This time our kiss is different. We have weathered a storm and come out stronger on the other side. Whatever the future holds, I’m not on my own anymore and whatever Romeo decides is fine by me as long as we’re together.
Chapter 19
Romeo
I’ve always been the same. Business first and if I’ve got time to deal with it—emotion. Tonight, I don’t have time. In fact, time is running out for Ivy and me because I’m conscious the clock is ticking. Drew will be climbing the walls and her parents will become anxious when she doesn’t return. I don’t know how I’m going to play this. As I dance with the woman I was always meant to find, I think on what she told me. The pain is hard to bear, but I push it aside. One thing’s certain, she’s not going back to live with those people who call themselves her parents, but I must remember who he is—the Governor.
Tonight is our night, I meant every word I said because I know that tomorrow we must face the fear and I need a cool, level head to do so.
Whatever happens, Ivy is safe with me and the thought of casting her out on her own was never an option.
She feels light and soft in my arms, and I love the way she rests her head on my shoulder. It fits perfectly and as we sway to the music, it almost feels as if we’re normal. Holding her in my arms is the sweetest form of torture because I never want to let go.
Leaning down, I gently kiss her neck and love the shiver that passes through her body as she presses closer. Her head moves to meet my lips, and she kisses me softly, slowly and as if time has no meaning.
Then she pulls back and whispers, “Don’t leave me, Romeo.”
“I won’t, you have my word on that.”
She smiles and looks at me from under her lashes and appears a little lost for words. “Um…”
“Something on your mind, my little flower?”
She nods and I see the desire heavy in her eyes as she whispers, “I meant, don’t leave me tonight. I want to wake up with you beside me. It may be the only time I can, and I don’t want to waste this golden opportunity.”
The blood rushes to my head and a thousand reasons why I should pull away flash before my eyes. I’m not good enough, I never was. Ivy’s a virgin and deserves a better man than me. Someone respectable, kind and considerate. Not the cold unfeeling bastard I always was and probably always will be.
Then there’s the added complication she’s engaged to be married. Not that it will ever happen, but we need to think this through.
I know she is waiting for my answer and I make to speak, but she places her finger on my lips and says firmly, “I don’t want to hear it. You are going to say no out of respect for me. I don’t want your respect; I just want you to love me.”
Her words almost break me. Love her, I always have, and seeing her looking at me with so much lust in her eyes drives me over the edge.
Grabbing her face hard, I punish her lips for asking the impossible. She moans as I unleash a passion I have kept well hidden until now, but know I can’t hide it.
She leans in and kisses me back, hard, demanding and desperate and I know I can’t ignore what this anymore.
I give her one last chance to back off and say gruffly, “Do you really want this, it’s a big decision?”
“I do. I always will. Please, Romeo, I want it to be you.”
Her words calm the inferno inside and I nod, feeling a weight lift from me. How can I say no to her, it would be against the law of nature? I would never say to no to Ivy, but in giving her what she wants, I’m subjecting myself to even more pain because I know that one taste of Ivy is all it would take to destroy me.
For a moment every reason why I should back away tries its best to reason with me, but I’m not listening. Instead, I hold her hand tenderly and gently raise it to my lips and say huskily, “Follow me.”
We walk silently through the boat, both of us conscious that things will change from now and yet, it feels as if we are walking toward the light from years of darkness.
Each step we take feels like the right one, and I never thought for one moment we would actually find ourselves here. When I engineered this whole plot to get Ivy away from Drew, I never imagined it would actually end up in my bed, but that’s exactly where we’re going.
We pass through the silent boat and I marvel that my men have kept well hidden. I’m not sure how many of them are here, but you’d think we were alone. I’m never alone. I live with the many souls of the damned that I have sent to Hell, and yet with Ivy I feel as if I’ve left the huge weight of responsibility behind. I’m different with her, lighter, more carefree and as if I’m almost normal. She brings out the good in me, which I thought was long since buried.
By the time we reach my cabin, I swear I’m more nervous than I’ve ever been. Usually I’m calm, controlled and very much in charge but not with her. I feel as if it’s my first time and I suppose it is. It’s my first time with her and I want it to be special and memorable for all the right reasons.
As soon as we arrive at my cabin, I give her another chance to back out and say huskily, “Last chance little flower, you can walk away.”
Shaking her head, she says almost fiercely, “No, I’m more certain of this than anything. Let’s not waste this opportunity, please.”
I capture her lips and groan as any last shred of restraint I had disappears. She tastes so good, like the finest wine, and I’m addicted. Kissing just isn’t enough anymore because I want the whole of Ivy, everything she has and so I reach and lower the zip on her dress, which falls to the floor in a heap. The bikini has been replaced by the laciest of underwear that highlights her body in a much more seductive way, yet the scraps of fabric are an irritant because it’s what’s inside that interests me more.
I make short work of it and she soon stands before me, dressed in nothing but high heels and a lustful smile.
I can’t tear my eyes from hers as I deal with my own clothes and tear them off with practiced speed.
