Adored: Book 1 (The Beloved Series)

by MJ Masucci

  “I love you,” he whispered as he backed her towards the bed, picking her up in his arms to lay her lengthwise upon it.

  She was glistening with arousal and he positioned himself between her legs. His long fingers stroked her delicate softness, making her buck upward. He smiled wickedly and continued to pet her.

  “No Julian, I want you.”

  “And you will have me, but you must be patient.”

  She whimpered as he continued his slow, erotic torture using his tongue, lips and fingers. Nina wanted him inside her and the thought of his cock almost sent her over the edge. But Julian continued to seduce her until she was frenzied. Her fingers clenched at the sheets and her hips lifted off the bed to meet his mouth.

  “I need you now,” she panted.

  He ignored her as she felt his fingertips lightly feather her inner thighs. He kept bringing her closer and closer to orgasm, only to back off. The effect was maddening, but she bit her tongue in anticipation.

  Finally, Julian could take it no more. His erection ached for satisfaction and he would only find it inside her. He positioned himself at her entrance and sank into her, expelling his breath in a slow, steady hiss. He softly cursed as her heat enveloped him.

  “Julian,” she cried out, her voice unsteady.

  He pumped into her, his eyebrows knitted in concentration so as not to come too soon. This needed to last. Julian flexed his jaw and bent down to kiss her, his tongue spearing into her mouth. They moaned together. Her hips met his with each thrust.

  Julian removed his mouth from hers to look into Nina’s eyes. Her breath was now coming in rapid, jerky pants until he felt her pulsate and explode around him. She moaned his name until he felt her go limp under him and he stopped moving.

  “Why did you stop?” She panted.

  “Your two to my one.”

  He kissed her passionately and sucked at her breasts. She could feel him throbbing inside her. When her breathing slowed, he began to move hard and fast, grinding his hips against hers. Nina could feel another orgasm starting to work its way into her core. With each stroke by Julian, her arousal increased. She dug her fingers into his ass, pushing him deeper with each thrust.

  Julian felt her shudder as her second orgasm took hold and he followed close behind as he emptied into her. Spent, he lay upon her in a tight embrace, his head against the crook of her neck.

  After she had regained her voice, she asked, “Is that what you meant by my two to your one?”

  “Yes. I want you to be satisfied.”

  He pulled out and she winced causing a look of concern on his face as he lay beside her.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  “No, I’m just a little sore, but it’s a sore I’ll take any day.”

  He pulled her against him, kissing her forehead.

  “So I take it you enjoyed what we just did, Mrs. Gennaro?”

  “You have no idea.”

  Julian smiled with satisfaction and she frowned at him.

  “Get over yourself.”

  He began laughing as she snuggled against his chest.

  For the rest of the time at the cottage, they spent it in bed, only leaving the confines of the bedroom for food. On Wednesday afternoon, they packed the few belongings they brought with them to prepare to go home. The next day was Thanksgiving and Julian’s stomach tightened at the thought that they would have to reveal that they were now married.

  As they drove towards New York, he knew that Nina must be thinking the same thing. They barely shared any conversation. Her phone buzzed several times during the trip, but she ignored it.

  The realization that they were a married couple was sinking into Julian. There were things he hadn’t thought of like now they would be sharing a home. She wasn’t going to be living with her mother any longer. Nina was his wife. When they arrived home, Julian drove past the driveway of the cabin.

  “Where are you going? You passed the house.”

  “You don’t want to get Bear?”

  “Yes, yes, very much. I miss him.”

  It was obvious how much the dog missed her because Bear practically knocked Thad down to get out the door to see her. He jumped all over her licking her face.

  “How was he?”

  “Not good. He wouldn’t eat so I’m sure he’s starving. He didn’t even want to play with his brothers and sisters. He spent most of the time you were gone sitting on his dog bed with his head on his paws.”

  “My poor boy. He missed his mommy,” Nina crooned.

