by Lily Zante
“I was thinking of looking around Bergamo, or Brescia, for places to stay,” he told her.
A place in between Milan and Verona—it would be perfect. As it was, the commute from Verona to Milan only took a little over an hour. It was nothing, and it would give her everything.
Things were coming together, falling into place, fitting perfectly. They smiled as they looked deep into one another’s eyes.
“This calls for a celebration, a double celebration,” he said. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t mind, whatever you want.”
He looked at her intensely, and she remembered. “Okay, well,” she tried to think on the spot. “How about we go down to that tiny island?”
“Tiberina?”
She nodded. “We could stop off there and look around.”
“We can do that.”
“And then we could go to one of those trattorias, and have something to eat.”
“Sounds good.”
“And then we could go back to your place.”
“Sounds good.”
“And...you know.. ”
The corners of his eyes crinkled as his smile widened. “Sounds really good.”
“We could have some ice-cream,” she said, and watched his smile drop.
“We could have some ice-cream.”
“And then we could go upstairs…and … you know…”
His smile started up again.
“We could do plenty of that,” he said, then planted his lips on her mouth and gave her a kiss that left her breathless.
“We could skip the ice-cream,” she said, her lips moist, and wanting.
“No ice-cream?” he teased.
“Maybe after.”
“It might be a while after,” he said, promising many things with his smile. “And the gelataria might not be open that late.”
She could feel her face heating up. She would get to spend an entire night with him again, and this time there wouldn’t be her mother to ruin things the next day. This time, they wouldn’t even need to get out of bed. And she had not only a night, but the whole week. A tremor of excitement buzzed through her.
“But ice-cream has a cooling effect… and it could come in useful,” said Christian. “I’ll get a huge tub of it, and we’ll take it upstairs.”
“Okay,” she said, pushing the other thoughts away.
“I bet it would taste great licking it off your stomach.”
“Ewwwww.” She made a face expressing her disgust. The idea didn’t appeal at all.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
“Oh-kay,” she said slowly, sensing that this would be the next adventure. He turned her around so that she faced away, his chest against her back and his arms around her stomach. Staring down at the ruins below, she wondered if this was a goodbye to Rome.
“We’ll still come back here, won’t we?” She wanted to know, because she had fallen in love with the city.
“For the traffic and pollution?”
“For the history and the splendor.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Whatever you want, Gina.”
This is the start of Gina and Christian’s romance and you can find out what happens next in the follow-up story, November Sun, (Italian Summer Series, #5) which is now available:
Click here to read an excerpt
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Lily
An Excerpt From November Sun
She had been putting off leaving for the past two hours and now struggled to summon the energy to get up and start making her way home.
“Stay,” Christian murmured.
“I have to go,” she replied, not looking forward to it one bit. It wasn’t only the torture of leaving Christian; it was the thought of returning home. And home for now was still with her pious, overbearing and controlling mother. Serafina Morosini would have a mood on, as she often did whenever Gina returned home after a weekend at Christian’s place.
“I’ve stayed for as long as I can.”
“I mean, stay.” His voice lowered to a seductive whisper. “Stay another night.” His lips hovered around her ear, and his breath, hot and sweet, sent goosebumps down her back. If she wasn’t careful, if she didn’t get up and leave now, he would make it impossible for her to leave at all.
“Seriously, why do you even have to think about it?” He shifted onto his side and stared at her.
“You know why.”
Her mother and Christian hadn’t taken to one another, and it would have made her life easier if they had. The idea of calling her mother and telling her that she was staying at Christian’s for another night was her best motivator for making a move.
“My mother’s expecting me back.”
“You’re old enough now. You don’t have to do what she expects.” His hand moved slowly along her waist, and hip.
“I know, but I told her I’d be back. Maybe next time...”
“Why not today? It’s about time you got your mother used to you changing your mind.” His hand settled on her breast, and his lips fell upon her neck. “Imagine what we could do now if you didn’t have to go.” He ran his fingers lazily through her hair, unaware of his magical ability to read her mind. It was peaceful, soothing and so natural being with him. If only this were home, or an apartment close by. She couldn’t remember when it had first happened, when she had started coming over to his place after work on a Friday evening, and then returning home on Sunday.
“You know I don’t want to leave, but I have to.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“Easy for you to say.” Giving in was easy, it was her mother’s miserable face at the other end that she had to contend with.
Christian had been asking her to move in ever since he’d left Rome and started a new job in Milan but she didn’t want to jump in too soon and make a hasty commitment. She needed to know he meant it. Words were easy to come by, and she was guarded, and careful, and wary. Each time he mentioned it—for he mentioned it often—she casually dismissed it.
