica touched and stroked his thigh. The hair on his leg tickled her palm. When he paused to think about her proposal, she continued, “Then, you can upgrade the kitchen. Add more staff and convert the upstairs into your living space.”

  “Our living space,” he said.

  She swallowed hard. “I have ideas for the village, too. What if we add an art gallery? I know someone who would kill to open a gallery here.”

  “I like that idea.”

  “It came to me when I was talking to Mikeli.”

  Stephano stiffened.

  What had she said wrong? He pulled off the road and parked in a grass field. Cows meandered nearby. Turing off the engine, he twisted to face her. He was wearing sunglasses, but she could tell he was angry by the way his jaw muscle pulsed.

  “When did you talk to him?” Stephano asked.

  “Yesterday. When I walked Guido.”

  Cursing in Italian, he ran his fingers through his hair.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I don’t like him. I want you to stay away from him.”

  Removing her hand from his thigh, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You need to give me a better explanation than that.”

  Exhaling, he threw his hand in the air. “He, Evander, and I were good friends. The three of us grew up together. In senior year, this girl moved to town with her family. Mikeli stole her from me.”

  Veronica frowned. “Was she your girlfriend?”

  “Not yet. I was courting her. But she chose to date Mikeli.”

  “It doesn’t sound like he stole her. It sounds like she simply chose him over you.”

  “The point is, he took her from me.”

  “No, he didn’t. Anyway, that was a long time ago.”

  Stephano leaned back against the door. “Maybe, but I don’t trust him.”

  It dawned on her that Stephano was afraid the same thing would happen with them. Softening her s
tance, Veronica touched his chest. Her own heart fluttered.

  “First, you don’t have to worry about his stealing me. He’s a nice guy, but I’m not interested in him. Second, this girl sounds kind of slutty to me.” Leaning forward, she cupped his face to drive home her last point. “And third…I like you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Except to New York,” he said bitterly. Twisting in his seat, he started the engine.

  Veronica dropped her hand into her lap. “Don’t do this,” she said.

  He steered the Jeep back onto the road. “When can we do this? At the airport?” He glanced at her, and then, stepped on the gas pedal. “I don’t want you to go.”

  A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to swallow. Her eyes misted. What could she do? For the first time in her life, she had to choose between her career and her heart. And she didn’t know which direction she wanted to go.

  They drove the rest of the way in silence. The farm landscape changed to groves of olives and grapes. Soon, he pulled into the long driveway of a modestly sized ranch. A black and white goat greeted her when she climbed out of the Jeep. Veronica stroked his soft fur. Stephano appeared beside her and did the same.

  “Where are we?” she asked.

  “My family home.”

  She flinched. “Am I meeting your parents?”

  “Of course,” he huffed. “Why would I bring you all the way out here?”

  Resting his hand on her lower back, he guided her to the front door. Her heart pounded in her chest. Gina was the first one to greet Veronica when she walked through the door. His sister was the spitting image of Stephano.

  Stephano excused himself to go find his parents.

  “How did you get my phone number?” Veronica asked her while Stephano was out of the room.

  “Your assistant Tammi. When I told her about Stephano, she gave it to me. I don’t mean to get her in trouble.”

  Veronica smiled. “You didn’t.”

  “He must really like you,” Gina said. “He never brings anyone home.”

  Before Veronica could reply, Stephano returned with their parents, Maria and Petro. Siblings Anise, Geraldo, and Lorenzo were also in tow. Stephano explained that the others lived in Athens.

  “You will meet them later,” he added, handing her a glass of white wine.

  After a tour of the ten-acre vineyard, much of the afternoon was spent sitting on the back deck of the two-story house, drinking wine and listening to stories about Stephano’s childhood. Veronica’s heart expanded to include his family. She sipped her wine, amazed at how well she fit in with his clan. That was also a bad thing. Her flight back to New York was rapidly approaching.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  It was just past eleven at night. Veronica’s heart was heavy when Stephano parked in the lot next to the inn. She tried not to let her darkening mood show, but judging by his silence, he was in the same place. He gathered her things from the back of the Jeep, while she waited on the sidewalk. The street was deserted. There wasn’t anyone, even at Mikeli’s bar. It looked like it was closed.

  “Do you need help?” she asked him.

  “For my breaking heart, yes. With the bags, no.”

  “Stephano.”

  Rain suddenly poured down on them. Stephano reached for her hand. They ran through the side door of the building. It was a short distance but her T-shirt was soaked. He dashed back outside, she assumed, to put the top up on the Jeep. It was dark in the dining area, but the street lamp outside the picture window provided enough light for her to move around the tables.

  Shivering, she stood in front of the window. Strands of her wet hair stuck to her face and neck. The lump in her throat returned. Hugging herself, she struggled to keep a lid on her emotions, but failed. One tear after another streamed down her cheeks. The door slammed behind her. Veronica tried to stop crying, but couldn’t. Stephano’s rain-soaked scent washed over her.

  “You’d better take this off before you get sick,” he said.

  He tugged the hem of her T-shirt. Veronica lifted her arms so he could pull it over her head. In his reflection in the window, she watched him yank off his own. Reaching around her, he unfastened her shorts and pulled them down her hips. She stepped out of them.

