Somebody's Angel (#5 in a Military Romance / BDSM Romance series) (Rescue Me) (78 page)

“I know, but I’ve never quite accepted that as home either. Unlike Gino, I don’t feel as if I have either foot on the ground.” He grinned and shrugged.

“You’d be lucky after all you’ve been through lately if you didn’t feel the ground moving under both feet. You’ve been shaken to your very roots. But you do have a solid foundation and you’ll keep working on all the things we’ve been talking about the past few days.”

Marc had promised they’d come back to visit someday, and she looked forward to that day but also wanted to get home and start building a future with Marc. “Thank you for letting me be part of your journey to make peace with Gino.”

His eyes grew shuttered. “I wish we could have found the old lair. The city probably cleaned it up for sanitation reasons long ago.”

“You’ll always have the memories of it. And of Gino.” She turned away, not wanting him to see her tears. Leaving the place where Gino had come to life for her caused an ache in her heart. “He seems so much more real to me after you showed me the streets where you two played
bocce
, the church where Mama and Papa D’Alessio married, the school you attended. Watching those beautiful children in the schoolyard, I almost pictured you both playing among them.”

“I’d lost all those memories for so long. My brother came back to life for me here, too.”

She squeezed his hand. “I know a lot more walls have crumbled during this trip.”

Best of all, he’d found more closure from events in his past. Sitting in that closet at Mrs. Milanesi’s with him, hearing the anguish in his voice as he talked with and about Gino and seeing the tears pouring down his cheeks had broken her heart. He’d kept so much pent up inside, and no doubt he’d be assailed by many more memories in the days and weeks to come as more pieces of his past bubbled up from his subconscious. But now he had a better context for understanding them. And he also had a number of people who could answer questions as they arose—Mama, Papa, and even Mrs. Milanesi, who was going to accept his phone call even though she thought international phone calls were much too expensive for communication.

They’d gone through so much during this short visit, forging a bond in steel.

Marc reached out and squeezed her hand. “Okay,
amore
?”

She nodded but didn’t let him see her tears. He’d think she was unhappy, but surely he knew by now she cried to express happiness, frustration, sadness, any emotion she felt in her heart. She was Italian, after all.

Angelina cleared her throat. “Thank you for bringing me with you, Marc. I can see how you must miss this place.” The mountains spread out below stretched all the way to the horizon, their white peaks piercing the sky.

Marc unbuckled his seatbelt seconds after the seatbelt sign turned off. He reached down to release her belt, too, and took her hand to help her up. He brushed the tears off of her cheek.

“Why the tears,
amore
?”

She shrugged and grinned sheepishly. “I assure you they’re happy tears.”

“As they should be. I’m sorry I caused you so many unhappy tears this year, though. I hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me.”

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “After what you went through in that interrogation scene all so we could have a future, I will forgive anything. You showed me how much I meant to you by agreeing to go through that torture—literally.” She shuddered. “I thought I might not get back the Marc I loved after they broke you, but instead I got all of the best parts back and many new aspects of you I never dreamed were tucked away inside. You definitely were worth the wait—and the work.” She stroked his cheek.

He held her close, caressing her back. After a time, they put some space between themselves and looked at each other. A light shone in his green eyes that had been dimmed for so long. Many ghosts from the past had been put to rest since the scene at the club, including on this trip.

“Come. Let’s stretch out by the fire.” He took her hand and led her to a fake fur rug on the floor before he lit the gas fireplace.

“I can’t believe you can light a fire on a plane—well, jet.”

He reached for the skirt of her dress and began pulling it up.

Angelina glanced toward the cockpit door. “Are you certain Gunnar and Patrick won’t come back here? I’m even more nervous now that I know who’s flying the plane. What if they need to use the bathroom?”

“They have their own lavatory up front, but I assure you they know they are not welcome back here for the next ten or eleven hours.”

“Gunnar’s so…well, intimidating.”

Marc grinned. “Sadists generally are.”

“He’s a sadist?”

“Taught Damián and Grant all they know.”

