Read A Starlet in Venice Online
Authors: Tara Crescent
A Starlet in Venice (12 page)
Liam:
For a few moments, I watched my vision of a girlfriend juggle her plate, her drink and her purse, before I went to help her out, grabbing the glass of champagne from her hands.
“Thanks,” she said gratefully. “I was in complete danger of spilling it down my dress.”
My eyes slowly surveyed her, from her face, tracing a path to her lush breasts, going down the curve of her waist, and the sensual drape of her hips, before coming up to meet her eyes again. Lust shimmered in her eyes when I was done. “Liam,” she chided, though I could hear the heat in her voice. “Stop that.”
“There’s a bathroom around the corner,” I told her. “Want a quickie?”
She laughed. “Tempting,” she said. “But I’m pretty sure that Antonio and Lucia would kill both of us if we miss their wedding reception.”
I glanced around. I saw Antonio watching Lucia with the same possessive heat in his eyes that I felt in my heart every time I looked at Tatiana. And when Lucia looked over at him, she looked at him with the same gaze.
“It’s worked out pretty well for the three of us,” Tia’s voice was thoughtful. “Who would have thought it?”
“Who would have thought what?” Enzo’s voice interjected, and we nodded cordially to each other.
“Look at us,” she replied, her hand gesturing to the glittering room. It was lit with crystal chandeliers and the light of a thousand candles. The air was fragrant with the heavy scent of roses and lilies. The gold trim on the plates sparkled, and the light caught the glassware. “You, Antonio, me. It’s a far cry from the orphanage.”
Enzo surveyed the room as well. “Crazy,” he said.
“Insane,” she agreed.
“A toast?” I asked, feeling less like an interloper as Alice walked up and wound her hand through Enzo’s.
“We’ll need Antonio,” Enzo said, raising his hand to draw Antonio’s attention. I saw his dark gaze run over the assembled group, and he smiled, whispering something to Lucia before they both threaded their way to us.
“All the troublemakers, in one spot,” Enzo said dryly. “Liam suggested a toast.”
“An excellent idea,” Lucia smiled. She looked radiant. I’d never seen her look happier. Come to think of it, I’d never seen Antonio look happier either.
We raised our glasses and took sips of champagne.
***
Tatiana:
Liam had protested about resuming my submissive training. But I’d begged and I’d pleaded, and I’d pointed out that I
wanted
to be trained.
He’d insisted that he was going to be responsible this time around, and so I went back to a therapist, who helped me work through any lingering issues. Largely though, telling Liam my secrets had been the catalyst to healing. Wounds fester only when they are covered. When my wound met air, the healing process had taken root.
Eventually, there was submissive training again. There was delicious, dark, stinging punishment and there was glorious longing and clenched desire, and there was sweet reward. There was rope, and there were ties and there were cuffs, and my obvious dripping lust had finally convinced Liam to stop taking it easy on me.
I took one sip of my champagne, before handing it back to him. One sip was okay, and only today, just to toast two of my best friends on a new journey. Liam’s eyes widened slightly as he noticed that I wasn’t drinking, and he gave me a probing look. He didn’t miss much, Liam.
I nodded slightly. He’d been away all day, and I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him before we rushed to the wedding. He paled and gulped down my unfinished champagne.
“Wow,” he whispered into my ear, when some guests had distracted the others. “Really?”
“I peed on a stick today, but I haven’t seen a doctor. It could be a false alarm.” I eyed him. “Is that okay if I’m pregnant?”
He laughed, a sound of pure happiness. “Far, far more than okay,” he said. “But you do realize you have to marry me? I mean, the Callahans, they’ll deal with their lesbian daughter, they’ll deal with their unmarried children sleeping with their significant others under their roof, but if I don’t marry you, I will get disowned.”
“Is that the only reason you want to marry me?” I teased him. We’d been dating for almost a year. We’d talked about marriage, and when we’d stopped using condoms, we’d talked about the possibility of children. I knew he’d be ecstatic when he heard that I might be pregnant, and I was thrilled as well. Liam would make an amazing father.
“Pretty much.” His voice was amused, and he winked at me. His hand pulled me into his body, and he kissed me briefly, before letting me go. “I love you, Tatiana,” he said huskily.
“I love you too,” I said. I laughed as a thought struck me. “Can you imagine Enzo and Antonio as doting uncles?”
“Funnily enough, absolutely. They’ll be utter mush. This kid will be the most spoiled kid in all of Venice and Cork.”
***
There’d been three of us, together at the orphanage.
Enzo, who had taken the beatings for all of us, had become a policeman who protected those that couldn’t protect themselves.
Antonio had run away when he was thirteen, and gone on to become the head of Thieves Guild.
My TV show had been picked up for the third season. The reviews were gushing. We were all the rage on Netflix. I had my own Wikipedia page, and an offer of a Hollywood role. And now, I was pregnant.
Three orphans. Three very different paths.
But in the end, we’d all ended up at the same place. We’d all ended up
happy
.
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading
‘A Starlet in Venice’
as much as I enjoyed writing it. I also hope you’ll consider leaving a review. Reviews are one of the most important ways readers like you discover new books. Please take a moment to tell me what you thought – I’d really, really appreciate it.
If you’d like to know when the next book in the series will be out, please visit
my website
to sign up for my
new release email alerts
. My mailing list receives a free story approximately every two months. Right now, the mailing list is reading
each episode of Storm
for free. If that sounds interesting, please
do sign up
.
Cheers, and happy reading!
Tara Crescent
http://www.taracrescent.com
FREE to the
mailing list
:
Storm: The Hottest Guy in Hollywood - An Erotic Romance (Storm Episode 1)
Storm: Kinky Valentine - An Erotic Romance (Storm Episode 2)
BDSM Romance:
The Professor’s Pet
& follow-up short
The Professor’s Girlfriend
A Thief in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 1)
An Heiress in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 2)
A Starlet in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 3)
BDSM & Medical Play:
Observation (Doctor Dom Volume 2)
Diagnosis (Doctor Dom Volume 3)
Recovery (Doctor Dom Volume 5)
Doctor Dom Series Sequence One (Triage | Observation | Diagnosis)
BDSM Fantasy:
Magic Everywhere (Chronicles of Raan Volume 1)
Raina’s Wedding (Chronicles of Raan Volume 2)
Leila’s Training (Chronicles of Raan Volume 3)
Erotic Shorts:
Adventures of Suzie and the Alien (Volumes 1-5)
The Alien, the Doctor and the Virgin (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 1)
The Alien Trains the Virgin (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 2)
The Alien, the Virgin and the Warrior Queen (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Book 3)
Tentacle Monsters and the Virgin (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 4)
The Virgin Returns Home (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 5)
Tara Crescent is a writer of erotic fiction. She believes in sassy submissives, firm Dominants, completely consensual relationships and happily-ever-afters! Her favorite kind of romance stories are ones that are somewhat believable.
In her spare time, Tara reads, gardens, cooks, and procrastinates about cleaning. From time to time, Tara blogs about what she's working on (and anything else that she finds interesting) at
http://www.taracrescent.com
. She lives in Toronto.
She is somewhat active on
Facebook
and
Twitter
, especially when the writing is going poorly.