Marcello & Grace (Royals of Valleria #2) (23 page)

“There are five marks here!”

“Well, technically,” he started sheepishly.

“Where else?” When he didn’t respond, she said, “Marcello, please. Tell me. I need to know. I won’t break, I promise.”

He wrapped their joined hands around her to settle against her back. “One grazed my neck.”

“Holy shit, Marcello,” she said and he laughed. “Why are you laughing? You almost died.”

“Because, Grace,” he said with a kiss. “Love of my life.” Another kiss. “My beautiful, fair Grace.” Another kiss. “You just cursed, and it was positively adorable.”

She pouted. “Does that mean I was terrible at it?”

His face turned serious in a split second. “You’re not terrible at anything. I could, however, give you some lessons if you wanted to get better.”

“Lessons? In cursing?”

“I do have four brothers. We learned to curse in at least four languages by the time we were ten.”

“
Four
languages? By the time you were ten?”

“We had, um, very dedicated tutors after school.”

She laughed. “I’ll bet.”

He rested his forehead against hers. “Are we all right?”

She tugged at her hands and he let them go. Surprisingly, she had not seemed to mind having her hands, or any other part of her body, controlled by Marcello.

She rubbed her hands over his bruised chest and pressed a soft kiss to the bandage at his neck. She kissed the bruises on his cheek, and he did the same to the bruise on hers.

“I could kill him for hurting you,” Marcello said, his voice low and thick with emotion. “I could still make it happen, if I wanted to.”

Grace swallowed. She had sensed a darker side to Marcello before, but now saw it penetrating through in a weak moment. She wasn’t afraid of his darker side. She was, however, afraid for him.

“Don’t,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I need you, Marcello. What happened to me, everything that’s happened to me, it’s all in the past. I don’t want to go back.”

“It’s easier to say it, than it is to do it.”

“I know. Some of it may never go away.” She took a deep breath and stared straight into his dark brown eyes. She wanted to say so much to him, but there would be time for that later. “I love you, Marcello.”

His hands tightened around her. Their chests were bare, and pressed firmly against each other. “Grace,” he said with a ragged breath.

“I love you. I never thought that I would love again. I never thought that I could. You’ve shown me so much, Marcello.”

“Oh, Grace. It’s you who has shown me so much. You’re so strong and caring, even after all you’ve been through. I know you doubt yourself, but you never have to doubt yourself again, not with me. I have total faith and trust in you.”

She gently wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight as she fought to keep the tears at bay. She took a deep breath, inhaling his musky, masculine scent, which seemed to calm her as much as it inflamed her at times.

“That was beautiful.”

“So are you,” he said and pressed a kiss just below her ear. She didn’t know if he sensed her hesitation but he said, “It’s been a long day. Why don’t we take a shower and get something to eat. We can talk then.”

She nodded and they slid off the bed. Despite knowing he had seen her naked - and quite liked what he saw - Grace was still shy about showing herself to him. He gave her a sly smile and helped pull off her pants and shoes, taking care to kiss and caress each inch of newly exposed skin before he worked his way back up her body.

He began to suck and lick her nipple, his mouth able to encompass almost her entire small breast. She had never felt more consumed in her entire life.

When her knees went weak, he held her up, arching her back over his arm so he could have more to taste. Her hair hung down, a golden curtain that brushed the floor. “One taste is never enough for me,” he rasped. “Never enough.”

He swallowed her moan with another possessive kiss and led her backwards to the incredibly spacious standup shower, surrounded with glass walls. “Lean on the handle while I get the water started.”

Since her entire mind seemed to go blank when he kissed her, it took her a moment to comprehend what he was saying before she gripped the handle for dear life.

Only a few moments later, he appeared before her naked as steam rose around them. The stark white bandage on his neck shined like a beacon against his tanned skin.

“We need to take this off,” she said as she raised her hand to it. “It shouldn’t get wet.”

“Thank you, Grace,” he said gruffly and cleared his throat while her slim fingers pulled it away. She winced slightly when she saw the line of healing skin. Fortunately, none of his injuries, nor hers, had required stitches.

“Let’s get wet, shall we?” she said as she led him inside.

Marcello swallowed as he walked into the shower with her. He wanted to take her, needed to be inside her, and had to resist the urge to take her quickly against the cool tiled wall.

When the first punch of hot water hit him, he winced as it beat against sore muscles and bruises. He took care to keep the water away from his neck, but knew it would likely be impossible.

Grace stood in front of him, her head tilted back into the spray with her eyes closed, and he remembered making love to her in the rain. As if he could ever forget.

