Chapter 12

12

When they got through with the art gallery, Tony took her to the sushi place and they all ate their fill, including Ben. Then they went by Tony’s cousin’s restaurant for a pastry.

“Didn’t I tell you Italian food is the best?” Tony teased her as she finished her cake and ice cream.

“It’s out of this world!” she agreed.

“Mario makes his own ice cream,” he added as he finished the last of his own dessert and reached for the strong espresso he liked.

Odalie sipped cappuccino and sighed. “It’s so nice here,” she said, looking around as the wind blew leaves down from the little trees all along the sidewalk. “I love New York,” she added softly, smiling, with her eyes closed as the wind stirred her hair.

Tony, looking at her, felt his heart clench. She was a country girl, but she was just as much at home in the city. Even with his family from Jersey. She wasn’t stuck-up or snobbish or heartless, as some beautiful women were. Just looking at her made him ache. He questioned the wisdom of keeping her at home with him, but he really had no choice. He couldn’t risk her life. Phillip James was on drugs and unpredictable, desperate for vengeance. Odalie would be a nice target. But not on Tony’s watch.

“Listen,” he told Ben, “you put on all the extra security you need. We don’t want any slipups.”

“You got it, boss,” he agreed.

Oblivious, because they spoke in Italian, Odalie kept sipping cappuccino.

They were both in the mood for something light at supper, so they made big salads with homemade bread.

“I didn’t know you could make bread,” Tony sighed with delight as he wolfed down the second of two buttered rolls. “And you made them with olive oil!”

She laughed. “Yes. You don’t really notice the taste because it’s so light, and it’s good for you. Well, the butter probably isn’t, but you just can’t eat homemade rolls without butter!”

“Absolutely!” Tony agreed at once. Ben, still grabbing rolls, just nodded.

Odalie grinned from ear to ear. Nothing more welcome to a cook than men who couldn’t stop eating her food.

Later, Ben went to bed, leaving the boss and Odalie in the living room watching a movie.

“I love Guardians of the Galaxy 3 ,” Odalie said when it finished, wiping tears, “but I cried as much as I laughed on this one.”

“It was great, wasn’t it?” He got up and stretched lazily, pulling her up with him after he cut off the TV. “You need some sleep and so do I. I’ve got meetings tomorrow with my board of directors.”

“You have a board of directors?” she asked, surprised.

“Necessary evil,” he replied on a sigh. “But I handpicked two of them.” He grinned. “Those two keep the others tied up in knots so I can get things done.”

She laughed.

He bent and kissed her gently. “That’s not all I’d like to do,” he whispered, “but Ben sleeps light. So go to bed and dream about me.”

“Okay,” she whispered back. “If you’ll promise to dream about me, too.”

He didn’t smile. He looked at her with such hunger that it was blatant. “Honey,” he said softly, “I’ve dreamed about you since the day I met you. And fought it every inch of the way.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “Lots and lots of reasons. We could name them all. It wouldn’t help.”

She reached up on tiptoe and kissed his chin. He drew her close, wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her until her mouth was sore and she was aching all over. He had to fight to turn her loose. His dark eyes were blazing with hunger as he looked down into drowned, drugged blue eyes that adored him.

“This will not end well,” he bit the words out, feeling his body harden to painful levels.

She touched his cheek gently, her eyes full of drowsy passion. “There’s only today,” she whispered, smiling.

His heart jumped. He had to force himself to let her go. It wasn’t easy.

He nodded slowly. “Okay. One day at a time.”

She smiled. “Exactly.”

“Good night.”

“Good night, Tony.” She started toward her room, but turned and just looked at him, still aching.

“Go. Now,” he said in a rough undertone.

She shrugged faintly and flushed a little. “Okay. I’m going.” She gave him a last longing look and went into her bedroom and closed the door.

But she didn’t, couldn’t, sleep. Her body, awakened to passion and eager for experience with the man she was crazy about, was driving her wild. She’d never felt such a raging hunger for anyone. She tossed and turned in her pink silk gown. Every time her breasts rubbed against the fabric, they swelled. She ached. She moaned softly. It was the most agonizing night she’d ever endured.

Doors opened and there were voices. Then a door closed and locked. She wondered what was happening. But it wouldn’t do to go out and ask, not in her present condition. She turned some more and arched her back like a cat asking to be stroked. Tony , she thought with anguish, oh, Tony!

