Edouardo nodded to the statue. “And the faun over there.”
“I’m rather fond of that faun,” she said. “It’s a famous statue that somehow fell into our family’s hands long ago. While at university I did more research on fauns because I was so interested in this statue and found one that I think would have been awfully funny to have in our household.”
She pulled out her cell phone and typed in something, and quickly an image loaded of a statue of a very hot-looking naked man, sprawled out in repose, his legs spread a bit too invitingly for polite company.
It was Edouardo’s turn to blush. “That’s a naked man. A very naked man. You don’t want that in your drawing room.”
Gab laughed. “I’ve embarrassed you!”
He looked away. “Not at all.”
“Then why did you turn five shades of red?”
“Well, you’re pulling up pictures of naked men and all in mixed company.”
“It’s not a picture of naked man—it’s of a slab of carved marble,” she said. “Albeit a pretty hot-looking one. He’s known as the Barberini Faun, and he has quite a history. Poor man, it seems, was dismantled along with other statues to hurl at encroaching invaders during the siege of Rome. Art for weapons’ sake. Cardinal Barberini had him put back together again like Humpty Dumpty, and he eventually ended up being bought by Prince Ludwig, and he now lies in his come-hither stance in a museum in Munich.”
“Where droves of women go to swoon over him, no doubt.”
“You have to admit, he’s pretty damned sexy,” she said, pointing at his abs. “Look at his six-pack.”
“Wouldn’t they call it like a six-goblet or something? Not like they had six-packs back then.”
She hit him playfully. “So funny, you are.”
“Now, if you’re done slavering over a two-thousand-year-old man,” He gave her a wink as he reached for her hand. “Maybe I can interest you in one much younger, though perhaps only sporting a four-pack. Hope you don’t mind.”
“I’m easily swayed,” she said.
~*~
Edouardo had made reservations at Grotto Castello, the most romantic restaurant in the city. Built into caves in a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, the grotto was lit by hundreds of candles that warmed the volcanic tufa walls, creating a cozy, fairy-tale dining experience like none other. Waiters dressed in tuxedoes served expensive champagne on silver platters, and meals were plated on Limoges china. Their table sat at the mouth of the cave overlooking the ocean, where they could watch waves crashing into the shoreline just seventy feet below them. It was spectacular.
“This location is unbelievable,” Gabriella said. “I can’t think of a more perfect place for a date.”
Edouardo reached across the table and held her hands. “Good,” he said. “I’d hoped to make it up to you for how badly I behaved at your party.”
She shook her head. “Really, Edouardo, there’s no need to beat yourself up about that,” she said. “It’s over and done and I understand why you acted that way. Water under the bridge.” She looked down at the churning waves below. “Or water crashing into the shore.”
“Well, I appreciate your understanding. I’ve been told I’ve got a lot of issues I need to work on.”
Gab rolled her eyes. “Don’t we all.”
The waiter delivered their meals and they both grew quiet as they ate.
“So I have some news I wanted to tell you about.” Edouardo proceeded to tell her about the deed to the land and old stone manor home.
“Edouardo, that’s fantastic,” she said. “This gives you something to focus on, something you can take ownership of.”
He shrugged. “It’s a start. Though what I’d do with it, I’m not so sure.”
“What about establishing an organic farm?” she said. “You could supply restaurants like this very one with your produce. If the property’s been untouched for so many years, surely it’s clean soil, free of pesticides and fertilizers, so it might let you streamline getting it certified as organic. You could also easily raise free-range chickens so that you could also sell eggs. There are so many things you could do. I’m excited for you!”
He rubbed his jaw, thinking about her suggestions. “It never crossed my mind to use it to become anything more than a man with a garden,” he said. “But I love this idea. I would be in control of my destiny.”
“Well, you and Mother Nature,” she said. “Don’t discount her. But you could certainly be calling all the shots and doing whatever you wanted to and hedging your bets that you will succeed with the business venture. I think it sounds exciting.”
Edouardo smiled. He needed to start thinking bigger, like Gabriella was doing. He’d limited himself so much with his negative energy, it was time to expand his horizons and open up his thinking to let in some good.
For dessert they shared profiteroles with French crème and chocolate sauce.
“Oh my God,” she said. “This is the most orgasmic thing I’ve experienced in forever.”
Edouardo looked up at her from lowered lids, his eyebrow arched in curiosity. “You mean the most excitement you’ve had in forever is a little dessert?”
She nodded. “’Fraid so.”
“Well, then,” he said, calling for the check, “we’ll have to see if we can rectify that.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The atmosphere in the car on the drive back to her place was supercharged with nervous energy. Gab couldn’t even figure out what she was so anxious about, considering she was the one making strong moves on Edouardo only a week ago. Yet all of a sudden, she felt all chaste and virginal? What the heck?
But it seemed as if everything had changed between then and now. Then, it was all about her feeling better about herself and had nothing to do with Edouardo, really. Well, he’d have been an essential participant, sure, but in a way, back then he was really an afterthought. His role was entirely interchangeable with any other relatively good-looking guy who would have fit the bill at the time.
