“Upstairs,” he said with a cryptic smile. “I’ll cover the pool and be right up.”
It was immediately apparent Nico wasn’t prepared to find Danni propped naked on the center of his bed, her hair trailing along the pillows. This new Danni had stripped off the duvet and folded the top sheet down. Liz Story played lightly in the background, and two large bottles of water were on the bed stand. She’d opened the French doors but left the screens closed, as he had last week. “I wasn’t in the mood for any more alcohol,” she said, nodding to the water.
“That’s fine. I’d rather have a clear head,” he said, dropping his robe as he slid along the cool sheets until he came to rest beside her. She turned into him automatically, raising to his chest and massaging him as if they’d done this a thousand times before. His arm went round her shoulders, and he tucked her tightly against him.
“Have you decided?”
“Yes.” It was his unwavering tone that caught her by surprise.
“Which one? In the back of Danni’s mind, she knew each figurine and started to get anxious, absently stroking his nipple. His hand moved over hers, stopping her movements. In slow motion, he took her hand, drew it over her own body, lower, circled her stomach and hips before coming to rest on the soft bed of sable curls dipping between her thighs.
She tensed, but he didn’t move his hand, nor did he let her pull back. He didn’t say anything, simply shifted on his side and used his left hand to rest his head. His right still held hers over her lower lips. Her tension turned to panic, her body rigid beside him. Nico would let her decide, but he wouldn’t acquiesce quickly, she decided.
Danni knew instinctively what he wanted as soon as his hand moved hers. The statue was a true work of art. A woman lay on her back, the solid polished ivory shimmering in sensual repast. The woman’s hair was a bed her shoulders rested on. Her left hand cupped her breast, the nipple caught between thumb and index finger. Her right arm lay across her flat belly, disappearing between her thighs, relaxed and open. One leg was straight out, the other bent at the knee. Minimal paint had been used, only to darken her hair and eyelashes. Curls between her legs were subtly shaded a bit lighter. A wisp of pink hinted at her cheeks, nipples, and lower lips. The minimalism approach left the viewer looking at what had to be considered a perfect specimen of womanhood. It was because of her shape, but more because of the relaxed pose she wore, no embarrassment lingered on her sated smile. Danni panicked. She could never live up to the ideal the ivory put forth.
“Nico, I don’t, I mean…I can’t, I don’t think…”
“That’s the problem, Danielle, you’re thinking too much.” He lowered his head, letting his lips make contact with hers. Slowly, she relaxed under his kiss, forgetting to be anxious or embarrassed, and with only slight encouragement from his hand, started to stroke herself. Her kisses changed as her hand movements did. He took his hand from hers and reached to tug at her nipple. Danni groaned, budding tighter under his fingers, not hesitating when he drew her free hand to her other breast. His mouth covered her nipple, following her rhythm. One hand tugged at her own nipple as her other stroked her pussy. He drew back, replacing his lips with his fingers, watching her.
Her eyes were closed, both hands moving slowly against her own skin. She relished the response her body had to his touch, knowing it was special in its own right. Nico’s large hands had always fascinated her. Feeling his touch now, so gentle for the power he possessed, so careful not to hurt her. Danni wanted more. She didn’t question it, rather tugged her fingers harder, as Nico deepened his own pressure. Her unspoken guidance was liberating. She understood how completely he gave himself to her. Danielle let the thought of how she must look run through her mind and almost panicked, but his whisper in her ear made her continue.
“Nobody will ever know, bella,” he said in encouragement. “Let me watch you.”
She found herself doing just that, lying beside this huge man, whom she’d always wanted beside her in bed. She stroked herself before him. His hand gently pushed her thighs apart let her fingers drop lower. Nico’s hand brought hers to his lips, tasting her before placing it back. Each time her fingers delved deeper, he was rewarded with more of her essence. It was a leisurely process, Danni lost in the touch of her own hand with Nico watching. She probed deeper into her entrance and heard him let out a low groan.
