Tuscan Heat (SoBe Heat Book 1)

by Anise Storm

  “I know you’re convinced that I opened De Palmas in order to sabotage Basilico, and by extension, you. Melania,” he said before pausing. Mario cleared his throat, then continued. “Yes, I asked your father for help in securing the land for my restaurant, but he didn’t do it for me. He did it for you.”

  “For me?” she asked incredulously. “He did it for you.”

  “In return for his help, he was given a large number of shares in De Palmas. Gorgio didn’t want them in his name, though. Your father had me put them in your name. Believe it or not, you actually own forty-five percent of my restaurant.”

  Melania gasped, and he watched a flood of emotion wash over her as his words sank in.

  “Why would you ever agree to that?” she asked, and for the first time, he realized that she truly had no idea how deep his feelings for her truly were.

  Mario raised his head and then cupped her face between his hands once more. Recapturing her gaze, he inhaled deeply. “Because I’m in love with you and have been for years.”

  Shock crept across her features, and for the first time in their entire lives, when she opened her mouth, no words of any kind came out. Mario watched Melania as she tried to speak, only to clamp her mouth shut again.

  He knew what questions were probably floating through her mind and decided it was best to answer them now. She hadn’t slapped him or told him to fuck off, so he’d take that as a promising sign.

  “I know you want to know when, and to be honest, I can’t pinpoint the exact moment. All I know is that I’ve been drawn to you as far back as I can remember. When we were together in Italy, something changed between us. You were no longer forbidden, and I truly thought that once I had you, the driving desire to take you would leave me, but it didn’t.”

  She still said nothing, but he could tell Melania was hanging on his every word. She wasn’t quite convinced and most likely thought this was all part of this little game the two had played with each other for years.

  “We both went our separate ways, and I tried my hardest to forget you. In the years between that night and being reunited in Miami, I dated extensively but always found myself comparing them to you. It wasn’t until after I opened the second De Palmas in London that I accepted the truth. No other woman could capture my heart because you’d already stolen it sometime during that night in the Tuscan heat.” He didn’t know whether the drops of moisture dripping down her cheek were tears or from the water raining down on her from the showerhead above. Using the pads of his thumbs, he wiped at her eyes. “I wanted you, and God help me, I still do.”

  With those words, he pushed her out from beneath the stream of water and against the tiled wall of her shower. Mario pressed his lips to hers and then brought one hand to the back of her neck. Using it to hold her in place, he deepened the kiss, eating at Melania’s mouth until he finally drew a moan from her.

  Her small hands ran up the length of his chest and then higher, as Melania later hooked them around his neck. Once she parted her lips, his tongue slipped inside. They were now skin to skin…mouth to mouth…and when he felt her murmur three words against his lips, he knew they were also heart to heart.

  Mario tore his lips from hers. “Say it again, Melania.” He groaned when she simply looked up at him. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” she said softly, and her eyes filled up once again with tears.

  Mario watched as the first one fell from them and leaned in to wipe it away with his tongue. She sucked in a gasp and moaned when his hands ran down her back to cup her ass. He lifted her effortlessly and guided her legs to his waist.

  There was nothing more that he wanted than to sink balls deep inside of her right this second, but Mario knew he had no protection with him in here. He’d never compromise her safety for anything in the world, despite his most fervent wishes. Just because he couldn’t penetrate her in the most primal of ways, he could claim her in others.

  Mario kissed her again, and this time, he allowed every ounce of possession he had for her to be felt in his case. There was nothing gentle about the way he devoured her mouth, using his tongue and teeth. When his lips finally left hers, they immediately moved to her neck, and he bit his way down her throat and across her shoulder.

  “Mario,” she cried out as his teeth sank back into her flesh. Her entire body tightened around him, and she trembled.

  Fucking hell! One of her hands slipped between them, and he felt her wrap it around his already throbbing cock. Up and down…up and down…Melania was testing the very edges of his control. He wanted to do nothing more than ease the aching in his shaft by thrusting deep inside of her pussy. She wanted him to do that, and he did too. In fact, Mario craved that more than his next breath.

  “We can’t in here,” he told her before groaning out loud. “I don’t have a condom on.”

  Her hand dropped instantly, and he felt the defeat enter her body. Mario didn’t have one in the bathroom, but he did in his wallet. As he brought his hands to her cheeks, he tipped her face up until she had nowhere else to look but into his eyes.

  “Let’s go to bed, Melania.” When a brow rose in question, he grinned down at her. “I have a few in the bedroom, which is good, because I plan to make love to you for hours.”

  She moaned as he smacked the faucet beside them, turning off the water, and then swept her up in his arms as he set her on top of her marble vanity. It only took a minute to find a few towels and when he started to dry her off, Mario noticed her hands on her breasts and watched her fingers as they tweaked and rolled her nipples between them.

  Melania wasn’t just tempting his control, but also his sanity as he watched her for a few seconds longer. Picking up the last of the towels he grabbed a few minutes earlier, Mario quickly dried himself and then picked her back up and carried her into the bedroom.