Then I step forward and pull her toward me and love the way her body molds to mine as if it was made to fit. Wrapping my hand around the back of her head, I kiss her slowly, reverently and with passion because I am not going to rush this. If I take all night, I am going to love Ivy Thompson like she deserves to be loved.
A moan escapes from deep inside her and she presses closer. I feel her breasts pushed hard against my chest as she rubs against me and her hands rake my back in a desperate plea to get closer. Pushing her back toward the bed, I physically ache to be inside her but bide my time because it’s too soon.
Pressing her down onto the silken sheets, I trace a slow tantalizing path along the curves of her body and love the way she shivers with expectation and bites down on her lower lip. She feels so soft and in contrast, I am so hard for her. I just hope I can hold on because my cock can’t believe its luck and may be a little more excited than I would prefer.
Replacing my fingers with my lips, I worship the body of a woman who should never be mine and taste the forbidden fruit laid out before me. Little kisses take me toward the part of her I crave and a low moan escapes her as I gently tease her clit, licking, probing, sucking until she shivers. She tastes so good, so sweet as I always knew she would. As she opens up to me, the blood rushes through my body like a lit trail of gunpowder. This is so different. I have actual feelings when it concerns her, I never have before. I’m cold, calculating and mechanical with every woman I fuck, but not Ivy. I’m her servant, and her pleasure is the only thing that counts. This must be what making love is like, and it’s a first for me. Before Ivy, I fucked - hard. I relished causing extremes, pain, ecstasy and desire. I don’t want to hurt Ivy, I want to give her the ultimate pleasure and would never touch her with the promise of pain. I want her to be safe with me—from me, and so I concentrate my mind on only one thing. Giving Ivy the night of her life.
Chapter 20
Ivy
I can’t believe this is happening finally and with him, Romeo.
I have
never felt this desperate before and my body has a mind of its own as it does things my cheeks would burn imagining. There is no shame in me because I want to give him the whole of me until there is nothing left to give. This moment counts more than any other, and so I open my heart and let him step inside. His kisses are a delicious form of torture and as his head dips lower, I think I lose my mind. Who knew it would feel so good?
I feel myself opening up to him and wriggle a little on the sheets as I want more. It’s not enough. The wet trail between my legs is preparing me for him. It’s becoming the most important thing in my life that he’s there and the pleasure intensifies as he kisses me where no good girl should ever let another.
When he stripped, I thought I’d never seen anything so magnificent. Strong, proud and so beautiful it blinded me to anything else. The tattoo swirling around his heart reminded me that I was right to offer him something I have protected for so long. He owns me and I own him and I am keen to experience what that feels like.
I shudder as my body does something I never thought it was capable of as his tongue creates a wave of pleasure to rock my world. I gasp as I feel the delicious sensation of ecstasy as I orgasm on his tongue and I hover between Heaven and Hell because despite how much I want what happens next, I am also afraid. It’s the unknown that’s scaring me a little, but I couldn’t turn back now if I tried.
Romeo is the lover I always hoped to find because he is worshipping my body and giving me time to adjust to every feeling and every sensation that he creates.
He gently traces a path back up my body and replaces his tongue with his fingers, teasing, touching, drawing me out of myself until I don’t think I can take anymore. He whispers against my mouth, “I will take this slowly, if it hurts, it won’t be for long.”
I nod, trusting every word he says as his fingers hover at my opening and I physically ache to feel them inside. He pushes in and it feels good, harder, creating a sensation that my body appears to love because I push down on him and groan. I pull him closer, desperate to feel more and am rewarded by a deep groan from him as he whispers, “You feel amazing, Ivy, I want you so much.”
“Then what’s stopping you.” My own voice sounds desperate and laced with lust and he growls, “I can’t hold on much longer, I’m sorry baby.”
I smile against his lips as he moans with a feral desperation and reaches across and grabs a condom from the nightstand. I hear the rip of plastic as he quickly protects us both and then kisses me hard, deeply and urgently as my body screams to feel him inside. Then I feel him there, ready to come inside, and the shiver of expectation is like nothing I’ve felt before. It’s going to happen, I am finally going to become a woman, Romeo’s woman, because I couldn’t back out now if I tried.
I feel so desperate for something I was dreading a few days ago but not with him, never with him, so I push toward him like a hungry animal and with one thrust, feel him sliding inside the most private part of me. Just one sharp pain causes me to hitch my breath and gasp, as he breaks through any barriers that stand before us and kisses my pain away. He moans into my mouth, “Relax Ivy, let me in, take everything I have and let your body get used to feeling me inside.”
He slows and lets me adjust to him being there, and soon the burn is replaced by a feeling of needing more. I bear down on his cock and love the way he moans and then slowly moves inside me, testing, exploring, owning. It feels so good knowing he’s inside me and I love how it feels so right. He touches a part of me nobody ever has and my moans grow louder, heavy with desire for more of him. He pushes harder, deeper, and I gasp as I feel his shaft rub against my clit, causing a thousand different sensations to rock my world. My fingers rake his back, loving the way any touch sends him deeper inside me, and his grunts of pleasure make me bolder, desperate and hungry for more.