Now, well, she was veering dangerously close to caring about Edouardo, which meant the terms of the relationship (or lack thereof) had changed. Now, it kind of mattered.
The quiet in the car made her particularly nervous, so she finally broke the ice. “You never did say, what’s your spirit animal?”
Edouardo thought for a minute. “I’d say maybe a dog.”
Gab laughed. “A dog? Really?”
“Well, I’m loyal and I’m a homebody. Guess I’d make a great pet.”
“As long as you didn’t bite anyone,” she said, winking at him. “I don’t see you as the dog spirit-animal type.”
“Really? Then what would you have pegged me for?”
“Oh, I dunno,” she said. “Maybe a bear. Cause you’re big and strong and protective of those who matter to you. But easily aroused into a ferocious state.”
“Ferocious? That sounds sort of extreme.”
“It’s okay. If that power and rage is channeled properly, it can be kind of sexy and edgy.” She reached out and ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.
“Sexy and edgy, eh?” he said, a smile breaking across his face. “How about you? What would your spirit animal be?”
“Hmmm... I like all sorts of animals. Can I be a panda bear?”
“I’m not sure if pandas fall into the spirit-animal category.”
“Can’t it be any animal? Pandas are cute and cuddly and, well, they’re from China and I love Chinese food.”
His nostrils flared as he tried not to laugh. “I’m not sure if you’re getting the whole point of a spirit animal.”
“Does there have to be a point to it? Can’t it just be whatever I want it to be? After all, it’s made up.”
Gab pulled out her phone, googling a list of spirit animals. “Aha!” she said. “See, right here. Panda is completely allowed. It says here something about pandas reminding you of gratitude, good feelings, and mental and spiritual health. And be
ing thankful for all the wonderful things and people in your life right now so that you can shift the balance toward more positive things. I think this is actually quite perfect. And as an added bonus, this way we can both be bears together. I sort of like that.”
“I think you’re right. A panda it is. And if it’s okay with you, I’d like to narrow down my bear description a little bit to a polar bear. Read to me what it says about polar bears.”
She scrolled down till she found the polar bear listing. “It says you are fierce and strong, yet playful. You know how to pursue what you want deliberately and powerfully. You are not afraid to show aggressive behavior, however you use it for defensive purposes only, rather than bullying your way through things. You are a good provider and you enjoy the responsibility of providing for others.
“Wow,” she said. “That seems eerily like you, at least from what I know about you. Then we’ve solved it: panda and polar bears we are.”
They pulled up the long driveway at Bellavista, and Gabriella motioned for Edouardo to park in the spacious garage.
“This way, perhaps we’ll be unnoticed. Let’s see how quiet we can be entering the house,” she said. “Maybe we can avoid a buzz-killing interrogation by my sister.”
“Should we take off our shoes?”
“Good plan.”
They quietly tiptoed into the house and even managed to sneak by a sleeping Butterball, who was curled up by the front door waiting for her to arrive. Gab hated not to make a big deal about coming home as that made the dog so happy, but, well, she had other priorities at the moment.
She grabbed Edouardo’s hand and pulled him up the back flight of steps toward her bedroom. She held up her pointer finger to her lips as they tiptoed into the room and she carefully closed the door. Whereupon she froze as she stood there looking at Edouardo, not having a clue what her next move was supposed to be.
After all, everything had changed. Aside from the fact that she had already resolved not to pursue any sort of relationships for a while, there was the fact that she was sort of messed up about her goals, her future, her wants, and desires. For that matter, he was sort of messed up too, obviously torn about a lot of things right now. The two of them didn’t even know what to do with themselves, so how on earth were they prepared to figure out what to do with each other? Well, not in that way. That would be the easy part.
Gab reflected on the inevitable complications that could result from romantic-evening-infused brains. Acting on the fantasies that would surface when something more than friendship reared its ugly head might be a terrible mistake.
The thing is, while Gabriella stood frozen in place, unable to figure out what the next move was, Edouardo had mustered up the courage she lacked. He turned to face her, placing his hands in hers as they stood face-to-face.
“Edouardo—” Gabriella said.
But then he placed a finger to her lips to quiet her, just as he moved a hand behind her head, pulling her toward him. “I recognize the look in your eyes,” he said. “I know it because that was me just last week. But I hope you realize now how much I regret my stupidity. I want you, Gabriella. More than I could have imagined.” With that, he pressed his lips to hers, and all of her mind-wrangling melted away as she opened her mouth to his.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Edouardo felt downright desperate to be with Gabriella, his hands all over her, her skin warming his. It was as if out of nowhere his life had changed from black and white to color, and it was all thanks to this woman who was able to crack the code, to open him up, to help him see that there was a whole big world out there waiting for him to seize.
He didn’t even know the layout of her bedroom, and in the dark it was hard to discern how easily it would be to get her to the damned bed. But that didn’t matter, because all that really mattered was that they were in the same place, on the same page, wanting the same thing.
Edouardo reached for the zipper on her dress and deftly pulled it down, then gently shifted the dress off her shoulders letting it fall to the floor. His eyes were finally adjusting to the darkness, and with a full moon flooding the room, he could see she was wearing a sheer black lace bra and panties. He thought he might just die at the amazing sight, her breasts full and firm and gorgeous. He took a step back and whistled softly.