He slipped down her body, coming to rest his head on her thigh. She felt her whole body go red with embarrassment. Quickly he held her hand in place.
“Don’t think, Danni, just feel.” It took several minutes to get back to her relaxed mind-set. His stroking her belly and breasts helped. His lips sucked in a small patch of skin near her hip and she was lost again. She let herself go, let herself enjoy the moment and started to quicken the process. Her finger slid easily inside and back. She added a second, then using her thumb to press against her core in small circles. She groaned and let go, forgetting he was even there, giving herself the release that always seemed so elusive before when she’d tried.
She shuddered lightly beside him. “You can do better, Danielle.” The challenge got her attention. She opened her eyes and surveyed the scene with perspective.
“I need help, Nico. Since you’ve been inside me, this just isn’t working anymore.” He hesitated for only a second as she reached to pull his hand toward her, slip his index finger between her slick lips, and pushing it deeper inside her. She moved over his hand, releasing him for just a moment to move his middle finger beside the other, slowly taking them both. Danni shifted under him, adjusting to the intrusion of her own making. Her other hand went back to her breast. Danni realized she was exerting much more pressure than Nico had allowed himself. She pushed his hand deeper, moved him faster. He took her hint and started to circle her clit with his thumb, which pushed her over the edge. The cry emitted from her throat was a stifled groan. He didn’t move away, but slowed his motions. Danni pulled his hand from her body.
“I did what you wanted. Now come inside me, Nico. Please…”
She didn’t ask a second time. He quickly pulled her under him and slipped inside her. She felt his heat against her silky interior, his cock already overextended, pulsing inside her with each stroke. He lifted her body up by her shoulders, shifting her ever so slightly as she came a second time, letting herself cry out in abandon. Nico followed her into the abyss without control.
It fascinated him to watch her, to see how she adapted to her own touch. Nico was in heaven, his cock was throbbing, about to explode by its own volition, but he forced himself to wait, to watch each movement she made.
His arms were aching, but he forced himself to lower her down gently before letting his body slide lightly over hers, staying only a few seconds before rolling to the side. He managed to find her hand and drew it to his lips.
“You are the most sensual woman I’ve ever known, Danielle. Thank you.” He wasn’t waiting for a verbal response, knew he wouldn’t get one. Instead, he forced himself to move away and took one of the water bottles from the side stand. He twisted the cap and offered it, supporting her back lightly when she rose to drink. When she dropped back to the mattress, he took a long pull, hoping to rehydrate himself.
“I feel…wonderfully sated, like I have no bones left in my body,” she said with a light laugh.
“Relax a minute,” he told her, hoping to do the same himself. She nodded and moved closer to his chest, settling against him.
Nico needed the respite, both physically and emotionally. He’d never dreamed she’d be like this, so comfortable with him, so fast. As if she were reading his mind, Danni said, “I never knew it could be so exhausting.” He smiled down at her but knew she was already half asleep. He held her firmly to him, only allowing himself to relax when he knew she was in a deep sleep.
Danni never knew she could have no shame, not like this. Not with a man. But Nico wasn’t just any man. He was the dark drago, and he’d opened up a whole new world for her.
She knew it would never be the same with any other, and didn’t care. Wasn’t that what she’d told herself going into the agreement? No attachments, no romance, just sex? Only now she realized they’d been making love, not just having sex. Even in her novice status, she understood the difference. She’d made her bargain, and she’d stick to it. Hell, she wanted to tell him the deal was off and she’d marry him, but she didn’t. Nico had never used the right words, and it gave back her perspective. He cared about her but didn’t love her the way she loved him, or he would have told her so. His proposals had started with “I love you,” but it was more of a lead-in than a true emotion. He’d been honest from the start—the vineyard was his mistress.
