by Belle Ami
“Is there anything quite as lovely as the scent of earth and trees after a rainstorm? Except perhaps the perfection of our lovemaking, amore. We should walk through the vineyard on our way back. The grape-laden vines will scent the air like perfume. Perhaps the grapes will cover the smell of our sex and my nosy brothers, with their highly developed olfactory skills, won’t be able to sniff out our afternoon lovemaking.”
Gerhard smiled, squeezing her hand. “Your brothers are just being protective. Our stolen kisses have not gone unnoticed by them. I’d follow you anywhere, but the only perfume I crave is the scent of your body. I can’t wait until we marry on Sunday. I want to spend the rest of my life sleeping wrapped around you, tesoro.”
It was dusk and the light was dwindling. The trail was treacherous, slippery with mud. It wound precipitously down to the vine-covered slopes below. A dogleg turn brought them face to face with a stranger. Gerhard slipped his arm protectively around Sophia’s waist, drawing her close to his side.
“Excuse me,” said Gerhard. “This is private property. Are you lost?”
Sophia’s heart thundered in her chest. The only access to this trail was through the Caro property and there wasn’t any reason for anyone outside the family to use it. No trespassing signs were posted at the entrance to the trail and at the front of the property. An alarm went off, a warning that something was wrong. She burrowed deeper into Gerhard’s embrace.
The man just stared at Gerhard, grinning. His eyes darted back and forth from Gerhard to her, before settling on her. He pulled a gun from his pocket and pointed it at them. When he spoke, it was not in Italian, but in German. “What a lovely time for an afternoon excursion.” He ogled Sophia appreciatively. “And such a sexy, Fraulein. It’s interesting that your clothes are not wet what with all the rain.” He looked up the trail. “Maybe, you snuck away and those pretty lips sucked dein schwanz. Maybe there’s a cave up there, somewhere safe out of the rain.”
“Get behind me, Sophia,” Gerhard whispered. His eyes narrowed and he smiled coldly at the German. When he spoke, it was in the commanding German of a superior. “Your filthy remarks are regrettable. I’d appreciate it if you’d show some respect to my wife. We don’t want any trouble. You’re obviously a deserter. In my backpack, I have food and some money. Take it and just let us go. This is partisan country and you’d best move on.”
“Did you hear that Dietrich? This man is a deserter, too, yet he dares to warn us to move on while he cozies up to some Italian whore.”
From behind them came the laughter of another man. “This is no ordinary whore, Franz. This one is a beauty. I don’t even care that this asshole already fucked her. I’ll take seconds or even thirds.”
Gerhard whirled sideways and pushed Sophia behind him. There were two German deserters, one blocking each side of the trail, both men held Lugers aimed at them. “I warn you, not to come any closer.”
Sophia shook with fear. From somewhere deep inside of her came an angry voice. “You need to go! My brothers will be worried and come searching for us. Our dogs will hunt you down and my brothers will kill you if you do anything to us.”
The man called Franz’s eyes blazed. “We will go, but I think not before we’ve sampled a little taste of what lies beneath your skirt.” He moved toward Sophia, menacingly. “It’s been a long time since I’ve fucked anything as beautiful as you. I bet you’re a wildcat in the sack.” He rubbed his groin. “Mein schwanz ist schon hart. I think your boyfriend will enjoy watching you get fucked by two real men.”
Gerhard launched himself at the man with a shout of rage that echoed through the mountains. “Don’t touch her, du Schwein!”
The gun Franz was holding went flying. The two men fell to the ground, punching and kicking. Dietrich shouted, his gun swinging wildly as he tried to shoot Gerhard, but Franz and Gerhard were twisting and rolling in the mud, grunting and growling like lions in a fight to the death. It was impossible for Dietrich to take a clean shot.
Gerhard yelled, “Run Sophia. Don’t look back. Just run and scream.” But Sophia stood frozen, her eyes searching the ground. “Go!” he shouted.
