Her Venice Affair (The Albury Affairs) (10 page)

“You said something about me naked on your desk?” she
said, sensually raising her hands to her shirt.

Allan gulped loudly as he watched her tiny fingers
undo the first button and slowly lower to the second.

“Did I give you a strip tease first in your fantasy?
Because I think I would.” She released that button and moved on to the next,
undoing that.

He could already see the swells of her breasts had
emerged and he had to tuck his impatient fingers into his palms to keep from
reaching out, ripping her shirt open, and sucking the soft flesh into his
mouth.

Another button down.

Allan closed his eyes with a groan. He needed a break
or he was going to burst from his pants. This wasn’t his first strip tease so
why the hell was he reacting to her like this?

“Open your eyes, Allan.”

Did she just purr? Allan groaned louder tossing his
head back. He fought to hold his hands on his lap. He needed to unzip his
trousers or the zipper marks would forever be embedded on his dick.

“Allan, open your eyes or I’m going to start without
you.”

His head shot up and his eyes opened.

Her lips spread in the sexiest smile before she sucked
her lower lip into her mouth. “Good boy.”

Another button down and his heart practically slammed
against his ribcage.

Damn! She’s
doing this on purpose. She wants to kill me!

The black lace bra was holding her breasts so
perfectly he felt his hand ache with jealousy. Allan felt like he was going to
start gasping for breath.

“Who are you and what the hell have done to me?”

She shrugged, the action making her shirt slip from
her right shoulder. “I don’t know. You just make me feel so…sexy.”

Allan heard his breath hitch when she finally undid
the last button and slowly pushed the shirt off her other shoulder. She held
her arms behind her as she pulled the shirt out, thrusting her breasts forward.

He was going to die. His balls were going to explode,
if his heart didn’t first, and he was going to die from the excitement.

She reached for the button on her jeans and that was
the last straw. He couldn’t take anymore.

He stood up, pushed her back onto the desk, and ripped
her jeans and panties off. He made quick work of his pants, and entered her
with one stroke to the hilt.

She cried out, her back arching off the desk.

“Next time, don’t tease me,” he warned before he
pulled out and slammed back into her, moving her up and making her whine. Allan
took her hands and placed them at the edge of the table. “Hold onto this,” he
ordered. Once she did, he pulled her hips to him, and began pounding hard into
her.

Her whimpers grew into cries that kept getting louder
and louder with each thrust. She let go on the table and sat up to wrap her
arms around his neck. Allan dislodged her hold, pushing her back onto the table
and holding her there without breaking his rhythm.

It wasn’t long before she shattered with a piercing
scream. She contracted around him, her channel so tight that it pulled his
orgasm right out of him. He came with a violent shudder as he shot his seed
deep into her womb.

He collapsed onto her limp body, too tired to move,
and she was probably too tired to care that he was crushing her. They were both
very sated.

Chapter Seven

Riana thought she would die from all the excitement as
they hopped onto another train to Naples. Siena, Florence, Bologna, Milan, and
Turin had been beyond wonderful. Not forgetting Vatican City, which was
amazing. Allan had flown them back to Rome when she’d asked to go there.

Allan had become more attentive, something she never
thought possible.

He kissed her a lot more, held and kept touching her
all the time. When they toured the cities, he always had his hand clasped
around hers, always kissing her hand and hugging it to his chest whenever they
stopped to speak to a vendor or other tourists. And the best part was, he
hadn’t checked his phone for a hundred times. It sat in hidden pocket, lonely,
for once!

Riana thought he was so attentive because he still
felt guilty for leaving her alone and making her cry, but she didn’t care. She
liked being the object of his attention and was going to relish it before work
filled his mind again.

Their suites were now just places to change clothes,
take a nap after a long day of touring, and make love during the evenings and
better parts of the morning. Allan didn’t give her a minute alone to admire the
rooms before he’d pounce on her. And if she weren’t so evasive—
pto
the point of being chased around the suite—she would
have never been able to see the cities of the country she was growing to love.
With all the adventures, night dinners, wonderful hotels, designer clothes and
shoes—thank you Milan!—how could she not be falling in love with Italy?

The best parts were when Allan took her to these
little charming cafés in street corners for breakfast and lunch, and had her
order foods she’d never tried before with the few Italian words he’d taught
her.

She just had to make sure she didn’t mistakenly use
the ones he’d whisper in her ear in bed.

Riana watched Allan as he sat at the desk to catch up
on the work he’d ignored for the past two weeks and sighed softly. When he went
straight for it the moment they boarded the train at the start of their third
week, she knew her exclusivity to all his attention was over.

