CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“ I s everyone clear on what’s required?” Stefano asked the group of vampires standing before him.

When everyone nodded and let out a bunch of yes, sir s he waved them off.

They had a lot to do and there was no room for error. He wanted the property set up in time for his new mate to arrive in her new home. The mansion was opulent and enormous, private and still central enough to Rome so he could still conduct business.

Stefano glared at two vampires who were chatting in the doorway. They skittered off, and he sighed, knowing he was feeling highly agitated and impatient. Once he had Sofia inside these walls, he would be happier. Calmer.

Having her was now an obsession.

It hadn’t helped his temper when Luca and Marco had disagreed with his plans yesterday. Stefano hadn’t been looking for their permission, and yet when Marco had said he was going too far, this time Stefano had snapped. He’d slapped his brother, throwing him across the room, and Luca had uncharacteristically stepped between them.

“ Enough ,” Luca had said.

Stefano had narrowed his eyes at Luca, wondering if he’d underestimated his younger brother. In hindsight, he knew he’d been wrong to raise his hand to Marco. Luca had been doing what any good brother should.

What he was doing was unconventional for a vampire, and few would understand his motivations, both in partnering with the humans and with Sofia. It didn’t matter. They would all obey him.

Aside from a carnal, deep need to own her pleasure and dominate her in ways that scared even him, Stefano felt it was time vampires adopted more of the human ways of living. Waiting for your mate to arrive when a partnership could benefit your business ventures was just a smart idea in his book. Humans married, separated, and divorced all the time. So why couldn’t vampires partner up and then deal with the situation if and when a mate arrived?

It could take centuries to meet one’s mate, and in the meantime, opportunities were being missed, especially when you were interacting with humans who put value on seeing a couple.

And while all of that was true, his main drive, if he was being brutally honest with himself, was knowing Sofia would be available to him when he chose, which he suspected would be often.

His cock twitched.

Not fucking again.

Since seeing her a few days ago, he hadn’t been able to achieve a satisfactory release. Stefano marched across the room and shut the door. His office had plush carpets, a large walnut desk with an executive chair, and a set of sofas. It looked like the fucking Oval Office. Expensive prints on the walls and Italian antiques worth more than most people made in a year completed the decor.

He walked past all of it and sat at his desk, opening his pants. His cock sprung out, and he fisted it, closing his eyes. Visions of Sofia up against the wall in the boardroom that day came to mind.

Stroking himself slowly, he recalled her cries and felt himself get harder.

“Yes, fuck.”

Up and down his hand went, imagining himself sheathed within her once more. This time, she would face him. He’d put his mouth over her hard nipples while he was balls deep within her.

Faster, he stroked, hearing her groan, remembering her moist pussy, until he felt his cum on his hand.

“God, Sofia, I’m going to fuck you until I can’t stand.”

Ripping tissues out of his drawer, Stefano tidied himself up. By the time he put himself back inside his pants, he was semihard again.

He couldn’t wait any longer.