Even as she thought about him, the door opened slowly. She lay in the light from the hall, one leg raised, the gown sliding down to her hips, her breasts pointed and half-revealed as the gown dipped.

Tony was wearing nothing but pajama bottoms. His chest was broad and bare, thick with curling black hair. He looked like every woman’s secret dream, handsome and virile and muscular without it looking vulgar. And she’d never wanted anything as much in her life as she wanted Tony in her arms at that moment.

She arched, helpless, and moaned softly.

“Oh, God,” he groaned. He’d gotten up because Ben had a call about the prowler and was going out. But Tony hadn’t been able to get past her doorway on his way back to bed. He was in agony from wanting her. And he’d been positive that he wasn’t the only one. Now he was even more positive. He knew this was going to end badly, but a man had only so much self-restraint. He took a deep breath.

Then he closed the door...

Ben sat at a table in an all-night bar waiting for a contact. He had a beer but avoided hard liquor. He needed his wits about him.

Finally, his contact showed up. “Hey, Ben, how’s it going?” Rudy asked as he took a seat and ordered a beer of his own.

“Badly,” Ben said.

“Yeah. I noticed.” Rudy waited until he was served before he spoke. “The irritation is coming from a political place, and you know which one.”

“Boss will be wild when he knows.”

“You need to put on more people,” Rudy said under his breath. “He can’t get to her family, too much protection. He wouldn’t dare risk trying to get around Tony’s people at her apartment...”

“But that’s exactly what he did,” Ben informed him, and outlined what had happened.

Rudy grimaced. “So what’s he doing about it?”

“She’s moved in with us.”

Rudy sighed. “Okay. That’s one worry out of the way. But you make sure she’s trailed everywhere. She’s the best soft target of all, and we may not see it coming.”

“I know that. Thanks,” he added with a smile.

“We’re all in this together, one way or another,” Rudy said easily. “Boss may get hot at me from time to time, but we’re family, just the same.”

“All of us,” Ben agreed. He looked at his watch and grimaced. “No use going back home to bed,” he said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll go round up my boys and give out assignments. If you hear anything...?”

He nodded. “You bet.”

Odalie felt his approach, actually felt it in the darkness of the room. She moaned as he stood over her, barely visible in a trickle of light from outside the window.

“You’d better be sure,” he whispered. “I don’t want to stop. I want you too much. And that isn’t all. It’s like eating potato chips. Once will never be enough.” He was relieved that he’d mentioned he couldn’t have kids on their lunch date. It would stop her getting ideas about the future.

She sat up and let the straps slip off her shoulders, the gown falling to her waist. In the faint light, her skin had the sheen of silk.

He actually groaned. He stopped talking. His pajama bottoms hit the floor. He sat down beside her, and his mouth all but swallowed one small, perfect breast. She made a sound that drove him mad.

She arched under his mouth, so enthralled that she couldn’t even speak. Her nails bit into his shoulders as he moved against her, onto her, his mouth insatiable on her breasts, her belly and, finally, her silky thighs.

She was so wild for him that when she felt the first hard thrust, she didn’t even try to draw back. She lifted up to him, helping him remove the last little barrier that kept them apart. She couldn’t have felt pain at that point. Desire rode her so high that all she could think of was relief.

Tony had been with women since he was fourteen. He knew exactly what to do and when to do it to bring a woman to ecstasy. As he drove into her, he recalled some of those women and thought how they couldn’t hold a candle to this one, to her sweetness, her beauty, her spunk. And she was his. All...his!

He heard her cry out and shudder under him. The first time, he thought while he could. The first time, and she was climaxing!

He wanted to speak, but he was dying for her. He drove harder, faster, hearing her cry out again and again and shudder as he satisfied her over and over again. And, finally, he satisfied himself, in a last shuddering drive as far into her as he could get. The sudden burst of pleasure made him cry out, something he’d never done in his life, and then he was shuddering, just as she had, caught in a maelstrom of fulfillment that excelled his wildest dreams of passion.

She held him while he endured it, kissed everywhere she could reach, lifted into him to prolong his pleasure. Tears were running down her cheeks, tears of absolute joy.

Finally, he collapsed on her, gasping for breath, his heart hammering so hard that it shook her. He was damp with sweat, shivering.

