35. An Afternoon to Reunite

CHAPTER 35

AN AFTERNOON TO REUNITE

M eanwhile, at the Montblanc villa

As Nicoletta led Donald back into the villa and up the stairs to the second floor, he was struck by how quiet the house seemed. Not once did they see a maid or a footman.

“Where is everyone?” he asked

“Probably napping,” she said quietly. “In the middle of the afternoon, when the heat is the greatest, we sometimes sleep.”

“Even the servants?”

“Of course. I do not wish for them to despise me,” she said. “In House D’Avalos, Father always insisted they work the entire day, and I realized how much the servants detested him because he would not grant them time in the afternoons to rest.” She grimaced. “I know how they feel. My thoughts of him have not been charitable these past few years.”

“Because he made you marry... or pretend to marry Montblanc?”

She shook her head. “I know I said I did not want to be Montblanc’s wife—and I truly wasn’t— but I understand why he did what he did,” she whispered. “My dislike for D’Avalos is due to his greed. Everything he has done has been driven by his desire for money. For power,” she explained. “Montblanc gave me permission to give the D’Avalos villa in Roma to Aunt Armenia, and I have kept this information from D’Avalos. He shall not learn of it until Armenia tells him why she is moving back to Roma— if she even tells him,” she explained.

“So he will not benefit from Montblanc’s death?”

Nicoletta chuckled softly. “He has been given the vineyards he has lusted after for as long as I can remember,” she replied.

“Why do you sound amused?” Donald asked, suspicious.

“They produce little in the way of fruit any longer. The vines are old. Some diseased. He will discover this if he lives long enough for the next harvest,” she explained.

Donald nodded his understanding and glanced around the unfamiliar corridor in which they walked. “Where are you taking me?” he asked.

“To my apartments,” she said, giving him a curious look. “That is...” She paused and stopped to stare up at him.

“What is it?” he asked.

Her head tilted to one side as an expression of uncertainty crossed her face. “Have you... changed your mind. About...?”

She couldn’t finish the sentence when he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I haven’t changed my mind at all,” he whispered, before resuming the kiss.

Nicoletta’s hands went to the sides of his face as she hungrily returned his kiss, her quiet moans urging him to continue. After a moment, he pulled away. “Apparently, you haven’t either,” he whispered, touching his forehead to hers.

She grinned and shook her head. “Come. Make love to me,” she murmured, turning to push the handle on a carved wooden door. “We have time before?—”

“Lead the way, my lady,” he said. Before she had a chance to step through the doorway, he lifted her into his arms.

“Oh!” she cried out before one of her hands covered her mouth. “What are you doing?” she asked in a whisper.

“Carrying you over the threshold. Something I intend to do again when we are properly married.” Donald set her down on the edge of the bed and moved to close the door. He struggled to find a locking mechanism before he heard her titter. “How do I lock it?”

“We won’t be disturbed in here,” she assured him. “Not until I ring for my maid.”

“Well, you won’t be doing that for at least...” He stopped speaking as he glanced around the ornate room. Besides the Turkish carpet covering the floor, the rich, dark velvets hiding the windows and the bed seemed to swallow up their voices. Silk covered the walls, the moiré pattern shifting with his every movement. The entire ceiling looked as if it had been painted by a master, winged cherubs tumbling about as if on a mission of mischief. The furnishings, varnished to a high sheen and featuring carved edges, were obviously created several centuries in the past. “You sleep in here?” he asked as a grin spread into a smile.

“Quite well, yes,” she replied, grinning at seeing his reaction. “My sitting room is in there,” she added, pointing to an open door. Beyond was a salon furnished with upholstered settees and chairs, their brighter colors and the the lighter carpet at odds with the bedchamber.

Donald sighed, a look of disappointment crossing his face.

“What is it?” she asked, worry evident in her voice.

He scoffed softly. “I cannot offer you anything like this back in England,” he murmured. “I live in a stone cottage on the edge of my uncle’s estate. Five rooms, none of which...” He spread his arms to indicate the obvious wealth surrounding him.

Nicoletta stepped off the high bed and into his arms. “We don’t have to live in England,” she said. “You can live here.”

He blinked and then shook his head. “I had hoped I might one day take you there.”

“We will go. When Antony is older,” she suggested.

He considered her comment. “So... not for a wedding trip, then?”

She lifted a shoulder. “After hearing about your plans to take your cousins on their Grand Tour, I was hoping you might...” She paused and inhaled softly.

“Take you along?” he guessed, his face brightening at the thought. “You wish to travel with my family?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I think your mother might appreciate a female companion.”

“We would bring Antony, of course,” he said, grinning at the thought of being able to show his son all the wonders of the Greek and Roman ruins they would visit.

“Yes,” she agreed. “I could not leave him.”

“Nor could I.”

“So... we will do it?”

