The Marcelli Bride

by Susan Mallery

  It didn’t sound like an animal to Brenna. “I don’t get it,” she said. “I left Joe in there and passed Darcy on the way….” Understanding dawned. But as soon as the thought formed, she pushed it away.

  No. It wasn’t possible. Her stiff-necked brother would never loosen up enough to—

  She pushed the intercom again and heard Lieutenant Commander Joseph Larson say something very dirty.

  “Oh my God,” Brenna shrieked.

  She backed away from the intercom. She looked from her stunned mother to her equally shocked grandmother and began to laugh.

  Colleen grinned. “Guess Joe found himself a girl.”

  “In the storeroom?” Tessa asked, sounding outraged. “It’s immoral.”

  “It’s fun,” Brenna said. “I always hoped he’d find someone, but the president’s daughter? What on earth is he thinking?”

  • • •

  Darcy braced herself on the table and bucked against Joe. So close. So close. He rubbed her center, moving faster and faster until she had no choice but to fly into her release.

  She wanted to warn him, to say something, but she couldn’t speak. Her muscles convulsed as she came over and over again. Pleasure poured through her, a river of release. It was good. It was better than good—it was damn close to perfect.

  • • •

  Joe straightened and looked at Darcy. Her eyes were wide, and she was still breathing hard. He tucked her hair behind her ears then leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.

  “Not bad for somebody famous,” he said.

  As he’d expected, she grinned, then swatted his arm.

  “Not bad for some macho, paramilitary type,” she told him.

  “There’s no ‘para’ about it. I am military.”

  “Yeah, yeah, like that’s going to impress me.”

  He touched her chin so she had to meet his gaze. “You screamed.”

  Color rose on her cheeks. “Did not.”

  She was right. She hadn’t screamed. But she’d grabbed on to him as if she never wanted to let go, and she’d taken him on the ride of his life.

  Reluctantly he stepped back and reached for his jeans.

  “Ah, the postcoital cleanup,” she said as she lowered herself to the floor, then reached for her panties and shorts.

  He supposed he should feel awkward about what they’d just done. It hadn’t been planned, and he didn’t usually give in to impulses like that. If anyone found out…

  He didn’t want to think about that, even though he was going to have to—eventually. But right now there were other issues.

  “You’re looking serious.” She finished fastening her bra, then started with the buttons on her blouse. “Regrets?”

  “No.” He pulled her close and lightly kissed her. She held on tight. “Questions.”

  “Such as?”

  “You on any birth control?”

  He watched her closely, knowing he would be able to guess by her expression. Instead of panic, he saw something very close to smug victory.

  “I’m on the Pill. Aren’t you lucky,” she said, leaning against him.

  “Damn straight.” He stroked her short hair. “I usually take precautions. You messed with my mind.”

  “Little ol’ me?”

  “No one else here.” He felt her tremble. “Darcy? You okay?”

  She nodded but wouldn’t look at him. He touched his finger to her chin and raised her head.

  “What?” he asked.

  She looked defiant, shy, and embarrassed. An amazing trick.

  “I’m being sophisticated and worldly,” she said. “Don’t mess that up.”

  And then he got it. He lashed out when he felt threatened; she used humor. He thought about her life—the public scrutiny, the Secret Service agents.

  “Hard to date when you’re the president’s daughter?” he asked quietly.

  “You have no idea.”

  He kissed her. “The guys in D.C. are idiots. And not just the ones in office.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I mean it.”

  She raised herself on tiptoe and kissed him. “I know.” A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You’ve just had sex with the youngest daughter of your commander in chief. I think you need to propose now. It’s really the least you can do.”

  He wanted to pull her close again, but he respected her need to stay strong.

  “Wouldn’t you get nervous if I did?” he said. “It’s almost worth it to see.”

  “Almost isn’t the same.” She stepped back and smoothed down the front of her blouse. “How do I look?”

  “Sexy.”

  She dismissed him with a flick of her hand. “I don’t care about that. Do I look normal? I don’t want anyone guessing what just happened. We have your family to think of, and my security team. Trust me, none of them need to know.”

  “Agreed.”

  He studied her, taking in the swell of her breasts a whole lot more than the straightness of her clothes, then motioned for her to turn around.

  When she’d completed a full circle, she held her arms out at her sides and said, “Well?”

  “Perfect,” he said. He moved in and claimed her in a hot, deep kiss that soon had his body ready for round two.

  She moaned. “Good idea. Bad timing, but a great idea. We got lucky once. Do you realize the odds of someone walking in on us?”

  Amazing how he almost didn’t care.

  “I’ll go first,” she said as she pushed away and started for the door. “Wait a few seconds before following.” Her gaze dropped to his crotch, where he knew she could see he was hard again. “Or longer.”

  • • •

  Darcy felt like the beautiful young princess in a classic fairy tale. It was only a matter of time until the birds broke into song and the little woodland creatures gathered supplies to make her a fabulous ball gown.

  It was the sex. Parts of her body ached from the physical activities, but it was the kind of ache that made her smile and want to do it again. For that she could thank Joe.

