In Fair Brighton Read online

  Inside, she had chills for a very different reason. Anytime they would stop to admire a piece of furniture or art, he would stand behind her, place his chin on her shoulder, and wrap his arms around her, and when they stopped in front of the staged bed, with ornate carvings on the wooden frame, his breathing became a little harsh, and his warm puffs of air on her skin sent a tingling sensation all over her body.

  “I loved the bedroom scene,” he whispered, making her shiver, causing him to hug her tighter in response.

  “The Franco Zeffirelli version is my favorite, too,” she whispered, her voice coming out all breathy. She was glad when they went over to the costumes, saving her from possible combustion.

  They stood for a while admiring the beautiful Romeo and Juliet costumes used in the 1968 movie. Rome rested his chin on the top of her head this time. “I like this. You’re the perfect height to be my chin rest.”

  She laughed and playfully smacked his thigh. “On heels, maybe.”

  He glanced down at her shoes. “You’re wearing sneakers.” She heard him chuckle behind her, realization dawning on him that her sneakers had a hidden wedge. “Wow! You’re a shortcake.”

  She nudged him with her elbow, causing an “oof” to escape him. “I prefer pleasantly petite when referring to my five foot-two-and-a-half size, thank you very much.”

  “Let’s not forget that half,” he deadpanned right before crisscrossing her arms in front of her, trapping her hands and preventing any more attacks to his person.

  Sasha turned her head to look up at him. “You’re that scared of little ole’ me?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He feigned being afraid, causing another fit of hysterics to assault both of them.

  “You’re gonna keep me prisoner like this all day?”

  “I haven’t decided yet,” he said, though he did let her go so they could move out of the way for others to take a turn.

  When they were done with their tour, not only was her body on fire, but she was ravenous from the extra spent energy. Rome actually laughed at her when her stomach growled on the way out.

  “Now you need to feed me for laughing!”

  Rome grabbed her hand and entwined her fingers with his. “Ooh, you’re feisty when you’re hungry.” He kissed her on the side of her head and tugged her along. “Come on, Miss Growly-Pants. Let’s go get some food in you.”

  They ate pizza and drank Amarone wine at the outdoor part of a pizzeria restaurant. She was a humbled New Yorker, because Italy definitely had them beat when it came to their pizzas and pastas, and she moaned in appreciation with the first bite.

  Rome glanced down to her lips, and when he met her eyes again, she saw a hunger in them that was not for food. “What are you doing to me?”

  Sasha swallowed what was in her mouth before she spoke. “Same thing you’re doing to me, I’d imagine.” She had no idea why that came out of her mouth. For some reason, she had no filter around this man, and blunt honesty was what she was giving him. She wanted him, like nothing else she’d ever wanted before, and she really didn’t care if he knew it. The good thing was that it seemed entirely mutual. She not only saw it on his face, but she felt it, and on a level so deep, especially for only having just met, it scared the hell out of her to think what would happen after their time here was up.

  She stamped down those thoughts quickly and focused on the here and now instead. “I thought we’d check out a few of the local shops next.”

  She liked to go inside and actually describe some of the items for sale as well as prices. Even if those items were no longer for sale later, it still gave her article the feel of taking the tourist inside the shop with her. She felt so lucky to be able to do what she was passionate about for a living, and then immediately her heart sank at the memory of Rome’s face yesterday when he talked about what he did. If anyone was a firm believer in the possibility of making life changes, it was her. She hated her old life. She missed her father, but her current regret was that she’d be going back home in a few months, but maybe after that, she’d never go back again.

  “Do you have room for dessert?” he asked after they finished eating.

  “I think you may have to carry me out of here if I take another bite.” She had eaten way past the point of being full. She did, however, polish off the rest of her wine.

  “There’s always after dinner dessert then, and perhaps more gelato.”

