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officially through with Rome Vicenza. “I"m going home, Rome. Don"t call me.”

Sela only managed to take two steps before Rome grabbed her arm. He pulled

her back. “You don"t understand…but you will.”

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“Sela, this is Turin. Turin, this is Sela Newton,” he called before pulling her

into the suite. She blinked at the blue eyes staring at her in surprise. She

immediately understood why Rome hadn"t wanted to introduce her. Judging by the

bruising on Turin"s face and the tense atmosphere, he was in the middle of an

impromptu family meeting, and the topic of discussion wasn"t a pretty one.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly. Damn, this was what happened when she ranted off

at the mouth without thinking things through.

“Hi,” Turin said sullenly. He glanced at Rome standing beside her and then

strode across the room to hold out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Miss Newton.”

Rome took the other bags from her arms, leaving her free to clasp his hand.

“It"s nice to meet you too, Turin.”

The sight of the young Vicenza"s bruised face made her want to cry for his

pain. Then there was that angry, defiant look in his eyes. She had seen it so many

times, but always on Rome"s face.

She didn"t need to be told the source of the bruises. Anthony Vicenza was at it

again. With a small sad smile, she took a step back, toward the door. “Uh, Rome,

since you and your brother are busy, why don"t you call me later?”

He nodded in agreement and walked her to the door. She paused at the

entranceway and looked over her shoulder at Rome. “I"m sorry,” she said, unsure

what else to say, if words alone could convey just how apologetic she felt. He nodded

again, and the coldness of the action made her stomach drop. She did deserve it for

being such an ass.

“It"s fine, Sela. Don"t worry about it.” He grasped her left arm and pulled her

close. She found herself in Rome"s embrace. He pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

“I"ll call you, Sela. I promise,” he murmured before laying a swift kiss on her lips

and sending her away. She couldn"t help the smile that settled upon her mouth as

she walked down the hall. Maybe she wasn"t such a screwup.

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Chapter Sixteen

He was exhausted. Now that the day was almost over, Rome could admit it

damn near undid him. After saying good-bye to Sela, he and his brother continued

discussing where Turin was going to stay. Except it wasn"t much of a discussion.

Sela"s short presence seemed to ignite Turin"s already short fuse. He no longer

wanted to stay with Rome, claiming he didn"t want to interrupt his time with Sela,

though his words were a lot more crass. Everything went downhill from there. In

the end Turin walked out of the suite, suitcases in hand.

He did everything he could to smooth things over with Turin. He knew he

wasn"t to blame, but he couldn"t help feeling he was at fault. The moment he saw

his brother on his doorstep, he should have called Sela back and told her he"d meet

her later or canceled the dinner appointment. He knew from their meeting at

Haskin mansion that his brother was sensitive about her, but he hadn"t been

thinking. When it came to Sela, he reacted on autopilot more often than not.

He called Sela about an hour after his brother left. He was very glad to see

her. Things were a little tense between them, but when he asked her what was

wrong, she said nothing. He figured she would tell him when she was ready.

Sela
. He knew nothing ever stayed the same. People constantly changed over

time, so he was more than a little surprised to find that he still felt the same about

Sela. He wanted her. There was no denying that. He"d desired her for years, during

and after high school. The last few years he"d ignored that need to the best of his

ability, telling himself it was just lust. He managed to partially convince himself

that when he saw her after so much time, he would discover that what he felt in

high school ended in high school. Then he had told himself that once he slept with

her, he would find the feelings were borne out of out physical need, not emotional

desire.

He was wrong both times.

Whether he liked it or not, Sela Newton was the one who got away.

He ran his hands over his face in frustration. “You are screwed, buddy,” he

murmured to himself. Then he turned on the faucet, placed his hands under the

cold water, and washed his face.

He had come into the bathroom to get a grip on his emotions. He wasn"t

getting a very good grip. With each moment that passed, Rome fell deeper under

Sela"s spell. He reached for the washcloth to dry his face. He heard Sela call his

name just as he placed it to his face.

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“Coming,” he responded as he placed the cloth back on the counter side rack.

Wearing only a clean pair of boxer briefs, he strode out of the bathroom and into the

middle of the suite.

He found her in the bedroom making the bed. “You do know there are maids

that do that.”

She froze before looking over her shoulder. “I know that. It just looked so

messy.” She shrugged.

“That"s what happens when two people spend the whole night in bed making

love.”

She straightened. “Making love?”

“Yes.” It was as close to an admittance as he was willing to give at the

moment. His gaze roamed over her. Earlier he had tried to convince Sela to go

without any clothing. She declined the offer. They reached a compromise. She wore

only her bra and panties.

Even that was way too much clothing. He wrapped his arms around her lush

waist and pulled her close. Deep satisfaction surged through him when Sela lifted

her head as he dipped his head.

One night and she was already attuned to him.

His hands moved down her back and slipped under the waistband of her

panties. She purred into his mouth when he teased the area where flesh met spine.

Rome took a step forward and pushed Sela forward. She fell onto the bed and he

slowly followed her down, determined not to crush her.

Sela broke off the kiss with a laugh. “I just made the bed.”

“Don"t worry about it.” He slid his legs between hers, enjoying the feel of her

silken skin against his.

