"Let go, Drago," she whispered. Danni dropped over his chest and bit at his nipple. She felt him pulse inside her, and felt herself heating. She tried to balance as she sat back, her hair falling around her shoulders, shielding her wry smile while she rode him with abandon. She groaned, grinding harder against him. Nico slid his hand to their joining, rubbing them both. She came with a cry neither of them had ever heard before, not stopping when he collapsed under her, rather still riding him until she was moving his hand against her skin, showing him what she needed. Her second cry was lower, more a groan as she drifted down over his chest. His hands came up to hold her while they both tried to find breath.
"Damn it, Danni," he whispered, his lips to her forehead. "Do it again!" She laughed, but didn't budge.
"In a minute," she managed to say, her fingers already stroking his sides. She felt him pulse inside her and sat back, moving his hands to her breasts as she leaned to the side, retrieving one of their glasses and offering it to him. The rest of the night was a blur of wants and needs. They made it to the bed after the fire burned down.
* * * *
Early morning found her stroking his cock to life. She felt his tension as he tried to stay still but couldn't, finally giving up and writhing under her touch. Nico's hand found her wet, and moved over her. His mouth covered hers before she could protest the change of position, pushing deep inside her. Danni let her legs fall to the side, giving him full entrance. Their joining was slow and unhurried until her involuntary grasp of his cock with her inner muscles. Nico lifted up, taking her legs high on his shoulders, pushing deeper. Danni was lost almost immediately with the new position. She knew he felt her tighten around him a second time before she calmed under him. He emptied deep inside her. Reluctantly releasing her legs, she felt exhausted and sated.
"Sleep," she said, laughing as she snuggled against him. Their morning shower was an exercise in fucking in small places. Danni was backed against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist, Nico steadying her as he thrust deep inside her.
He drove her home with his arm around her shoulder, Danni resting against him, alternately stroking his penis through the denim and slipping into a light sleep.
* * * *
Last night, Nico got hit with a case of nerves and felt like a kid on prom night. He had to steady his hand to open the wine, not normal procedure for him. No woman had ever arranged a hotel room for him, and his mind had reeled with the possibilities. In reality, Danni was more than he could have imagined.
He remembered thinking,
If this is payback, bring it on.
She had slowly driven him out of his mind all evening. His cock seemed to stay erect with a will of its own, full and pounding, straining against the fabric encasing him. Her touch was a welcome torture he'd missed all these weeks. Left to her own devices she became an imaginative lover. Whether it was the drops of wine she'd dripped onto his lips and licked off or the patterns her nails made on his skin, each move she made intensified the heat within him.
He'd watched her lick her lips, wondered if she knew what she was doing to him, felt himself pulse under her. Danni seeped heat from her core to his legs. Warm and moist already, he'd wanted to slip inside her, offered to open the condom package, and had been rewarded with a sip of wine and a lingering kiss, which had set them back at the beginning. At one point, Danni was so close to his cock he could feel her breath on him and hoped she'd go further. He had been only slightly disappointed when she backed off.
Niccolo decided that if this was what it meant to be whipped by Danielle, then bring on the whip. The analogy struck him odd, and he didn't let himself think about taking her over his knee again. His cock throbbed at the image he already carried.
Nico cursed his cell phone when it rang, detesting the love–hate relationship with the damn thing. He never expected to hear Carmen's voice, knowing Danni was in trouble.
"Niccolo, come quick. He's hit her!" A sob caught in her throat.
"I'm on my way, call the sheriff." He was up on his horse before he finished his words, Cirillo in the distance.
"I already did."
Bypassing the security guard with only a nod, Nico took the horse right up to the front door. Hearing raised voices coming from inside, he threw open the door, afraid of what he was going to find. He moved directly into the doorway of the living room only to see Danni at the bar holding an ice pack to the left side of her face. The man now standing guard in the same doorway, positioned to prevent any more physical harm, gave him a circumspect look. They exchanged a nod but no words. Robert was sitting, hunched over a drink, by the front window. Felice was on the sofa, crying. Carmen moved cautiously into the hallway, using her apron to dry her hands.
"Nico, thank God you're here." He moved toward her, motioning her back toward the kitchen.
"What happened?"
"I don't know. They were waiting for her. Danni came home and Robert started to yell and scream. Felice was crying. I came to the doorway just as Robert hit Danni in the face. They all froze, and nobody said a word. When Danni caught her breath, she picked up the phone and called the sheriff. I went to get an ice pack for her face, and Coy Addams called back. I answered it, and he told me to call you. After we spoke, I heard Robert's voice again, then a loud crash. Danni must have used her panic button because the guards showed up. They've all been quiet. I haven't heard a word since. I brought her the ice, but it's like she's frozen. No tears or words. They're all just waiting."
"All right, Carmen, pack an overnight bag for Felice and leave it by the front door. Then pack one for Danni and go to Casa Maria. Tell Antonio you'll be there for a while."
She seemed anxious about his orders. "Antonio and I have already talked," Nico assured her. "You'll come to Severino to work when the turnover is finished." She smiled, knowing her future was safe. "I'll bring Danni over as soon as I can. I want you to stay with her until I've finished with the sheriff. I want to make sure Robert is behind bars." She nodded and moved toward the back stairway.
"Felice won't like that I touched her things, even to pack her bag." Carmen's voice faltered, tears filling her eyes, holding back secrets she'd held for twenty-five years. "She was saying things, terrible things to Danni." Nico dropped his hands to her shoulders, steadying her to get her attention.
"Felice doesn't matter, Carmen, only Danni. We'll do what's best for her." A broad grin crossed her face as she turned to leave, shaking her head like she knew all along they were destined to be together.
