Baby V (Chianti Kisses #1)

by Tara Oakes

  “I haven’t seen you in days... Do you really want to talk about work right now?” My question is more of a dare.

  He growls deep, guttural. “I think we should finish this in my office.”

  Huh? Why can’t we “finish” this right here? We’re alone. Dom’s office is so stuffy and business-y, not at all what I had in mind.

  Dom slips around the corner of the bar until he is behind my chair, pulling it out to help me get moving. I deflate faster than a stale birthday balloon and scowl up at him. It’s time to try a different approach. I raise my arms and clasp my hands behind his neck, gently massaging his nape with my finger tips.

  “Your office? That doesn’t seem very romantic.” I reach up, standing on my toes until I can brush my lips over his. My little pink book would approve, I’m sure.

  I brush his lips again, whispering, “How about we finish this on the couch? Like last time?”

  I push my lips into him deeply and pull his neck down as I tilt my head to accommodate his. It’s just as I remember, overwhelming and causing my insides to swelter. More comfortable with my own kissing skills by now, I use the tip of my tongue to part his salty lips and search out the strong center within.

  Dom clasps my waist with his hands as he moans at my unexpected advance. Pushing my body against his own, he skillfully takes control until I am the one moaning into him. He’s ignited a fire in me this last week that has since been burning deep in his absence. I hadn’t realized how profoundly my body missed his. It’s almost carnal, sinful, and definitely not how a St. Bart’s lady should be behaving.

  Dom stands back mere centimeters from our tight kiss. “My office, now.”

  My stomach drops at his words. My breathing strained, legs weak. Dom turns me from him and guides me through the large, darkened rooms and finally into his office, shutting the door behind him. With only the desk lamp turned on, the room is dim. The large leather furniture looks cold and uninviting facing an empty fireplace. Built in bookshelves line the walls filled with leather bound novels and manuals.

  His impressive desk has papers scattered about it, with the giant window behind it covered by expensive looking tapestry curtain panels. In the corner is an antique wrought iron spiral stair case leading directly up to his bedroom. His own private entrance for late nights spent working.

  My skin becomes prickly and hypersensitive as Dom walks up behind me while I am surveying the room. I close my eyes and draw in a deep calming breath as he moves my hair from my neck. He begins to massage my neck with his kneading lips.

  “You are so sexy and you don’t even know it. I can’t even tell you how hard it is to keep my hands to myself.” Mmm.

  I turn around to him, my kisses eagerly match his in intensity. Oh God, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop, being wrapped in this man’s arms, feeling his want and need for me... knowing I have those same needs.

  My fingers work their way through his short hair, imploring his kiss to somehow deepen, even though I know it’s not physically possible. My body arches and twists somewhat trying to contain the swelling urgency I feel.

  I can feel him begin to hesitate. Nooo! I don’t think I’ll survive if he cuts me loose again. How can I let him know that he can’t just stop kissing me, like he always does? Making use of a quick breathing break between kisses, I tell him just that.

  “What makes you think you need to control yourself?” My breathy words hang on me.

  Hiking my slim fitting dress up mid thigh, he scoops me up while applying pressure to my lower hips, swinging my legs around his waist. He feels so strong carrying me as if I weigh nothing more than a feather across the room to the english leather sofa before leaning me down on its soft cushions. Pressed above me with his hands now free, he plunges them into the dark mass of hair loose around my shoulders. His breathing becoming heavy and deep as he hovers over me.

  “You have no idea what you’re saying, V....”

  What? Yes I do! I don’t want him to stop. I want to feel his kisses and feel his arms holding me for as long as I possibly can. His lips move to my chin, my neck. His hand traces down my leg until it settles behind my knee. With one swift move he pushes my knee up just enough to allow enough room for his torso to spread over me.

  I feel like I’ll burst unless his lips are on mine again. Instead, they move across my collarbone as he breathes into my skin.