  Turning from the window, she cupped his face and captured his mouth with hers. Dressed in only a white bra and panties, Veronica trembled. Not from the cold air that caressed her wet skin. Not from the kiss that caused her knees to buckle. It was because she knew he was the man she’d been searching her whole life for. And she had to leave him.

  Veronica snaked her hand between them to unfasten his shorts. Releasing his mouth, she sank to her knees and pulled them down his legs. She flicked her tongue across the velvety tip of his cock, and then, wrapped her lips around his taut muscle. Caressing his thighs, she sketched every curve of his cock with her tongue.

  Groaning, he curled his hands around her head. The muscles of his sturdy thighs twitched under her touch. Drops of his salty essence trickled against the back of her throat. Against her tongue, his cock stiffened, lengthened. Veronica gripped his hips and pulled more of him into her mouth.

  Stephano bent over her. Unhooking her bra, he tugged the straps down her shoulders. She let the bra fall to the floor and shoved her panties down her thighs. His cock slipped out of her mouth. Unable to wait any longer, she climbed to her feet.

  Veronica sniffed back tears as she pressed her lips against the skin over his heart and flicked her tongue over his nipple. Her heart ached. Maybe, love wasn’t a crazy notion after all. Maybe, it was something that could happen to her. She felt it in his touch as he traced the sides of her torso with his fingertips. With every swipe of his lips against hers.

  He gripped her waist. Spinning them around, he bent her over a table and plunged deep inside of her. Veronica gasped. She spread her legs to brace herself against the force of his thrusts. The table moved. Their combined staccato breaths filled the space.

  Releasing her hips, he cupped her breasts. She covered one of his hands with hers. The heat of his torso scorched her back. Rocking her hips back against his, her thighs quivered. Stephano was wrong. It wasn’t her pussy that was addictive, but his cock. The way he fucked her with such raw passion left her wanting more. And he was still inside her.

  This wasn’t fair. For the universe to bring her Stephano and then snatch him away was criminal. As was the way his dick caused her to swallow her tongue. The muscle scraped the slick walls of her pussy. A shiver rippled down her spine. The shockwave of her orgasm overtook her body. Veronica climaxed again. And again. Her chant of “Oh, God” bounced off the barren walls. Stephano tensed. Grimacing, he exploded inside of her. She stayed still, bearing the weight of his thrust, until his tremors subsided.

  When he gathered himself, he went to sit on one of the wooden chairs and pulled her into his lap. Veronica closed her eyes. She rested her head on his sweaty shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her.

  “Once my vision returns, Tesoro,” he said. “I will satisfy your every need.”

  Giggling, Veronica ran her hand through his silky hair. “All I need is you.”

  “And me you shall have. But, for how long?”

  She opened her eyes to look at him. “Let’s not talk about that now.”

  “What would you rather do?” Stephano asked with a knowing grin.

  Twisting in his lap, Veronica straddled his hips and guided his cock back inside of her. “I have a few ideas.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Veronica awoke in her bed the next morning with Stephano’s body curled around her. Today was her last day in Rhodes and this was how she wanted to spend it. She snuggled against his warmth. Closing her eyes, she began to drift back to sleep, but a sharp knock at the door thwarted her plans. Ignoring the sound, she turned on her side to face Stephano and pressed her face into his chest. The knock sounded again.

  “Fuck,” he mumbled.

  Rolling out of bed, he grabbed her ro
be and draped it around his waist. She heard the door open. He spoke in Greek to the person on the other side. The voice of the other person was male. Stephano exhaled and closed the door. When she turned onto her back, he lifted the blanket and climbed on top of her.

  “My friend Evander and his new wife are here,” he said. Parting her legs, he guided himself inside her. “They have news. You will meet them, yes?”

  Veronica sighed as his cock stroked her hard and deep. The tip of his cock massaged the ridge of her spot. She held on to his hips for support. His green eyes flickered with mischief. He leaned down to capture her mouth with his.

  “Of course,” she said, breaking the kiss. “But, if you keep doing that, I won’t have time to bathe.”

  “You will, Tesoro. I won’t be long.”

  Forty minutes later, Veronica had showered and changed into a khaki shirtdress. Per Stephano’s request, she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Not even a bra. She paused at the top of the stairs to put on her wedge sandals. Butterflies swirled in her stomach. Truthfully, she was nervous about meeting his friends because she would probably never see them again. She didn’t want to like them, but had a feeling she would.

  Laughter surrounded her as she descended the stairs. The inviting sound warmed her heart, but she steeled herself against it. Guido greeted her at the bottom. She tucked him under her arm, and made her way to the dining room. Stephano, now freshly showered and dressed in a navy sweater and jeans, sat with the couple.

  The man had thick, dark hair, olive skin and piercing blue eyes. He wore a black polo shirt and jeans. His wife had flawless, mocha skin. Her dark curls were pulled back into a bun. She was dressed in a pink sundress. The couple, especially the woman, seemed to be the kind of people she’d love to hang out with. Too bad she was leaving. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Veronica pasted on a smile. They looked up when she approached. Stephano stood and kissed her cheek.