“An eccellente idea.” Elena gave Stefano a knowing look. “Roxy is good for you. I’m sorry I doubted her when you first brought her home.”
“Grazie. Does this mean you’ll stop questioning my actions where the company is concerned?”
“I’ll talk it over with Donatello,” she said. “We’ll see if your strategy pans out before doing anything else.”
Roxy struggled to stand. “Fair enough.” His merger with Anderson would succeed, and he’d prove to the family that he deserved the company’s helm. “Get the boys and we’ll be right behind you.”
“Take your time,” Elena said, then left to round up the children.
Stefano walked toward Roxy and held out his hand. “You want to go inside and grab something to eat with the boys?”
Sunlight streamed around her, giving her an aura of otherworldliness. “Sure. After I pay you back for that sneak attack.” Roxy grabbed his palm and jerked him down to her level.
He half landed on top of her. “Should have known you wouldn’t let me slide.”
“You bet your dang ass.”
“You’re soaking wet,” he said, his mouth scant millimeters from hers.
“You are, too.” Her breath hitched and he could feel her nipples through the wet fabric of her shirt. “I’ve evened the score.”
His cock hardened. “You sure you don’t want to keep playing the game, then take a shower to clean up?”
“Ha. I know exactly what your idea of a shower means.”
“So is that a yes?”
“A quick one, then we hang out with our boy.”
He laughed, then rolled off and pulled her to her feet. “Quick works for me, though I prefer long and slow.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
After showering and doing so much more than running soap over each other’s bodies, Stefano and Roxy spent the rest of their afternoon with Matthew and the entire family. Laughter, good food, and animated conversations along with tossing a few rounds of bocce ball restored Stefano’s sense of well-being.
Thanks to Roxy, he thought as he carried a sleeping Matthew to his room, loving the way his son felt in his arms. He lowered him into his toddler bed, then tucked the blanket under Matthew’s chin.
“He looks so peaceful when he’s sleeping,” Stefano said.
“Let’s hope he stays that way.”
Moonbeams danced on the headboard and cast a glow of light across Roxy’s pretty face. She tucked Matthew’s favorite stuffed dinosaur under his blanket and brushed a lock of unruly hair from Matthew’s smooth brow.
“Bed time is highly underrated.”
“A mother’s favorite time of day,” she said.
He glanced at her. Exhaustion floated in Roxy’s silver eyes along with love for their little boy. Suddenly, his chest was so full of emotion, he held his breath. How often had he yearned to discover that same look in his own mother’s eyes?
Roxy’s love couldn’t be faked. Neither could Stefano’s. Not where their son was concerned. Matthew would always know his parents’ love and affection no matter what the happened in the future.
And right now he wanted that future to include all of them.
Roxy slid her palm down Stefano’s forearm and linked her fingers through his. “Matthew is fortunate to have you for a father.”
A slow fire built inside, flickered flames along with the shared intimacy of two people bound by their mutual love for their child. “I’m the one who’s fortunate,” Stefano said quietly, then drew her into his arms and kissed her with the passion of a lover and the fervor of a man falling in love all over again.
Chapter 14
Ten days after Stefano booted Viviana out of his life, Roxy felt confident she’d managed to accomplish the same thing with her brother. She’d wired all the money in her Italian bank account to Maura along with an emailed note that reached out to Doug, once again appealing to their history and to the guy who used to shield her from harm—not cause it. Maura arranged the cash exchange and, after a quick call, stated that Doug had seemed duly remorseful for his bullshit extortion scheme.
Roxy didn’t have any faith in the bastard, but he couldn’t reach her or Matthew in Italy. That gave her a small measure of comfort. One that she banked on whenever memories of his goons’ threats had her heart pounding.
Meanwhile, life continued to hum along in the villa. Stefano received ongoing financial reports that announced the rising success of his venture with Anderson, and Roxy completed her piece for the grand opening in Naples along with continuing to sculpt her secret project for Stefano. A present that she hoped would show him how much she cherished their family.
