The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession Book 4) Read online

  Sophia had hit it off with Elynn and Maia, too. That had been a nice bonus. The other guys had thought so too. In fact, Sophia was going to meet them for lunch when Eva, Sergei’s partner, joined them after her business trip later in the week. But tonight she belonged to him…

  His patience eroded the moment they walked into the penthouse. He pressed Sophia against the front door, leaning down to cover her mouth with his.

  “Did I…mention…how happy…I am that you agreed…to spend the night,” he said between biting kisses.

  Sophia gasped as he rubbed against her rhythmically, his hands cupping her full ass to pull her in closer.

  “I don’t know how you do it…I have no willpower with you.”

  He pulled back his head enough to grin down at her. “Good,” he said, picking her up to carry her off to the bedroom.

  “Gio, put me down! You’re going to throw out your back!”

  Maneuvering into the hallway, he laughed. “You weigh nothing.”

  “Liar!”

  He smiled down at her. She looked so uncomfortable that he felt a little bad. But not enough to put her down. “Sophia, mi amore, does it seem like I’m having trouble?”

  She scowled at him as he moved into the master bedroom and put her down on the large four-poster bed.

  “No,” she admitted. “But that’s just because you’re a gym rat.” He laughed and took off his shirt and she waved at his chest. “It’s not funny! Look at you. You’re practically photoshopped!”

  He glanced down at his six-pack. “I exercise when I’m frustrated. And I’d like to add that no one has complained before now.”

  Sophia groaned and collapsed backward on the bed. “Why can’t you eat cookies when you’re upset like a normal person?”

  Hiding a smirk, he took advantage of her prone position on the bed, kicking off his shoes and climbing over her.

  Wiggling underneath him, she put her hands on his chest. “Wait!”

  Kissing along her neck, he murmured. “Hmm?”

  “Stop that, or I’ll forget what I want to say,” she said, trying, and failing, to push his head away from the soft skin next to her ear.

  “Go ahead,” he said before sucking on her earlobe.

  A little purr escaped her, and she went boneless underneath him until she came to her senses and pushed him away.

  “This is not a sexy conversation.”

  He rolled over and sat up. “All right. What kind of a conversation is this?”

  “The uncomfortable STD one.”

  His throat almost closed up. “You have an STD?” he choked out.

  “No, you do!”

  “I don’t have an STD,” he said with a laugh.

  “I didn’t mean you actually had one. That was supposed to be “do you have one”? This is the belated sexual history talk. The one we should have had before I lost my mind in that alley in Rome.”

  “We lost our minds. But believe me when I say that I am completely one hundred percent clean.”

  She studied him solemnly. “Okay…it’s only that some things don’t show up right away. And with you being you…”

  He narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”

  A hand moved to encompass his naked chest. “You’re so much more experienced and if you’re sometimes careless then—”

  “I am not careless.”

  “But—”

  He held up a hand. “Sophia, I’ve never had unprotected sex with anyone other than you and my wife. I’m fastidious when it comes to my love life. You are the exception…and well there’s only been you since my marriage ended.”

  Sophia shot up to a seated position. “Wait, you got divorced like a year ago!”

  He straightened uncomfortably. “More than two years actually.”

  Her mouth dropped open. There was silence while she stared at him for a painfully long minute. “Oh.”

  “Yes, oh. Additionally you should know that given the reason for my divorce, I felt it necessary to get every STD test known to man.”

  “Oh.”

  He pushed her back down on the bed. “Can I have another syllable please?”

  She giggled and reached up to put her arms around his neck. “Would you settle for an oh, God?”

  He didn’t. He settled for four.

  ****

  Gio’s hands rubbed over the naked skin of her back.

  Sophia was asleep on her side, her forehead pressed into a pillow, sheets tangled around her waist.

  “Mmm,” she murmured, fighting her drowsiness.

  Even in her half-conscious state, she wanted to be awake and back in her lover’s arms. Last night had been devastating in the best sense of the word. Gio had clearly been making up for his almost two years of abstinence. They had gotten precious little sleep, but she didn’t give a damn.

  A long strong finger slipped between her ass cheeks, making the short journey to no-man’s land. Suddenly wide awake, she turned her head to the side, giving Gio access to her neck. His warm breath tickled her ear.

  “I want to take you here,” he said, making her catch her breath. “Have you ever done that with anyone?”

  “No.” Her voice was small.

  He continued to rub, pushing at her rosette with his thumb. His index and middle fingers moved down until he was rimming her front entrance as well. She was already soaking. His thumb pressed down harder.

  “Would you want to, with me?”

  “I…”

  Tracing her slippery folds, he licked that sweet spot next to her ear, the one that made her shiver. “’Cause if I didn’t know any better, I would think you like it, judging by how wet you are.”

  His voice was smooth and dark, like bittersweet chocolate. Coherence was impossible when one finger and then another entered her sheath, twisting and teasing until she moaned.

  “Yes, I want to.”