She turned and started to run, but then she saw it. Stooping, she bent and picked up the gun Franz had dropped. Spinning around, she saw the two men grappling, their faces bruised and bloodied. Suddenly, Franz threw his body sideways freeing himself from the death grip Gerhard had on him. He yelled, “Shoot the bastard, Dietrich. Now!”
Sophia screamed “No!” as a shot rang out. Gerhard lay still. In the growing darkness, she wasn’t sure of what she was seeing. She only knew that these monsters were not going to take her without a fight.
With both hands gripping the gun she assumed a shooter’s stance and pointed the gun at Dietrich and before he could take aim, she shot him through the head. He fell backward. She turned the gun on Franz, and then she heard dogs barking and men shouting her name. Her brothers were coming. She yelled over her shoulder, “Stefano, Roberto, help me!”
Franz heard them too. He charged, knocking her down, and ran past her calling her a bitch. He’d knocked the wind out of her, and she lay on the ground trying to catch her breath. She ignored the pain gripping her abdomen, all she wanted was to get to Gerhard. She dragged herself to him and placed her ear to his chest. The faintest of heartbeats echoed through her. She touched his body and felt wetness. Raising her fingers, she could see they were red with blood. She sat up and gently raised his head into her lap. “Gerhard, darling, can you hear me?”
His eyes blinked open. She could barely hear him whisper her name. “Sophia, amore mio, I’m so proud of you. You are the bravest woman… . I’ve…” He struggled to breathe.
“Gerhard, my love, hold on, please. Help is coming.” She could hear the dogs barking, running up the trail.
“It’s too late, love, please let me speak. Know that I loved you more than anything in my life. I only wish I could have seen our child… please, forgive me for not being here with you.”
“Gerhard no…” She couldn’t stop the sobs or the anger that flooded her. The thought of living her life without him was unbearable.
“Keep the painting, Sophia. Please keep it for our daughter. It is the only gift I will ever be able to give her. Promise me?”
“I don’t care about the damn painting. I only want you, Gerhard.”
“Promise me, Sophia.” His eyes closed, and she knew she was losing him.
She bent her forehead to his, her tears falling in rivulets down his face. “I promise, my love. Promise me, you’ll wait for me.”
His last words were a whisper. “I will wait for you always.”
Alex’s eyes flew open.
Had he heard a scream? Thunder rolled across the valley, bringing with it the sound of rain slapping against the roof. The drapery billowed, like a sail filling with wind; he jumped up, closing the French doors.
Then he heard it again, a woman crying.
He raced from the room, running down the hallway and threw open Angela’s door. He stood a moment in the doorway, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. Angela lay on the bed thrashing and crying. His heart twisted with pain. The rain was coming down in torrents, the drapes blew like ghosts in flight, and he rushed to secure the French doors against the onslaught. He sat on the edge of the bed and gathered her into his arms. “Angel, wake up, it’s just a bad dream, honey.” He rubbed her back with a soothing hand and caressed her hair, calming her with his whispered reassurances. “It’s okay, Angela. You’re safe.”
She was sobbing, her words muffled in his shoulder. “It was horrible. I killed a man and someone killed you. I lost you again.”
“Honey, no one killed me, I’m here. Alive. It’s just a nightmare. You’re not losing me.”
She pulled away, searching his eyes. “No, Alex, it happened. I saw it, all of it. I don’t mean he killed you, he killed Gerhard. On a mountain, s
omewhere, I’m not sure where. But, this means—twice—it’s happened twice. You’ve been murdered in two of your past lives. And I’ve had to watch you die. Don’t you see? I can’t let that happen again.”
“See what? What are you talking about?”
“It’s me, Alex. Every time you’re with me. Don’t you see?” Her hands rested on either side of his face. “We’re cursed, Alex, wrong for each other. We only bring each other death and destruction. It’s going to happen again. I feel it. I need to get away from you, far away. Maybe then it won’t happen. Maybe I can stop it. But the thought of leaving you devastates me.”
“You’re not going anywhere, and we’re not cursed,” he said placing his hands over hers. “This is ridiculous, you have nothing to do with this, Angel. Just because something happened in another time, another life, doesn’t mean it has to happen again. I’m not letting you go.”
