Part 3 (1/2)

I skimmed my hands up his sides and onto his shoulders. I gave the slightest of tugs to let him know that I wanted him closer. He obliged and moved himself over me. I felt his erection through the black cloth, which was trying its best to enclose it, against my leg as he slid over me. I moaned and went at his mouth harder. His hands found mine and he laced his fingers in mine, moving our hands out and up as he went. This put the full weight of his body against me and sent my skin into a tingling fit of desire. I threw my head back and heard myself making tiny noises of want and need. His lips found my neck and kissed along it. He licked my collarbone lightly before his tongue glided down towards my b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

My nipple pushed up and tried its best to poke through the lace that was holding it captive. His mouth covered my bra and he sucked gently. He was teasing me, making my body ache for him. He released his hold on my hands and I grabbed the back of his hair, lifting his head. He kept my nipple in his mouth and tugged it back with him.

”Please,” I whimpered.

He smiled and held my nipple in his teeth. I eased my hands over his back and raked my nails across his shoulders. He moved up and kissed my lips again. I tried to reach down the length of his torso and hold him in my hand, but my arms weren't long enough. I attempted to scoot down on the bed. He grabbed my wrists, rendering me immobile.

Thumping my head back on the bed, I let out a frustrated grunt. A low throaty laugh came from his throat.

”You're loving this, aren't you?” I shot a nasty look at him.

”It has been centuries since we last joined, what are a few more hours?”

I lifted my head and tugged on his lower lip with my teeth. ”Hours? I can't handle hours of foreplay with you.”

He pushed his mouth down on mine then pulled it away slowly. ”Then you certainly have changed.”

His head moved down towards my neck again. I knew he hadn't fed yet, and I wondered if that had anything to do with his attraction to that spot in particular. I wasn't worried about him biting me. I wanted so much more than just teeth stuck in me.

I let out another frustrated moan and wiggled my hands into his again. His fingers laced through mine and I knew that I had always loved it when he did that to me. It made me feel closer to him. I let him push our hands on to the bed, gently, and knew for the first time that I had been very much in love with him at one point and wondered how much of me, if any, still was.

I got lost in his touch. His mouth moved over my upper body, exploring all that he could with my undergarments still on. He brushed against me and pressed his groin to mine every now and then. I was damp and ready for him to take the next step. I lay there, pinned beneath him, while he toyed with me for what felt like hours. I gave in finally and let him have free run of my body. I moved my hands up and grabbed a hold of the heavy iron headboard. This freed his hands up to aid in his teasing of me.

The smell of vanilla and fresh soap floated in around me. I looked around the dark room, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Giovanni stopped his a.s.sault on my inner thigh with his tongue and moved up to my face again. His fingers moved to the clasp on the front of my bra. He undid it and pulled the cups free of my body. I was. .h.i.t with another wave of vanilla scented soap, glanced up and saw the faint outline of what looked like Pallo above us. My eyes widened and I stared harder. I couldn't make sense of it. He looked like he was lying on the ceiling looking down at us. His gaze met mine before he descended upon us. I screamed, pushed Giovanni off the top of me and brought my arm and legs up to break the impact. Nothing happened.

”Gwyneth?”

Giovanni moved over me, grabbed me up and held me to him. I was shaking and trying to look around the room for Pallo. There was no one there but the two of us. Tears burst free of me and I did nothing to stop them. My mind was slipping, giving me images of things that weren't really there. Stopping it didn't seem to be an option. I told Giovanni what had happened and he pulled me tighter to him.

”What's wrong with me?”

”You told me Pallo saved your life the night you took Caleb's full power into you. You also said he had to try to turn you into one of us. He succeeded in saving you and did so without you turning into,” his arms tightened around me, ”one of us, but I think in some ways he did manage to bring you over.”

I buried my face against Giovanni's smooth chest and listened to him go on. ”Gwyneth, I think the recent attack brought your natural defenses down. You yourself said you used an enormous amount of magik to drive the omnis away. Now, I believe this opened the door for Pallo to reach you and I believe he has not only found you, but is calling you to him. He is summoning you to him as he would one of his vampires.”

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around Giovanni's slender waist. ”Make it stop.”

He let out a sigh. ”I can't, but I do not think he means to harm you in any way. I think he is just trying to bring you back to him, Bella.”

I pulled my face away from him, making no attempt to hide my disbelief. ”You sound fine with the idea. Do you want me to leave?”

He averted his gaze. ”I have come to terms with your feelings for Pallo. I am not foolish enough to think I would win over him in a battle for your heart. I fought that match and lost years ago and I know better than to fight it again. I'll understand if you feel the need to go back to him. I would even go with you if I knew it wouldn't upset him so.”

