Marcello & Grace (Royals of Valleria #2) (24 page)

“Yes. God, yes, I can.” He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank God. Thank God. Don’t leave me. Please don’t leave me,” he said as he began to kiss her and tug at her clothes desperately.

“Never,” she said as she pushed his robe off. “I couldn’t if I tried.”

He halted her hands. “You could, Grace. If you wanted to leave me, you could.”

Something small and dark vanished within her when she realized he was right. No, this relationship was nothing like the one she’d had with Daniel. “You’re right,” she said as she cupped his face. “I could leave you, but I won’t. I may not be ready to marry you but, here and now, I promise to be there for you for as long as you’ll have me.”

“I’ll want you forever. Each and every day we have together, I’ll want you and need you.” He pulled them to the floor. “I need you.”

“Yes,” she said, arching her back as sensation took over. God, what had she been missing all her life? Such pleasure, such love. She wept with the relief of finding it.

Clothes were tossed away until naked bodies slid against each other, heated by their own desires and the fire nearby. Her hair was a blanket of gold underneath her, a goddess offering herself for the taking.

He kissed the tears away even while he thrust inside her, giving her more and more until she exploded underneath him. He soon followed, and she relished the feeling of being filled by him, not only physically but emotionally as well.

After their breathing returned to normal, they lay by the fire for hours. Their bodies remained blissfully naked while they talked and planned the future, ate bits of leftover dinner, and then nibbled on each other for dessert. He told her what he could about the mission, and about his life here in Valleria.

“Do you think you could ever live here?” he asked her as the night brightened to day. “I know it’s a lot to ask. I know you’d have to give up a lot for loving me.”

“Shhh,” she said, then silenced him with a kiss. “I only had to give up my heart to love you, and it’s a choice I don’t regret.”

“Grace.”

“I’m not done,” she said softly. “I’ve thought about this, too, Marcello. It would be hard for me to leave England, but only because there’s so much going on right now with the renovations and the attack. I may have to go back and testify.”

He tightened his hold around her. “You won’t go back alone.”

“I know I won’t. Putting all that aside, I’d want to keep my family’s lands. I don’t know that I could give those up.”

“Why would you?”

Her brows furrowed. “Weren’t you just asking me if I would?”

“Our children need ties to their English roots. I wouldn’t let you sell your family’s lands, unless it was to me.”

At the mention of children, her gut twisted but she knew she had to be honest. “Marcello, I don’t know that I can have children. After I lost the baby, the doctor said it might not be possible.”

After a moment, he spoke. “Well, ‘might’ doesn’t mean ‘never’,” he said as he stroked her hair. “Besides, who says there’s only one way to have children?” he said with a shrug. “We can adopt, use a surrogate, whatever you want to do. I just want to have children with you; I don’t care how we do it.”

“Really? It wouldn’t be a problem with you being a royal and all?”

He smiled and shook his head. “It’s one the benefits of being currently fourth in line to the throne, fair Grace. No, it doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean ‘currently’?”

“Once Alex and Rebecca get married and start having children, we all get bumped down a peg with each child. So, if you were angling to be a queen one day, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.”

“I wasn’t,” she said immediately and noticed his joking smile. “I’m perfectly content with your position in the royal hierarchy.” She toyed with chest hair a moment. “You’re sure you don’t mind about the children?”

“Absolutely and unequivocally. Do you want to have children?”

“Yes. I didn’t think I would, but I want everything with you. Everything seems possible with you.”

“That’s how I feel about you.” He stared intently at her for a moment before he said, “If you wanted to live in England full-time, I would support you.”

“What do you mean? The two of us living apart?”

“No. I mean if I resign my post.”

“Oh, Marcello.”

He sighed and laid back on floor. As he stared at the ceiling, he said, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this. This last mission was one of the toughest I’ve been in.”

“You were hurt,” she said as propped herself up on her elbow to see his face.

He shook his head. “It wasn’t that. I’ve told you that I’ve been hurt worse. No, it was the time away from you.”

“Marcello.”

“Let me finish. Grace, I would die for my country. I would die for my family. I would die for you. Quite frankly, I’m feeling selfish; I don’t want lose any time with you, not when I’ve just found you.”

“I’ll support you with whatever you decide. But, please know that I don’t want you to give up anything for me. Your family wouldn’t either. Being a soldier, that’s so much of who you are, but it’s not all you are.”

She brushed the bruise on his cheek with the back of her hand. “You once told me that I was so much more than my scars. Don’t you think the same is true of you?”

“And you wouldn’t mind living in Valleria?”

“Not if you don’t mind trips back to England.”

He smiled. “How could I? It’s where we fell in love.”

“That it is,” she said as she kissed his bare chest and saw his cock twitch. “I have an idea,” she said as she shifted on top of him.

“Oh?” he said with a gleam in his eye. “What’s that?”

“Why don’t we stop talking for a while?”

“An excellent idea,” he said and groaned when she started to take him inside her tight body. “Excellent,” he rasped.

Marcello walked quickly down the meandering hallways with Grace’s hand tucked securely in his. They had talked and made love for hours, and he had never felt so intimate with a woman before in his whole life.

When they walked into the dining room for breakfast, it was to find everyone already there.

“Look who finally decided to join us. By the looks of things, they don’t look like they got any sleep last night,” Lorenzo said as he wagged his eyebrows.

Carolina smacked Lorenzo on his head and he feigned an injury. “Don’t be a jerk.”