He wrapped his arm around her and urged her to lie back down. He soothed her with whispered endearments and soft kisses on her forehead and cheeks. He continued to kiss away her tears as her breathing returned to normal. After a while, she sighed, snuggling into his embrace. Their arms and legs, entwined, as they lay together on the bed. The only sounds were their intermingling breaths and the rain lashing against the windows…
He was having trouble controlling his desire for her. Her body against his was getting the best of him. He held her gaze and saw the vulnerability in her eyes. Her lips were so close. She was feeling it, too. He could feel her desire in the way she looked at him. The way she trembled against him. She was fighting the same battle…
He was tired of fighting it. Sick of battling against the tide when all he wanted was to be carried out to sea. To lose himself in her. To feel the waves of passion roll over him. He’d wanted it from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. Was that less than a week ago? It felt like a lifetime. Hell, it felt like three lifetimes. I don’t care anymore about the promise I made to wait for her to make the first move. Some promises are meant to be broken.
He leaned down and claimed her mouth. His lips blazed over hers with a hunger that surprised him. It burned through him consuming whatever doubts he had. At first, he felt her hesitancy… Even so, her lips remained locked with his, supple and yielding, finally melting into passion. Her kiss told him she wanted him as much as he wanted her. They broke for air, gasping.
He could have stopped it there, like he had every time before, but he didn’t. His lips touched her forehead, brushing her temple, filling her ear with his warm breath, and then his tongue traced a path down her neck, her scent intoxicating him. He’d never felt the need to possess someone so desperately. This time he wouldn’t stop until she was completely his. As far as he was concerned, he could remain in this bed with her for the rest of his life.
She sighed, fingers in his hair, arching her back, opening to his hunger. Outside, the storm raged, but it was nothing compared to the passionate storm within him. Angela was wrong, they were destined to be together. He was crazy about her.
“Alex… we shouldn’t—I’m afraid… your life.”
“Like hell we shouldn’t. There is no power on earth that can stop us.” Her nipples strained against her shirt pressing into his chest, and she moaned, a siren song calling to him. His heart pounded, desire pumping through his veins. He unbuttoned her blouse and with a flick of his thumb and forefinger released her bra clasp. Her breasts spilled from their confinement. Her sighs melted into moans when he filled his hands with the weight of both breasts and ran his tongue around her nipples. “God, you’re beautiful, baby.”
Lightning struck somewhere in the distance and a pellucid, white light filled the room, but all he could see were her eyes warm with anticipation, her lips rosy from being kissed. Currents of energy reverberated between them, charging the atmosphere.
The crash of thunder that followed seemed to release something inside of her. She wrapped her arms around him, trembling against him. Pulling away, he wrenched his shirt over his head. All he could think about was her body against his. Her eyes swept over him with a look of admiration, supercharging his desire. Then, like a blind person trying to discover the shape and form of something, she ran her hands delicately over his chest causing his muscles to tense. He didn’t move. It was so erotic, this slow dance of discovery. Letting her lead, he groaned as her long, slender fingers travelled over his shoulders, down his back, her gaze locked on his.
“I’ve wanted to touch you for so long.” Her whispered words drew him in like a magnet.
He lay back down beside her and skimmed his hand from the delicate hollow of her throat over her breast, and down to her flat abdomen. He swallowed, drinking in her beauty. “I know I promised to wait for you to make the first move,” he began in a raspy voice, “but so much has happened in such a short time. I can’t stop what I’m feeling for you, Angela.”
“I don’t want you to stop… I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything so much. It’s as if my body feels alive for the first time. I’ve been fighting this for so many reasons, but I don’t want to fight anymore. I want to know where this takes us. What it feels like to be completely one with you…”
It was such a sweet sentiment, mirroring what was in his heart. His tours of duty had given him strength and toughness beyond his years, his career had given him success and a measure of satisfaction, but from the moment he met Angela, he knew his life had changed forever.