I sat there, too stunned to do much beyond try to soak in all Giovanni had said to me. He had just admitted to me that he was more than willing to share me with another man. I couldn't believe my ears. I didn't want to go home to Pallo. I wanted to stay right where I was. As hectic as my life had become, I should have been thankful to hear Giovanni offer to share. I wasn't. I wanted to be loved by one man and love only one man in return. Prior to having immortal men re-enter my life, I thought that very thing was a real possibility. Now, I had to wonder. The fact that I craved monogamy once more spoke volumes to how much Giovanni had helped me heal, both external and internal wounds, over the past several months.

”Do you think he'll come here for me?”

Giovanni touched my cheek and lowered his voice. ”I do not think he will show up here.”

”Why? He's coming to me now, somehow.”

”He is not really here. In your mind he is real, but not physically, and I don't think Pallo would just show up here, because this is the place where I made him.”

I glanced around the room and thought about the huge villa I was sitting in. This had been the house that Pallo had sought my freedom from, long ago, only to return a vampire?

Oh, yes, I certainly could weave a web with the best of them.

Chapter Five.

I stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a white pantsuit. It was provocatively low cut and I wasn't sure how my b.r.e.a.s.t.s were supposed to stay in it. Giovanni was sitting on the corner of the bed slipping another pair of black dress shoes on.

”How many pairs of shoes do you own?”

He glanced at me as he b.u.t.toned the sleeves on his gray dress s.h.i.+rt. ”Enough,” he said, giving me his two dimpled-grin.

I walked over and picked up my white heels lying near him on the floor. I know that I flashed a breast at him because I heard him take in an extra deep breath. ”It's your own fault. You could have alleviated the s.e.xual tension between us, but no-you wanted foreplay,” I said, low and with a bit of tease in my voice. ”I wanted you deep in me, but no. Mr. Foreplay has to have his way.”

Giovanni put his arms out, gathered me in them and pulled me close. Since he was sitting on the bed and I was standing this finally made me taller than him. I wanted to crawl back into the bed and try yet again to be with him-to make love to him, but Malita would be waiting for us at the dinner table, and I didn't want to be rude. Giovanni had sounded surprised she'd shown up. He said he had called her, but the last time he had spoke with her she was tied up and unable to make it in.

Guess her schedule cleared.

”We should probably head downstairs now,” I said, not sure I really wanted to. I'd much rather be making love to Giovanni than entertaining female omnimorpheleons, but hey, a gal's got to do what a gal's got to do.

He took another deep breath and blew it out slowly over my chest. ”Voglio fare lamore con te.” Giovanni's words were sweet, yet foreign to me. I wanted to ask what he had said, but he smiled and spoke again. ”Let's go down and greet our guest, shall we?”

He rose to his feet and once again towered over me. He took my hand in his and led me out the door. When we hit the bottom landing, I spotted Malita talking with one of Giovanni's vampires. I hadn't had an opportunity to learn any of their names yet. He had pretty much told them that if they so much as looked at me he'd kill them. I asked him about this and he told me that they needed only to concentrate on keeping me safe. They didn't need to be my friend. I got the impression there was more to it than that, but didn't ask.

Malita turned to us and I noticed her gaze go to our joined hands. Giovanni held tightly to me and took a step towards her. I had to pry my hand loose to avoid being flung across the entranceway at her. She walked up to him and they both did an odd but well done no-kiss kiss. It was one of those kisses where a person goes in and kisses towards a cheek and then they flip to the other side and repeat it. I'd only ever seen it done on TV and it was a h.e.l.l of a lot more impressive in person.

”Malita, I'm glad you could make it. On my last check you were preoccupied with work. I gather your schedule is now free.”

Malita turned her light blue eyes to him, and I could tell she was attempting to unleash her charm. ”You knew I'd drop everything and come. Don't be modest, Giovanni. It doesn't suit you.”

”Ah, you know me all too well,” he said, as he turned back towards me for just a moment. ”Gwyneth tells me the two of you spent the afternoon together. I am delighted to hear you hit it off.”

She cast me a soft smile. ”Giovanni, why wouldn't we?”

The look he gave her said she knew exactly why we wouldn't have hit it off. I wanted in on the reason, too, but didn't bother to ask. Giovanni put his hand out to me and I took it. We walked into the dining room and found the table set for ten. Giovanni's gaze moved to me and I shrugged. I'd told Ester it would only be the three of us. I was about to call for her to come out when I heard the doorbell.

Giovanni glanced at us both, ”Mi scusi.” He had a weird thing about answering his own door. I had given up trying to figure out all his quirks. I had enough of my own to worry about.

Malita smiled innocently at me. Somehow, I figured she knew who was at the door without having to ask. I wondered how much more time would pa.s.s before I stopped liking her. My guess was a minute or two.

Giovanni returned to the dining room followed closely by a man in his mid-twenties and two females. I did a double take when I saw that the women were identical twins. Their bleached out hair and lined, pouty lips made them candidates for hookers, but the way that they carried themselves said they weren't quite that low. I think they could have pulled off being high society if it wasn't for the short red leather skirts and tiny black leather tank tops they were wearing.