Surprised by Love (22 page)

 “Touch
me,” he whispered urgently. 

She
saw the unusual blue of his eyes darkening to deepest sapphire, and slid her
hand down his alluring body to his hugely aroused penis. The moment she felt
his shaft against her palm, she moaned his name.   

He
felt her kiss his mouth, then her lips were on his throat, his chest—her silky
hair caressing him as she moved farther down his body. 

“
Dio,
inamorata—”
he sighed, feeling her tongue laving and teasing his navel,
licking her way to his deeply aroused penis.  He hadn’t thought he could
be more turned on, but when he felt her mouth on his shaft, he felt himself
growing still harder, longer, heavier.   When she took him into her
mouth, he thought he would die of what she made him feel—her tongue licking,
her mouth sucking, hot and wet and passionate…  Afraid he might come in
her mouth, he gently moved her lips away from his penis, bringing her body up
against his again, kissing her mouth, while he slid his hand to the apex of her
thighs.  When he felt her opening to him instantly, he nodded, deeply
gratified.  Kneeling between her toned, slender thighs, he stretched out
one hand to find the glistening clitoris, gently teasing it before letting his
fingers slip farther down.  Ah!  It was as he had thought, she was
drenched for him. 

“Take
me now,” he whispered, as he thrust his heavy length deep into her moist,
velvety heat.  He heard her usual little gasp, while she stretched to take
him, her happy sigh when she had taken all of him.  He couldn’t believe
what she was doing to him, as she responded to his increasingly wild and
impassioned tempo.

Usually,
his control was absolute, but now he had to fight to keep some shred of
restraint, and he wasn’t too sure he could last.  Somehow, now that they
knew they loved each other, everything was subtly different. 

To
his great relief, he felt little spasms starting deep inside her.  With a
groan he crushed her to him, speeding up his tempo, thrusting harder and
deeper, until he felt a cataclysmic orgasm engulfing them.  He moaned her
name, overcome by the surpassing rapture of their climax when he felt the
torrent of his seed pulsing hotly out of him in seemingly unending
surges. 
Was it the same for her? 
One glance at her blissful
face assured him that they were feeling this together.    

“Ti
amo,”
he whispered, when his breathing and heartbeat had
slowed some.  Overcome by his feelings for her, he remained inside her,
knowing that was what she wanted—what they both wanted. 

“
Ti
amo,”
she whispered back. 

After
they had lain there a while, blissfully happy to be together, Connie asked,
“Was it different for you, this time?”

Still
overcome by the magnitude of his feelings for her, he nodded.  “Knowing
that we love each other made a difference.”

Connie
hugged herself gently to him.  “Yes, I think so too.”

He
felt he owed her an explanation for continuing to lie there, quiet and sated.
Usually, by now he was ready to make love to her again. 

“I
just want to lie here with you, feeling what we felt, overwhelmed by what we
have.  I know you say I’m insatiable and once is never enough for me—but
this time I don’t want anything more. Do you?”

“You’re
right, this was different and somehow more than anything we ever had
before.  And by the way, when I say you’re insatiable, that’s a huge
compliment, not a complaint.”  She curved herself to his side, her usual
way of preparing for sleep.  “Good night,
amore.”

He
gently kissed her temple.  “Good night,
inamorata.”

He
smiled when her quiet, even breathing indicated she had quickly fallen asleep.

We
have to get back to Italy soon—I want to marry her before God,
he
mused, brushing his lips over her hair, and making sure she was comfortably
tucked against him. 

He
closed his eyes.  After a little while, Alessandro was deeply asleep.

Chapter
20.

Alessandro
told Connie the next morning, “I want us to go back to Italy as soon as
possible so we can have our church wedding.”

Connie
was surprised.  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?  Nonna seems so
content and comfortable at Tom and Jeff’s.  Maybe you should talk it over
with her?”

 “You
don’t want us to be married?”  Obscurely, Alessandro felt upset.

“We
are
married,
amore.” 

Alessandro
nodded. “Yes, but not before God.”

Connie
was quietly surprised.  Alessandro was not particularly religious, going to
Mass only when circumstances permitted.  Why did he want this Italian
church wedding as soon as possible?  Calmly, she said, “Talk it over with
Nonna.  Bear in mind that she and your mother will need some time to send
invitations, arrange for the wedding itself, we’ll have to make sure the timing
is right for Tom and Jeff to leave the gallery and come to Florence with us.”

He
nodded.  “There is that.  You’re right—I’ll talk to Nonna.”

****

Nonna
was overjoyed at the thought that her beloved grandson wanted to be married in
church as quickly as possible, and eagerly set about making preliminary
arrangements with Father Francesco, her priest.  Once he agreed to a date
to perform the nuptial mass for Alessandro and Connie, they would get the
relatives and close friends to fall in line—and that included Tom and
Jeff. 

Alessandro
dropped in at the gallery a few days later.  After coffee time was
declared, he asked, “When would be a convenient time for you and Jeff to leave
the gallery and come to Italy with us?”

Tom
smiled insouciantly.  “Any time you want, my dear boy.  Cristiano and
his wife have a house in Ocean Breeze.  They’ll move in there for as long
as the darling lad and I are in Italy.”

****

Nonna
asked to fly ahead, to make sure that the wedding preparations would be as she
knew her beloved grandson would wish.  Which meant riding herd on Gina’s
guest list, and making sure the wedding reception and breakfast would be held
where Alessandro wished.  A few days later, Alessandro flew Nonna, his
uncles and his aunt back again. 