She drifted sleepily against him, remembering him standing at the office window the first day. God, how she’d wanted him then, not knowing what would happen next. And here she was, beside him, but not getting to stay with him. ‘Take what you can, Danni, she repeated silently to herself. In a few weeks, this will all be over, and you’ll never see him again. She felt a tug at her heart but refused to acknowledge it. It was easier to drift to sleep, knowing she was safe with him.
The next morning Nico woke early, put up the coffee and gathered their clothing from the pool side. The aroma forced her awake, to find him setting a mug on the table beside her.
“Morning,” he said and dropped a light kiss to her forehead. “Hungry?”
Reality intruded as she forced the sleep from her brain, pushing her hair from her face. She struggled to sit up and took the mug he offered with thanks. “No food, I’ve got to get back.”
Nico glanced at her, a nonverbal question on his mind.
“And I don’t have time for that either!” She drank from the mug and forced herself from his warm bed before she changed her mind and invited him back beside her. There was only her dress, jacket, and sandals to contend with, her face heating when she acknowledged she’d arrived with nothing else on. He was moving around the room with a carefree air, pulling a cotton tee over his head, the white material straining at his shoulders. Dressing took no time, and she had to leave. She moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his solid trunk of a body. “Thank you, Nico,” she said, quietly slipping away. She wanted him to pursue her, but was relieved when he didn’t. He followed her to the top of the stairway and called to her.
“Call me later,” he said. She nodded but didn’t answer. She was gone from his bed, his sight, and his home. She belonged at Casa Maria with him. The phone rang, and he picked it up without thought.
“What’s so important you leave rude messages for me, Niccolo?”
“Tia Maria, thank God. Are you having a good time?”
“Of course, but you knew that. What’s wrong?”
“I need to know something, Maria. And I need the truth.” He went on to briefly explain the situation that occurred last week and ended with several questions. “So, I need to know what Coy meant about bringing Danni home. His words were carefully chosen, Maria, and most of all, why did it take you almost a week to get back to me?” He didn’t add his question regarding Coy Addams, figuring they should be allowed their privacy. Coy was a widow ten years gone now and Maria had never married. The vineyard had become her lover, just as it had become his mistress. Only he was trying to change his situation.
“I’ve been busy and wanted to avoid you and your question.”
“Maria, what don’t I know? What doesn’t she know?”
“Niccolo, it’s not for me to say. Not with Felice still in the picture.”
“Maria, Danni’s going to get hurt!”
“Probably.” Her resigned answer annoyed him. “If Matteo had lived longer…” There was a long pause before she finally added, “There’s nothing anyone can do to change the situation, Nico. Be there for her, help her through it.” There was another hesitation before she added, “You can’t be the one to tell her.”
“Maria?”
“He knew he was sick but thought he had more time.” She cleared her throat, and he was aware of the clogging emotions the conversation must be bringing back. “Matteo and your mother were close. They should have been together, but we can’t change history. They were both so stubborn, neither would give an inch.”
There was dread in his voice as he tried to fit the pieces together. “Are you telling me Matteo and my mother had an affair?” He couldn’t believe they had.
“Not all affairs are physical, Nico. Bonds between two people will always be different. They were intimate emotionally, never physically. Things might have worked out better if they had. They’d have both made different choices.”
“Tia?”
“Your mother was his confidante. He made up his will and the trust for Danni. But his heart gave out before he could divorce Felice. He initiated the proceedings, wanted her away from Danni. He named your mother as her guardian until she came of age. He also gave her control over the Cirillo vineyards.”
“But…”
“He died before the divorce was finalized.”
Nico’s mind was truly boggled with this new information. Still, something didn’t gel. “What else, Maria? What’s missing? Did Felice know about the will and trust for Danni?”
“I can tell you no more. I shouldn’t have told you what I did. But you’re a man and…”
“Mother died less than a year after Matteo. Did she take her own life?” The idea had never entered his mind before, but now he had to ask or it would drive him crazy.