  He’d been great. Not just with the mechanics, although he could certainly earn a merit badge in technique and stamina, but with how he’d acted.

  He’d made her feel comfortable, both during and after. He’d joked and he’d held her, and best of all, he’d wanted her again. Guys might be able to fake a lot of things, but not an erection that size!

  Life was good, she thought as she headed toward the main building of the winery. Who knew getting kidnapped would turn out to be so beneficial for her personal life?

  Still smiling, Darcy entered the main building of the winery. She felt more than saw the Secret Service agents behind her, but she ignored them. Today nothing could get in the way of her good mood.

  “There you are,” Grandpa Lorenzo said as she started down the hallway. He stood at the entrance to his office. “I’ve been looking for you, Darcy. Come in.”

  He sounded so stern and disapproving, she instantly felt guilty. It was all she could do to keep from rushing to his side, grabbing his arm, and promising she would always keep her room clean. Instead she followed him into his office and took the chair he pointed at.

  He stared at her for a long time. Darcy stared back, noting the gray in his hair and how tired he looked. Then she ran through a list of possible infractions but couldn’t come up with a single one.

  “So, you like the winery,” he said.

  She hadn’t had a clue as to what he wanted to talk about, but her liking the winery hadn’t been on the short list.

  “Yes,” she said. “Of course. It’s beautiful here, and the process of making wine fascinates me. I know I’m an imposition to your family, but I can’t help hoping I’m here through part of the harvest. I’d like to see the picking and the pressing.”

  Lorenzo smiled. “You have the love in your veins. It’s like that for some. You don’t always have to be born into it. You’re young, there’s still time. You could study and be a p
art of all this.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that. She had a feeling that as nice as the Marcelli family had been to her, they wouldn’t be all that sorry to get their lives back. No one enjoyed having Secret Service agents running around on their property.

  “Tessa cleaned your room the other day and found this.”

  He set something on his desk. It took Darcy a second to realize it was her portfolio. Lorenzo withdrew several large sheets from her sketch pad.

  At least they were only drawings, she thought, surprised that Tessa had gone through her stuff and embarrassed that something so private had been viewed by others. Note to self—don’t start a diary while in the Marcelli home.

  She drew in a deep breath, preparing herself to take Lorenzo and his wife on about violating her privacy, when he said, “I like these. This one the most.”

  He tapped one of the designs, then turned it toward her. “You can make me more like this?”

  She stared at the page of wine labels she’d been toying with. There were several incarnations, using the Marcelli name as the centerpiece in some and the house in the others. Lorenzo pointed to the one with the house.

  “I like this one. I like the different colors. You’ve done pale for chardonnay, and darker for merlot. So the labels are all the same, but different, yes?”

  She nodded slowly. “You like these?”

  “Very much. The work Brenna brings me.” He shook his head. “Amateurs. Yes, they draw, they design, but they don’t feel the wine in their blood. They don’t know the land, the work, the grapes. You, Darcy, you feel it in here.” He pounded his chest. “We’ll use these for the new Marcelli labels.”

  “W-what?”

  “For the wine. Brenna will like them, too. She’s a smart girl. She’ll know how you have to draw them so we can turn them into labels. Stand up to her on the price. She’ll try to talk you down, but this time, I think, we pay more, eh?”

  He wanted her labels? On Marcelli wine bottles? “On all of them?” she asked tentatively.

  “Yes. For all. You will be a part of us, then.”

  Darcy sprang from her seat and raced around the desk. She threw herself at Lorenzo, who gathered her close and hugged her. He was thin and frail under his loose clothes, but he still squeezed her until she couldn’t breathe.

  It felt good, she thought happily. It felt great.

  When he released her, she grinned. “This is my first real design job. I’ve been trying to find work, but it’s hard. No advertising agency wants to hire me. What client is going to be comfortable complaining about a design by the president’s daughter? So I went back to college to get my master’s degree. I thought that would help, but it hasn’t yet. Until now.”

  Lorenzo squeezed her hand. “This isn’t about your education, child. It’s about what you feel in your heart. That’s what’s important. Never forget that.”

  • • •

  Joe finished his afternoon briefing with the security team and headed back for the house. Marco joined him a few feet from the back door and asked him to wait.

  “We have to talk,” Marco told him.

  Until that moment, Joe had been having a good day. Making love with Darcy might not have been the smartest thing he’d ever done, but it had been one of the best. He’d enjoyed every second of her company. And he hadn’t wanted to go—an unusual situation for a man who generally preferred to be alone.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  Marco shook his head. “Next time you might want to make sure the intercom is off.”

  Joe felt sucker punched. “You know?”

  “Everybody knows.”

  13

  Darcy sat propped up on her bed, several sketches scattered around her. She had a meeting in the morning with Grandpa Lorenzo and Brenna to finalize their choices for the wine labels, and she wanted to be able to offer them a variety of options.

  Excitement made it difficult to concentrate on the designs. She wanted to dance around the room and scream her delight. Brenna had called earlier to say she was thrilled to finally have new label designs. Which meant Darcy had her first ever paying job.