  Chapter 22

  AS SOON AS MARIO tossed her onto the bed, her hands went back to her aching breasts. She watched as he wasted no time in finding a condom and sheathing his massive erection. Ever since she literally ran into him near the fence, the rest of this night had felt like a dream and honestly, Lania was scared to wake up.

  “Fucking beautiful,” he told her as he walked back over to the bed and lowered himself until he covered her body. His hands replaced hers, and she arched into his touch, using the opportunity to rake her hails down his back as he worked the throbbing tips with first his hands, and then his mouth.

  “Please,” she whimpered, uncaring about whether she was actually begging. Lania could feel her cream seeping from her core, and then dripping down her thighs. She needed him to fill her so completely, as he always did when inside of her.

  She felt his teeth as he dragged them over the curve of one breast and then bit down on the fleshy underside, causing her to writhe restlessly beneath him. His torture didn’t stop there, however, and she lay there as his heated mouth moved down her torso and then lower. When he finally removed his body weight completely off hers, Mario’s large hands spread her thighs apart. She kept them open and then looked down her body, watching his head descend between her legs.

  He wasted no time in flattening his tongue and then running it along the length of her sex. Her core clenched in response, and she could only gasp as he licked her sensitive flesh. Mario’s teeth latched onto her distended clit, and she immediately brought her hands to his hair, weaving her fingers through his long, wet locks.

  Mario ate at her wet pussy like a starved man, and she could feel her arousal steadily build in intensity. Maybe it was the admission that both made when in the shower, but there was something different about the way he touched her now. There was a possessiveness to each movement. The thought of being claimed as not just anyone’s woman but his still had her head spinning. His hands moved to her pussy, spreading the lips even farther apart before he dipped his tongue into her core. Lania’s hands tightened, her nails digging into his scalp. He growled, and she felt the vibration along her sensitive flesh, sendin
g an electrifying heat surging through her veins.

  “Yes,” she cried out, grinding herself against his mouth. “Right there, Mario. I’m about to come.”

  Lania could have sworn she felt his lips quirk. Her focus, however, was on the tip of his tongue currently fucking her in short, quick thrusts and the feel of his stubbled beard as it grazed the inside of her thighs. When he brought two fingers to her clit and pinched the swollen nub, the bite of pain caused her to nearly vault off the bed as she flew over the edge she’d been hovering over.

  Mario lapped at her cum as she slowly came back down from her orgasm and realized it wasn’t enough to appease the wanton need pulsing through her. Lania needed him to fill her with his cock, or even his fingers. She loosened her grip on his head, and he finally raised his own. The sight that greeted her had to have been the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. His eyes darkened further with primal lust and his facial features tightened, almost as if he’d been straining to hold himself back.

  Lania shivered and goosebumps rose to the surface of her humid skin. She felt cold and overheated all at the same time. No one had ever affected her the way Mario did, and now she knew why. His current expression only confirmed that. And as she continued to stare at him, she could see his beard glistening with the wetness of her cum, and she brought one hand to his chin and brushed her thumb over it.

  She had every intention of tasting herself when he grabbed her hand and sucked the digit into his mouth instead. His tongue wrapped around her finger and tugged, and that small motion had her core pulsing with renewed need. Lania wanted to know whether she was having the same effect on him, so she brought her other hand to his shaft, giving it a hard squeeze until it twitched against her palm.

  He released her finger from his mouth and then fused his lips to hers as he seized them in a passionate kiss. She stroked him as his tongue explored every inch of her mouth. Finally, she released his cock from her hold, and her arms and legs both encircled him. Mario took his time, as if he had all night to make love to her, and Lania’s entire body shivered at that thought.

  He’d always been her undoing, but tonight, something had changed between them. There was a tenderness to his touch that waged war with her desire to be taken roughly. Heat spread over Lania, warming her to the bone as his tongue curled around hers, and he sucked it into his own mouth, urging her to do the same to his. She did and their tongues dueled with each other, until finally he raised his head slightly.

  “The things you do to me, Melania,” he rasped before pressing his mouth to hers once again. This time, he rocked his hips against her, causing his cock to slide between her slick folds. A few seconds later, he lined himself up at her entrance and teased her mercilessly with his tongue before he thrust inside, filling her channel in one stroke.

  Lania moaned and wrapped her legs tightly around him as he started to move. His lips eventually moved from hers, his heated breath caressing her face. His mouth moved hungrily over her jaw and chin while his hands cupped and squeezed her breasts. Her body was aflame with sensations, racking her frame from all angles. She could only tremble as he continued his ministrations.

  “I love you,” she said and wasn’t even aware that her innermost thought had actually escaped from her lips until his entire body stilled. “And you love me?”

  Her last words were meant as more of a question than an observation and when he looked down into her upturned face, something akin to pride flashed in the depths of his eyes. “More than life itself, Melania. Never doubt that.”

  Suddenly, he flipped her over until she was now lying on top of him. Rising up to her knees, she straddled his hips and then guided his erection back to the entrance of her pussy. With a low moan, she sank back down on him. Mario groaned deeply, and damn if it wasn’t the sexiest sound in entire world.

