Momentum (6 page)

“That would be great,” Conner answered softly and Marco was glad they’d come to dinner. It would be nice for Natalie to have some friends on the tour and both Conner and Jessica seemed to like her.

His hand was still planted firmly over hers on his thigh and since she hadn’t tried to yank it away yet he considered that progress. Tonight, and every other night if he had anything to say about it, she would be with him. He grinned as he thought about waking up next to her, fucking her every way imaginable, and just generally getting to know her.

Their dinners were delivered and conversation thinned as they ate. When they finished, Conner picked up the check and they all shared a cab back to the hotel. Conner and Jessica stopped in front of the regular bank of elevators. “We aren’t staying in the penthouse, so we’ll bid you goodnight here.” He grinned at Marco, who shook his head and then held out his hand.

“See you tomorrow,
amico
. You too,
femmina
.”

Jessica smiled and they stepped onto the elevator, Conner’s hand on Jessica’s back to guide her. The doors closed and Marco continued to the special elevators for the penthouse and ran his card key through the system to activate it. The doors opened and he placed his hand on Natalie’s back to help her inside. He suspected it was just Conner’s way, but for Marco, it was a way to touch Natalie in order to keep from going insane.

He unlocked the door to the penthouse and they stepped inside. He’d thrown his luggage here earlier but had otherwise not been in the room at all since he’d arrived in Houston. Natalie looked around.

“I’ll never get used to this. People live like this every day?”

Marco figured now would be a bad time to tell her about his family’s estate, so he kept quiet. She continued through the living area and into the bedroom and he followed with her suitcase. He grinned. Only one bed.

Natalie seemed to realize that at the same time she stopped dead and a blush crept up her chest and onto her face. God, he wanted her. Turning away to keep from finding out what else might be blushing on her beautiful body, he put both their suitcases on luggage racks and grabbed a few things out of his to take to the bathroom.

“Would you like to take a bath or a shower,
cara
?”

“Do I smell?”

Marco hadn’t expected that answer and snickered. “No, of course not. I just thought you might want to relax after your long drive. I would be happy to draw you a bath.”

Natalie chewed her lip and Marco very nearly went to her to take over the task, but forced himself to remain at a safe distance. “That would be very nice, thank you.” She stretched and he watched her roll her shoulders and move her neck around, saving that information for later. He was good at giving massages that had women putty in his hands.

After he got the bath ready he went back into the bedroom. Natalie was flipping through stations on television, wearing the hotel’s robe, with her small feet showing at the bottom. Her toenails were painted a soft pink and he thought about how much the color suited her. “Your bath is ready.”

She seemed to start a little as she looked up at him. “Oh, okay. Thank you.” Rising from the bed, Natalie then padded into the bathroom and Marco watched her depart. He waited a few moments and knocked on the door. “Yes?”

“I noticed your neck and back seem stiff. Will you allow me to give you a massage while you soak in the tub? There should still be enough bubbles to keep you completely covered if you feel uncomfortable.” He had every intention of finding out exactly what her body looked like, but wouldn’t press the issue of actually having sex. It wasn’t his style. If all Natalie was ready for was kissing and cuddling, then that’s what they’d do. He had too much respect for women to ever pressure one.

“All right.”

He grinned, but schooled his expression before entering the room. There, nestled under the bubbles, lay his personal paradise. She looked up at him with wary eyes.

“I promise my hands will stay on your neck and shoulders unless you say otherwise.” She nodded and he moved farther into the room, willing his cock to stand down without much success. Grabbing a towel, he placed it on the edge of the tub behind her and sat down. “My hands might be a little cold compared to your body. I apologize for that.” He put his hands on her and she jumped. “Told you.”

“A little cold? Did you submerge them in ice or something?”

“It will probably feel good on your sore muscles.” Natalie made a noncommittal sound and he set to work. “Tell me if I’m going too hard or too soft or if something hurts.”

After a few moments Natalie seemed to loosen up a little. “Oh God, that feels incredible. Where did you learn to do that?”

“They teach it to us in school in Italy.”

Her head fell back and she looked at him. “They do not.”

He smirked, but the smirk faded when he realized her head being tipped back had caused her breasts to rise out of the water. Swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat, with reluctance he returned his gaze to her face so she wouldn’t notice anything amiss. “Well, okay, they didn’t.”

Natalie leaned forward again. “I didn’t think so.”

Marco continued to massage her, using lighter and lighter strokes as she continued to relax and the multitude of knots loosened. Finally he wasn’t even really massaging anymore, but rather caressing her soft skin. She hadn’t pulled away, so he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the back of her neck. Her breath caught and he did it again, adding just a little flick with the tip of his tongue. Her head fell back again and his gaze latched on to those beautiful breasts and refused to waver, so as he continued to kiss her neck, he watched as her nipples hardened into points. His own cock was about to strangle him, but he didn’t want to break the spell Natalie appeared to be under, so he ignored it.

She reached up with one arm, still dripping with water, and curled it around his head, pulling him down to her lips. As soon as their mouths met it was as if someone had set fire to a field of dry timber as the flames of passion ignited inside him. He wanted Natalie more than he’d ever wanted anything before.

Natalie teased the seam of his lips with her tongue and he readily opened his mouth, drowning his surprise in the taste of her. Their tongues dueled and then he chased hers back into her mouth, moaning as she sent him closer to the edge. Her arm tightened, soaking his shirt more thoroughly, and then before he could react, he lost his balance and fell into the tub. Natalie gasped as he landed on top of her, now soaked from head to toe.

“Oh my God, are you all right?” she asked.

Marco looked down at himself. He was a mess, but it was a small price to pay to be in the tub with Natalie. A good amount of the water had splashed out when he’d fallen in and he eyed it, wondering if he should try to clean it up. The floor was ceramic tile and he figured it could take a little water, so he turned back to Natalie.