  Okay—she wasn’t going to be able to make a career out of this one client, but at least she finally felt legitimate in her chosen profession.

  As she worked, or tried to work, she hummed. She felt good all over. She loved this place, and she loved the Marcellis. Would they be willing to adopt her?

  She grinned at the thought. Probably not a good idea, what with her and Joe having had sex. Not that they knew, but if she was adopted it would create, as Mia had said, a pretty serious ick factor.

  Someone knocked on her closed bedroom door. Grandma Tessa to do a little more reconnaissance? “Come in.”

  The door opened, and Joe stepped into her room and closed the door behind him. Darcy instantly straightened. Her stomach tightened, her thighs heated, and she desperately wanted to pat the bed in invitation.

  He was so gorgeous, she thought as she took in his tall, muscular build and the faint smile. Good enough to be both main course and dessert.

  “Stop it,” he said conversationally.

  She blinked at him. “Stop what?”

  “Whatever it is you’re thinking. I can’t help wanting you, and you’re not making it any easier to say no.”

  He wanted her! Her emotions did a little soft-shoe. “Maybe you don’t have to say no.”

  He groaned. “Yeah, I do.”

  “But it was so good.” Perfect even.

  He narrowed his gaze. “Darcy, I’m not kidding. There’s a problem.”

  She refused to let go of her good mood. “You’re not going to get weird on me, are you?”

  “Not in the way you think. They know.”

  The last two words didn’t quite make it to her brain. “They know.” Huh. Who knew what? Who could possibly know….

  She collapsed onto her pillows. “Oh God. Your family?”

  “That would be them.”

  Panic filled her. “No. They can’t. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even hint.” She stared at him. “I know you didn’t say anything. You wouldn’t even under threat of torture.”

  “I wouldn’t even with actual torture.” He crossed to the bed and sat down next to her. “We were in the storage room,” he said.

  “I actually know that. Did someone see us?”

  “No, they heard. There’s an intercom system.”

  She felt herself blush. “Who was it?” she asked, not sure who would be worse.

  “Brenna, Grandma Tessa, and my mother.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it. What exactly was she supposed to say?

  Brenna she could handle, but…. “Your mother and Grandma Tessa?” The blush turned fiery.

  “They spread the news to the rest of the family. Marco pulled me aside about an hour ago and tried to have the sex talk with me. It was humiliating.”

  “I’ll bet.” She covered her face with her hands. “They know. I can’t believe it. I always thought the ongoing humiliation of my life was because I’m in the public eye, but I guess not. Maybe it’s just me.”

  Joe reached for her hands and pulled them away. “Don’t worry. No one’s going to say anything.”

  “Not to my face, but they’ll be talking about it. They know.” She wanted to crawl under the bed and never come out. Then she thought of something. “Did they tell Paige or Alex? Alex really wouldn’t like us doing that, and he might try to get you in trouble. You have your career to think about.”

  “I know. But the Marcellis are good at closing ranks. No one on the Secret Service team knows.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “If Alex had a clue, he’d rip me a new one. Trust me.” He leaned close and gently kissed her. “Want to take it back?”

  She didn’t have to think about that. “Not even for a second.”

  “Me, either.”

  They stared at each other before Joe straightened and said he should
get out of her room before there were even more rumors. Darcy nodded but couldn’t speak. She couldn’t do anything but stare at him. Because in that short period of time, somewhere between the light kiss and his walking out of her room, she felt a definite sort of tugging in the vicinity of her heart.

  She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she knew it couldn’t be good. Not when her stay here was temporary, her track record with men was worse than dismal, and Joe was the kind of guy who didn’t do relationships.

  • • •

  Paige hung up the phone and finished writing her notes. When Alex walked into the kitchen, she pushed the paper toward him.

  “They’ve arrested two of the kidnappers,” she said. “They have leads on the rest of them. I’m going to tell Darcy when I see her. She’ll be thrilled.”

  Alex looked over the paper. “At least if the rest of them are on the run, they won’t have time to plan another kidnapping.”

  “That should make our job easier,” she said.

  “I don’t need my job easier.”

  Of course not, she thought. But he did need a sense of humor.

  He walked to the refrigerator, opened it, and stared inside. Then he closed it and turned to her. “Would you have married me?”

  Paige stared at him. “Excuse me?”

  “If I’d asked. Before. Would you have married me?”

  She had no idea what he was thinking or why he’d brought this up now. It didn’t make sense.

  “Alex, I don’t understand why—”

  “Yes or no,” he said sharply. “It’s a simple question.”

  “Not for me.” Nothing about this was simple.

  Would she have married him? She stared at his eyes. There’d been a time when she’d wanted to get lost in those eyes. When being with him had been so important.

  “I don’t know,” she said after a while. “I don’t believe you would have asked. And if you had and I’d said yes, then one of us would have had to leave the Secret Service. You would have expected me to be the one to leave.”

  He frowned. “Right.”

  She smiled. How typical of him. “Then no,” she said gently. “I wouldn’t have married you.”

  He folded his arms over his chest. “Why? Because I wasn’t willing to give up my career for you? This is what I’ve always wanted.”