Donald chuckled as he tightened his hold on her. “ Sí ,” he replied. “I love you.” As he kissed her, he moved to undo the fastenings of her gown even as she unbuttoned his coats. Clothing fell to their feet, layer upon layer, until she was left in a chemise and he wore only his smalls. He gave a start when her hands smoothed up his bare chest and down his arms.

“You are... larger... and harder than you were,” she whispered, her fingers probing along the lines of his muscles.

He displayed a grimace. “Remember, I’ve been performing labor. Working with horses,” he said, one of his hands cupping a breast before gently kneading it.

“You should continue doing so,” she murmured.

“You are larger as well,” he said, an eyebrow arching in appreciation. A look of uncertainty crossed her face, so he was quick to add, “I do not mind a bit.”

She pressed her lips to his chest and kissed her way to one of his nipples.

“That tickles,” he said in protest, his grin widening when she flicked her tongue across the nubbin.

He lifted her face with a finger and kissed her on the nose. “May I remove your chemise?”

Uncertainty flickered over her face. “Perhaps when we are under the bed linens.”

“Nikky,” he said in a pleading voice. He let go his hold on her to capture handfuls of the velvet counterpane to pull it down to the end of the bed. A few pillows scattered in the wake of his moves, but he ignored them and turned to lift her onto the bed. He had his smalls stripped from his body before he climbed onto the bed and hovered over her. “I have thought of this moment nearly every night since I left you,” he whispered before taking her lips with his.

She returned the kiss in equal measure, her hands skimming down his sides until one reached his turgid manhood and palmed it.

He broke off the kiss. “You minx,” he murmured before he moved down her body, pushing up her chemise so he could kiss her heated belly and breasts.

“I no longer have the body of my youth,” she whispered.

“You have the body of a goddess,” he murmured between kisses. “Your breasts are still gorgeous,” he added, before covering one with his mouth.

She lifted her chest in response, gasping at the feel of his tongue and lips on her nipple as her knees bent to cradle his hips. But he didn’t make a move to enter her, instead continuing his crawl down the front of her body.

“As I recall,” he whispered between kisses, “You liked it when I did this .” A moment later, his tongue flicked over her most private place, and Nicoletta jerked beneath his hold.

“ Sí ,” she murmured over and over again, as his lips and tongue worried her womanhood until she could barely breathe from the sharp darts of pleasure. When his tongue entered her, she cried out his name as the intensity of the orgasm increased, sending waves of ecstasy with each contraction.

His need too great to hold on, Donald finally lifted himself over her and entered her in two thrusts, his moves coinciding with her pleasure so he was buried deep inside her. He was about to pull out nearly all the way, but her hands had gripped his buttocks to keep him close. He thrust into her over and over, his arms straining to hold him up until his own impending release had him stopping his movements.

Beneath him, Nicoletta held her breath and waited for the moment she knew he would feel his greatest pleasure and gripped him hard with her inner muscles.

His soft chuckle and groan of appreciation filled the quiet bedchamber, and when he could no longer hold himself up, he lowered himself until his head landed in the pillow next to hers. “I have missed you,” he whispered between labored breaths, one hand smoothing up her torso to push aside the chemise until her breasts were once again exposed.

Nicoletta turned her head until she could kiss his cheek. “Did you really think of me? That often?” she asked.

Although his eyes were closed, Donald wasn’t yet asleep. “Every night. Every morning,” he whispered. When a soft snore sounded and he rolled off her, she knew he was asleep.

Nicoletta sat up and pulled the chemise from her torso, the fine fabric having become twisted during their lovemaking. She tossed it to the end of the bed and then grasped the edges of the bed linens to pull them up and over their bodies.

She was about to lie back when she felt a warm hand press against the middle of her back. Glancing behind her, she grinned at seeing Donald was still asleep. She turned and settled against his side, her head nestled in the small of his shoulder as she draped one arm over his stomach.

“I nearly tore it from your body,” he whispered.

She gave a start. “My chemise?” she asked, surprised he was even awake enough to speak.

“I didn’t want there to be anything betwixt us. I don’t want there to be anything... ever... to be...” His words faded before another soft snore sounded.

Sighing, Nicoletta grinned and allowed the sound of his heartbeat to lull her into sleep.

She might have slept until it was time to dress for dinner, but for the small hand that shook her awake an hour later.

“ Mamma, posso dormire con te e il papà? ”

Momma, can I sleep with you and papa?

Nicoletta didn’t have a chance to answer, for Donald chuckled softly and said, “ Sì, figliolo, sali. ”

Yes, son, climb on up.

As Antony struggled to climb onto the bed, Donald reached over and pulled on his nightshirt until he had crested the edge and could crawl the rest of the way to wedge himself between his parents.

“You may regret having allowed him to do this,” Nicoletta warned in a voice filled with humor.

“Mayhap,” Donald said in a whisper. “Maybe not.”

They slept until it was time to dress for dinner.