  She felt the huge grin split across her face. First, because Rome wanted to continue their day outing into night. She hadn’t wanted to assume, but she definitely had hoped. And second, he appeared almost boyish at the moment. “My, what a sweet tooth you have!” He was too adorable for his own good. A six-foot-three god of all that was sexy, exuding masculinity and power, and yet his face lit up at even the thought of eating gelato.

  “I like things that are sweet.” She saw the devilish smirk appear, the one she was quickly becoming familiar with.

  “I think I like things that are a little bit naughty.” Once again, she could not believe what came out of her mouth. “I…”

  Rome grabbed her hand. “Don’t be embarrassed, sweetness.” He pulled her hand to him and placed a gentle kiss against her wrist. “I like that you speak your mind. Okay?”

  She nodded. Her cheeks were still heated, but after feeling his lips on her, it was for a reason other than embarrassment. She was currently picturing him doing all kinds of naughty things to her on other parts of her body.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon unable to keep their hands off each other as they walked around, either with their fingers entwined, or with his arm draped around her shoulders, and her arm around his waist. It all felt so natural, as if they had walked together like this a hundred times or more.

  The last store they went into sold beautiful custom jewelry and novelties, including pieces made with Murano glass, and Rome refused to leave the store without buying her a ring he saw her admire.

  “The blue topaz reminds me of your eyes,” he said as he slid it on the ring finger of her right hand.

  “Thank you, Rome. It’s beautiful,” she said to him once they were outside of the store, touched by his kind gesture. She actually had a little something to give him later as well, something she was able to buy when he was perusing other items in the bookstore.

  He skimmed his knuckles down the side of her cheek. “You’re welcome.”

  A few more stops and one dinner later, Sasha found herself pressed against the façade of a bright yellow apartment building. The street they had been walking down was nearly deserted, when the two of them suddenly exchanged heated glances. He pushed her up against the building and kissed her fiercely, one of his hands cradling the back of her head, while the other was right below her ass as she hitched her leg around him. She threaded her hand into his hair and fisted the front of his shirt again with her other hand, moaning into his mouth as the kiss consumed them both, letting out two days’ worth of fire and heat. She felt his hard length pressing into her, wanting to take him inside her body and lose herself in him.

  He slowed their kiss down. “Do you want me to take you back to your hotel now?” he whispered against her lips.

  “No,” she whispered back. She nipped his bottom lip, driving him to kiss her fervently again.

  He pulled back to look at her, his face riddled with desire. “I ache so badly for you, Sasha.”

  “Then have me,” she said. “I want you, too, Rome.”

  His hotel was closer to their location, only two blocks away. They walked briskly without a word until they were inside his room.

  “God, what you do to me,” he said, his voice gravelly, right before he cupped her face and delivered another impassioned kiss.

  He removed his hands from her face, and lowered them to cup her ass, pulling her closer to him. Sasha moaned into his mouth as he hoisted her up to straddle his waist. He then carried her to the side of the bed in the center of the room and laid her down on her back so that her bottom wa
s at the edge and her legs dangled off the side.

  He gave her a hungry look, pushed her legs up closer to her before spreading them wide. “Leave them like that,” he ordered.

  She made a low “uh” sound in response, never having been so turned on in her entire life. He pushed her sundress up to the middle of her stomach and licked his lips as he stared at her panty-clad swollen flesh. She let out a moan in response.

  Using only one finger, he slowly traced the center of her cleft. His breathing was harsh. “I can feel how wet you are for me even through here.” And just as achingly slow, he hooked a finger on each side of her underwear by her hip and pulled them off her, and then spread her legs back open to their previous position.

  She felt so vulnerable, yet so turned on with the way he was hungrily staring at her most intimate part. He dipped his head, and immediately followed the path his finger had done, only this time with his tongue. Sasha moaned loudly at the contact.

  “Even your pussy tastes sweet,” he said against her flesh.

  Rome tortured her at first, licking all around her outer and inner lips, avoiding that tight little bundle of nerves she wanted to beg him to taste until finally, she did beg. “Please, Rome, please.”