“Oh, Tony,” she whispered, clinging.

He wrapped her up in his arms, holding her close. He was still shaking. “I never felt anything like that in my whole life,” he whispered.

“Me, neither,” she whispered back.

He laughed softly. “I noticed.” He kissed her tenderly. “You climaxed. Your first time. I was so proud, I wanted to crow.”

“Really?” she asked, still shy with him.

“Really.” He rolled onto his back and held her at his side, enjoying the feel of her bare breasts against his rib cage. “My God, I thought I was going to die!”

“It isn’t always like that, for a man?”

“Not for me. Not ever.” He drew in a long breath. “I wanted to take longer with you, but it’s been a long dry spell. I needed you, so much.”

She frowned. “Long dry spell?”

He drew in a breath and curled her hair around one big hand. “For the past year, I haven’t had a woman.”

Her heart jumped. “But...but they say you have a mistress...?”

“I couldn’t touch her.” He drew her closer and bent to kiss her gently. “I wanted you every time I looked at you, for the past year. I was terrified that I might do something about it. And,” he added ruefully, “I finally did.”

“Don’t sound so regretful,” she said.

“I can’t help it. You and I are very different.”

“Yes. I just noticed all the differences...ouch!”

They both laughed. He’d pinched her lightly.

“Not those differences. The big ones. Background.”

“I don’t care about your background.”

“One day, you might,” he said.

“Pessimist,” she chided. “There’s no tomorrow. There’s only today. Only right now. Right here...”

She smoothed her bare leg over both of his and moved sinuously against him, sighing. “Potato chips,” she whispered, her voice vibrant with rekindling desire.

He rolled her over. “I’ll show you potato chips,” he teased, and his mouth slowly covered hers.

He took longer. He moved with maddening slowness. He had her crying out, begging for relief, and still it didn’t come.

Finally, he eased himself up against the head of the bed and pulled her over him, onto him, and moved her a little roughly on his body. He groaned as he increased the pressure and the pace.

“Tony!” she cried out, frightened as the spiral began, climbing up and up and up to heights she hadn’t experienced their first time.

“Feel me,” he whispered roughly. “Feel me deep in your body. As deep as I can get. That’s why...we’re doing it...like this. I want...all of you!”

His voice broke as passion overwhelmed them both. She shuddered as the wave hit her, so strong and volatile that she almost couldn’t take it. Under her, his muscles spasmed, too, in the heat of a passion so high that she thought she might die of it.

He turned her over suddenly and drove into her. What she’d thought was the culmination was only a plateau. He pushed her up a new one, and she cried out so loudly that he covered her mouth with his to muffle the sound. It was the most exciting few minutes of his life. Of hers, too. She hadn’t dreamed that her body was capable of so much pleasure. Almost too much. She sobbed as she finally came down to earth again, held tight in his arms.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked at once. “Baby, I’m sorry...!”

“I’m not hurt,” she sobbed against his chest. “It was so sweet, so sweet, and it only lasted for a few seconds!”

“Yes.” He relaxed a little, smoothing her over his body with both hands. “What a night!”

She kissed his shoulder. “Oh, yes.” She sighed. “I’m so sleepy...”

She fell asleep in his arms.

She woke the next morning with very sore places and vivid memories of the night before.

She was in her bed, alone, and totally nude. While she was recalling what they’d done, the door opened and Tony came in, wearing his pajamas and carrying a mug of black coffee.

He grinned when she flushed. He put the coffee down and pulled off the covers, pulling her back when she tried to dive under them.

“No way,” he teased, pulling her across his lap to study every soft inch of her. “We’re together now. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

She searched his dark eyes. They held such tenderness that they made her feel warm all over. She was in awe of him.

He touched her soft breasts, watching them peak, watching her arch up to his touch helplessly.

“You are the sweetest candy I’ve ever had,” he whispered, bending to kiss a hard nipple.

She moaned and tugged at his head, protesting when he tried to lift it again.

“No, honey,” he said softly. “It would hurt you now. I was too greedy last night.”

She understood at once what he meant. She grimaced. “I am sort of...sore,” she confessed.

“Me, too.”

Her eyebrows arched. “Men get sore?”

He gave her a sideways glance. “We both have tender spots. Too much rubbing...?”

