Her Sicilian Arrangement (14 page)

Marco released a heavy breath and then looked at her. He had
just completely spent himself…but he did not mind because the woman
there lying beneath him was a virgin! Not only was he shocked but
he was also stunned that she had kept it so very long. Right then,
he felt stupid…not because he thought he should have known, but
because he had been rushing her so selfishly through her entire
initiation process.

“
I’m
sorry—,” she began, not knowing for what reason she was
apologizing.

“
Do
not move,” he said and then eased off the bed, leaving the room in
a flash.

Tears welled up in her eyes at that moment. Might as well he
had told her to get out of his bed and find somewhere else other
than in his home to stay. It was not her fault that she hadn’t met
a man before who was good enough to treasure and one who values her
virginity. She then pulled the sheets up over her naked body and
cried…cried and wished that she could just burn to ashes and blow
away. In a minute, he returned in dry underwear and then looked
down at her. “Don’t cry,” he murmured and sat next to her. “Why
didn’t you tell me?”

“
Tell you what? It’s not like we were making some life-long
commitment or anything,” she said, sniffling and wiping her eyes.
“Just tell me—tell me how pathetic I am.”

His
face looked so vulnerable at that point and he took her in his
arms, holding her tight as she tried to resist him. “You are
nowhere near pathetic. You are a beautiful strong woman that any
man would be proud to have in his life.”

She
dried her eyes and then scoffed, pulling away from him. “You’re
just saying that to make me feel better.”

“
I
am saying it to make you feel better,
mia tesora
,” he remarked, touching her gently on the cheek with
the back of his hand. “But I am also saying it because it is the
truth.”

She
shook her head and leant her back against the head board. “Wow!”
she snorted, sarcastically. “That’s a big surprise…you not
ridiculing me.”

“
How
could I? I respect a woman who has treasured her body as you have.
It symbolizes pure strength and dignity; the qualities that a good
man is glad to accept.”

She
sighed and then pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear, feeling
ashamed and regretful. “I’m going to go to my room now,” she said,
wrapping the sheets tightly around her nude body. “I don’t even
know what I was thinking.” She eased off the bed and he watched
her.

“
Stay,” he said, surprising even himself that he was revealing
just how vulnerable she made him feel. “I want you to
stay.”

“
Why?” Her tone was that of pure frustration. “Don’t make this
harder for me than it already is, please.”

Marco rolled his eyes at her and stood. “Oh, just stop with
your complaining already. Can’t you do anything else but complain
for even a moment?!”

She
looked at him wondering if she was seeing or rather hearing
correctly. There he was speaking to her as if she was some child.
And she would not take it that easily. “Excuse me?”

“
You
heard me…all you have been doing is rant and argue since the moment
I met you and I have done nothing but let it slide,” he said,
approaching her and staring her down. “I am the man around here,
not you; and I am tired of you acting as if you are—where is your
ring?”

His
eyes frowned down at her naked finger and then at her face. She
looked frightened out of her wits and she stuttered for words, “I—I
left it in my room because—because I didn’t want to lose it in
the—the pool.”

“
Go
get it.”

“What?” she still argued, her eyebrows knitting
obstinately.

“Go
get it!” he repeated, his voice this time booming with masculine
authority. Meagan flinched at his tone and then moved slowly away
from him feeling as if her entire systems of internal organs had
been shaken their cores. Marco sighed and rubbed the back of his
head. This woman was definitely trying to drive him crazy! He still
could not believe how much she was softening his nature but he
could not allow her to realize the intensity of the effect she had
on him. He had to be careful—extremely careful, for women were very
complex creatures and could be tremendously conniving as well. He
had met one earlier in his life and he would not fall for it again.
Given Meagan’s situation and her being a journalist, he had to play
his cards right because she was very good at what she did for a
living. He might end up regretting ever asking her to ‘pretend’ to
be his fiancée. He had to admit, he was not being entirely truthful
about their arrangement. His first and foremost intention was to
keep her within his reach so that he could indulge in his sudden
uprising desire for her, and he had succeeded at that. But he
needed her assistance as well to help amend his scarred
reputation.

However, their so-called ‘sham’ was riding his nerves I more
ways than one. It all was beginning to feel so senseless so very
soon. What would happen when their time together has reached its
end? He was still hungry for her and he was more than sure that he
would still be for a long time. He could have married her and took
her as his own—though it was the last thing that had come to his
mind at that point—but her actions had shown very clearly that the
feelings she had for him might have only been strictly physical and
sexual.; nothing else.

“
I
want to always see you in it,” he said as soon as she returned,
dressed in her night gown.

“
We’re not even—,” she began when he cut her off.

“
I
do not care. Our relationship needs to look authentic to
everyone…including me. I want you to always wear it!”

Meagan sighed and then slid the ring unto her finger. “You
happy now?”

“
Felice? Ecstatic!” His mouth curled into a satisfied smile and
then he pulled her close to him and planted a kiss on her lips.
“Lie with me…”

She
shook her head hesitantly. “I can’t—I better go try to get some
rest. I have to continue working on your little investigation in
the morning.”

“
Surely you enjoy my company the way I enjoy yours?”

She
looked down and then sighed. “Everyone knows you are a very
attractive man, Marco.”

“
That is all? Surely there must be more to me than my
appearance.”

“And
you—you are intelligent and successful. Because you must have
worked hard.”

“
Ahh,” he chuckled, tightening his grip around her waist and
back. “Then I am grateful that you’re opinion of me has
changed.”

“
Don’t push it, though…” And she threw in a genuine smile
too.