Initially, she had been looking on the outskirts of Verona, but rents were high there and her hunt for an apartment had yielded nothing that was reasonably affordable.
After a while she started looking around Brescia, near Christian. Her decision to move there didn’t make much sense and spoke more about her feelings towards this man than anything else.
She worked in Verona, at the Casa Adriana, and Brescia was almost 70km away, a half an hour train journey if she caught the fast train. Living in Verona would leave her at her mother’s beck and call, and she knew this had to change. Being near Christian was a step in the right direction and, for her personally, she needed to move on and do more of the things that made sense for her.
Not only that, but her mother’s dependability on her irritated Christian. She was caught in the middle, often trying to please both parties, and only causing herself more grief in turn.
And yet it was intoxicating, and new, this thing that was happening to her, the connection she had to this man. It was frightening and unsettling in a way she had never known before. She assumed this was love; she missed him when they weren’t together, thought of him every moment, at work, at home, last thing at night and first thing in the morning.
This was the early stage, she told herself. Things were always super charged and shiny and new in the early stages but, when the honeymoo
n stage was over and they became accustomed to one another, started to take one another for granted, when the magic and mystery of a new romance wore off, what then? When she once again resumed her late nights at work, and the sex wasn’t as exhilarating, or the pull to come home to him waned, then what?
It was better to suppress her feelings about him, to be less forthcoming than to disclose everything now. Better to stand back and see if her feelings withstood the test of time. And so, spending her weekends with him was a way of getting to know how they would be together. Whether they had a future or whether this was something fleeting, just for fun.
She had become more apprehensive about relationships after her last romance. “It’s true, it is easy for me to say. I’ve met your mother, and she’s an intimidating woman. But is there really no way I can tempt you to pick me over her?” He kissed the top of her head and she snuggled even closer against his chest, resting her cheek on his t-shirt as she inhaled the woody cinnamon scent of his deodorant. It was a scent she now associated with rumpled sheets and slick bodies. Sweat and sex. He could tempt her easily, just like he was doing now. “Go to work from here tomorrow.”
“Go to work from here?”
“It doesn’t take long. I can tell you’re already worried about your mother, but I promise to take real good care of you.” His hand snaked along her waist, tempting, and teasing.
It would be so easy to give in.
Things had moved fast between them once they had committed, once she had realized that she no longer had to run away from things, that what she had was worth keeping. She’d gone back on her resignation, choosing to remain at the hotel she loved to work at and she had been lucky that Nico was the kind of boss he was and that the company was still a private one so that he could do as he pleased. He had been overjoyed when she had told him of her decision not to leave, and he had been more than happy for her to step right back in and to put that whole sorry episode behind them.
Everyone had been happy, except for Demetrio. He had turned in his notice to resign and would be leaving soon.
“Come on, Gina.” His thumb moved over her lower lip. “Another night, you and me.”
Just one look from him was enough to stoke the embers of a fire that was starting low and deep down in her body. She had been prudish and restrained in showing her affections or feelings, but Christian had awakened in her a slow burning fire, fanning the flames to heights she had never before reached. He was the best lover she had ever had, a feat that wasn’t so difficult to attain, given that she could count her lovers on one hand.
Now she found herself in unfamiliar territory, falling for him, not just emotionally, but in a physical way, craving his touch, yearning for the feel of his skin, the taste of his lips, the emotions he elicited in her, for the way he made her feel.
He dropped a long, wet, inviting kiss on her lips, the kind of kiss that made her toes curl, made her belly quiver and sent a spray of sparks shooting straight to her core. She had to take a moment and remember to breathe when he pulled away.
As the tendrils of heat snaked around inside her, reminding her of what lay ahead, her closed eyes suddenly flew wide open, jarring her relaxed state of mind. Nico was away. He and his wife Ava had left a few days ago for Venice in order to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.
Had it really been a year since their wedding? She had met Davide that night; her high-school boyfriend. He had appeared from nowhere at the wedding reception, and had disappeared just as easily months later.
Nico had left her in charge, and she needed to be at the Casa Adriana early tomorrow. She couldn’t stay. It was time to make a move and do it now, before Christian seduced her completely. “You can get the early train and you’ll get to work on time,” he said, with that uncanny ability to read her mind.
She sat up, twisting her body and moving away, planting her feet firmly on the floor. Blood raced around her heated body and every cell inside her screamed in outrage at the sudden halt in proceedings.
“What are you doing?”
“I didn’t bring my work clothes,” she said, thinking things through in her mind.
“I’ve always told you to leave some of your clothes here.” Her breath hitched as he placed his hand along her back and kept it there. “But then again, I’ve told you to move in with me.”
She didn’t say anything.