Three
days later, Nonna phoned, euphoric.  Father Francesco could marry
Alessandro and Connie in three weeks’ time, on the Saturday.  She
reported, “Gina lamented that no one could manage to get everything done for
the wedding in so short a time, but I overruled her.”    

She
quickly persuaded Alessandro to speak to his friend Alejandro de Castellón,
owner of the 5-star chain of luxury hotels throughout the world’s most famous
cities, resorts and spas.  Alejandro was delighted to hear that his friend
was going to be married in Italy and wanted the reception and wedding breakfast
to take place at his hotel in Florence.  Although the tourist season was
now in full swing, Alejandro made sure his friend’s guests would all be
accommodated as comfortably as possible.  Fortunately, the many suites
were not yet reserved by others.  Alessandro quickly reserved them all,
and left it to Nonna and Roberto to make sure one suite would be reserved for
him and Connie to change clothing after the reception and breakfast.  The
remainder could be spread among the favourite relatives.

****

A
few days later, Alessandro invited Tom and Jeff to fly with him and Connie to
Milan.  They were going to Valentino Chiari, who would design her wedding
gown—and clothes for all the formal and semi-formal invitations they would be
receiving.   Tom beamed at the thought of visiting the famous Milan
houses that carried men’s designer clothes.  “Our second visit here—you’ll
love it, darling lad,” he said to Jeff, who shrugged amiably.

Connie
was enchanted by Milan and Alessandro’s villa in the suburbs.  When she
wasn’t needed for fittings, she accompanied Alessandro excitedly, as he showed
her the many sights of Milan.  Her favourite was, predictably, the
Giardini
Pubblici –
Milan’s world-famous Public Gardens.  Here, the bridal
couple spent many a morning or afternoon. 

Tino
was secretive about the wedding gown, but all Connie’s other clothes were shown
to Alessandro—and invariably received his enthusiastic approval.

Two
weeks later, the four went back to Florence with a lot of clothes for Tom and
Jeff as well as for Connie—and Tino’s promise that he would personally bring
the wedding dress.  He was easily persuaded to attend the wedding.

Family
lunches and dinners followed small receptions for the bride to be introduced to
Alessandro’s many relatives.  Connie was glad of Tino’s clothes, which
meant she had exactly the right outfit for every occasion.  Alessandro
smiled.  In his opinion, it did not matter what Connie wore, she was a
classy woman who did not have to depend on designer clothes to look good.

****

At
last, the day of their church wedding dawned.  Connie had spent the night
at Nonna’s, and that morning Alessandro came to fetch her in a white, open
carriage, bedecked with white flowers.  Aunt Sophia had arranged for six
small nieces to be dressed in blush-pink bridesmaids’ dresses.  They
carried small gold baskets filled with flower petals, which they were supposed
to strew at the feet of bride and groom.  There was a separate carriage
for Nonna, escorted by Dr. Bevilacqua—to Alessandro’s relief. 

When
the small procession arrived at Nonna’s church, Father Francesco was waiting
for them, and led them down the aisle to the altar.

Soon,
Father Francesco’s beautiful voice intoned the beginning of the Nuptial Mass.

****

After
the ceremony, Connie glanced at Alessandro, noting that he looked decidedly
happier. 

A
moment later, he whispered, “Now we are married before God.”  

Connie
smiled up at him, surprised at this deeply serious side of his nature that she
had never before seen or even suspected. 

The
reception and wedding breakfast went smoothly and perfectly, in no small
measure due to the owner of the Castellón having personally impressed upon the
hotel manager and his staff that he wanted this event to go supremely
well.  And indeed it did.

****

Afterwards,
Connie and Alessandro went up to their suite, to change for the beginning of
their wedding trip.

“Wear
something casual, and if you have any rope-soled sandals, or shoes with a thin
crepe sole, put those on.

“Where
are we going,
amore?”
Connie asked.

He
smiled.  “I was going to keep it a secret, but you might as well know
now.  We are driving to a small port where I keep my boat.”

“You
never told me you have a boat?  What kind of a boat?”

Alessandro
shrugged.  “I suppose most people would call it a yacht, but it is quite a
small one.  I want it for my own private use, and not to invite hordes of
people on board for parties.”  He smiled at her amazed eyes.

“Apart
from us, there’s the captain and his crew.  And a chef and his
staff.  I thought we’d drift around the Mediterranean a bit, stop at any
place you like the look of.”

“Inamorato! 
What a wonderful idea—drifting around the Mediterranean at our
leisure.  I’ll love every moment of it.  Could we also go to Greece?”

“Of
course.  And I’ll love every moment of it too—but only because you are on
board with me.”

Connie
glanced at him and smiled secretively.

“What?”
he asked.

“I
was thinking how far we’ve deviated from the tycoon/PA start of our
relationship…”  She gazed into his eyes. 

“Did
you, at the time, think that at some time there might be more than business
between us?”

He
smiled.  “I remember when I took a lightning inventory of you when you
arrived for the interview.  I thought your mouth was made for kisses, and
I was amazed at the turn my thoughts had taken.”  He stretched out a hand
to her, pulling her close enough for a kiss.

“A
few days later, when you agreed to come out to dinner with me, I was no longer
surprised.  I only wondered how I could hurry things up a bit to achieve a
closer relationship.  And you?”

Connie
nodded.  “Remember I had vowed I’d never give a man a chance to deceive me
as Bob had done.  So when I suddenly felt this frankly sexual tension
between us, I did wonder…”

“All
I want to know is—are you glad of the turn our lives have taken?”