“Stop!” She put her hand over his mouth, flushing.

He chuckled. “You’re sweet to tease.” The smile faded as he looked at her. “What if I can’t turn you loose?”

She cocked her head. “Why? Do you want to?” she asked and looked wounded.

“No!” he said at once. He drew in a breath. “Never mind. There’s only today.” He smiled and put her back under the covers and handed her the mug of coffee. “Ben will be back later. But that’s okay. For a few days, at least, we’re walking wounded.”

“Damn,” she muttered.

He grinned wider. “We’ll heal.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “Something to look forward to.” She frowned. “But Ben sleeps in and I...” She recalled her wild cries of the night before and flushed.

“Yes, and you make noise. A lot of noise.” He bent and kissed her, hard. “I love it when you make noise,” he added gruffly, his eyes dark and intent. “I feel ten feet tall when you do that, and I know that it’s because of what I’m doing to you.”

“I never knew,” she said softly. “Never dreamed it would be like that.”

He brushed back her hair. “It would never, never, be like that with any other man. Ever. Never.” He studied her. “Honest. You’d break out in green warts. All over.”

She smiled from ear to ear. “Okay.”

He chuckled.

“On the other hand,” she replied, “if you sleep with another woman, parts might fall off...?”

“Damn, woman, that’s below the belt!” he roared.

She grinned. “Isn’t it, though?”

He got up. “I’m losing this war. I have to get dressed and go to work. You can sleep in. And there are two guys outside the door who make gorillas look wimpy.”

She smiled. “Okay. But you have to be careful, too,” she added quietly.

He warmed at the emotion in those soft words. “I’ll be careful. See you later, pretty girl.”

She just sighed, smiling as he left the room.

But later, after a bath, she worried about what she’d done. Her parents had been strict and had told her there were ancient taboos about sleeping with a man to whom you weren’t married. She hadn’t wanted to stop, though. She loved Tony so much...

She sat down heavily on the bed and caught her breath. She loved Tony. Incredible that, until right now, she hadn’t realized that.

Her mind went back to her first sight of Tony, when he’d come to the ranch to see Stasia about a painting he’d seen at the local art gallery. He’d been immediately hostile. She’d wondered why at the time. Now she understood. He’d wanted her even that first day, but he’d held her at bay with sarcasm and insults and avoidance.

Honestly, she’d been equally antagonistic. But she’d adored him almost at once. He was the stuff of dreams, big and handsome and afraid of nothing on earth. She loved a man who wasn’t intimidated by the pressure to soften his image to satisfy some ethereal ideal of what modern men should be. He was tough, but he was also tender. Not a man who’d ever hurt a woman or threaten her in any way.

He hadn’t liked her, but when she’d been airsick on that trip to the ranch back home, he’d picked her up and cradled her in his arms until she slept. He’d been nurturing, although reluctantly, from the beginning.

He was a tough guy, but never mean. That was a far cry from a man who thought being rough with a woman was the way to behave. He didn’t talk much about his father, but she’d gathered that he was physically abusive to Tony when he was a boy—probably to his mother as well. Tony had loved his mother. Odalie was curious about his family, about all of it. The ones she’d met so far were really good people.

They ate in the next night, with leftover rolls and steak and mashed potatoes.

“You’re as good as my Mrs. Murdock in the kitchen,” Tony said as he finished his meal.

She laughed. “Thanks. But I’m not quite in her class yet!”

“Almost.” He grinned.

“There’s pie for dessert. I peeked.” Ben laughed when they stared at him.

“Let’s save it for later,” Tony said. “I’m too full for dessert right now. We can watch a movie.”

“I got a new game,” Ben protested.

“Well, go play it, then,” he said. “But first, what did you find out from Rudy?”

“Just what we suspected. The guy took a powder. We can’t find him. But we’ve got feelers out,” he added.

Tony sighed. “We know the trail will lead back to DC.”

“Of course,” Ben replied. “Where else?”

“I’ll have to go home eventually,” Odalie pointed out. “And I have that audition date just before Thanksgiving...” She thought suddenly and sadly that she’d go home for Thanksgiving, as she did every year. Tony wouldn’t be there. He probably went to New Jersey to have the traditional meal with his family.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Tony asked, watching her face. “Don’t you want to sing at the Met?” he added, trying to tease but feeling miserable for reasons he wasn’t sure about. Her whole life had been dedicated to singing there, and she had a unique talent. He should be encouraging her, not thinking of reasons for her to postpone the audition—which was what he was doing, to his shame.