Being with her, meant more to him than anything he’d ever experienced. Lying next to her, holding her, kissing her, loving her was all that mattered. Somehow, he’d get them through this toxic past life syndrome and settle the accounts once and for all. They’d find that damn painting together and solve the mystery. History didn’t have to repeat itself, the chain could be broken. Somehow, he’d change the outcome. Then he’d spend the rest of his life with this amazing woman.
“Angel, I want you with me. I have no intention of not making this last.” He pulled her in until every part of her touched every part of him.
Her giggle delighted him. “I can feel you throbbing against me.”
“I can’t control that part of my anatomy around you.” His laughter rumbled in his chest.
“I kind of hope you stay that way.”
“Be careful what you hope for.” He kissed her slow and deep. For the moment, he controlled his desire, savoring the sweet longing building inside of him. Tasting her silky skin with his lips and tongue, stroking her with his hands, he wanted to imprint his touch on every part of her luscious body. Down he went, eliciting whimpers of desire from her as he made his way to the source of her pleasure and felt it swell beneath his tongue. Her moans grew louder as he pressed his face deeper into her. He was more than content to worship her with his mouth until she came. This part of the promise he intended to keep. He wanted her to say it, say she couldn’t live another minute without him inside of her.
When he thought nothing could be better than what he was feeling, her back bowed and her body stiffened, trembling beneath his lips. “Alex—I want you.”
He lapped at her, completely lost in pleasing her. When her orgasm finally ceased her body relaxed in contentment. She flung her arms above her head, sighing. “My God, Alex… I… I’ve never felt anything like that.”
His lips travelled the length of her, tasting every inch. “Do you want more, baby?”
Her body quivered, shuddering. “Yes… I want you inside me.”
He could hear the need in her voice. His own body was taut with desire. Her sighs of pleasure, melodious and sensual, sent his pulse racing. He could barely restrain himself from plunging his cock inside her. The rain drumming on gutters, eaves, and roof, rhythmically echoed the pounding of their hearts.
Bracing his weight, he rolled on top of her. She’d given him the words he’d been waiting for and it meant more than he could have imagined. Pent-up need made him rock ha
rd. He was afraid of hurting her, but when he pushed slowly in her hips rose and enfolded him in their sweet depths, taking him deep, making them both gasp.
“Angel,” he groaned. “It shouldn’t feel this good, baby, I won’t last.”
She smiled, undulating beneath him. “I want you to think of this, every time you look at me.”
“Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.” He rhythmically thrust inside of her, making sure he hit her clit with every penetration. He was so close to coming and, one thing was for sure, he wasn’t coming without her.
Their bodies were soaked with sweat when he felt her nails dig into his back and heard her cry out. The precious sound of her tipping over again sent him over the top and he plunged deep, stiffening with his release.
Enfolding her in his arms, he lay back, holding her close as his heart beat returned to normal. His hand smoothing up and down her back, eliciting contented sighs from her. He smiled and kissed the top of her head. Sleeping through the night with her wrapped in his arms was something he could get used to. Something he wanted more than anything.
When he woke, the rumble of thunder was far in the distance. The storm had moved on after providing an unforgettable backdrop to his and Angela’s first time together. Remembering their lovemaking sent a jolt through his system, short-circuiting his ability to think of anything other than the passion she’d sparked in him. What he hadn’t expected was discovering a sensual temptress beneath her calm and shy exterior. If it weren’t for the nagging complaints of his stomach he’d be happy to stay in bed with her for the rest of the day. He couldn’t wait to step into the fire again and feel her flames envelop him.
The house was quiet, slumbering as if in deference to their rest. Their lovemaking had seemed not of this world. It crossed his mind, they’d been lovers before in past lives, but the only life that mattered to him was this one. All he knew was she’d made every part of him sing with satisfaction.
Angela slept secure in his arms as he studied the faint, dark circles shadowing her eyes. He’d been demanding, exhausting her with a craving that seemed to have no end. He’d finally let her sleep in the early hours of the morning. Even now he was tempted to awaken her with his hunger. He’d have to be patient and content himself with holding her for a few moments more.