Her hair, getting wetter by the second and turning a darker shade of blond, stuck to the soft line of her back. The beast inside him wanted to fuck her like this, with his hands fisted in her hair, her ass slapping against his balls as the shower poured over them. Just the thought had him hard to the point of pain.

Grace turned and opened her eyes, startled by what must be a fierce expression on his face. “What is it?” she asked.

“Do you trust me, Grace?” he said in low voice.

“Yes,” she said easily.

“I want to make love to you. Are you up for that?”

“I can see you are,” she said with a small smile that Marcello didn’t return.

“I want to take you from behind, Grace. Will you let me?”

“Oh. Well.”

He stepped closer, fully into the spray with her. “Have you tried it before?” She shook her head. “If you don’t like it, we can stop at any time, all right? Will you try it?”

“Okay,” she said in a small voice that killed him.

He cursed internally. “We don’t need to, Grace.”

“I want to,” she said quickly. “I want to try everything with you.”

As he pulled her wet body against his for a fierce kiss, he wondered how he’d gotten so lucky to find her and love her. How lucky he was that she loved and trusted him back.

He broke the kiss and turned her around, caressing her body as he did so. “Place your hands on the wall,” he said.

As she did, he adjusted her stance, putting her tidy ass up in the air and pressing himself against it. With her small breasts hanging down, taunting him, he reached around to toy with them.

“All right?”

“Yes,” she said with a ragged gasp.

He caressed and tugged at her breasts, and her body started shifting against his. When her nipples peaked, he kept one hand on a breast and moved the other to her folds below. She was already slick and hot with both her own juices and the water pouring over them. When he pushed two fingers inside, she moaned and the sound echoed around the glass walls surrounding them.

He continued tweaking one nipple while his fingers emulated his cock. When he brushed her nub with his thumb, her orgasm ripped through her on a series of gasping moans.

He pressed a kiss to her neck and nuzzled her hair before shifting his hands to her hips. “Still good, Grace?”

“God, yes.”

He chuckled. “We’re not done yet.” He pushed inside her with one swift movement and she slapped the wall with a groan. “Did I hurt you? Are you all right?”

“Not hurt. Don’t stop,” she begged. “Please don’t stop. It feels so good.”

He began to slowly thrust into her, until he could feel the hot bite of orgasm brimming inside her again. He gently fisted his hand in her hair, forcing her to shift upright against his chest.

He turned her head and took her mouth in a fierce, breathtaking kiss while his hand rubbed her nub below. His body started to thrust faster and faster, almost lifting her off the floor. Her hands reached back to grip his body for support. She groaned into the kiss, then screamed as her orgasm came harder that it had ever come before.

Marcello latched an arm around her, keeping her upright while she bounced against him, wringing every last drop of pleasure he could muster for her.

When her body stopped contracting around his cock, he slowly pulled out and turned her to face him. “Are you all right? Was that okay?”

“Was that okay?” she said as she huffed a laugh. “I may never be able to walk again, but other than that, it was just dandy.”

Marcello smiled. “You take my breath away, Grace Raynott-Nithercott.”

Grace crinkled her nose. “You know, I don’t much care for that name.”

Marcello’s heart started beating faster. “Would you prefer to be called Princess Grace di Valleria?”

Her eyes widened. “Marcello.”

“I’m sorry. That was a terrible proposal,” he said, suddenly feeling cold despite the scalding water cascading over them.

“It’s not that.” She cupped his face. “Marcello, I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted forever with you. I’m just not ready to be married again. I am, however, ready for you.”

“You’ll let me know when you are ready for all of it?”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

He growled and pulled her closer. “I’d better be the first one to know.”

She laughed. “You will be, Marcello, my love. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

Afterwards, they took time to wash each other, and Marcello grew hard again just washing her hair. He wasn’t sure why it turned him on so much, but he wasn’t about to question it.

After they finished, he put on fresh bandages, and they bundled up in plush robes and staggered to his bed. He gathered her in his arms and fell asleep, hoping her warmth and the lingering scent of roses would keep the nightmares at bay.

***

Grace loved watching Marcello sleep. She lightly brushed a finger over the dark circles under his eyes, and knew he needed the rest. He’d been through so much in the last few days. So had she.

When his breathing was deep and steady, she began to shift out of the bed. When his arms tightened around her and he mumbled something incoherent, she thought he may have woken up. When it became apparent he hadn’t, she smiled; even in the deepest sleep he still wanted her.