“Grant, too?”

“I can assure you, Grant fits the description of sadist quite well.”

“Do you remember much about her part in the scene?”

“Enough to know I wouldn’t want to be her submissive.”

“You said you don’t want to be anyone’s submissive.”

“Very true.” He stroked her arms, causing chill bumps to rise in the path of his fingers. “However, even if Gunnar or Patrick ventured back here, you have nothing to be ashamed of with your beautiful body.”

The familiar dropping of her stomach made her voice sound raspy, too, as her train of thought derailed. “I remember Patrick from Adam’s wedding. Such a gentleman. I love how he takes care of his mother.”

“Much more a gentleman than I, because I intend to have my wicked way with your body nonstop over the next few hours.”

Her clit throbbed at the promise. “You guys have formed an amazing family, you know.”

Marc nodded. “I should have realized long ago I’d already been adopted—by Adam and the Masters at Arms Club family. Adam’s quite the collector of lost souls. We share so much more than ownership of a kink club.”

He looked away a moment. “Luke’s a big part of my family, too.”

“I can’t wait to get back and call to check up on him. I haven’t gotten an update since we left for California. So much has happened so quickly.”

“We’ll see him soon,
cara
.” She nodded. “My family keeps growing. I’ve been a very lucky man. Having you beside me now makes me the luckiest one around.”

“Oh.” Still uncertain about how private they would be, she continued to hold down her dress to keep him from removing it. “Why don’t we let the cabin warm up a little bit first?”

“Ah, the lady wants to be warmed up? That can be arranged.”

Her breath caught in her throat. She loved having her playful Marc back. When he glanced down at her chest, her nipples peaked, and she lifted her arms to let him remove one more barrier separating them.

Angelina reached up to undo the buttons of Marc’s white shirt. He squeezed her bare nipples, and she hissed. Despite the romance of being in Italy, with all the new emotions churned up every day, most nights they’d been content to hold each other and talk about his and Gino’s childhood and later years.

Not that Marc had neglected giving her an amazing orgasm with his tongue last night. To relax her, he’d said. She giggled at the memory.

“I am trying to seduce my beautiful, sexy woman and am finding her giggles quite distracting. I haven’t even started touching your ticklish spots. What’s so funny?”

“I assure you, that giggle was because of a special memory you gave me of our time in Brescia.”

Time to return the favor. She slid the shirt down his arms, and his fingers and thumb broke contact with her nipples for a moment. Together, they shucked his shoes, socks, pants, and boxer briefs.

After Marc settled onto the rug, she joined him, resting her cheek on his chest. Her hand roamed down across his abs to the curls below. His erect penis bobbed against her hand, and she wrapped her fingers around it.

Marc moaned. “Feels so good.”

Once upon a time, he’d have had her on her back pleasuring her by this point. She smiled. He’d become much more responsive to her meeting his needs on this trip. Letting go of his penis, she knelt and placed a kiss on his lips before trailing kisses to his pecs, flicking her tongue over his nips.

She bit one playfully, earning her a slap on the butt, and smiled as she licked her way down his abs to his penis. His hand now stroked her butt cheek, as if to rub out the sting. Knowing how much he enjoyed the view when she went down on him, she straddled him as she took him deep inside her mouth.

She groaned, wanting more but also wanting to meet his needs, too. His hips bucked up, and his cock bumped against the back of her throat. Relaxing her muscles, she eased him deep into her throat and breathed through her nose the way he’d taught her to avoid the panic of a gag reflex. His fingers opened her lower lips, and his tongue flicked against her clit hood. She wasn’t going to last long, unless he forced her to wait.

Please don’t torture me, Sir.

They weren’t in high protocol so she wouldn’t have to ask to come, as if she could. Marc’s tongue flicked harder, faster. She nearly came undone but wanted to wait with him. She pumped up and down on his penis until her lips felt his cum starting to work its way up the shaft.

The power of his impending orgasm distracted him a moment, and his lips left her. “Oh, pet, that feels so good!” He shot his cum deep into her throat, groaning his release. “
Merda!
So hot!”