His complete focus was on his work. The muscles under
the sleeve band of his T-shirt—thankfully, he’d stopped wearing suits entirely
and stuck to casual, except for dinner—seemed thicker as his fingers moved
lightly and swiftly over the keyboard on his laptop.

His hair, no longer held slickly back, hung loose at
an ear length around his face. He kept swiping it back in annoyance when it
fell over his eyes and his changing expressions gave him the picture of an
exasperated child, a rock band teenager, and an impatient adult.

It was hard not to fall for him when all she could see
was a man she wanted her sons to resemble.

Yes, she had already admitted to herself that she was
falling in love with Allan when they had danced to a slow, soft band in a small,
candlelit café in Florence. He’d hummed the tune in her ear as he held her
close as they moved slowly in a circle. That was the moment she knew she was
lost to him.

She thought a lot about it, making her mind stray on
the idea of not telling him they would need to start using condoms soon, so
that she could get ‘accidentally’ pregnant. She chastised herself for allowing
that thought of betrayal against Allan. Her conscious was heavy with guilt for
a while until two words plagued her mind…‘Why’ and ‘Not’.

 
Why not?

She knew she shouldn’t entertain the thought, but it
was becoming clearer every day that she loved this man and she would never love
another the same way. It hurt her to know he would never love her, and she only
seemed to mean ‘something’ to him because she was the only companion who he had
wanted to stay the longest with him on a trip.

So if she couldn’t have him, why not have a piece of
him?

Riana rubber her forehead and sighed. She was
beginning to get a headache from everything that was going on in her mind.

Loraine would call her an idiot right about now. And
Reno would call her his naïve little sister for falling for the man’s grandeur
like their mother had and foolishly believed that a child—their child—would be
a symbol of their love. A symbol that would only be hidden away from the public
like they had been.

But Mama
would understand me.

Riana groaned, leaning her head back against the
backrest of the long, plush seat of the executive cabin. Yes, her mother would
welcome her to the foolish-women-in-love-with-
unreciprocating
-men
Club.

What am I
thinking?

“Are you all right?” Allan’s voice brought her out of
her thoughts.

His husky baritone made her shiver with anticipation
like it always did when he whispered in her ear right before he made love to
her.

She stared at the man she was foolishly falling in
love with. “
Huh
?”

He pointed to her with his pen. “You are clutching
your belly. Do you have a stomach ache?”

Riana looked down at her belly. Her hand had absently
moved there. Not to clutch it but to rub it like expectant mothers do.

She pulled her hand away, shook her head and forced a
smile. “I’m fine, just tired.”

He leaned away from the desk and turned to her. His
brow was slightly up in an expression she had come to recognize as indecision.
It was rarely there and she’d only noticed it in Milan, when she’d asked him to
help her decided between two pairs of shoes she liked. The brow was up there
for only a moment before he gave up and purchased both, of course ignoring her
protests.

She now had two suitcases full of shoes and jewelry
and three others just full of clothes.

She pulled her lips in a more convincing smile. “I
promise, I’m just tired, but my body is too wired to rest.”

His brow rose higher, his lips mirrored it in a
lopsided grin. “Well, I can remedy that,” he whispered huskily, and Riana
swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat before the excitement
chocked her. But she had a feeling her erratic heart would take her out first.

She watched the sultry look take form on his face. He
slowly pushed out of the seat and approached her like a predator to its prey.

Riana nibbled on her lower lip nervously. She knew
what was coming but she couldn’t help feeling nervous with all the
anticipation.

He bent down and gathered her into his strong arms
without a word, just a look that spoke volumes, setting her even more ablaze.
He pushed the sliding door that separated the bedroom and the rest of the cabin
open and deposited her on the bed. He straddled her, slowly pulling his T-shirt
over his head. Riana couldn’t help but watch lustfully as the muscles on his
torso and arms ripped at the movement. She couldn’t tear her eyes away either,
when he unfastened the top button of his khaki pants and slid the zipper slowly
down.

 
Oh my
, she thought unable to lift her
dead tongue to say the words.

Allan leaned down and snaked his hands under her
shirt, slowly pushing it up, kissing the exposed skin, and quickly driving her
crazy. She closed her eyes and her head dropped on the duvet, her body trembled
at the torturing ministrations.

“I know just how to tire your body so that you can
sleep,” he whispered into her ear then pulled the lobe into his wet, warm
mouth, making her gasp.

