Chapter 27
Marissa was drunk off Bruno’s kisses, his delicious flavor accented by traces of tequila as his tongue dipped in and out of her mouth in an aggressive display of sexual dominance.
Her fingers trailed through his hair and indulged in the soft texture, taking advantage of her current ability to touch him at will. Everything about Bruno was intoxicating. The way he smelled, the way he touched her, the way she felt in his arms.
He trailed his lips down the side of her throat and unhooked the clasp on her dress. “Marissa, querida.”
Her whispered name on his tongue made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
What was this man doing to her? Excitement spiked in her blood as he lowered the zipper, taking his time as if to torture her before the designer outfit was pushed into a pile of red fabric at her feet.
He stepped behind her and kissed her shoulders and the middle of her back and let his hands trail down her sides with the lightest touch. Her strapless bra fell next, and she bit her lip as the cool room air tickled her nipples and made them jut forward as hard, pebbled peaks.
Bruno threaded his fingers through her thick hair and tugged back her head. His other hand circled her throat as he caught her mouth in a brief and forceful kiss.
“You’re incredible.” His voice was gravelly and hot with desire.
He lowered behind her, his hands still touching and grazing her skin in an almost reverential caress. He peeled her thong down her hips, and she held her breath. She was completely naked now, and he was behind her. She had no idea what he planned to do next.
Shock, when he pressed his face to the crack of her ass and let out a low groan that echoed in her loins. He squeezed her cheeks and flicked his tongue along the fleshy part of her butt. She was panting now, barely able to stand as her knees practically knocked together in a struggle to support her.
He pushed her against the mattress and she fell forward with her ass in the air. Bruno’s hand glided over her bottom, and she moaned into the sheets, moving her hips against the sensual caressing of his hands. She felt as if he were priming her, feeding her an appetizer before the main course.
Marissa pushed back against him, grinding her ass against the hard dick in his pants, and a shiver of excitement ran through her when she felt his length and the width of his thickness.
“This will come later, but I want you to turn around. I want to suck those pretty breasts.”
His hands on her body were slow and sensual, yet with a firmness that let her know he was in charge. He would control the direction of their lovemaking.
Marissa twisted onto her back, and lowering over her, he wrapped his lips around her left nipple. At the same time, he slid a hand between her thighs. A whimper left her throat, and she spread her legs wider to give him better access. Massaging her wet folds, he let his fingers pluck and stroke her rigid clit.
She arched deeper, head swimming from the intense pleasure of his mouth and hand. When he transferred his attention to the other breast, she clawed his bare shoulders.
“Yes, yes,” she whispered.
He inserted two thick fingers into her body and stroked in and out. She came almost instantly, her limbs trembling, a guttural cry tearing from her throat as she shuddered through the orgasm.
Bruno stood and looked down at her—tall, dominant, completely in control. “One.”
He unzipped his pants and pushed it and his underwear to the floor. She was rewarded by the sight of his insanely beautiful body and the size of his erection. Her mouth opened in surprise. When she had backed up against him, she hadn’t understood the extent of its thickness and length. At her reaction, a smug expression of amusement centered on his face.
Bruno lifted her and walked around to the side of the bed. Their mouths reattached, and they fell onto the mattress. They rolled on the soft sheets, arms intertwined, their hands exploring glorious amounts of exposed skin.
Marissa had only been with one other man, but she didn’t feel shy or uneasy. She felt like a goddess and knew no bounds with Bruno.
He kissed her inner thighs and then licked his way to the center of her. And when he gripped her hips and pulled her toward his head, her hands clamped down on the headboard. She sat on his face while his velvety lips kissed her damp skin and his tongue wreaked havoc on her glistening folds. Head tossed back, her fingers tight on the headboard, she let out a hoarse cry, succumbing to the pleasure that ripped through her body.
Her brain shut down. She couldn’t think. All she managed to do was whisper his name in a breathless croon, over and over and over again. “Bruno, Bruno, Bruno.”
“Two,” he whispered against her throat.
He was counting her orgasms. My goodness, how many would he give her tonight?
She didn’t have time to recover before their exploration of each other continued. He kissed his way down the middle of her chest, and she caressed his arms and shoulders, and his thick muscular thighs.
When she stroked his silky stiffness, he pulsed in her hand. Then she teased him with her mouth, dragging her tongue along his veined length, tasting his salty skin while simultaneously playing with his balls. She launched a full exploration with open-mouthed kisses on his throat, down his torso, and along his hair-sprinkled thighs.
Their lovemaking became more urgent. God, he was good. His touch was deliberate, his kisses electric. He made her lose control until she was wild and ravenous and writhing against him.
His hands gripped her hips and caressed her breasts, and his mouth sucked and kissed anywhere he pleased—over the quivering plane of her stomach and as low as the soles of her feet.
He stopped only for a moment to get protection and then he pressed her onto her back, and her stomach tensed. One hair-roughened thigh slid between hers and finally she experienced the most pleasurable invasion. He sank deeper, and she drew a harsh breath when his pelvis rocked against hers.
His heavy-lidded eyes locked on her eyes. He pulled out and eased back in, gritting his teeth. But Marissa didn’t want slow.