“I"m not. You"re making it next.” She kissed him swiftly and rubbed her legs

against his. Rome wrapped his fingers around her nape and pulled her mouth to

his, needing something stronger than her quick kiss. His tongue delved past her lips

to tangle with hers, and he consumed the taste of her lips.

He could feel her body responding to his, giving into the rising desire that

heated the air between them. As their kiss became more demanding, Rome could

taste the surging need of his own desire as Sela responded back.

Rome wondered how he had ever lived without her kiss. The feel of her body

softening against his with passion. The potent allure of her limbs tangled around

his.

“Deal,” he murmured against her mouth. He managed to unsnap her bra. He

lifted it off Sela as she shrugged out of it. He watched it fall to the floor before

staring at her. Cock hard, he stared at her, savoring the sight of her topless body.

Sela had beautiful breasts. They were heavy, full, and high with dark areolae

and even darker nipples. He cupped one heavy orb in his hand and lifted it to lips.

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His eyes raked over her face, memorizing the sight of her sweet pleasure, before

they closed and he wrapped his lips around her nipple.

The taste of Sela"s flesh burst through him immediately. She was so

distinctive, so unique, and so tantalizing Rome knew he would never get enough of

her.

For her, he would always hunger.

He suckled Sela"s nipple more earnestly, pushing the tip deeper into his

mouth. She bowed her back and clung to his shoulders, digging her small fingers

into the tense muscles as she moaned his name. Power and pleasure like none he"d

ever felt before coursed through him. Needing to draw out the moment, Rome

released her breasts only to trace the dark outline of her nipples with his tongue.

“Hmmm,” Sela sighed.

He lapped his way up to her collarbone and suckled the fragrant flesh he found

there. Finally, when he could no longer ignore his own hunger for her, Rome

returned to her nipple and suckled the right bud, while his fingers slowly, very

slowly rolled the left mound. He toyed with her breaths until Sela gasped his name,

begging for mercy.

Rome had never seen anything more beautiful than Sela mindless from the

pleasure he gave her.

He turned his head and gave her other breast the same attention, licking the

areola, sucking on the nipple, and pushing the full tip of the orb into the mouth

while he tugged on her wet right nipple.

“God, I need you,” she cried out as she rocked her covered sheath against his

abdomen.

Needing more of her sweet lips, Rome lifted his head and captured her mouth.

Sela kissed him back, deepening the fervor of the kiss as she stroked her tongue

over his. All too quickly Rome felt the kiss burning out of control. Pushing his

fingers into Sela"s thick hair, Rome took control of the kiss, slowing her pace and

fitting their mouths more snugly together. He wanted them to take things a little

more slowly. Rome wanted to enjoy the journey to their climax.

Keeping her upper body pressed against his chest, he rotated her hips more

fully onto the bed. He bent her knee, then guided her foot up and back, draping her

leg over his. She made a sound, part whimper and part moan, as he eased his hand

between her thighs.

She was so hot, so wet, she damn near singed his fingers. No woman had ever

responded to his touch as Sela did. The fact could easily go to a man"s head.

He slipped two fingers into her sheath and was rewarded with a groan of

sensual bliss. “Hmmm…yes.”

He worked his thumb between the puffy lips of her cunt until it pressed

against the bud at the apex of her sex. He massaged her clitoris as he pumped his

fingers in and out of her sheath.

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She lifted her chest and took a deep breath before letting it out in a gasp.

“Rome?”

His belly muscles tightened with need at the soft, throaty sound of his name.

He had come to understand that voice very well in the last few hours.

Sela wanted him inside her. And he had never been the kind of man to leave a

woman in need.

He reached across the bed and grabbed the box of condoms sitting on the

bedside table. He dumped the whole box onto the counter and reached for one of the

silver foils. Half the box had already been used during the night. He grinned before

tearing open the one in his hand. He would have to stop by the corner drugstore and

restock soon.

Rome started to fit the protection over his cock when Sela reached out and

grasped his hand. “No, let me,” she murmured softly, giving him that slow, sultry

smile that always made his heart skip a beat.

Beautiful.

He leaned on his haunches and gave her reign. They had been through this

before. It got no less difficult to give her control. And then there was the pleasure of

her touch. Every glide, every caress, every feathering brush of her fingers set his

blood on fire.

By the time Sela released his heavy length, Rome wasn"t sure how long he

would last between her thighs. Her simple touches had already pushed him to the

breaking point.

She lay back and looked up at him. “Now come to me, big boy,” she said with a

smirk.

“Damn, you"re dangerous,” he said with a laugh before kissing her. That was

one of the things he enjoyed the most about Sela. Even in the most heated

situations, she retained her humor.

But more than that, he enjoyed the way she made him feel.

The laughter turned into a groan when he pressed his mouth to hers and found

her lips parted. He thrust his tongue into her mouth as he surged past the tight

muscles of her sex. They groaned in unison when he was balls-deep inside her

pussy.

Rome leaned his forehead against Sela"s and took several breaths. He had

spent the night with her, should have been used to the effects of their lovemaking,

or at the very least not blindsided by it.

But he was.

Once he got a hold of his emotions, he lifted off Sela"s chest and withdrew from

her sheath. She moaned his name and ran her fingers down his arms in