Nico took a minute to control his anger. Hitting Robert now would only make matters worse. He'd find the right time to impress upon him that striking Danni was a bad idea. Standing at the living room doorway a second time, he saw that nobody had moved. Felice still wept, and Danni was still glaring at Robert from across the room. He moved beside her and, with his arms folded across his chest, firmly planted his feet. He noticed Danni's denim jacket was stained dark with her blood on the left side. The collar of the pink T-shirt was spotted too.
"Danni, you all right?"
She heard his words and turned to look at him, finally acknowledging his presence. Glancing back to Robert, she rolled her eyes. Felice spoke, the tone of her voice filled with hatred.
"Nico, go away. This doesn't concern you." Her expression left no doubt his half laugh at her request wasn't appreciated. Robert was sneering at him, mumbling under his breath.
"Coy Addams called me. Asked me to stop by. He's on his way." From the corner of his eye, he saw Robert shift, watching him look longingly at the bar Danni was guarding and back to his empty glass. It was then Nico noticed the broken glass in front of the fireplace and sofa. The coffee table was smashed into several large pieces. Other glass articles were scattered debris around the room. It must have been one hell of a fight, he told himself, thankful Danni wasn't any worse off than she was.
"Want to tell me what happened, Danielle?"
Instead of words, she moved the ice pack from her face, revealing her split lip and bruised cheek. Then he noticed the red marks around her throat. His stomach rolled, knowing Robert had his hands around her throat at some point. Nico's hands automatically fisted. It was Danni's hand over his that made him release the tension. It was a gesture he knew to obey. She wasn't ready for another fight. He had to keep his head together for her sake.
"Robert decided to take his anger out on me after trashing the room." Her words were calm, too calm for the moment.
"And why was he angry at you?"
Her quick glance to him reminded him of the papers in his safe, but she made no reference to them. He tried to keep his tone even, but realized he couldn't say "I told you so" aloud.
"Good question. One I haven't got an answer for. I came home, he started yelling, and Felice was crying and hollering, Robert started throwing anything within reach." There was a long pause before she added, "I made the mistake of getting too close." He saw her bottom lip start to tremble and hoped she wouldn't cry. Not now. Later, at his house, but not in front of Robert and Felice. She seemed to understand his look and nodded her head. "I'm all right," she insisted.
"It's entirely your fault!" Felice decreed. "You were never a grateful child. Always hanging onto Matteo, never leaving him time for anyone else. Oh, the land he made time for, his precious grapes, and his daughter, Danni. What a joke!"
Nico could feel Danni tense even though he wasn't touching her. Whatever had been said earlier was hitting home to Danni.
"I was his daughter. Daddy always…" Her sentence was cut short by Felice.
"It was all a farce. Daddy this and Daddy that. I had him ready to sell until we found out about you!"
"It's not my fault I was born."
"No, it was his fault for insisting on bringing you here. We almost got away, were so close, then you came along and ruined everything."
"Felice, I don't think this is the time," Nico started, afraid what her next words would be. Danni watched the exchange, wondering what else he knew and kept from her.
"This is the time, Nico. Let her talk. Obviously she's been angry with me for years." She turned back to Felice. "What do you mean 'came home'? Nine months is a long time to know a baby was on the way."
"Ha! We had three days' notice. I hated him for bringing you here and you for being born." Felice fell into another crying jag, and Nico studied Danni. They were both confused and apprehensive about what Felice meant, the meaning of her words slowly dawning on both of them.
"Do you mean you're not my birth mother?" Her voice was strangled with emotion.
"I wouldn't let him ruin my body to carry his child. I stayed on birth control pills and let him think I couldn't get pregnant. Matteo said he understood…Then he adopted you! He didn't tell me, just went into Los Angeles one day and came home with you." She threw her arms into the air in a dramatic gesture.
"And you've hated us both ever since." Nico couldn't miss the realization that dawned on Danni's face. Now he finally understood Maria and Coy keeping secrets.
"You ruined everything!" Felice shouted. Robert seconded her words and was silenced by a look from Nico. "Hate isn't a strong enough word," Felice continued. "I loathed the sight of you, wished you dead every day."
All the color drained from Danni's face. Nico's arm went around her waist. He moved her to the window seat behind them. This was what Maria wouldn't tell him. Felice had told her secrets at last. He didn't know whether to be relieved or upset. It was a lot to take in. He couldn't imagine how Danni was processing the information. From the blank look on her face, she wasn't. He handed her the ice pack, moved behind the bar, and poured brandy into a glass.
Robert cleared his throat to get Nico's attention in hope of getting a refill for himself. Nico's look told him not to ask. He pressed the glass into Danni's empty hand. He knew it would all catch up with her eventually, but he wanted her to be far away from here when it did.
"Sip it," he said, his tone low. Felice was still muttering about her terrible life, crying alternately with fits of anger and horrible words, bemoaning her bad fortune.
* * * *
It was hard to stay focused on the anger she felt with Nico standing beside her, as territorial as he looked, tall and slim, on guard all for her. Danni didn't hold back her deep sigh and wondered what it would be like if he truly loved her as she loved him. She wanted to be wrapped in his arms, but didn't dare let any emotion show.
She felt ill and relieved at the same time. She'd never understood her mother's attitude until now. It all fell into place, the strange goings-on all fit together.
The gravel in the driveway crunched under car tires. Carmen rushed past the living room doorway and opened the front door to Coy Addams. He entered the room with an air of authority and surveyed the scene. He saw the broken glass and liquor bottles, noted the broken furniture, then looked at each person in the room. He moved toward Danni first. She gave him a wry smile as he gently moved the ice from her face. He glanced to Nico. They both understood the silent message. Felice stood and started yelling again, hoping to get anyone's attention.