  “You feel so good, I want you right here.” His lips then return to my aching mouth.

  His hand is still holding under my knee but slowly slides over my bare skin until it’s flattened over my thigh. I didn’t think his kisses could be any more intense but somehow they do, drawing a buried moan from deep inside me. This is too much. I can’t take much more, but I know it’s impossible for me to stop.

  His hand pulses around my flesh, keeping time with his deep penetrating kisses. Instinctively, my body reacts as my hips raise and push deep into him before retreating and then push up once again. Whoa! How did they do that? Did he know his hand would solicit that response? He grasps tighter as my hips take control of their own actions, thrusting slightly into him again, feeling the roughness of his jeans against the delicate skin of my inner thighs.

  My clothes are nothing more than a burden I want to free myself from. I break our kiss, inhaling deeper than my lungs are able to bear as my chest tinges with pain at it’s new filled capacity.

  “Oh God, Dom...” I don’t mean for my voice to sound as whiny as it does as I cry out. Dom’s own hips begin to press into me now, the friction slightly satisfying the tortuous need I feel inside. I feel a growing bulge against me as he answers my unspoken request with his body.

  His hand releases its pressure from around my leg as it gently strokes my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake while it covers the distance around to the inner skin rubbing up against his denim. He is driving me to insanity! But this sweet agony is making me feel more alive than ever before and I yearn for more.

  My lips find their way back to his and his teeth gently tug on them, delivering more torment to my body. With a surge of adrenaline, I dig my nails through his shirt, needing to grab onto something before I am lost into an abyss.

  Dom responds by moving his hand one last time deep between my thighs until it is sprawled out over the innermost patch of my panties. He presses his palm deep against me and I cry out, throbbing against him. Scared, unsure of what has just demanded that whelp of a response, Dom soothes me.

  “I know baby... you want me to. Soon... but not now.”

  I become insanely angry that his body can taunt and tease me with so much pleasure and then yank it back.

  “What?! No, please... don’t stop. I need you...” I implore him with my eyes. He keeps my gaze but his body inches slightly off of mine.

  I drop my head back against the sofa in defeat.

  “V... baby you know as well as I do that you’ve never gone this far before. You don’t know what you’re saying. I’m not gonna be that prick that takes advantage of you when you’re in a state like this.”

  I hear his words but keep my eyes rolled up at the ceiling above me, refusing to look at him. He chuckles at my childishness.

  “You really think you’re ready? Like this? Right here?....”

  I shake my head up and down while my gaze rests on a fixed mark on the white paint high above. His hand has not moved from its perch on top of my cotton undergarment. I feel his fingers start to come to life.

  “I know you think you’re ready, baby, I can feel it soaking through.”

  I can’t bring myself to speak. To confirm the fact.

  “Oh, you’re giving me the silent treatment now, huh?” He kisses the corner of my mouth while his hand presses against the fabric once more, causing my head to angle back and my eyelids to flutter. “You don’t know much about this, do you?”

  His hand is now moving in a circular motion, palm pressing deep as he rotates feelings of ecstasy around a deep sensitive spot beneath the cotton. My breath
quickens again as the intense feelings of arousal return.

  “I asked, do you?” He repeats himself. I manage to answer no in a short exhale between panting.

  His sexy taunting continues. I can feel the dampness under his massaging as he cups my chin with his other hand and pulls it down tenderly so that my eyes can no longer avoid his.

  “Tell me what you know. Did they teach you anything about a man in that convent of yours?”

  Oh my god! Is he really asking me to detail this for him? What am I supposed to tell him? How sister Mary Catherine warned us against the evil charms that men possess? Oh, but these charms feel so damn good.

  “Hmmm?”Dom stops his hand’s motion abruptly.

  “Um...” I decide to answer as the movement returns. Ahhh. I can’t concentrate on a silly thing like speech at a time like this. “Well... I, er. One of the sisters who led discussions...”

  He is bringing me to the brink of death, I’m sure. How can I survive much more?