“Oh, I was just thinking about Thanksgiving. On the ranch.” She lowered her eyes to her coffee cup. They were sad.

Tony felt that sadness. “Mrs. Murdock goes home to her family for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Tony said surprisingly. “He—” he pointed at Ben “—goes back to Jersey to spend it with his dad.”

She lifted her eyes to his. “Where do you go?” she asked.

He shrugged. “To a restaurant, usually. The family down in Jersey gets together, but I have issues with a few of them, so I try to avoid the conflicts...”

“You could come home with me,” she interrupted and then flushed at her own rush of enthusiasm.

He smiled slowly. “I could? Wouldn’t your folks mind?”

“Oh, no, of course they wouldn’t!” she said. Her eyes were wide with hope.

He studied her flushed face with delight. “I’d like that,” he said, his voice deep and husky.

“My dad’s flying out to Oregon to have Thanksgiving with my brother and his wife,” Ben said with a long, sad sigh. “So I guess I’ll have dinner out somewhere, alone, all by myself, with no company, at a table by myself...”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, you can come, too!” Odalie burst out laughing. “Mercedes would love it! And she cooks this enormous meal with all sorts of breads and vegetables and meats...!”

Ben beamed. “That would be nice!”

“So that’s settled,” Tony said. “You’ll have to call your folks in time to warn them,” he added with twinkling eyes.

“They won’t mind. Honest they won’t. Just don’t upset John,” she added with a mischievous grin.

He frowned. “John?”

“Worms?” she added with raised eyebrows.

Ben and Tony both chuckled.

They found an action movie about commandos to watch, with Odalie curled up beside Tony on the sofa, her cheek resting on his broad chest over the silky shirt he was wearing.

It felt so good to be close to him, to feel his strength and warmth against her. She couldn’t bear to think ahead even one day. Tony had become her whole world.

When the movie went off, he turned off the television and dimmed the lights. The fireplace was blazing with gas logs. In the semidarkness of the room, it was comforting.

“I love gas logs,” she said, closing her eyes. “It’s like having an open fireplace but without the work.”

He chuckled. “Yes, it is.”

“What was your mother like?” she asked softly.

He sighed and pulled her closer. “She was a lot like yours,” he replied. “She was a sweet, gentle little woman. She’d married my father because, well, because that’s mostly how things were done. You married into other families to connect them to yours. But she got a bad bargain. My father had a gunpowder temper and no real conscience that we could ever find. He beat her up for nothing. He’d make up a reason if he didn’t have one.”

She looked up at him. His face was like stone. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

He shrugged. “We live with the past. It never goes away. Luckily, he wasn’t home much. He had his hands in several of the rackets. He hung out with a couple of his guys in a local bar most of the time. He didn’t come around much after I hit my growth spurt,” he added with faint satisfaction.

“Why?”

“He drew back his fist and hit my mother when I just walked in the door. I beat the hell out of him. He was barely able to crawl out to his car. I told him what would happen if he ever touched her again. By then, I had a reputation of my own.” He looked down at her with dark, cold eyes that chilled. “I never bluff.”

“You came out of it well, though,” she said, searching his eyes.

Both eyebrows went up. He stared at her.

“You have your own business. You’re an entrepreneur. You’re cultured, you have the respect of people around you and you can afford to live the way you please.” She leaned her head back against his shoulder and smiled. “I imagine your father could never say that.”

He laughed shortly. “No. I guess he couldn’t.”

Her eyes went to the portrait of him over the mantel and she adored it. “I’ve never seen a painting that was so alive,” she said. “It’s like a synopsis of your life.”

“You think so?”

“The cross on your watch fob.” She pointed at it.

“My mother’s,” he said. “She wore it all her life. I keep it on my pocket watch. I don’t wear it much these days, just on very special occasions.”

“She’d like that, I think.”

He nodded. “She would. She prayed for me every day. She was so afraid I’d end up like my old man. It was a real possibility at the time,” he added.

“Doing bad things like your dad?” she asked.

He shook his head and looked down at her. “Being found in the trunk of a car down by the docks.”