  Her arousal had now ramped up to a feverish pitch as she started to ride him hard and fast. His hands explored every inch of her upper body, and her walls clamped down around him. It didn’t help that he’d risen halfway into a seated position and had buried his head between her cleavage. Her body was stimulated in every possible way, and she briefly thought about what a miracle it was that she hadn’t short-circuited already.

  His hands and mouth were bringing her such incredible pleasure, and Lania doubted she’d last too much longer. She braced herself up by placing one hand on his shoulder, and the other she brought it to her clit, stimulating herself even more while she rode him.

  “Please,” she cried out, unsure of what she was even begging for. A few more nips to her breasts and she felt the earth move beneath her. Okay, maybe it was actually just the room spinning as he reversed their position once more, but she was sure it’d feel similar.

  Mario thrust back inside of her, and she returned her hands to his back, holding on to him as he fucked her with long, forceful strokes. Lania writhed underneath him and when she turned her head, it allowed him to bury his face against her throat, where he licked, nibbled, and suckled her skin until she’d dug her nails into his muscled flesh.

  He’d always filled her so completely, and tonight was no exception. His cock swelled and she whimpered at the ache that only intensified when her walls stretched to accommodate him. Lania was so damn wet, hovering just on the edge of another earth-shattering orgasm, and after he slammed into her a few more times, she came once more, crying out his name. ”Mario!”

  “That’s it, Melania. Come for me,” he ordered and then grasped her face between his hands. She raised her lashes and felt the last three years slip away. She was suddenly back in that pool, and more importantly, his arms, that night in Tuscany. “You’re mine. Every fucking part of you.”

  “Yours,” she answered breathlessly as he continued to drive her toward another climax with each hard thrust.

  The need to orgasm again was overpowering, but she didn’t want to do so without him this time. Tightening her grip on him, Lania’s toes and fingers curled when he shifted slightly. The change in position was enough to allow him to penetrate her even deeper than before.

  “Do you feel how perfect we are for each other?” he asked, and she nodded. Mario had the same look in his eye that he did their first time. The realization that he’d felt something even then, finally registered.

  “T-that night,” she stammered. “You felt it then?”

  His lips quirked into a smirk. “I think I knew it much earlier than that, but I never really accepted it until that night.”

  “But, you left me there, all alone,” she replied, remembering every detail of her mortification after their coupling. The anger and humiliation that usually rushed back whenever she conjured up those memories stayed repressed, but the confusion didn’t.

  “I was scared, Melania. You made me feel something I’ve never felt for anyone before. I denied we were meant to be together, and I’ll never do it again. I pushed you away once and spent years trying to get you back in my arms. Now that I have, I’ll never let you go.” She heard the sincerity in his vow and knew it was genuine. “I love you, Melania Grace Barone.”

  Her eyes narrowed at his use of her full name, but before she could respond with a snarky comment, Mario slammed back into her one final time, triggering both of their orgasms. Her entire body hummed in ecstasy while the aftershock of each twitch of his cock as he climaxed shook her entire frame.

  Finally, when they were done, Mario withdrew from her, and she collapsed limply onto her bed. It was only then that she paid the romantic setting any attention. Candles lined both sides of the bed and there were even a few on the dresser in front of her bed. He had to have done that while she was in the shower. A smile tipped her lips and grew wider when he reappeared in the doorway.

  Mario’s cock was still erect, bobbing against his stomach as he walked back over to her. He used a towel to clean the cum from her thighs, and then he tossed it to the floor and pulled back the silk comforter. Once they were both under the covers and she was resting on his chest, Lania ran
her manicured nails over his corded muscles. “You know, I’ve forgotten all about the storm,” she remarked.

  “I’m sure it’s still out there, so we’ll stay here tonight,” he told her and then chuckled. “Years ago, if I had known these rooms were this soundproof, I would’ve—”

  “Watch it, De Palma,” she said in a voice laced with a hint of amusement. “You used to make me scream all the time in here.”

  The room was silent for a few seconds, until his warm breath fanned her forehead. “I remember that time I put bugs in your bed, before you went to sleep. I’d waited for you to see the first one, listening for the sound of your scream. Sometimes I wondered whether you ever saw them before one could bite you.”

  She was so busy shuddering at the remembered juvenile antics of his when she felt a sharp pinch on her hip. Lania screamed and then practically bolted from the bed. The only thing that stopped her from leaving the bed completely was his shit-eating grin. She groaned before shooting a warning glare at him. “That wasn’t funny, jerk.”

  Lania was about to launch into a mini tirade when Mario pulled her into his arms. “I love you,” he murmured against her lips.

  “And don’t think saying that will save you from my wrath, De Palma,” she told him before pressing her mouth to his. An idea crossed her mind and this time she was the one to smirk. Raising her head, she fisted his cock and smiled innocently at him. “You’re not the only one who likes to bite.”

  Shedding the restrictive covers, she crawled down his body and flicked her head over the tip of his cock. His hands moved to her hair, and he groaned when she wrapped her lips around the engorged head. When his hips slowly rotated in invitation, she bared her teeth and dragged them down the entire length of his shaft and back up again. Her next words were muted as he held her head in place and began to fuck her mouth, forcefully nudging her tonsils until he came, gifting her with his seed.