  “Umm... discussions on family relationships...”

  Dom’s fingers are now exploring on their own, separate from the palm that controls them. They are playing with the edge of the cotton, tugging, teasing at the material to explore what it is protecting. His eyes continue to wait for me to finish verbalizing my thoughts.

  “She told us that men are capable of seducing a girl who...”

  His fingers are now under the cotton, trailing against the damp skin quivering beneath them. He spreads the delicate folds revealing my center, continuing to stroke back and forth, his thumb applying gentle pressure to the swollen area growing under it. I moan again, louder, squirming from the intense pleasure he is giving me.

  “Keep going... seducing a girl who...?” He continues his stare, compelling me to finish. This is turning him on! I just know it! Watching me and listening to me as he drives me crazy.

  I do as he asks, and continue. “Seducing a girl who lets her guard down, but that we should only let it down for our husband...” I moan again as his touch intensifies and grows faster. His fingers now slip over me in the wet path they have created. One long drenched finger slides further then the rest and deep into me with one fluid motion. I whelp out at this new delicious intrusion into my body. His hand stills as he looks down at me, recovering from my shock.

  “Keep going baby, tell me.”He coaxes.

  My mind is blank. Where was I? I don’t remember. I just remember the incredible feelings he is giving me. “We should let our husband have our greatest gift. He would be the only person to... oh my God.... Dom...”

  My body begins to shake and I feel like I’m a overfilled dam about to burst from the built up pressure within. His movement is increasing and I lose the control I’ve been fighting so hard to hold on to.

  Dom begins to kiss me deeply as my body strains under the pressure. “The only person to what, baby?”

  I’m loosing it, feeling as if I’m drifting in and out of consciousness.

  “He would be the only one to treasure it and nurture it...” I cry out in one final spasm as Dom kisses my arched neck. My legs convulse lightly and my flesh is throbbing under his deadly hand. That’s the second time I have been brought to the brink of death, both times by this man. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this. This last time it was different, though. More intense, more sensual.

  I lay still for what seems like an eternity, Dom trailing gentle kisses along my jaw, my forehead, my lips. I sink back into the sofa holding tight onto Dom, returned back to earth from my brief foray into heaven. My eyes begin to close, unable to hold themselves open under their heavy weight. I can’t tell the difference between the words in my subconscious and the words being spoken.

  Dom whispers into my ear, “I think she’s right, V. No one will ever treasure you and nurture you like I will.” I can barely register the words as I recover from my euphoria. “Come one, I’ll put you to bed. It’s late and you have work to do tomorrow, remember?”

  Dom nearly carries me up the iron staircase as I helplessly try to move myself. We pass through his bedroom and straight into mine. By the light of the moon pouring through the oversized windows, he unzips my dress and helps me step out of it, left in nothing but my underthings.

  Fumbling through my top drawer, he whips out his freshly laundered grey Yankees t-shirt and slips it over my outstretched arms. He holds out his hand to me.

  “Panties?”

  I eye him quizzically. “Hmmm?”

  “I’m not going to let you sleep in drenched panties, V. Hand them over, Or I’ll have to take them off of you myself.” He winks.

  I sit on the edge of the bed and shimmy out of my guilty undergarments, tossing them over to the side. Pulling back my covers, I slide in hoping he will join me between the warm fluffy blankets. He covers me instead, tucking the sides around. Sensing that he is about to leave, I grab out for him, catching his shirt.

  “Don’t go, please. Stay with me. I don’t want to be alone.” I never want to be alone again.

  Dom kicks off his shoes and settles next to me, laying above the bed covering, holding me close against him. “I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

  I sigh into his chest and let the calmness weave its way into me.