And him.
But until she unveiled her gift, she had something special in store for Stefano.
A zip of anticipation triggered tiny electrical sparks throughout Roxy’s body as she toed off her sandals. Stefano had lingered longer in Matthew’s room per her instruction so she’d have time to get ready. She picked up a lighter stick from the credenza, then moved around the spacious, elegant bedroom and ignited the multitude of candles she’d asked the staff to set up earlier that day.
She heard the door open and turned to drink in the sight of her incredibly sexy husband in his white crisp shirt, and knife-pleated slacks. “You made Matthew’s day,” Roxy said, then put down the lighter before she accidentally set the curtains on fire. Because dang, she couldn’t think straight.
“Looks like you’re about to make mine.” Stefano crossed the room, then caught her in his powerful arms. “What’s the occasion?”
Bubbles of anticipation sparkled through her veins. “Just my way of showing you how glad I am we’re together.”
She wanted to celebrate their marriage, and their recent public relations coup that had derailed Viviana’s money grubbing schemes once and for all.
He tilted her chin up and brushed his knuckles along her jawline. “Me, too, tesoro,” Stefano said. “I only wish we’d been together for a lot longer.”
Roxy’s pulse accelerated and breathing seemed next to impossible. Just looking into his dark, gleaming eyes tilted her world in fantastic ways. Their marriage may have started out as a temporary means to an end, but it had grown into a bond between two people who’d grown to love each other.
“A lot has changed since we first bumped into each other in Mountain Brook,” she said. “I feel closer to you than I ever expected.” Though Stefano hadn’t said the words yet, Roxy didn’t need to hear them. She felt his love with every moment they spent together, as parents, friends, and lovers.
“Same,” Stefano said. “I never thought I’d be grateful for a hang gliding accident, but I am. Though I shouldn’t have forced you to marry me, I love that you’re my wife in every way, especially this way.”
He lowered his head and locked his mouth onto hers, kissing her so completely that her knees wobbled and she couldn’t think. Not when his tongue tangled with hers with such hunger and tenderness that it was dang near impossible to remember her own name.
On and on, he kissed her. Long, hot, deep kisses while he stroked the length of her body with those very clever hands of his. Within moments, he’d unzipped her sundress and pushed it off her shoulders. Her nipples pebbled into tight buds and strained against the fabric of the demi-bra she’d purchased for this day.
She arched her back, wanting and needing him to fill every part of her. She wrenched her mouth from his.
“You’re so beautiful.” He cupped her breasts and circled her peaks with his fingers. “Have I mentioned that I happen to love the color peach?”
Tremors traveled through her body from her sensitized nipples all the way to her very core. “A time or two.” She tugged his belt free from the loops, unzipped his pants, then tugged them down his long legs.
He might be all-in-charge now, but she planned to turn that around right quick. “You also adore red, blue, green, black—lingerie seems to have a powerful influence on your favorite colors.” She low
ered herself down the length of his torso to jerk down what was left of his bottoms.
His cock sprang out. He was big, already beautifully aroused and she licked her lips. “I’ve been waiting to do this to you all day long.” She circled the head of his shaft with one finger, and it jumped at her touch. A drop of wetness at the tip tantalized her, and her panties grew slick. Having him in this position, hot and hard and ready, gave her an incredible high.
“You’re driving me insane.”
Roxy shot him a sultry look and saw the passion in his face. “That’s the point.” She stroked her tongue across the top of his cock while moving her palm down the length of his erection. He grew larger and every cell she possessed ignited. She had to taste all of him, and she sucked him into her, taking him deep.
“Dio.” He clasped her hair and groaned. “If you don’t stop, I might not have much left to give.”
She withdrew long enough to slant her gaze up to read the passion in his dark, gleaming eyes, and the sheer ecstasy flashing in them. “Oh, I’m certain you’ll come through. After all, we have all night.”