  Julian ran a hand through his hair and Thad noticed his ring.

  “What is that?”

  “It’s my wedding ring,” he said sheepishly.

  “You got married? When?”

  “Two days ago.”

  “Shit, Julian. I didn’t know it was that serious,” Thad said when Nina was out of earshot chasing Bear around the driveway.

  “It was and it is. I love her, Thad. I’ve never loved anybody more.”

  “As long as you’re happy.”

  “I am, very. After tomorrow I might not be. We need to tell her family and I have to call Maureen.”

  “What do you think she’s going to say?”

  “She’ll bitch me out for not telling her right away, but we were indisposed.”

  Thad raised an eyebrow at him, but smiled.

  “Can we go home? I think Bear is hungry,” Nina called.

  “Thad, thank your family for taking care of Bear.”

  “I will and let me know how it goes tomorrow.”

  On the drive home, Bear sat on Nina’s lap, licking her face every so often.

  “That dog missed you like crazy.”

  “I know. He’s so sweet.”

  As they got out of the car, Nina’s phone began to play “My Way.”

  “Julian, can you take Bear in the house so I can answer this?”

  Julian nodded hoping that her father wouldn’t upset her after they had such a beautiful weekend together. He brought the dog in the house and prepared a bowl of food for him then stood at the door watching his wife gesticulating with her hands. The look on her face told him that she was upset. Fuck, they had to ruin our bubble.

  She came into the house minutes later, her face red and her breathing heavy.

  “What’s up?”

  “My father wants me to come home.”

  “Nina, this is your home.”

  “I know. He wants me to sleep at my mother’s house tonight.”

  “No. Fuck that. You’re my wife and you’re sleeping here tonight.”

  “What am I supposed to tell him?”

  He grabbed his keys off the table and took her by the hand, “Let’s go.”

  “Go where?”

  “We’re telling them now. I’m not playing this game. If your family hates me for taking you away from them, then fine but I’m not dealing with this bullshit.”

  “Julian, it might end badly.”

  “Like what Nina? Are they going to force you to annul the marriage?”

  She bit her lip and looked at her shoes.

  “I’m going to pretend that you’re not even entertaining that idea.”

  Julian practically dragged her to the truck, pushing her into the passenger seat and climbing in on his side. He drove a little too fast down the winding mountain road for Nina’s taste, but she kept her mouth shut. At her mother’s house, they were greeted by Frankie at the door.

  “Your father is upset with you. Julian, I think you better go home.”

  “No, Frankie. We have something to tell everyone.”

  He put his hand around Nina’s shoulder allowing Frankie to spy his wedding ring.

  “Kid, I hope you didn’t do something as stupid as I think you did.”

  “This is ridiculous.”

  “I warned you.”

  Nina kept silent and walked ahead of Julian and Frankie into the living room where her family sat.

  “Nice of you to come home. Ya know tomorrow is Thanksgivi
ng,” Joey said.

  “Joey, be quiet,” Mrs. Caro said.

  “We have something to say.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Vito said.

  “Daddy, we’re married. We got married two days ago.”

  Julian looked around the room at all the hostility aimed mostly at him. Tony sat on the arm of the couch clenching his fist while Joey cursed softly. Vito’s face instantly turned red and he threw the newspaper he’d been reading on the table.

  “What the fuck do you mean you got married? You took her away so you could marry her without her family?”

  “Sir, I…”

  “Don’t fucking sir me. You might as well call me asshole. You ain’t got no respect for her family.”

  Tony got up from the couch and took several steps towards Julian causing Nina to step in front with her back against his chest as if protecting him.

  “You know guys catch a beating for doing something like that,” Tony said.

  “STOP IT! We made the decision together. Stop blaming him. I love him and I’m not a baby like the way you all treat me.”

  Vito turned to her, “You’re our baby. We only want the best for you and this is crap. We wanted to be there when our only daughter got married. You robbed us of that.”