  ~*~

  Sometime in the very early hours of morning, I wake in search of him. The room is empty. I softly step over to doorway left open between our rooms and see him sprawled out over his pillows, sleeping soundly. Walking back to bed I notice the space occupied by my panties is now empty.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Monday flies by with little more than a blip on the radar. I’ve slept late, gone for a swim and enjoyed a long bubble bath. True to Dom’s word, Ellen emailed me about thirty intern applications and resumes which have monopolized my afternoon.

  Dom was up and out of the house early, leaving a scribbled little love note on my dresser behind him. Through a few texts back and forth during the day, we finalized some plans to meet at Alberti’s for dinner tonight.

  I’d called the restaurant early to give them the date for Cecily’s shower and confirm availability. Mario, the owner and old friend of both Dom and my family, insisted that I come to dinner tonight to make menu selections for the event. Dom’s always been crazy about the place, so it was a no-brainer to invite him.

  He sends a driver to collect me from the house a little before seven. Alberti’s is one of the nicer restaurants in Little Italy, so I make sure to dress the part. A black cocktail dress seems perfect, so I top off the look with plenty of accessories and meet the driver at the front door. Momma catches me as I try to make my escape to the clandestine meeting.

  “V! You gorgeous! This for just a tasting?” She waves over my attire.

  I can feel my cheeks flush. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I’ve eaten more meals than could be counted with Dom, yet tonight I’m on pins and needles. I had hoped to make a clean getaway, without anything or anyone adding to my already tense nerves.

  The driver extends a large bouquet of red roses out to me, and I see Momma move to intercept them through my peripheral.

  “These are beautiful, V.” She takes possession of the flowers, taking care to inhale their rich fragrant aroma before handing them over to me. “Very nice.”

  I trip over my own words, trying to explain the roses. “Thanks Momma... they’re just a little inside joke. You know Dom, always a comedian.”

  What the hell is wrong with him! Why would he send flowers so openly? He should know better. Our family isn’t stupid, if he keeps doing careless things like this, each and every one of them will know what’s going on with us before the week is over.

  Momma smiles reassuringly to me. “Have wonderful time, make sure to thank Dom for roses. I’ll keep them and put them in water for you.”

  She takes the bouquet from my grasp and carries them off to the kitchen without so much as another word. I know I’ll have to deal with this later, but by then all three women of the house will have form
ed their own suspicions. Damn, Dom!

  The driver helps me into the back of the black shiny limo.

  “There is some champagne on ice, and some sparkling water Miss Lombardi. Please help yourself. My name is Richard and do not hesitate to use the intercom if there is anything you need during our drive.”

  Thanking him, I take my seat and settle in. Richard has us on our way in mere seconds and I reach for a glass from the bar area. The champagne is tempting, but I opt for the sparkling water instead. I’m going to need a clear head to make sure I set some ground rules with Dom. I use my time and roughly plan a few key speaking points. First off, no more gifts or deliveries that can raise eyes. If this, whatever this is, between us is still going strong by the time I move out this fall, he is more than welcome to send deliveries to my apartment. I wouldn’t be worried about Stephanie witnessing any generous displays, but until then, everything needs to be on the down-low.

  We get close as the car swings around the last corner. Little Italy has changed somewhat over the years, but is still familiar enough to feel nostalgic to me. Every Friday night, both Dom’s and my dad would meet all of us at Alberti’s straight from work, for a big family dinner. Once my dad had passed, we would still make the trip in every once and a while to have dinner with Dom’s dad, Enzo, and their family.

  It took a while, close to a year, until we were able to make that step but it was an important one. Traditions are important. It was a way to honor our dad and keep our attachments to the DiBenedetto’s strong.

  The car pulls to a slow stop directly in front of the red canvas awning at Alberti's. The warm brick exterior and large curtained windows with gold lettering on them remains the same. Established in 1962, the business has become a cultural landmark. Family owned and operated, there isn’t one person from this neighborhood that cannot say they don’t personally know Mario and his family. I get a tinge of excitement at the thought of seeing them all again. The large brass door handle is pulled and opened for me as Richard the driver bids me a good night.