  His soft chuckle against her only made her feel needier until he took pity on her and gave her what she wanted. He sucked her clit into his mouth, making her whimper, and then he ate her as if she were his most delicious dessert, lips, tongue, teeth, driving her to the edge quickly.

  She screamed, her orgasm hitting her so fiercely, it blurred her vision for a moment. His mouth did not release her until her body calmed.

  “You’re so beautiful when you come,” he said, his voice gravelly.

  She gave him a lazy smile when he stood up to remove his shirt. She sat up then, to undo the button on his jeans while he watched her with his eyes hooded. She bit her bottom lip as she lowered his zipper, returning the favor by tormenting him with her slowness. Then, instead of touching him where he wanted, she traced the hard lines of his six-pack abs, up to his muscular chest, and then she brought them lower again all the way down to his perfect V. Rome’s body was a work of art. Michelangelo’s David came to mind.

  Deciding she couldn’t wait any longer to taste him, she freed his hard cock, thick, long, and cut. He was beautiful. He shucked his pants all the way down, and as soon as he stepped out of them and came closer to her, she sucked him into her mouth, taking him as far as she could go.

  His moans of enjoyment only urged her on, knowing she was driving him as crazy as he had her. She licked up and down his shaft a few times before popping him back in, and concentrating on the head.

  “Enough,” he said gruffly, popping himself out of her mouth. “I want to come inside you.”

  He raised her arms over her head and lifted her sundress off her, and then made quick work of her bra. “Beautiful,” he whispered, right before he leaned down to capture her mouth again. “Lie back, sweetness.”

  Sasha complied, positioning herself in the center of the bed, with Rome crawling up her body right after, delivering open-mouthed kisses to her belly, up the side of her ribs, and stopping to worship her breasts. Her rose colored-nipples were hard points as he licked and sucked on one and then the other. He cupped her breasts as he kissed further up to her to neck, her jawline, and then again, her lips.

  She moaned into his mouth when their tongues connected again, and scored her nails down his back. He gave her a hard kiss on the mouth before pulling away. “Be right back.”

  He returned with an unopened box of condoms with Italian writing on it and shrugged. “A man can hope.”

  She smiled up at him as he tore the box and took out a wrapped condom. He kissed her lips again, and she heard the box thump somewhere on the floor, followed by a tearing of foil and then he was finally sheathed and positioned at her entrance.

  They both moaned into each other’s mouths as he entered her. She felt so completely full, being that he was larger than what she was used to, and when he began to move, slowly at first, she felt his length and thickness hit spots in her she hadn’t known existed. The feel of him was ecstasy.

  “God, Rome, you feel so good inside me.”

  He gazed down tenderly at her as he thrust, holding most of his weight on his forearms. “No one’s ever felt as good as you, sweetness.” He leaned down to kiss her, slowly like his thrusts, tasting her lips, her tongue, pushing her to another peak. “Wrap your legs around me,” he murmured against her lips.

  She did as he asked, locking her ankles, the heel of her foot landing just above his tailbone. He explored her mouth thoroughly, and just as their kiss became more fervent, so did his thrusts. He rocked her faster, harder, his grunts matching her loud moans as she felt that wave about to pull her under into oblivion.

  “Open your eyes, Sasha. Look at me!”

  She loved how her body responded to his sexy commands. He awakened everything she thought had been asleep, and his stare penetrated somewhere deep inside of her. She knew when she resurfaced, she would never be the same.

  A few more thrusts, and she was coming, hard, calling out his name. Her spasms rocked her body, and continued to do so until Rome was coming, too.

  “Fuck! Sasha.” He collapsed on top of her, burying his face in her neck.

  She had no idea how long they had remained in that position, but eventually, his weight became too heavy, and he shifted them to where he spooned her from behind. She felt overwhelmed with a foreign emotion as she lay there in his arms and the feeling of security washed over her as she fell asleep.