“Harder, faster,” she whispered.
And he obliged.
He pumped into her with the vigor of a mad bull, his butt flexing under the grip of her hands. She’d never known such excruciating pleasure. Each thrust of his hips elicited a deep-seated grunt from his throat and a sharp cry of pleasure from her lips.
She dug her heels into his back, right above his ass, hands moving roughly over everywhere she could reach, exploring the satiny texture of his back and shoulders.
Then she splintered. Her back arched as tension tore up her spine and exploded into a climactic volcano that had her shaking below him, the relentless march of orgasmic tremors consuming every atom in her body.
Bruno’s shaft jerked inside her and he shuddered with a groan that seemed torn from him, his fingers gripping the pillow under her head as he pumped his hips through his climactic release.
Dropping his head to the pillow beside her, his body suffered through another brief tremor before going completely still. Only the sound of their breathing could be heard as they both tried to regain control.
Moments later, he turned out the lights and spooned her from behind. Drugged and weary from great sex, Marissa drifted into slumber with one fleeting thought.
Three.
Then she fell asleep.
Wrecked but immensely satisfied.
* * *
Bruno sprinkled his seasoning blend into a small glass bowl of olive oil. He added grated Parmesan and stirred the mixture, which was then added to a tray that included cubes of cheese and prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe. He and Marissa had worked up an appetite after making love and taking a quick shower together, which had almost resulted in them making love again.
She sat on the counter, legs exposed because all she wore was his white undershirt, which he’d insisted she put on because he wanted to see her in it. Her entire appearance was a tempting contradiction with her rumpled hair, glasses, and kiss-swollen lips.
He dipped a piece of bread in the olive oil mixture and brought the morsel to her mouth. She playfully sucked the bread and his finger between her lips.
“Behave,” he warned, though he didn’t really want her to.
He liked this naughty, adventurous Marissa. She had him by the nose, like the goddess she was, turning him into a lowly priest whose sole desire was to worship at the temple of her exquisite body.
She giggled as she chewed. “Yum.”
“What do you think of the olive oil?” he asked.
“Mmm, really good. Flavorful.”
“Thiago, Ethan, and I invested in an olive grove in Spain,” he explained. “You are one of the first people to try our product.”
“Lucky me. I’m special,” Marissa said with a happy grin. She dipped the bread in the mixture again and ate some more. “How do you know what to invest in?”
Bruno popped a cube of cheese into his mouth. “Growing up, I learned from watching my father. He worked as an actor but was able to build greater wealth by using the money he earned to invest in businesses—building his own or buying into someone else’s. Nowadays, I have a team to give me advice. If I find an interesting business, I ask them to research the sales, market share, et cetera, or they’ll come to me with ideas. Anything involving the food industry, I’m usually interested in, and this olive grove was an exciting opportunity, unlike anything I’d ever done before.”
“You have advisors, but you’re responsible for making the final decision.” Marissa picked up a piece of cheese.
“Yes, and I’m not always correct, but I do my best not to make uninformed decisions. That’s all I can do.” He sipped his water. He felt as if he was always talking about himself and wanted to know more about her. Her likes, her dislikes, her background. “Yesterday you mentioned your brother. Does he live in Atlanta?”
Marissa shook her head. “He lives in Arizona with his wife and daughters. He’s a dentist.”
“Younger or older?”
“Younger by three years,” she replied. “We used to be really close—still are—but I miss him because he’s far away. I’ll get to see him in a few weeks when he visits Atlanta for a dental convention.”
“And Theo’s father? What caused your break up?” He slid in the question and hoped she would answer.
She hesitated for a second. “He cheated on me when I was pregnant with Theo.” She spoke in a deadpan voice, but he heard the underlying emotion.
“Pendejo.”
“I’ve heard that word before. What does it mean?”
“It means he’s an idiot or asshole, depending on the context.”
“That sums him up.” She laughed, but the sound was tinged with sadness. “I’m over him, but he represented the life I wanted. A family. A normal family. Not like the one I had growing up. I was stupid to think...” She slowly shook her head.
He wanted to soothe the pain that appeared in her eyes. The back of his fingers traced the soft curve of her cheek.
“Never blame yourself for someone else’s actions. He could have chosen differently, but he made the choice to step out on your relationship. Sometimes, events of the past prepare us for a better future.”
“That sounds like something Lindsay would say. I listen to her podcast once a week. She talks about relationships and sex and dating and tries to help women find the silver lining in the muck our lives become because of you men.” She playfully punched his shoulder.
“Lindsay sounds like a wise woman.” He took her fist and kissed the knuckles. Then he kissed her right knee. “You have sexy knees.”
She laughed. That was the sound he wanted to hear, and the light in her brown eyes was what he wanted to see at all times.
He realized right then that he was crazy about Marissa and had no desire to meet other women.
He stepped between her legs and brought his lips close to hers. “Ready for number four?” he whispered.
A broad smile spread across her lips. “Yes, chef.”
The teasing words made lust arrow to his groin.
“Naughty girl.”
She giggled, wrapping her legs around him as he lifted her from the counter and headed toward his bedroom.