Soon the pain has been replaced by so much pleasure I can’t see straight. He cups my ass and pulls me even tighter toward him until he is so deep inside, he controls every part of me. He commands my body like the most accomplished conductor, and the friction builds as my body wants more. Something is building that I like a lot. Feelings are mingling with physical pleasure and causing a chain reaction that I’m not sure how it will end. He groans against my neck as he pumps harder, with more desperation, and the pressure builds.
Then something happens I was unprepared for as my body explodes in the most delicious sensation I never expected. I scream in ecstasy as I feel a sensation inside, so amazing I think I must be nearing heaven because I can’t even breathe. Everything stills as my body rides a high it never thought was there and I convulse under the man who caused it. He roars as he thrusts deeper and then joins me on the wave as he pulses inside me and his whole body shudders against mine. For a moment we are both so high I think we see stars and then as we gently float back to earth, we do it together. Our bodies are so entwined we are one unit and our hearts beat in time to one another and our kisses share the same air. Now I know what it feels like to meet your match, and nothing has prepared me for the feelings that brings out.
For a few moments, Romeo stills inside me and holds me so tenderly I never want him to stop. He kisses me softly and says huskily, “I love you Ivy.”
The tears build as he voices what we both already know and I say in a whisper, “That’s good because I’m so in love with you.”
I smile against his lips because now I feel so happy, so carefree, and have a lightness inside my heart that has pushed away the despair I have lived with for so long.
He whispers, “Does it hurt?”
“No.” He is still inside me and although it feels a little sore it just feels right. I wriggle a little and he says quickly, “Stop moving, I should pull out before you get more than you bargained for.”
“What do you mean?”
“A baby, Ivy. You forget there is only a thin piece of rubber protecting you against that, and I need to dispose of it before you complicate things even more.”
“I don’t care.” My words even shock me because I don’t, care that is. If I walk away from this with Romeo’s baby, I would be the happiest woman alive because I would have a part of him always.
He laughs softly and kisses me tenderly and yet with a passion that causes my body to stand to attention once more and he says, “I’m never giving you back, stay here with me, we will face this together.”
“Do you mean that, you would really let me stay?”
He nods. “How can I let you go now? I meant what I said, I love you Ivy, I always have and if that means fighting a war for you, I will.”
I can’t form words and just pull him closer, not caring about anything than this moment. With Romeo deep inside my body, mind and soul, we can achieve anything.
Chapter 21
Romeo
I’ve always known that one taste of Ivy would scramble my mind, and now I’m going to take on the world to keep her. I am never sending her back to him—to them because Ivy Thompson with become Ivy Romano, or I will die trying.
As soon as I pulled out, it felt as if I was missing something and as I promised; the night was ours. As soon as we cleaned up, we were ready again and sleep didn’t factor at all, just cementing our union with a bond so strong nothing can break it.
Ivy is my woman, and now I know what my brothers found so hard to resist. I’ve found the secret that was hidden so long. Happiness. Because I am happy for the first time since I left her last. I’ve found my soul mate, and that’s a powerful weapon to wield against anyone who gets in our way.
Ivy is exhausted and so I leave her to sleep while I shower and dress and head off to brief Richie about what happens next.
The sun is high in the sky as I venture out and blink against the brilliance of a new day that promises an exciting future ahead.
By the time I sit, Richie approaches and the smile on his face tells me the whole fucking boat must have heard us last night.
“Morning, sir, it appears to be a good one.”
“The best.”
We share a look of understanding, and I can’t stop the smug smirk from making an appearance as I pour us both a mug of coffee.
Handing him one, I lean back and relish the feeling of having it all and Richie shifts a little, which makes me say quickly, “Ok, spit it out.”
“The club called, Drew is anxious and getting desperate.”
“Good.”
We share a smile and Richie laughs softly. “Your brother called.”
“Which one.”
“Lucian.”
I laugh. “Shit’s getting real then, what does he want, let me guess, his boat back if I know my brother?”
Richie grins because Lucian loves the Black Heart more than the rest of us put together. This comes a close second to Riley, the love of his life, and he hates it when any of us take it out.
“He told me to ask you to call him the minute you surface, he’s tried your cell and left you messages and if you know what’s good for you, you had better answer the fucking phone. His words, not mine.”
Richie laughs, and I roll my eyes and lean back with contentment. “I wonder what’s pulled his chain?”
Richie shrugs, but we both know I’ve started something that affects not just me but my entire family—our whole operation and no doubt Lucian’s heard. He will be pissed, but I’m used to that. He’s been pissed at me my whole life because I don’t give a fuck and never have. I know I’ve been out of control for years now and it’s been getting worse, not better. Many times, he’s had to step in and deal with my shit when I’ve overstepped the mark because I couldn’t have what I really wanted. I’ve caused more shit than a sewer and his patience is wearing thin. Well, after this, he can breathe easy because once I’m married to Ivy, he’s off the hook. I’ll toe the family line because I will have everything I ever wanted—her.
The Throne of Fear: The Romano's Page 10