His Paradise Wife (14 page)

“
Speaking of the store, how
is everything going?”

“
It’s...ah...it’s
okay.”

“
That didn’t sound
convincing.”

“
Well, it could be
better.”

“
How’s that?”

“
The boutique market is
flooded...there are boutiques all around town. And it doesn’t help
that items in my store costs up to forty percent more than other
stores.”

“
Hmm,” he
responded.

“
And my store is pretty much
outdated as you saw when you came there, I’m sure, but I’m not
complaining. I like my little store. It keeps me busy and it pays
the rent, so...”

Dante nodded. “There’s nothing like getting
paid for doing what you love, right.”

“
Right.”

* * *

Later in the evening, they went to dinner,
at a seafood restaurant that Dante had recommended. They’d arrived
just in time because when they were settled at a table, the rain
came down heavy, pounding against the window where they sat.

Dante was busy trying to convince Emily to
try oysters for the first time.

“
No thanks,” she told him.
“The last time somebody talked me into trying something I didn’t
like, I broke out in hives.”

“
Well, in that case, don’t
try it. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to that pretty face of
yours,” he said, then slurped down another oyster. “Mmm...you don’t
know what you’re missing, though.”

“
How many of those do you
normally eat?”

“
Not very many...the most
I’ve eaten at a time were maybe around twenty or
twenty-five.”

“
And you eat them
raw?”

“
That’s the best way to eat
it, baby,” he said, sucking another one down in one huge
slurp.

Emily smiled. He was eating those oysters so
good, she was tempted to try one. “Okay, I’ll do it,” she said,
feeling excited.

“
Really? You want to try
it?”

“
Yeah.”

He squeezed some fresh lemon juice on the
oyster and added a little cocktail sauce. Then he picked up the
shell and handed it to her. “Okay, so you can tilt the shell up to
your mouth and slurp like I do, or you can use the oyster knife to
sort of rake it out of the shell and into your mouth.”

“
I’ll do what you do,” she
said, then braced herself. “Okay. Here goes.” With the shell tilted
to her mouth, she slurped the oyster from the shell, feeling the
slithery sensation in her mouth.

“
Chew for a few seconds,
then swallow,” he instructed her.

She did exactly what he said and after
swallowing, she said, “Mmm...that was pretty good. I didn’t know
what to expect, but that wasn’t bad. Not bad at all.”

“
I thought you might like
it.”

Emily wiped her mouth and took a sip of red
wine. “I have to admit...I’m having a wonderful time with you,
Dante.”

“
I’m having the time of my
life with you, Emily.”

Chapter 24

After dinner, they headed back for the hotel
by way of the beach. Emily took off her sandals, holding them in
her left hand, walking barefoot on the cool, wet night sand.

Dante grasped her right hand with his left
and held on to it. He noticed that Emily didn’t snatch her hand
away from his, but instead, held on firmly to it in this romantic
setting. And he felt something akin to current run through her hand
to his. Maybe it was nerves, the same spark he felt when his lips
had touched hers for the first time.

“
What are you thinking
about?” he asked her.

“
All the work I have to do
when I get home.”

“
No, no, no. You can’t be
thinking about work while you’re here with me. I need your full
attention.”

Emily flashed a half smile and felt a few
rain drops pelt her face. “Okay, we better run before we get
drenched.”

“
That was just a few drops.
We got time.”

Just then, the rain picked up faster and the
two scrambled for shelter, running hand-in-hand as fast as they
could to the hotel.

“
I told you we were going to
get wet,” Emily said laughing as they stood in the hotel
lobby.

“
Next time I’ll listen to
you, darling.”

They continued on to the elevator, stepping
onto it. Dante pressed the eight button and when the doors closed,
his eyes locked on Emily like an animal seeking its prey. She was
standing in the back corner with her arms crossed, opposite of him,
her wet hair dangling around her face. He imagined that they were
at his home, in the shower together being drenched by the massive
rain shower heads above. Her legs would be wrapped around his waist
while he took her in a way that he’d never taken any other woman.
Her nails in his back. His tongue down her throat.

“
Did you hear me?” she asked
him.

He snapped out of his trance. “You said
something?”

“
Yes. I said it’s good to
play in the rain sometimes,” she said smiling.

You have no
idea
, is what he was thinking.

“
Where were you just
now?”

Lost in all of your
beauty
. “I’m here. I was just thinking
about what you said. I haven’t ran in the rain like that in a
while. It’s refreshing.”

“
It is, but now that we’re
inside in the air conditioning, I’m cold.”

Dante could tell she was cold as indicated
by her nipples poking through the wet blouse that clung to her
breasts. When the elevator doors opened up to the eleventh floor,
she said, “Well, now we can get out of these wet clothes.”

Emily walked in the room and he followed.
“I’m going to take a hot shower,” she told him.

“
Think I will, too,” he
responded. “In my shower of course.” A sly grin appeared on his
face.

Emily smiled, too.

While taking a shower, she thought about
what he said at dinner, about how she should reach out to her
mother because she had good intentions. She hadn’t spoken to her
parents in months, and she wanted nothing other than to talk to
them now. But that call would have to wait for a decent hour.
Surely they were in bed, sound asleep by now.

When she was done showering, she blow-dried
her hair and applied lotion to her body – her usual nighttime
routine. Then she stepped in the bedroom, ready to rest after
having one of the best days of her life with Dante.

Lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling,
she couldn’t sleep. All she could do was think about Dante, how
she’d judged the man based on rumors she’d heard. Once she’d gotten
to know him personally, anything everyone else had to say was
irrelevant.