Gabriella covered her face, bashful at the attention. But Edouardo wouldn’t have any of that. “Stand there for me,” he said, just staring at her. “I want to take you all in.”
And he did, from those sexy fuck-me shoes all the way to that gorgeous curvy body and her warm, friendly face, Gabriella was the whole package. How he could have turned her down was beyond him. Temporary insanity, no doubt.
Gab reached out and slipped off his jacket, then loosened the knot in his tie and pulled it off. She tugged his shirttails where they were tucked into his pants and together they made short work of unbuttoning his crisp, white dress shirt.
Edouardo moved his hands to his waistband but Gabriella stopped him. “Let me do the honors,” she said, unbuckling his belt before loosening the button on his pants. She carefully pulled the zipper, no small feat with the erection that had sprung up before they’d even left the restaurant. Then she bent down before him for the final reveal.
Edouardo sucked in his breath as Gabriella lowered herself to her knees and wrapped her warm fingers around his cock. He tried to count to ten to keep from losing it before things even got underway. It wasn’t easy, because here he was with this amazing woman and he couldn’t think beyond what he wanted more: his dick in her mouth or her body.
Cento, novantanove, novantotto, novantasette, he began counting in Italian backward from a hundred in his head. Sometimes it was easier to distract himself when he had to really concentrate, and he always sucked at getting these numbers backward. But when he felt her warm, wet, welcoming tongue stroke the length of him, all thoughts fled his brain, and all he could dwell upon was how fucking incredible it felt. As she wrapped her lips around him and gripped him with her hands, stroking and sucking, he thought he’d died and gone to heaven. He buried his fingers in her hair, encouraging her on, moaning from the pleasure of it, until he had to stop her. Which went against every instinct in his body. But damn, he wasn’t ready for this to end so quickly.
He reached down and pulled Gabriella to him and wrapped his arms around her, deftly unhooking her bra as he did so, making sure it dropped out of the way as his mouth settled over hers. In a near frenzy, his tongue stroked hers, searching her mouth, trying to taste every bit of her while his hands moved toward more fertile territory. Rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, he weighed her spectacular tits in his hands. It wasn’t enough to keep his mouth on hers, so he quickly worked his lips and tongue toward her breasts, finding a hard nipple and taking it into his mouth. Gabriella let out a moan that made him groan in response.
~*~
Having gone through a long dry spell since breaking off her engagement, Gabriella hadn’t realized how horny she was. She’d also somehow forgotten what a bad idea dry spells were in general and savored even more the sensation of Edouardo’s warm, wet mouth as he sucked each of her nipples. She tried to ignore the fact that she was standing in the dark in the middle of her bedroom, in just her panties and those heels, her bra dangling from her elbow. If she overthought things her self-consciousness would thwart all thoughts of pleasure, so she did her best to tamp it down. Thank goodness she’d not turned the bedroom lights on, at least. Far better for him not to see her illuminated.
Edouardo’s hands shifted to skim her panties off, leaving her completely naked and feeling a bit vulnerable. That is, until his fingers reached down to her center crease, and he began to stroke her, slowly at first, then picking up the pace. The dueling sensations of his mouth on her breasts and his fingers stroking her center made her mind mad with pleasure and brought her closer and closer to climax.
“Edouardo,” she said in a hushed whisper. “I want you.”
But Edoua
rdo continued in his single-minded focus of pleasuring her, his hand moving faster still until she broke, moaning his name as her body shuddered with the effort.
It didn’t take long for her to feel sheepish standing naked in her room with those shoes on, but Edouardo was having none of that. “Come here,” he said as he placed his arms beneath her bottom and around her back and lifted her up, carrying her to her bed.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gabriella had no time to panic with thoughts of Edouardo ending up hospitalized with a herniated disc after he hoisted her. No sooner did he place her on the bed than he was on top of her, and she felt the press of his warm skin against her body, his hard planes buffered up against her own softness. And of course that hardest part of him, insinuated itself right up against her, and she wanted nothing more than for him to slide it all the way into her waiting body.
Edouardo was working his way down her torso, his mouth nipping and licking as he shifted his body farther toward her hips. When he reached the juncture of her legs, he spread them wide with his arms, and his mouth finally found her folds. As he dragged his tongue along them, Gab cried out again and again. She didn’t think she could take such sensory overload for much longer, but God, did that feel a-maz-ing.
She scraped her nails along his scalp, urging him just where she wanted him and his tongue moved faster as her body pulsed with the rhythm of his mouth on her, until suddenly the climax washed over her. She pulled him up and saw he’d already sheathed himself with a condom. He slid into her slick center, his hard cock stroking inside her, back and forth, in and out, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, moving with the urgent pace he set, until finally he let out a loud groan. Spent, he stilled himself inside her.
They lay like that for minutes, still joined together, catching their breaths, until Edouardo slipped out, grabbing a nearby tissue to wrap the condom in before tossing it in a trashcan by the bed. He reached around and tucked Gabriella affectionately beneath his arm and pulled her close.
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