  Chapter Four

  Sasha awoke with her nose buried in Rome’s neck, his chin resting on the top of her head, and their arms entwined around one another. The scent of his cologne still lingered on him from the day before, making her mouth water and her insides heat up again. She giggled at the memory of him saying she was the perfect height to be his chin rest.

  They had made love two more times during the night, with him waking her from half sleep. He had taken her slowly the first time, in the spooned position they had fallen asleep in. The next time was more urgent, like a blazing inferno that needed to be put out. He had crawled on top of her, and whispered, “I’ll never get enough of you, my sweetness,” before he plunged inside of her and took her hard and fast.

  Now, she wanted him again, and this time, decided it was her turn to wake him. She slid her hand in between them, wrapped it around the center of his hardening shaft, and began to stroke him as she planted open-mouthed kisses to his neck. When she heard him moaning, she looked up at him to find his bright eyes staring back at her with a lust filled gaze.

  Rome nuzzled his nose against hers. “We’re out of condoms.”

  “We’ll just have to get some more later,” she said. “But for now…” Sasha continued to stroke him as she hitched her leg over his hip, bringing her most intimate part closer to his. She rubbed herself against his cock, making them both moan, and then he easily slid in between her wet lips. It wasn’t quite the feeling of having him inside of her, but intimate and pleasurable enough to have them both calling out each other’s names as they came in unison.

  He turned her over on her back and glanced down at her body, his hot cum on her mound and lower belly. When their eyes met again, Rome wore a feral expression, his eyes ablaze with possession.

  “This turns you on, doesn’t it?” Sasha asked him, although his newly hardening cock was proof enough.

  He nodded. “Very much.” He leaned forward and playfully bit her neck. “I’m buying a truck load of condoms later.”

  She giggled at his enthusiasm, although a truck load sounded about right to her. Right now, however, as much as she wanted him to make her come again, nature called.

  Rome cleaned her up with tissues first, before she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She felt completely unabashed walking around naked in front of him given the fact he had touched, licked, and kissed practically every inch of he
r, and the way he perused her body as she walked toward him when she came out of the bathroom, made her feel like a goddess, as if he worshiped what he saw in her.

  He sat at the edge of bed. When she reached him, he pulled her close and hugged her to him, his head against her breasts. “Last night was amazing … and this morning. I can’t wait to do it again.”

  Sasha kissed the top of his head and then cradled it against her. “Me either.” She was trying not to overthink what would happen after their few days were up, but the feelings growing for him were a definite indication she would not walk away from him unscathed. She hugged him tighter.

  Rome looked up at her, his brows knit in concern. “Are you all right, sladast?”

  “What?”

  “Sorry, it means sweetness in Russian,” he said.

  Sasha knew what the word meant. She was fluent in Russian. She just had no idea he spoke the language, too. Then again, there was so much they didn’t know about each other yet, but she yearned to get that chance with him. “I’m fine. Just hungry.”

  Rome stood and cupped her cheeks. “Uh-oh.” He nuzzled her nose and then gave her a peck on the lips. “We’d better get you fed before you start growling again.”

  “Shut it,” she said while playfully smacking at his arm.

  He gave her one more quick squeeze before he headed toward the bathroom, swatting her butt along the way. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then we’ll go.”

  She had her bra and panties on when she heard the water start to run and then Rome popped his head out of the bathroom holding a toothbrush and wearing a goofy grin.

  “I just remembered I have a condom in my wallet,” he announced. “It’s on the dresser. Get naked again and come join me, sweetness.”

  “Score.” That was enough to stamp out any negative thoughts. Sparks of desire lanced through her at the thought of their naked soapy bodies sliding against one another under the warm spray of water.

  She spotted his black leather wallet, and sure enough, there was a condom, just like every responsible male hoping to get lucky should have. She knew she shouldn’t snoop, but sheer curiosity won out when she noticed his driver’s license. Damn, even in a photo where most people make it look like a mug shot, he managed to pull off male model.