  The words were out before she could analyze them. There was no desire to take them back. Gio was her chance to fulfill every forbidden desire and secret fantasy she’d ever had. True, she hadn’t ever thought about that, but if she didn’t like it, she didn’t have to do it again, right?

  Her heart skipped a beat when he took hold of her hips and pulled until she was on her hands and knees on the bed. Withdrawing his hand, he moved behind her, stopping when he was only a hairsbreadth away. The heat from his body warmed her skin, but he wasn’t touching her—nothing but his cock. His thick naked shaft rubbed against her wet lips, slipping and teasing. The friction was just right.

  The man always did everything just right.

  The anticipation had become excruciating. Her sheath was clamping down hungrily on nothing, silently begging to be filled.

  “Please, please,” she begged shamelessly, pushing back against him.

  She didn’t care where he put his cock, as long as he filled the aching emptiness inside of her. He made a pleased little growling sound and then he was there, pushing inside her tight pussy.

  She gasped, clawing at his Egyptian cotton sheets.

  “I thought—” she managed to say before he laughed.

  He ran a loving hand over the smooth skin of her left cheek. “That’s the sort of thing you have to work up to,” he said, slowly working his member in and out of her in forceful strokes.

  Of course, he was right. A man of his proportions could not be accommodated easily. She had read enough guilty-pleasure erotica to know it would take some preparation before they made the attempt.

  And apparently we’re starting now, she thought as one of Gio’s fingers pushed passed the constricting ring of muscle of her back entrance. Her pussy reacted instantly, tightening like an anaconda around his thick cock. He made a strangled sound, and she giggled in response and did it again.

  “Someone is being bad,” he muttered. “Which can only mean one thing…punishment.”

  The spank from his free hand was a complete surprise. It was ha
rd, startling her into jumping forward. It knocked the breath out of her and his cock nearly fell out. Taking hold of her hips he pulled her close again, sliding deep. Then he smacked her butt again until it was hot.

  “Gio!”

  “Too hard?” He lovingly caressed the smarting skin.

  “I don’t know!”

  He hummed and gave her another little tap, softer this time. “Is that better?”

  It was. God, she could feel herself getting wetter—if that was possible. Then the finger in her backside twisted around and she cried out, pushing back blindly.

  “Guess that is better,” he said.

  “Yes,” she breathed hoarsely.

  She pushed back again, trying to encourage him to keep moving but he was too distracted by her ass to do anything. He kept stroking her skin, rubbing and kneading while he thrust like the consummate multitasker that he was.

  Bracing herself against the mattress, she moaned shamelessly while he pumped inside her, working that naughty finger with each stroke. The sensation of being so filled overwhelmed her. The dark wave of forbidden pleasure swept over her. Her channel spasmed violently, clamping down on him.

  He stroked into her hard, extending her orgasm to a record-breaking length. She damn near passed out, falling forward when her trembling arms wouldn’t support her. He followed her down, moving his hand from her ass so he could embrace her from behind. His body enveloped hers, hips driving inexorably until his cock swelled and jerked, flooding her with heat. She ground against him, holding tight, letting his climax trigger a second one of her own.

  For a long while afterward they stayed liked that.

  “I like that you’re so tall,” she said after a comfortable silence. “You make me feel small.”

  “You are small,” he said sleepily, nuzzling her neck.

  She hummed happily and waited until his breathing deepened, signaling that he’d fallen asleep.

  “I love you,” she whispered, before burrowing deeper into his arms.

  She closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep when Gio went to the bathroom a few minutes later. She didn’t know if he’d heard her, but he did squeeze her extra tight when he got back into bed.

  Chapter 14

  The scent of good strong coffee woke her early the next morning.

  “Hrmph,” she muttered, pushing Gio’s hand away before reluctantly sitting up in bed. “Unless that tiny espresso cup has cream and sugar, take it away.”

  “Sacrilege!” he said, chucking her under the chin and setting the cup aside.

  He sat down next to her with a graceful economy of motion she envied. She squinted at him, resenting his bright-eyed and bushy-tailed attitude. “I hate that you’re a morning person.”

  He smiled, his gleaming teeth almost blinding in the sunlight.

  “Stop that. You’re like a toothpaste commercial. And why are you so dressed up?”

  He was wearing a fine dark gray suit with a pearl colored tie. She’d never been into suits before, but his normal wardrobe made him look like he fell off the cover of a men’s magazine. She was quickly becoming a fan of the style.

  “Work,” he said, picking up her coffee and drinking it himself.

  “But it’s Sunday. And don’t you work in Rome? That’s the bank’s headquarters, right?”

  “I’m working out of the London office until further notice. Also, I have a few things to take care of, tasks that piled up while I was away.”

  Away pretending to be a street performer. She bit her tongue to keep from mentioning it and then her fuzzy brain caught up.

  “The office is in London? What’s the commute on that?”

  He shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not too bad on the chopper.”

  She opened her eyes so wide they hurt. “You have a helicopter?”

  “It’s not mine. It’s part of a service I contract with.”

  “Oh,” she said. “Still crazy, though…”

  The man took a helicopter to work. She drove a Saab.