Emily sighed, unable to sleep. She wanted to
go into the living room where he had been sleeping. She felt a
strange urge to be close to him, something that hadn’t happened
since Melvin, but she felt it with Dante. She wondered if it was
because he was the only man she’d spend a considerable amount of
time with since Melvin had passed. Or, maybe it was the fact that
she’d had an amazing day with him, first in therapy, then on their
boat ride and dinner, followed by a romantic stroll on the
beach.

A few light taps at the door invaded her
thoughts.

“
Yes?”

“
Just wanted to see if you
were sleeping,” Dante said through the closed door.

Emily smiled. Apparently, Dante couldn’t
sleep either. “Come in,” she told him.

Dante turned the knob and entered the room,
smelling the sweet fragrance of her lotion. The room was dimly lit
with a little light coming from the bathroom. Emily had purposely
left a crack in the bathroom door for that purpose.

“
Hey,” she said, watching
him walk to the same side of the bed where he’d rested yesterday.
Where he’d held her. The only difference was, he wasn’t wearing a
shirt this time and she could feel his body heat flirt with hers.
The hair on his chest added to his manliness and his iron peck made
her want to touch him. “You can’t sleep?”

“
No, not really.”

“
Good. You can keep me
company for a while. Can you lie here, like you did last
night?”

“
Yeah,” he said, standing up
to move the covers back, then slid under and laid down facing her.
“You smell delicious.”

Emily chuckled. “Thanks.”

“
You’re welcome.”

After a few moments of silence, she said,
“You’re a mystery, Dante.”

“
How’s that?”

“
You haven’t had a real
relationship in years, yet, you go through all of this trouble to
be with me.”

“
What trouble?” he asked,
displaying a smile that could cause a woman’s heart to
stop.

“
You know what I mean.
Before you came in, I was lying here thinking about
that.”

“
Oh, now the truth comes
out. You
do
think
about me.”

She giggled. “Well, we had such a good day
today that I couldn’t help but think about you.”

“
It’s all good, sweetie. I
was thinking about you too.”

“
You were?”

“
Yes, but then again, I’m
always thinking about you,” he drawled out smoothly and
seductively. When she sighed, he knew he was wearing her down,
forcing her to let down her walls.

“
Do you have children?” she
asked to change the subject a little while abating the sexual
tension in the room.

“
Wow. That’s out of left
field.”

“
I was just thinking about
some things I don’t know about you and that’s one of
them.”

“
No, I don’t have children,”
he said, reaching to rake her curls away from her face with the
tips of his fingers again.

She closed her eyes and nearly lost all of
her senses when she felt his warm fingers against her face. “Do you
want children?” she managed to ask.

“
Yes. I want children. I
want them with you, Emily,” he said honestly.

Emily’s heart melted. She found his left
hand with her right and threaded their fingers together.

Dante closed his eyes at the feel of her
soft hand, thinking about how other parts of her body must feel if
her hands were this soft.

Chapter 25

In the morning, Emily woke up to somewhat of
a surprise. Instead of her head resting on her pillow, she was
lying on Dante’s warm, firm chest. His arms were wrapped around her
and she could feel his hands on her back, underneath her night
shirt.

She sat up slowly and looked at him. She
didn’t recall anything happening between them last night other than
talking, but why was she resting against his chest?

Dante saw the puzzled look on her face and
said, “Good morning, sweetie.”

“
Good morning. Um...how did
I get in this position?”

“
You don’t remember?” he
asked, trying to suppress a smile but the dimple on his face
concaved into something beautiful.

“
No, I don’t
remember.”

“
Well, you were in the
middle of a bad dream. I woke you up and you asked me to hold you,
baby.”

Emily thought about it for a moment and it
was all starting to come back now.

“
Of course I said yes,”
Dante continued. “I need practice getting a feel for your sleeping
positions since I’m going to be your pillow for the rest of our
lives.”

“
Dante...” Emily whispered,
not knowing what else to say as she lost herself somewhere in his
sweet words.

Before she could get her senses back and
attempt to put up any resistance, he’d sat up so their faces met
and took her bottom lip into his mouth. He’d gotten a taste of her
lips on the boat yesterday and now he wanted a taste of her tongue,
of her whole, entire mouth.

Emily whimpered when she felt him pulling
her down on top of him, their mouths still connected while his
tongue wreaked havoc on her senses. Even though she was the one on
top, his strong tongue and firm lips remained very much in control
while his hand gripped the nape of her neck, holding her in place
so he could fully penetrate her mouth with his tongue. Leave it up
to him and he’d try to swallow her whole.

“
You taste so good, baby,”
he managed to say after taking a quick breath – a pause more for
her benefit than for his own. Shifting his body, he steadied his
way in a new position – on top of her, staring down into her
longing eyes.

Emily could feel his arousal pressed firmly
against her leg and she instantly felt a desire to have him. Gazing
into his eyes, she knew he wanted the same.

Without saying a word, he pulled her night
shirt over her head, helping her to take it off, tossing it to the
floor. Her bare, plump breasts lay before him, and, without wasting
any time, he went for one of her breasts with his mouth while
kneading the other with his hand. Soft moans escaped her lips and
shivers ran down her spine with every touch. With every lick. With
every suck.

“
Oh, Dante,” she whimpered.
“Dante...”

Dante captured her tongue again, drawn to
the allure of her opened mouth saying his name. She’d be saying it
a lot more before the morning was over with. A lot more...

Still using his tongue, he kissed and sucked
on her neck, pulling an area of skin in a suctioning way, a greedy
way, then massaging the now reddish area with his tongue, feeling
her body quiver underneath him. And this was just the
beginning...