“No. The accident wasn’t her fault. You know the other driver lost control. But a broken heart can be worse than any cancer.” There was a long silence between them. “Nico, you’re off track. Danni will learn her true history when the time comes. She’ll be the one to tell you.”
“Tell me what!” he yelled into the telephone. Pulling himself back, he apologized for hollering at her.
“You do love her, don’t you? It’s not just about the land or the vines.”
“No, it never was,” he relayed begrudgingly.
“Unfortunately for all of us, Felice will have to be the one to tell her secrets. I just hope she doesn’t do it in anger.” She let out a very uncharacteristic sigh.
“There’s nothing but anger in that household.”
“Then get her out of there, bring her home until the final turnover.”
“I’ve offered, but she wouldn’t budge, won’t give Felice or Robert the satisfaction of seeing her run away.”
“Just be there for her when she does run.”
“Aunt Maria, I love you as much as I did my mother, but at times, you infuriate me.”
“Thank you, Nico. That’s quite a compliment.” She was laughing, which left him more frustrated than before. “Angelina would be proud of you. Don’t let her or Matteo down.”
“Maria, Danni and I aren’t…related?” Her laughing annoyed him more.
“Is that what you’ve been afraid of?” Again a chuckle and he tensed. “No. You’re not brother and sister.”
“Thank God for that!”
It was before eight on a Saturday morning, but he made the call anyway. He’d meet old Sam Parkins at the diner for breakfast to pick his brain. Maybe he’d shed some light on this new mystery that was sure to hurt his Danielle. The price of breakfast didn’t buy him any new information, rather set his mind adrift with possibilities. Sam pulled the old lawyer confidentiality bit, but reaffirmed what little information Nico had told him. He also insisted Nico be at the final turnover. He sat before a third cup of cooling coffee as the diner started to empty, and tried once more to put the pieces together.
Even if his mother and Danni’s father were close, the mystery lay elsewhere. Even Sam had reinforced Felice’s participation. That was the part scaring him the most. He knew Felice was basically a coldhearted woman with cruel intentions. She didn’t love her daughter, rather thought of her as a commodity.
He wandered through town and stopped before a shop window, the unique globe catching his eye.
Nico had never seen anything like it before. While simply a paperweight, the glass had been molded around an impression of the sun. Inside, there were several others: the individual planets, Halley’s Comet, the Northern Lights, and even a replica of the Cat’s Eye Nebula. He chose the one with the Earth centered inside, the blue-green colors mixed with the whites and browns, all surrounded by the clear glass, and chose a triangle pedestal, asking for it to be gift-wrapped. He tucked a small card inside the box.
As he detoured to the Cirillo yard, it seemed everyone was gone for the day. Carmen rolled her eyes skyward when he asked how Danni had been. She told him Robert and Felice had left by taxi early this morning and Danni even earlier by pickup truck. She had no idea when anyone would be back.
Nico found he didn’t like not knowing where Danni was. Silly of course, because he had her cell phone number, and had to admit she’d survived quite nicely until now without him. Already they had surpassed their parents. They’d moved beyond emotion to the flesh. And that was when it struck him. He was driving back to Casa Maria when he realized he didn’t verbalize to Danni that he truly loved her, the woman . He found it hard to, especially after she’d turned down his proposal. With a sigh of disgust, he just wanted his old life back, minus all these complications. Only that would mean without Danielle. He had to accept his ego prevented him from acknowledging she might not accept his proposal and his predicted perfect future for everyone.
Danni was finally home after a long afternoon. Carmen had left a plate in the warming oven for her, which she picked at. Felice and Robert were nowhere to be seen or heard. She decided to escape to her room before that situation changed. She showered and sat on her bed, ready to open the ornately wrapped package. Only three weeks since she’d started her arrangement with Nico, and it felt odd to be without him. His business meeting was always the third Saturday of the month. He hadn’t offered to see her on Sunday. It was a good thing because she knew she’d jump at the chance to spend more time with him. Every night if he asked, but he didn’t.
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