  “It was our decision. I’m sorry if you’re upset but Julian didn’t push me into anything. He would’ve done what I wanted. He loves me.”

  “You could’ve at least discussed this with us before you did it.”

  “Daddy, I tried. You were so adamant about me having a big wedding. I don’t want that. Maybe if I were a boy, you would let me do what I want. I’m so sick of you smothering me.”

  “We smothered you for a reason, to protect you.”

  “I don’t need protecting. If you can’t accept Julian, then I’m leaving. I’m his wife now and I’m going to live with my husband.”

  Nina moved to the door until Julian grabbed her hand to stop her.

  “We never meant to disrespect you. Please forgive us,” he said.

  Mrs. Caro spoke up, “Julian, I’m in agreement with Vito. You should have let us in on your plan, but I understand why it was done this way. We can’t change it now. You’re part of the family.”

  She went to the couple and took them in her arms, hugging them. Julian felt a burst of love for his new mother-in-law. He understood where Nina got her kindness from. Congratulations from around the room came, but he couldn’t help noticing that Nina’s brothers had a permanent frown.

  The next day was the first Thanksgiving in years that Julian was happy. Though the male Caros were still cold in their reception, they warmed up when it came to football. Julian sat with them in the living room watching the games and discussing certain plays. They were surprised to hear that he had played sports in high school since he was part of the artistic crowd.

  Later that evening, he made love to Nina as fervently as their wedding night. He was ecstatic to have a family again even if one part of it needed to be melted to get to their warm centers.

  If Julian had known what was on the horizon, he would have been more careful. He had no idea they were being watched and a plan against them being plotted.

  Chapter 16

  The morning of their three-week wedding anniversary, they awoke to a heavy snowstorm. Large flakes quickly hid any of the grassy surfaces and thickly coated the porch stairs. It was still early in the year for snow being only the thirteenth of December.

  Julian wanted to take Nina out snowshoeing in the woods. It was something he enjoyed and he wanted to teach her. She was eager to learn, having never done it before.

  By the time they finished breakfast and were dressed in warm clothing, the snow had already accumulated to several inches. They slogged through the snow to get to the garage where Julian had three sets of snowshoes hanging on the wall. He showed Nina how to fasten the bindings to her boots before snapping on his own.

  “Do you want poles?”

  “I’m not sure. Will I need them?”

  “You probably should use them until you get the hang of these things.”

  He removed a set of poles from the wall and handed them to her.

  “Come outside and we’ll practice. I have a path that I follow along the creek when I do this. You might have to duck some of the low hanging tree branches.”

  Outside in the driveway, Julian put Nina through her paces to make sure she had a handle on using the snowshoes and poles. When he was sure she would be okay, he led the way into the woods. At first, he kept turning to make sure she was behind him.

  He loved the snow and this was one of his favorite activities during the wintertime. The large flakes continued to come down and they had to keep brushing show off their coats and hats. As soon as they got to the creek, Julian began to walk faster through the snow.

  This weather made him feel alive. He didn’t realize he had gone far ahead of Nina until he got to a part of the creek that opened up at its widest part. He wasn’t paying attention to her because he spotted something in the snow. Blood. A large stain of it and a few feet away, a beaver lay with slight steam rising from its body. He stooped down to examine it and with alarm noticed that its throat was slit. Panic tore at him.

  He turned to see where Nina was and she was gone. Even with the heavy snow, her bright red jacket and yellow hat should be easily spotted.

  Julian hurried back the path he had come. The prints he made with his snowshoes were almost covered in the short time he had passed. There were no fresh tracks indicating Nina had ever been by here. His stomach clenched and he began to feel nauseous.

  “NINA! Where are you?” he yelled.

  The only sound he heard was the whisper of the snow coming down. He called again, his screams becoming more insistent. As he struggled to run in the snowshoes, he tripped over something and went sprawling into the snow. When he righted himself, he saw it was a pole; the very one he had given Nina minutes before.