She pressed a light kiss to his lips. He sighed and loosened his hold around her.
Hmmm
, she thought,
that’s a trick I’ll have to remember
.

She went out into the foyer and put her bags in a guest bedroom for now; she didn’t want to risk Marcello waking up as she rummaged through them. She used the suite’s phone to call for some dinner; she wasn’t sure when he would wake up and she was starving.

She dressed and peeked in on Marcello, still clad in a white robe and hidden underneath a soft quilt. He had shifted and now lay on his back, his arms spread wide. The robe had opened across his chest, revealing the muscles and chest hair she loved, and the bullet bruises she hated. She closed the door quietly and went to wait for the food.

After dinner arrived, she put aside Marcello’s portion in his kitchen, and ate on her own. She had plenty of her own work to keep her busy: houses that needed tending, employees to be seen to, and more. Just because she’d left to come here, didn’t mean she didn’t have a life in England.

But where was her home?

It was a question she wrestled with for the next several hours, while she was unable to sleep. She had missed Marcello fiercely and she did love him, but what did that mean for their future? She wanted him, and only him, but she wasn’t ready for marriage again.

She looked down at the empty space on her finger, where a ring had once sat. Daniel’s ring. Funnily enough, she realized she hadn’t really thought about Daniel much at all since meeting Marcello. No, that wasn’t true. She hadn’t really thought about Daniel since falling in love with Marcello.

What she had felt for Daniel had not been love, she realized. Nothing had ever, nor would ever compare to what she felt for Marcello, she was sure of that. She did not want to give that up.

“Are you all right?”

Grace, who had been ruminating in his sitting room near a roaring fire, looked up. Marcello was casually leaning on the doorjamb, his hands buried inside the pockets of the robe. “I’m fine,” she said.

“It’s four in the morning, Grace,” he said as he walked over to her. He took the seat across from her and pulled her hands into his. “If you’re upset about something, I need you to tell me.”

“I’m not upset, not really. I suppose I’m more wondering if you’re upset.”

“Me?” he asked with wide eyes. “Why would I be upset?”

“Because I won’t marry you.” His hands tightened on hers before he let go and sat back against the chair with a sigh.

“It’s not that you won’t marry me. It’s that you can’t right now. I understand and respect that.”

“Do you?”

“Have I ever given you cause to believe that I don’t trust or respect you?” At her pause, he said, “When?”

“Will you tell me what happened on the mission?” She wasn’t sure why she needed to know, but she did.

“It’s not important.”

“You were almost killed. Of course, it’s important.”

He stood up and began pacing. “What purpose would it serve? You’d just get upset.”

“Then let me get upset,” she said as she stood up and faced him, her golden hair and blue eyes shimmering in the firelight. “I can handle it and I don’t want any secrets between us.”

“I know you can handle it, but some of these are state secrets. I can’t just tell you.”

“I’m not asking you to put yourself in a tenuous position. I would never do that. But there are things you can tell me, aren’t there?”

He stopped pacing to run his hands through his dark blond hair. “Why?”

“I haven’t had an honest relationship my entire life, Marcello. I’d like to start with you.”

“Grace,” he said as he pulled her against him.

“I’ve had to lie or have been lied to. I don’t ever want to go back to that. I won’t go back to that. Ever.”

He rubbed his hands down her back and sighed. “Then you probably don’t want to stay with me, do you?”

She stiffened in his arms. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a royal,” he said as he pushed back and began pacing again. “If you’re with me, you have to keep secrets. It’s not that we’re lying to the public, it’s that -.”

“You’re protecting the royal family. Your family,” she finished for him.

“Yes, but that’s not all. Some details of the mission, for example, will never be revealed. We keep secrets to protect our citizens, too.” He sagged and a wretched look of despair crossed his face. He staggered to a chair and sat down. “Why, Grace?” he asked as he buried his head in his hands. “Why did you come back only to leave me again?”

She kneeled before him and pulled his hands away. There were tears in his red eyes. If she wasn’t in love with him already, the sight of him of now would have caused her to careen headfirst into it. “I’m not leaving you,” she said.

He shook his head disbelievingly. “But you just said you couldn’t be with me.”

“I didn’t say that,” she said and put her fingers over his mouth when he opened it to speak. “I understand what you mean about being royal. I would never divulge anything that harmed you, or Catharine, or anyone else. I just don’t want there to be secrets between us. I want a
real
relationship, Marcello. I’ve never had that and I’m desperate for it. Can you give me that?” She wasn’t sure what she’d do if he said he couldn’t.