“I am fine,
cara
. Did I hurt you?”

“No, no, of course not.”

His eyebrows drew down. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, but now you’re soaking. What are you going to do?”

He grinned. The state of his clothes was hardly even on his radar screen. He had much more important things to worry about, such as getting out of said clothes so he and Natalie would be skin to skin, not skin to sopping wet jeans and Western-style shirt. Climbing out of the tub, he said, “I cannot go back to the bedroom to change like this. It will make a mess. If you don’t want to see, I suggest you turn around.”

Before she had time to avert her eyes he’d pulled the snaps of the shirt free, and he watched as Natalie’s eyes widened and darkened with heat. He let it drop to the floor with a wet thud and went for his belt. “Wait!” She looked away and he grinned. That was fine. She could hide—for now.

Sitting down on the toilet, he attempted to tug his wet jeans off his legs without success. “Uh…”

Without turning around, she asked, “What?”

“My jeans won’t come off.”

Now she turned, her eyes narrowed. “How are they not coming off?”

“They’re wet.”

“So?”

“So they’re not easy to get off when they’re wet. Can you help?”

“What could I do?”

He tried not to sound exasperated when he answered, “Pull them off. You will have a better angle than me.”

“Fine,” Natalie said with a sigh. “Close your eyes while I get out and put on a robe.”

It was hard to stop the snort that wanted to work its way free, but he managed. Placing his hands in front of his eyes, he said, “Go ahead.” He heard Natalie get out of the tub and then what he assumed was her drying off with a towel. Marco wanted to peek but knew if she caught him he’d be sunk.

“All right. I’m ready. What do you want me to do?”

He pointed at the hem of his jeans. “Try taking hold down there and tugging. I’ll do what I can to push them.”

She got down on her knees in front of him and his cock took immediate notice. Now was not the time to scare her with a hard-on popping out of his jeans once they wrestled them off, but he didn’t know how to force his dick down. This wasn’t how he’d planned to get them naked, but it would achieve the same end, so he really couldn’t complain.

Natalie tugged and he pushed and they finally got the pants down a few inches, nearly taking his boxers with them. He made a grab for them at the last minute so his cock didn’t wave in her face and she took a deep breath. After that, Natalie gave one hard yank and the jeans gave way, propelling her backward and giving him a tantalizing glimpse of her pussy before she was able to cover herself. Pushing herself up, she refused to meet his gaze, pulling her now also-wet robe more tightly around her. At least there was less water on the floor. “Can you do it from here?”

“Yeah, thank you,
cara
.”

“You’re welcome,” Natalie mumbled before fleeing the room.

He wrestled with the damn pants and finally got them all the way off. Hopefully Natalie wouldn’t be asleep by the time he was finished. After hastily hanging his clothes from the shower curtain rod, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist and made his way to the bedroom to check out the situation.

Natalie was wearing a thin tank top with a little pair of cotton shorts. Was she trying to kill him? There was no way in hell to hide the erection poking out of the towel, so he didn’t try. If she saw what she did to him, it shouldn’t surprise her. No man was immune to this sort of exquisite torture.

Grabbing a pair of sweat shorts, he dropped the towel and stepped into them, not missing the little gasp from Natalie as he did so. He smiled to himself. Marco strode out of the room, dropping the towel on the floor of the bathroom. That task completed, he went back to the bedroom and found Natalie had scooted into bed in his absence. Marco climbed in next to her.

“Come on, baby, come a little closer. I will not bite unless you want me to.” He tried for a playful grin and it seemed to work as Natalie scooted over, allowing him to put his arm around her and pull her close. They lay there cuddling for a little while before he tipped up her chin with his free hand and gave her just a brush of his lips to hers.

But then Natalie moaned and turned more fully into his body. He took a chance and pulled her on top of him and was pleased when she didn’t protest. “Well.”

“Well,” he repeated, smiling. She returned it, though a fine tremor worked its way through her body and he held her a little tighter. Cupping her face, Marco kissed her again, sliding his tongue into her mouth for a brief taste before retreating. Natalie bit his bottom lip and he knew his control was slipping fast. His hands fell from her head and he pulled her more fully into his groin. “Do you feel what you do to me,
tesora
? I love being with you. Will you make love with me?”

“Is that what it would be to you? Making love?”

“Every time an Italian has sex it’s making love.” He knew he was pouring it on a little thick but didn’t know how else to ease her fears. Running his hands up the sides of her body, he moved to her front and pushed his hands between their bodies, cupping her breasts. “You have the most beautiful breasts, just the right size and so soft.”

Natalie pulled away enough to say, “You’re quite the smooth talker, aren’t you?”

He grinned lazily up at her. “All Italian men talk during sex.”

“How about if I give you something better to do?” She lifted her tank top over her head and her pretty tits practically bounced in his face. His dick twitched and she smiled. “Someone’s happy to see them.”

“Bring them to my mouth. Let me kiss them.”

She moved up until she was able to lower her breast to his mouth and he took hold, ravenous for her. If she put a stop to things tonight he wasn’t sure he would survive the case of blue balls he’d have. Natalie grabbed his head and moved him to her other breast. He took as much as he could into his mouth and suckled hard. She moved restlessly on top of him as her breath caught.

“Don’t stop,” she murmured.

He let go long enough to say, “I’m not stopping.”

Not until I make you mine.

A fierce wave of possessiveness roared through him. Italian men were naturally possessive, but this was different. Rolling them both over, he pushed in between her legs and settled his weight, being careful not to put too much on her. Reaching down, he found the waistband of her shorts and pushed underneath it, finding her hot and wet for him.