He
kissed her once more and then pulled her gently by her hand.
“Come…” And she followed obediently behind him, climbing unto the
bed. He then straightened and pulled her nearer to him, resting her
head against his chest. “Tell me something about yourself,
Meagan.”

“
My—myself?” she questioned. “Like what?”

“
Anything.”

Meagan released a low breath. Would it hurt to confide in
someone for the first time in her life? “My mother was a school
teacher like yours.”

“Meraviglioso
!” he exclaimed. “But I believe you said ‘was’. Care to
explain?”

“
She
died a few years ago,” she replied so quickly, she startled
herself. She could not understand why her eyes were not filling
with tears by then. “She had cancer.”

“Dio
mio
!” he said,
raising her chin with his forefinger so that he could see into her
eyes. “My condolences,
mia tesora
.”

“
Losing a parent is awful. Especially a great one.”

“
I
agree,” he remarked. “As much as my father and I have our
differences, I still would be heartbroken if I lost him.” She was
expecting him to be the typical man about it and probably only show
his macho side but instead he did the contrary which turned out to
be the perfect alternative at that moment. “I cannot imagine how
hard it might have been for you.”

“
It
had been very hard—still is…at times. But I’ve grown to come to
accept that death is, in fact, inevitable no matter how painful it
might be.”

“
Then you are just as strong as I thought,” he responded and
smiled down at her. “But not near as you are beautiful.”

Meagan shook her head and looked away. “Stop exaggerating…I
look like any normal woman. Ryan used to always say
that…”

“
Ryan?” His brows furrowed with curiosity.

“
He’s a friend of mine.”

“
Hmmm…well, he is absolutely correct!” he frightened her with a
shocking intensity of zeal and laughed. “Have you seen what the
so-called ‘normal’ woman looks like these days? They smother their
faces with pounds and pounds of make-up, get synthetic breasts and
derrières and even transform their faces completely.”

Meagan giggled. “It’s their bodies…”

“
I
agree, but I have never been attracted to those types of women.
Women like you now, who embrace their natural beauty, are where my
interest lies. It surprises me that you were single…”

“Were
?” she
repeated.

“
Yes.”

“
Wait—I never…”

“
Shhh,” he hushed her and then raised himself up one elbow and
sliding her over to rest her head on one of the soft plush pillows,
so that he could look down at her closely. “How could a woman like
you ever still be a virgin?”

“
What’s that supposed to mean?” she frowned, glaring up at
him.

“It
was only meant as a compliment,
mia tesora
,” Marco murmured. “You are far too striking.”

“Well, it is a long story and I’d rather not go through it
again. Besides, it doesn’t matter now anyway. I am never going to
have sex any time soon—what are you doing?” Her eyes flew open as a
tingling warm feeling surged to the area between her legs and
noticed his hand pulling the straps of her night gown down over her
shoulders and then started massaging her left nipple between his
forefinger and thumb.

“
I
am getting you aroused. Go ahead…I am listening.”

Meagan continued staring at him as he was making her feel
completely stimulated but tried not release the sounds that she
felt was emerging to her lips. “How do you expect me to talk if
you’re doing this? I can’t go on—oh-oh-ohhh-my—god!” And she felt
his warm lips close over her nipple and areola. Her eyelids
fluttered close and her head flung back against the pillows as a
deep moan escaped her lips.

In a
moment, his lips moved over to her other nipple, giving it the same
amount of attention and suckling as he had given its twin. Meagan’s
back arced off the bed and he gripped her tightly and firmly. Marco
scattered small fervent kisses over her breasts and then down
across her abdomen, returning to her mouth quickly to the kissing
and sucking on her lips as if they were a source of his
energy.

“Do
you trust me?” he asked, his gaze piercing through her green eyes.
“Trust me,
mia
tesora
. You will
see that I mean you no harm…”

CHAPTER 10

Meagan was baffled. She had only known him for about a week.
But he had never hurt her or even attempted to. Could she really
trust him? She nodded; not quite sure if she was answering his
question but all she knew was that she was desperate to feel the
passion of love-making that he had spoken so fondly about. She
could not let that opportunity pass her by.

“
I
won’t hurt you,” he continued with assurance and removed her night
gown completely along with her tiny lingerie. “But it might hurt a
little…”

She
had known all that already. From her last near-experience and her
multiple reading of a few Cosmopolitan magazines, she had known
just enough about sex, except the feeling that she would not ever
have unless she experienced it herself. “Okay...,” she
breathed.

“
If
you want me to stop, I will,” Marco said and then positioned
himself on his knees before her opened legs. He then placed his
forefinger close to her soft wet opening and slowly attempted to
insert it. She gasped and jolted off the bed. “Are you
okay?”

“
Mhmmn,” she murmured, breathing frantically. He then returned
his finger and slid it inside of her only half-way…and stopped to
watch her face. She was biting on her bottom lip and her eyes were
squeezed shut.

After a few moments, he pushed his finger further and she
squealed closing her legs around his hand. “Do you want me to
stop?” he asked, calmly.

She
swallowed shakily and then shook her head. “I want—I want to do
this…” And he inserted the entirety of his finger, massaging it
against her soft feminine folds gently. It was not until about a
minute had passed when the pain had obviously eased and she had
begun to moan softly.

“
Better?”

“Ohhh
—better…”

Marco smiled down at her and groaned as her satisfaction made
him even more sexually stimulated. He then pulled away his finger
as she was now unbelievably wet and wanting, and removed his
underwear hurriedly. He then set himself over her and between her
legs.