She let him exhaust her body for almost an hour. He
then held her close and didn’t leave her until she was fast asleep. When she
woke up, she picked his T-shirt up off the floor and shrugged it on before she
slid the door open.

Alan was at the desk working away—shirtless. It took a
good ten minutes of her observing him, her heart tied up in familiar, painful
knots, before he noticed her presence.

He leaned back in his seat and smiled at her. “How do
you feel?”

She leaned her head against the door frame and
answered softly, “Rested, thanks.”

“If not, I could always tire you out again.” He
wiggled his brows and chuckled.

Riana shook her head with a smile. There was nothing
she wanted more, but at that moment she needed something else.

“Do you need anything?”

She nodded.
For
you to love me back.

She crossed the cabin to him and sat on his lap and
cuddled herself against his bare chest. “Just hold me.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “Riana, what’s wrong?”

Everything.
“Nothing. I just want to be in your arms for a few
minutes.”

He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. “Okay but
you’ll have to get dressed soon. We’ll be stopping in fifteen minutes.”

“Then hold me for ten.”

Riana knew she needed to stop pitying herself or risk
ruining the rest of the trip. She needed to pull her big girl panties on, burry
her feelings, and take this trip as what it was from the start—a rebound
affair.

Or…she could pretend this was a romantic getaway equal
to the honeymoon they would never have and be happy with that delusion.

Riana snuggled closer against him, prompting him to
tighten his hold on her. She nuzzled her nose in his neck and inhaled his fresh
rainforest scent.

She was going with the latter.

* * * *

Allan watched Riana as they walked down the beach. She
looked beautiful and very full of life as she played in the water. She dodged
the waves with a squeal, her face lighting up when she laughed. It was hard not
to laugh with her—her mood was infectious. That and the few glasses of wine
they’d consumed.

No one went to Naples and left without tasting most,
if not all, of the wine it offered and of course carrying some bottles along
with them. Riana loved wine. She was no coinsurer but she knew enough to get
by. By the time she’d had her fifth glass, she was laughing giddily like a
child on a sugar high.

Kind of
like now.
Allan chuckled and shook
his head as he watched her jump the tiny wave.

They’d finished with the train leg of their trip and
Allan made sure she enjoyed her days touring, forcefully buying everything that
made her eyes twinkle. Her nights were wined and dined followed with a bout of
lovemaking that lasted to the early hours of the day. She wasn’t too amused to
find out she’d have a designer ensemble for dinner in each city they hit. She’d
decided to put her foot down in Milan, backing her protest with the fact that
she didn’t have enough space in her suitcase.

In response, Allan just bought five suitcases, large
enough to smuggle a body in and a rack of clothes from all the designers in the
city as a counter. She’d stood in the room full of clothes, nibbling on her
lower lip, her brows furrowed together, wringing her fingers as she waged an
inner battle on whether to hold on to her resolve or cave.

She’d finally caved, guiltily picking ten head to toe
outfits.

He could tell she was a little sad when they reached
Bari. The train rides were over and she couldn’t watch the vast landscapes
anymore. They’d also discovered making love in the train made things extra
interesting. Allan missed that about the train most. But it also reminded him
of the only time she’d seen him lose her temper. It had been a month since, and
they hadn’t even bothered discussing it.

Allan was fine letting it go until she was ready to
discuss it, but she was too distracted enjoying her trip and he’d grown
impatient. He needed to know what had happened, and had a feeling whatever it
was, was the reason why he felt like he had to overcompensate.

And maybe he’d finally be able to figure out why the
hell he cared about her so much!

“Riana, I know you wouldn’t want to talk about this
but I need to know. A few weeks ago, when you broke down about my misguided
career, what brought that on?”

She stopped. Her face was void of the brightness that
was there only a moment ago as she drew her lower lip into her mouth.
Oh shit, shouldn’t I have asked?

“Look, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want
to.”

She released her lip and smiled. “It’s all right.” She
resumed walking but kept silent.

Allan followed close behind but not touching her,
hoping the small distance would give her the space she needed.

He heard a small intact of breath before she spoke. “I
wasn’t born yet before my mother brought us to the States from New Providence.
Reno was only four.”

“Bahamas? Why would your mother want to leave
paradise? People pay big bucks to vacation in a place she called home,” Allan
joked, hoping to lighten her somber mood. She chuckled, but it didn’t have any
life in it. That worried Allan. “Shouldn’t I have said that?”

She shook her head, her curls bouncing around her
shoulders. “Only my mother would move to another continent to try and escape a
broken heart,” she whispered, her voice hitched at the end.