“I think you’re confusing me with another brother. Clearly, all those paint fumes are getting to you.”

She smacked Lorenzo again, just for good measure, and stood up to greet them.

“I think they both could use some more rest,” Cat said with a wink. “You’re both positively glowing,” she whispered to them when they greeted her.

After greeting his parents, Alex, Rebecca, and Arianna, Marcello took a seat next to Arianna, with Grace on his other side.

“How are you feeling, my son?” Gabriel asked. “You do look as though you could use some more rest,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

“We’ve got the debriefing today with the Royal Council.”

“It can wait,” Alex said with a smile. “You should take all the time you need to heal.”

Marcello wanted to slap him, really all of them, but held back. He knew their teasing was another way of showing they approved of Grace. “I’d rather get the briefing over with, just the same. How did the national address go last night?”

“Very well,” Gabriel said. “We’ll discuss more at the Council meeting today. However, I do not foresee any problems.”

“What about Vlad? Byelorus, Litva, and Estoria?”

“Vlad has been usurped of power, and we’re now afraid civil war might break out within Gardar Rus. It was an unintended consequence, of course, but we’re mobilizing the international community to step in and help. This could bring about great change to the country, or terrible change. Let’s hope it’s the former.”

Gabriel took a sip of his fine Vallerian Roast coffee and said, “As for Estoria, they have corroborated our statements. The press are digging for more. Let’s see if they find it.”

“My health?” Marcello asked.

“Was never discussed. Nor was the fact that you were there. We did confirm that you were in charge of the mission, but never confirmed you were in attendance. Our refusal to confirm or disavow the rumour, as you know, has basically confirmed it in the end. You’ll get some questions.”

Marcello nodded and the room fell quiet while everyone focused on their breakfast.

“So,” Genevieve said. “Shall we start planning another wedding?”

“Mama,” Marcello said and his siblings groaned.

“What?” she said innocently. “It was a simple question.”

“It was a loaded question,” Marcello said. He turned to Rebecca and said, “Sorry, Rebecca, but you’re just going to have to put up with our Mama all by yourself. That’s the only family wedding I can confirm.”

Though some chuckled at his comments, others frowned in dismay.

“It’s my fault,” Grace said and every pair of eyes turned to her.

Marcello joined their hands and rested it on the table, in plain view of everyone. “You don’t need to justify anything to them, Grace.”

“I know. I want to. They should know. They should understand.”

“If you’re sure.”

She nodded, then faced the group again. She began to tell them some of what had happened to her. Not all of it - the baby, the details, and more were left out. The abuse, however, was confirmed and everyone reached out to her with compassion and tears in their eyes.

“I’m sorry you went through that,” Arianna said, reaching across Marcello to squeeze their joined hands. “We all understand and respect that you’re not ready to get married again. Please don’t give Mama any heed. She just wants grandchildren.”

Marcello’s gut clenched, but Grace just smiled and nodded, not wanting to elaborate on her reproductive state over breakfast.

“I’m sorry, Grace,” Genevieve said as she walked over to her. “I certainly never meant to cause offense.”

“You didn’t,” Grace assured her. “I just want you to know, all of you, that I really love Marcello. We’re in a committed relationship, even if I’m not ready for that step yet.”

“Of course you are, dear,” Genevieve said, kissing her on the cheek. “Who would think otherwise after seeing the way you two look at each other?”

“Are you at least moving into the castle with him?” Cat asked and everyone groaned again. “What? She’s one of my best friends. It’s relevant.”

“I will be living here, if you both don’t mind,” Grace said to Gabriel and Genevieve.

“Of course not,” Gabriel said. “We are honored and proud to call you family.”

“Thank you,” Grace said and Marcello saw her eyes begin to water. He gave her hand another squeeze.

“We’ll need to travel back and forth to England, particularly in the next several months,” Marcello said with a pointed look to Alex and Gabriel.

“We’ll make it work, don’t worry,” Alex said, understanding that Marcello would need to scale back his position for the near future.

Grace squeezed his hand and Marcello turned to face her. Her eyes were bright with love and the smile she wore was just for him. His heart grew even more, if that was possible.

She was his. He was hers. They were each other’s everything.

***

Arianna watched as the lovers seated next to her gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes. Marcello picked up their joined hands and kissed them. Arianna felt an ache within her own soul for seeing it.

She was surrounded by lovers around the table: Alex and Rebecca, her parents, and even Lorenzo had a steady stream of women in his life. Cat was not seeing anyone at the moment, but that could easily change.

Arianna felt alone. No, she felt lonely.

Arianna had gotten quite used to being alone. One disastrous betrayal when she was younger had forced any notions of love from her mind. It was only too bad her heart still clung to hope of it.

She sat up straighter in her chair and pushed her shoulders back. Properly lifting her coffee cup to her lips, she took a demure sip and put the cup down again deliberately so it didn’t rattle against the saucer. She had worked long and hard to move past those days of deceit, betrayal, and embarrassment.

No, to her, love was a fairy tale. It wasn’t for her. If she married, it would only be to serve some purpose, to help in some way. To prove again that her first duty was to her family and Valleria. As she wasn’t anywhere near the throne - she was the fifth child, just behind Marcello - she didn’t need to marry at all.

No, she thought as she took another proper sip of coffee. Love definitely was not in the cards for her.

THE END

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Read on for a synopsis of
Arianna & Finn (Royals of Valleria #3)
, available on June 30
th
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