“The dark slacks and shirt will look fine,” he said. “Nico’s hardly going to sack you just because you turn up in casual clothes. You’re too precious to him.”
She turned around slowly, staring at his face, surprised by his words. Was that a hint of jealousy she detected in his voice? “I don’t dress for him,” she said, pointedly. “I dress for me. I like to look smart for work.”
“And for me?”
“I like to look sexy for you.” Her reply raised a smile on his face.
“I noticed.”
She turned around and was about to get up when he cupped her breasts from behind, pulling her back towards him. Damn it. That man and his overtly sexy moves.
“The 7.30am train will get you to work by 8.” His lips were soft against her neck. “I’ll make sure you’re up. We can leave together.”
It wasn’t the ‘getting up’ she was worried about, it was the ‘not getting enough sleep tonight’.
Her insides fizzed and tingled, and soon enough, if she let him continue, he would have her ready to explode, like a bottle of champagne that had just been uncorked. His touch could change the course of her evening, and her well-laid plans would fly out of the window. But then again … She could make it to work in time. “I could stay over.”
“You can.”
“Nico’s away for the next two weeks and—”
Christian’s mouth lifted from her neck and she felt the cool air against her skin. “He’s left you to run the show again, has he? How many vacations does that man need?”
She turned back around to face him again. “It’s their wedding anniversary.”
“Is it? You never said.”
“You never asked.”
“How many years?”
“One. And for the record,” she said, not liking the way Christian spoke of her boss, “Nico doesn’t go on many vacations.”
Christian gave a disbelieving grunt. “He’s always away, and he’s always leaving you to take care of everything.”
“He travels a lot because he has a string of hotels and he’s recently opened a new—” His lips landed against her mouth this time, and soon she was lost in the warmth of his kiss.
He pulled back, letting her draw breath, leaving her body hot and wanting. “Where’s he gone now?”
“To Venice,” she said, her languid thoughts drifting to gondolas and canals, and pink glassy pink lamp posts. She’d had almost gone there once.
“We can go to Venice,” he said.
“That would be nice.” Going with Christian would erase that nasty blot of a memory of when Davide had broken up with her. “After Rome?” They had a long weekend planned there next month.
“Around Christmas?”
Christmas in Venice. She didn’t like the sound of that. Venice was coral pink sunsets and smoky blue hazy skies. It was hand-in-hand strolls along windy, cobbled streets, passing small cutesy bridges.
“Venice isn’t a place you should see in winter, at least, I don’t think so. Maybe around Easter?” They would have been together for a whole year, if they made it to Easter.
“Easter sounds good,” he said, touching his thumb to her lower lip. “We’ll celebrate our first anniversary there.”
Her heart flipped a little. Just a little. She was touched that he remembered such dates.
His hand moved lower, while his lips brushed over the hollow dip at the base of her throat. Her breathing quickened as her skin prickled with anticipation. She sucked in a breath of air at the intensity of the moment, at the closeness of his body, at the promised intimacy of his touch. He pushed her gently back
on to the sofa and maneuvered his body so that he lay on top of her, his lips slowly teasing hers.
November Sun is now available to buy. Click here for more details
Booklist
The Seven Sins: A series of seven standalone romances based on the seven sins. Emotional, and angsty romances which are loosely connected.
The Wrath of Eli
The Problem with Lust
The Billionaire’s Love Story: This is a Cinderella story with a touch of Jerry Maguire. What happens when the billionaire with too much money meets the single mom with too much heart?
The Promise (FREE prequel)
The Gift, Book 1
The Gift, Book 2
The Gift, Book 3
The Gift, Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
The Offer, Book 1
The Offer, Book 2
The Offer, Book 3
The Offer, Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
The Vow, Book 1
The Vow, Book 2
The Vow, Book 3
The Vow, Boxed Set (Books 1, 2 & 3)
Indecent Intentions: This is a spin-off from The Billionaire’s Love story. This 2-book set consists of 2 standalone stories about the billionaire’s playboy brother. The 2nd story is about a wealthy nightclub owner who shuns relationships.
The Bet
The Hookup
Indecent Intentions 2-Book Set
Honeymoon Series: Take a roller-coaster journey of emotional highs and lows in this story of love and loss, family and relationships. When Ava is dumped six weeks before her Valentines Day wedding, she has no idea of the life that awaits her in Italy.
Honeymoon For One
Honeymoon For Three
Honeymoon Blues
Honeymoon Bliss
Baby Steps
Honeymoon Series (Books 1-4)
Italian Summer Series: This is a spin-off from the Honeymoon Series. These books tell the stories of the secondary characters who first appeared in the Honeymoon Series. Nico and Ava also appear in these books.