  Julian dug it out and felt something else under the snow, one of her snowshoes. His stomach rejected his breakfast and he vomited. Where was she? Where could she have gone?

  He ran the path he had taken, but there was no sign of her. Bear! He would find her. Julian almost broke his neck hurrying back to the cabin. The dog was patiently waiting at the door.

  “Find Nina, find her boy.”

  Bear looked at him with a cocked head.

  “Where’s mama? Come on, find mama.”

  He went to the woods with Bear jumping around the snow and trying to bite at the fast-falling flakes. The dog followed him until they got to the pole and her snowshoe. Bear sniffed at them, looked up at Julian and whined.

  “Where is she boy? Find her.”

  The dog continued to whine and Julian began screaming Nina’s name again. He had searched for an hour before he realized he couldn’t feel his fingers or toes. It was time to contact someone if he could get a signal. His voice was hoarse and he felt close to tears.

  The road was thick with snow and it would be suicide to attempt to drive the mountain pass to try and get help. He hoped he could reach someone. Julian entered the cabin without removing his boots or coat after discarding his snowshoes at the bottom of the porch steps. The snow melted off his garments and pelted the wooden floor with its remnants. Nina would have a fit if he left the floor wet but she wasn’t here.

  He grabbed his cell phone and moved about the cabin trying to find a signal, nothing then he fired up his laptop. Perhaps he could email Thad and he could call the police. But his satellite connection was down. He had no way of communicating to get help.

  After feeling had come back in his fingers and toes, he went back out to look for her, taking Bear with him. They searched the woods for hours until the light started to fade. With his voice gone, toes as well as fingers frostbitten and his wife missing, he gave up.

  The snow had come down steadily for hours and was now over a foot deep. He barely got back to the cabin because of exhausti
on. He dragged himself up the stairs and inside, lying on the floor. Bear licked his face and whined, which made Julian start to cry. The woman that lit his life, dragged him from the darkness had banished him to it again with her disappearance.

  He fell asleep on the floor dressed in his outdoor attire. When he woke, he was wet and uncomfortable lying on the floor in the darkened cabin. He rose and began removing his clothing, letting it drop where he had lain. After he was undressed, he picked up his phone to see if he could get a signal, still nothing.

  Julian was still nauseous, his stomach in tight knots. Nina was out there alone in the cold and maybe dying. Another thought crossed his mind; maybe she wasn’t alone but had been taken. How could she just vanish into thin air without a trace? It was illogical. He checked his laptop again; still no connection. He wanted to throw the device across the room.

  He flicked on the porch light and peered out the window. The snow was still coming down hard. If the reports were correct, it would snow until the wee hours of the morning. It would take the plows at least until the afternoon to clear the roads and about as long for him to clear the driveway and walk to the garage.

  There was nothing he could do except go to bed and hope that she showed up. Maybe she got stuck somewhere and couldn’t hear him calling but why would she leave one pole and a snowshoe? He crawled into bed and even though he didn’t normally allow it, let Bear climb on the bed next to him. He needed something, anything, to comfort him.

  The dog snuggled up against his side and Julian petted him. He wasn’t the only one that would be missing his wife. During the six weeks they had Bear, he had grown attached to Nina as if he were her child.

  The next morning Julian awoke with his wife’s name on his tongue. He reached to her side of the bed and was greeted with a handful of soft fur. Bear was still in bed with him. The dog stirred and licked at his hand. He jumped out of bed and Julian followed, grabbing his phone.

  “Fuck!” he yelled because he still had no signal.

  The snow had stopped and the sun was pushing hard to break through the clouds. They must have gotten close to eighteen inches. Julian tried his laptop and got a very weak signal. He quickly typed an email and tried to send it, but it failed. Cursing, he began to pull on his clothing that he left in a heap the night before.