  He smiled, leaning over to play with her hair. “I should be back early evening…unless you want dinner in London. In which case, you can get dressed and come with me now. You can squeeze in some shopping or go to this spa Elynn recommended.”

  Crap. She was going to have to tell him about her plans for the day.

  “Err. Sorry. I can’t. I have to meet Richard.”

  Gio’s expression turned frosty.

  “Oh. Why?” he asked very casually.

  “That unfinished business I mentioned. He’s buying my father’s house. We’re signing the papers today.”

  He leaned back, surprise replacing the coldness of his expression. “Why are you selling it to him?”

  She shrugged. “He wants it. I don’t. Not much more to it than that.”

  His brows lowered. Sophia took the espresso cup from him and finished what was left, flinching at it went down. God, it needed sugar.

  Gio continued to stare at her.

  “What?” she asked defensively.

  “I suppose I find it odd that you would sell your childhood home to an ex-boyfriend.”

  Sophia stared at him, scowling. “Um, did you not notice the American accent? My dad’s place isn’t my childhood home. It’s not my anything. I only visited there as an adult, and I hardly ever went inside.”

  “Ah,” he said, his expression shifting to sympathy. “I know a lot about your mom, but not your father. We’ve never talked about him that much.”

  “And were not going to start now,” she said resolutely.

  “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t have ten hours or one of those really long psychiatrist couches.”

  He exhaled heavily. “Okay. Can you sum up why you’re giving this Richard your father’s house?”

  “Not giving, selling,” she insisted. “He’s way more attached to the place than I am. Richard is the son he never had—his heir, literally. He was my father’s protégé at the University. Richard has even been awarded the position my father had, the Sotheby chair of Sociology.”

  “So he’s inherited your father’s job and he wants your father’s house?”

  She shrugged. “He says it’s more convenient to the University than his place—which it is, but only slightly. Personally, I think he just misses the old man. They were tight.”

  “It would seem so,” he said with a nod, still watching her with a mushy expression of sympathy.

  “It’s actually a little creepy. Richard also wants his car.”

  Gio’s face soured. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “My dad had a 1970 Chevette. He was always tinkering on it during the weekends. I used to have to sit out in the garage with him if I wanted to talk to him at all.”

  Gio snapped his fingers. “That’s why you hardly went inside the house.”

  She smiled sardonically. “Yes, smart alec, that’s right. Even in the freezing cold I sat in the garage huddled next to a space heater so I could have a twenty-minute long conversation with him every Sunday. Then I would go inside for a cup of tea—alone—and then I would go home.”

  He nodded. “And you sign the house over to Richard today. Are you going to sell him the car, too?”

  “Probably. I have a car. One with a backseat that isn’t held in place with armature wire.”

  “So…where are you meeting Richard? At the house?”

  “No, at a coffee shop near his office. It’s across the street from Kelly’s place, which is where I’ll be heading for the bitch session I will be sure to need afterward.”

  His laugh was forced. “Well, that sounds like a plan. I’ll call you after my meeting.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, watching him from beneath her lashes.

  It wasn’t that difficult to guess his mood now, but he was doing a good job of faking acceptance as he leaned over to kiss her cheek. Impulsively, she grabbed his tie and kissed him on the mouth instead, hard.
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  “Don’t hit any birds in that chopper. That’s an order.”

  The light in his eyes warmed, making them a shade closer to honey. “I’ll be sure to relay that to my pilot.”

  “Do that.”

  With that, he left and she dragged herself to the shower to get ready. It wasn’t till after she’d finished that she finally glanced at the bedside clock.

  It read six-thirty am.

  Damn morning people.

  ****

  Sophia paused in front of the coffee shop, straightening her skirt in an attempt to procrastinate before facing her ex. She was wearing one of her new outfits, a figure-hugging dress with a black skirt and attached white silk top. It was cut with an empire waist, a style she’d avoided for years because she thought it made her bust look too big. Gavin, Gio’s UK shopper and her new favorite person, had convinced her otherwise.

  She was now wearing cuts and silhouettes she’d never considered dressing in before. They flattered her figure without making her appear unprofessional, giving her a boost in confidence she hadn’t been aware she needed.

  Yes, her size had always been an issue, but she was smart and driven. Her confidence came from her ability and success at work, not her appearance.

  It was a familiar pep talk, one she’d given herself many times around Richard and her father. But now she knew she looked good. Richard’s issues with her body were exactly that—his issues.

  He was early of course. She hated that about him. He always made her feel as if she’d been late when she’d been right on time.

  He was sitting in an intimate corner with two armchairs pushed close together over a small round table. There was a pile of papers on it, presumably the deed to the house.

  “Are these them?” she asked without preamble, sitting in the empty chair next to him.

  Richard choked on the sip of tea he was drinking, standing formally to greet her, although she’d already sat down.

  “Hello, darling,” he said standing there awkwardly, waiting for her to get back up before giving up and bending to kiss her cheek.

  Whatever. You don’t have to follow his Emily Post rules of etiquette anymore.