He rammed two fingers into her pussy, curling them around to her G-spot.

“Oh, yes! There, Sir!”

She moaned as she continued to milk him while he prepared her for a takeoff of her own. His tongue flicked against her hard clit and she ground herself against his face. She pulled away from his penis and screamed her own release through her raw throat as he took her over the edge.

“
Mio Dio!
Yesssss!”

* * *

Hours later, and another orgasm behind each of them, Marc tossed back the sheet he’d covered them with. “I’m going to get dressed.”

“But we’re only halfway home. What’s the rush?”

He shook his head. “You’re insatiable, pet.”

The time was almost right, but he wouldn’t do this naked. She might someday tell their children how Papa proposed to her—and Marc would be damned if she’d tell them they were naked on a jet plane. His girl would get the most decent proposal he could devise. Lord knows he’d had enough time to plan one.

Yet he still had no idea exactly what he would say. Nothing sounded right despite having practiced a dozen versions.

Angelina knelt and retrieved her dress, a souvenir from their day trip to Firenza, slipping it over her curves. Good. Maybe now he could think more clearly. He didn’t want to mess this up.

He surveyed the small but opulent cabin. A U-shaped sofa with a chess game laid out on the coffee table in between. Six leather executive chairs for passengers. The fireplace seemed the most romantic place. Taking her hand, he led her to stand in front of the fire.

Marc stared down at her a long moment until she wrinkled her brow. “Why so serious?”

“Angelina, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time but never found the confidence to do so—until now.”

Her hand flew to her mouth, and tears formed in her eyes before he could even start.

“
Amore mio
, I chose this time and place because we are an equal distance between the homeland of my childhood and the place I’ve lived now for the past two decades. As I told you, I have no strong sense of home in either place. Lombardy and Colorado are mere geographic locations on a map.”

Angelina’s expression grew quizzical as she lowered her hand to her side, but her lips continued to tremble.

Marc stroked her cheek with his fingertips. “One thing I’ve learned with you—and even more during the time I was separated from you—is that I have only one home. Wherever you are.”

Tears spilled from her eyes, and he brushed them away.

“
Tesoro mio
, you have given my life back to me.”

No, too trite.

“
Scusa
. I’m nervous.” He took a deep breath and started over. “
Tesoro mio
, you’ve helped me learn to live life fully for the first time ever. You have nurtured me, kicked my ass, and loved me like no one before.”

Angelina framed his face with her hands. “Oh, Marc, you’re so easy to love.”

“That’s debatable.”

She grinned. “Well, I did have to peel away a few layers to find the real you.”

“You saw past my flaws and weaknesses and loved me anyway.” He reached into his suit pocket and retrieved the ring. A glance at his watch told him now was the time and place.

Marc took her hand and knelt on one knee. Tears flowed with abandon now. He cleared his throat, hoping not to blow this again.

“
Amore mio
, will you marry me?”

Shit
. He’d forgotten something very important. He held up his hand. “Wait. I’m sorry. There’s more.”

She nodded, seemingly too overcome with emotion to speak anyway. He hoped he could finish without losing it himself.

“Angelina Cristina Giardano, you would do me the greatest honor if you would choose me to be the man you agree to share the rest of your life with, if you would allow me to love, honor, and protect you, to provide for you and any children we are blessed with, and to share all of the moments—good and bad—of the rest of our lives.”

Okay, now that sounded like wedding vows. How could he…

She launched herself into his arms, and he held her tightly before easing her to her knees beside him. Her hug seemed to be the answer he wanted, but he wasn’t finished yet. He separated their bodies and framed her face with his hands.

“As your Dom, I also promise to guide you, to do everything possible to help you reach your highest potential, and to give you whatever your heart desires that lies within my power and your best interests. My life would be complete—everything I’ve ever dreamed of—if you agree to stay beside me.”

Angelina pulled his face toward hers and kissed him, short-circuiting his brain. When he could think again, he stared into her eyes. “Is that a yes?”