Page 58 of Brant
Next, it was Italy: Venice, Rome, and Tuscany, where they stayed at a tiny villa with its own winery. She got drunk on truffle risotto and Barolo.
The lovemaking was different as well. He made love to her outside under the velvet sky, with millions of stars lighting the way. With blankets spread out on the lush green grass and the budding grapevines all around them, he undressed her slowly, fingers trailing over her skin. He spoke Italian! She discovered that while he was using his mouth to drive her insane. This unpredictable man she had married twice spoke four languages!
He labored over her long. With the breeze stirring the leaves on the vines, a bottle of wine with two glasses on the grass next to them, he delighted in tasting her body and bringing her to new unparalleled heights of passion and desire.
Dipping his finger into the rich Bordeaux, he fixed his eyes on hers as he circled her rigid nipples, coating them with the beautiful vintage and then using his tongue to sip from her. By the time he was at her stomach, she was crying out his name and begging him to take her.
There was no one to hear them, and even so, she would not have cared. She was past caring at this point. Her defenses were down; her shyness, if there had been any, had all been shredded.
"Please!" she gasped.
"Not yet." He was straining, his body one long nerve ending, his sex stretched to impossible proportions, the skin bursting, the blood pounding inside his body. But he wanted her as needy as he was. He wanted her delirious with passion. Sliding down her body, he trailed a wine-soaked finger over her swollen flesh, over and then in, slowly rotating his fingers. With blazing eyes, he watched as she went blind, her lips parted, her screams rending the still air as the climax tore through her weakened body, ripping her to shreds.
It was only then that he was satisfied, only then that he covered her body with his. He knew he wouldn't last long, but damn if he cared. He entered her moist tightness, body shuddering, the beat of his heart pounding everything else out. This was where he belonged; this was what he had been unwittingly searching for his entire life.
This woman, this encompassing love and desire that at times threatened to drive him completely out of his mind. This woman, sheathing him, pulling him in deep into her, this was his woman, his wife, his love, his heart and soul. It shredded him, humbled him to know he could love so much. Framing her lovely face with trembling hands, he stopped for a minute, his face taut with passion, body trembling from it. He was wearing her ring and had taken off the one he had given her before and replaced it with an exquisite garnet and diamond set he had found in an exclusive jewelry store as a tribute to their astounding love.
He had made vows to her, ones that he would keep until he drew his last breath.
"You undo me," he whispered thickly. "One hears of a love story, of an epic love affair. I've seen people in love before and never thought anything of it. Until now. Until now. Don't cry," he ordered hoarsely. "Don't you cry. I adore you, darling. Christ! I cannot find the words. It's not enough. It never will be. But I love you."
"You just found the words." Her hands covered his. "And suck it up, because I'm going to cry because my heart is bursting from loving you. Oh, Brant! I love you so much!"
He crushed her lips with his, moving inside her, increasing the pace, reaching, giving, giving until he was spilling his seed, watering her womb, bonding with her in the most intimate of ways. Nothing he had ever done before, no one he had ever beenwith before, could compare to this, to her. Even long after he was spent, he was still buried deep inside her as if willing his seed to form another.
And exactly six weeks after their magical honeymoon, she was pregnant. The excitement as well as the fear was unbearable. She was pregnant! It was too good to be true, and she had to tell him immediately. She certainly could not wait until he was home.
She went straight from the doctor's office to Romano's, where she spent an hour selecting the most appropriate way to tell her husband the good news.
She had been to the corporate office twice before, since they got married the second time, but it always made her feel inadequate as soon as she drove into the sweeping parking lot and stared at the towering glass-and-brick building.
O'Keefe's Enterprise was a giant in the industry, with not only their trademark success in producing high-end luxury vehicles, but also real estate all over the world.
She was whisked through to the private elevator as soon as the door was opened. His assistant, an elegant woman wearing palepink this time, offered a professional smile and told her to go right in. He had been alerted to her presence as soon as she entered the lobby, of course, and was seated on the edge of his desk, waiting for her.
"This is an unexpected pleasure." He opened his arms, and she walked into them. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"
"I cannot simply drop in on my husband?" She linked her hands around his neck. "I wanted to see if you were carrying on a torrid affair with one of those sleek-looking blondes in the reception area. Question: Why are they so identical-looking?"
"They are?"
"Perfect blonde hair. Oh, there's a black girl as well, but they all look as if they stepped from the pages of a fashion magazine. And your assistant."
"What about her?"
"She's perfectly groomed, not one ash-blonde strand of hair out of place." She leaned back to stare at him suspiciously. "All those late nights at the office, did she stay as well?"
"She's sixty." He was amused by her and delighted to see her.
"No way. Really?" Her eyes rounded in amazement.
"And a grandmother. Also happily married."
"Wow! Anyway, I went to Romano's."
"All right."
"The maternity department. They have this entire floor dedicated to everything mother and baby."