“Then by all means, don’t stop,” he said, tightening his grip on her hair.
Roxy smiled, then returned her attention to Stefano’s rock hard cock. No way would she stop until she showed him just how much she treasured him.
* * *
The sight of Roxy kneeling at his feet, taking him inside her mouth, blew Stefano’s mind. Shit. He lost the ability to think. Didn’t want to think. Not when she had him spinning out of control and teetering on the edge of reason. He thrust his hips, his leg muscles threatening to give out as she kissed and licked him. She had him trapped with her sexy lips and tongue. Roxy totally, literally, held him in the palm of her hand.
His balls contracted and he could feel his orgasm building to the point of no return. There was no going back. He had to let go and allow her to take him deeper in her hot, wet mouth. When the first waves shuddered through his shaft, she drank him in and he lost himself.
His sexy, sultry and gorgeous wife stayed with him until he landed back into himself.
When his lungs refilled with air, he dragged her up to face him. “Tesoro.” Stefano stroked the length of her back and slipped his hands under the lace of her panties to cup her bottom and bring her closer. “You’re amazing.”
She writhed against him. “I was hoping you’d like my surprise.”
“Like?” He moved one hand closer to her cleft and stroked the slick slit. She was hot, ready, and wet for him because of what she’d done. “Love.”
Roxy gave him the secret smile of a woman who was quite pleased with herself. And the smile of a woman who definitely expected more. Which, given the way his cock was already growing hard, would be easy to provide. He simply couldn’t get enough of her.
“Love is good.” She feathered tiny kisses along his jawline “Because I loved it, too.”
“Then you’ll absolutely love what’s about to happen next,” Stefano said, lifting her off her feet.
“Oh really?”
“Si.”
He carried Roxy to the king sized bed and he lowered her onto the silky duvet cover before stepping away from the edge to drag off his shirt.
“Stefano, I want you.”
She reached for him, and he saw the love shining in her silver eyes. A love that was amplified by the illumination of the dozens of candles Roxy had lit earlier.
His heart cracked, melted at the sight of all that trust in her beautiful face. Dio. He’d given her every reason to hate him, yet somehow they’d crossed the divide and become more than two people with different agendas. They’d become friends… lovers… and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to let her go.
“Oh, you’ll have me,” he said, then stroked a strand of her hair back over her shoulder, caressing the inside curve of her neck. “In due time.”
“I hate waiting.”
He laughed and joined her on the soft bed. The scent of her hair mingled with her arousal and a jolt of desire careened through him, instantaneous and undeniable. “Don’t worry, tesoro. I promise not to bore you.” No, he thought while taking her gorgeous mouth and drinking in her special flavor, learning the taste and feel of her as if for the first time. He had every intention of pleasuring her with his mouth before taking her completely.
She dropped her head back against the pillows, baring her delicate neck to his hands and he traced a circle over the pulse jumping wildly in the hollow of her collar bone.
Slowly, he kissed his way down the length of that creamy column, nibbling the tender flesh until he reached her lacy bra. He cupped her breasts and teased her nipples one by one before removing the fabric to expose the rosy buds. He sucked them into his mouth, one at a time, circling the engorged tips with his tongue.
She clutched his hair and writhed beneath him. “For the love of gawd… Stefano…”
Ah. How he enjoyed his southern wife’s twang when he made love to her, knowing that only he could bring her this kind of ecstasy. But he lingered, licking his way down her torso until he reached the apex of her thighs, still covered by her damp peach panties.
He wanted to lick every delicious inch of her.
Candlelight and shadows moved across her sensuous curves, the dip of her waist and the fullness of her hips enticing him. He felt the increasing trembles in her body, anticipation and arousal waving through her.
As he parted her legs, she tensed. “Stefano, you can’t…”
Stefano glanced up, took in her kiss swollen lips and the rise and fall of her gorgeous breasts with their peaked nipples. “Oh, but I can,” he said, removing her pretty peach panties and tasting her sex.
Her hips came off the bed, but he crossed one arm over her pelvis, holding her steady while he passed his tongue slowly over her clitoris. Dio. She was a heady, intoxicating mix of honey and musk and uniquely her.
“Stefano, it’s too much…”
He stopped. “Trust me… let yourself go,” he said, then pushed two fingers between her folds and plunged inside.
Her moans flooded the room, the sounds of her pleasure compelling him to pump his fingers in and out of her more rapidly as he sucked her clit. Soon her body shuddered wildly and her muscles clenched his fingers. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair, clinging to him as she rocketed to her orgasm.
The pulse pounding in his ears nearly drowned out her cries of ecstasy, love, and the insistence that he take her now. His cock was harder than he’d thought possible and his blood pumped through his veins hot and thick and ready to claim her.
Need clawed at his insides, propelling him to brand her as his and he moved to hover over her, bracing himself on his arms and elbows. The heat from her core washed over his midsection, and his erection strained toward the source.
He looked down, and her eyes were dark and filled with hunger, matching his own intense craving to satiate his. “You’re mine,” he said, then entered her in one smooth motion, filling her to the hilt.
Her arms clutched his shoulders, and he felt the scrape of her nails on his back. He withdrew and thrust again, sliding in and out in a steady rhythm that stoked the fire burning within him. She raised her hips to meet him stroke for stroke.
Over and over, he thrust into Roxy. Skin against skin, body against body, rising and falling in tandem as if they had always been made for each other. He no longer knew where he ended and she began. With her, nothing else mattered. She completed him in ways he had never thought possible. The mind-boggling sensation of being found in Roxy made him harder, stroke faster until he thought he’d explode.
“Stefano, please, don’t let me go,” she called, her hands pulling him closer.
“I won’t.”
He thrust into her one final time, felt her clench around him, and they flew over the precipice together.
Chapter 15
The following Thursday, Roxy heaved a satisfied breath. Dust motes sparkled in the rays of sunlight, and the scent of wax and sa
nd tickled her nose while she gazed at the soapstone statue she had completed. Leaning over to take a closer look, the love she carved in the Stefano’s eyes reflected everything in her heart. Much like their marriage, the stone had taken her on a different creative path and her original concept for the design had changed. But then, she’d learned long ago that those deviations contained the magic that separated a craftsman from an artisan.
She had faith in the stone.
She trusted her process.
She loved the end result.
And now she had faith in her marriage, the man who had protected her, and hope for the future, which was why she’d added her own image to the sculpture.
Stefano had wondered about her secret project, but she refused to tell him anything until she was ready to reveal it. She’d even barred him from coming to the studio without fair warning.
Her cell phone buzzed in her apron’s front pocket. She pulled it out and a lump of clay balled in her throat. Doug. Before she responded, she texted Maura for more information. And got Doug again.
Where’s Maura? She texted frantically, her pulse leap frogging in her throat.
Safe for now. But you’ll have to pony up more cash if you want to hear from her again.
With trembling fingers, Roxy texted back. How much? She’d just received five down payments for her new commissions which she’d start when she completed her piece for Mountain Brook’s city council. Maybe she could hold him off with that money—at least long enough to stop him from destroying Stefano’s plans for Durante Enterprises.
His grandfather was so close to giving Stefano full control of the company. But another scandal—one that killed their so-called love match—might change everything.
Another million should do it.
Adrenaline zinged along her spine and shot arrows through her brain. She didn’t have that kind of money in her bank account. No way could she come up with a significant amount of cash without going to Stefano.
And she’d vowed not to ask him for money after all he’d been through with his mother. But now she had her friend to worry about, and she doubted her brother would negotiate. But still, she had to try.
The Marriage Ultimatum (Contemporary Romance) Page 13