LOVE on The Horizon (Breaking The Rules #1) (25 page)

“Marco, this is absolutely stunning.”

“You like?”

“I love!”

“I’m glad.”

Marco rented the most romantic little cabin tucked away in the woods off a stunning ski resort. A huge stone fireplace adorned one wall—its size massive in relationship to the size of the living room. It actually separated the living room from the bedroom, open on both sides and enabling you to enjoy the fire from each room. A stunning bathroom and a modest kitchen completed the layout.

He hadn’t told me where we were going until we got to the airport. All I knew was it was somewhere cold based on the clothes I needed to pack. I really didn’t have many winter clothes with me, so he solved that problem with a shopping trip before the wedding, without Ricky. He pouted for being left out, but he bought our excuse that we were on a time constraint. It was impossible for Ricky to shop quickly.

Marco did insist I bring along my formal black gown, claiming it was needed for one special night he’d planned.

He kissed the side of my head as we admired the landscape. I gripped his forearms, pulling them tighter around me, feeling completely relaxed.

“It’s so peaceful. When I was a little girl, I loved sitting in my bedroom window to watch the snow fall. Those hours at night when the world stopped during a snowstorm were some of my favorite memories as a kid. Thank you for this.”

“You said you missed snow,” he said as if it were obvious.

“You’re going to make me paranoid that everything I say you’ll go and make happen.” I had no doubt if I wanted to go to the moon, Marco would somehow get me there.

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“You’re spoiling me.”

“I still don’t see the problem here.
Bella
, I wanted to surprise you. Now that we’re in Florida, and soon to be sailing the Caribbean, snow is going to be hard to come by. Plus, I’ve read Niagara Falls is the ‘Honeymoon Capital of the World,’ although I’d rather be in Bora Bora. But, we’ll make our way through the list, I promise.”

The windows at the back of the cabin provided stunning views of the snow-covered mountains. “Do you ski?”

He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “No, I’m more a beach man. You?”

“No, I just love to look at snow.”

“Well—” he waved a hand before us “—whether you like it or not, your wish is my command. For the next five days, I plan on making your wishes come true.”

I turned in his arms, burying my fingers in his hair. “What wish can I grant you, my husband?”

“I have many.” He pulled my lobe between his lips and sucked before whispering, “First to kiss every inch of you.”

“That can be arranged.”

“Then to make love to you in front of that fire.”

“Consider it done.”

“And then to take you again in the bedroom and again in the bathtub and again in the kitchen, and then to repeat all of the above again and again.

“Mmm, sounds wonderful.”

“I’ll even feed you, we’ll see some of the sights, and I may even let you sleep.”

“How kind.”

“I’m considerate like that,” he said before pressing his lips against mine in a heated kiss. He fingered my pearl necklace and smiled. “We’ll leave these on.” He then slowly spoke Italian as he undressed me down to my panties and bra. He sucked on my neck, pulling the skin between his lips and marking me.

“Marco, I haven’t had a hickey since high school.”

“Hickey?”

I pointed to my neck and he smiled. “Oh. I’ll be giving you many hickeys,
bella
. You’ll be covered in them.”

In between kisses, I could only pick up certain words here and there, but it didn’t matter what he was saying. Goose bumps riddled my body, and it wasn’t because it was cold inside the cabin. The way his brown eyes raked over every inch of me while his deep voice spoke in the most romantic language on earth caused me to tremble with need. I couldn’t get enough of this man.

He was addicting in each and every way, and now he was all mine to enjoy in each and every way.

With a salacious grin and an eyebrow waggle for good measure, I took his hand and led him to the fireplace. I was desperate for him. We’d decided not to make love for a few days before the wedding, and the pressure had become unbearable for me.

Piece by piece, I removed his clothes, but I wasn’t as kind to leave him in his underwear. Tucking my fingers into the waistband of his briefs, I slid them slowly over his firm, muscular thighs while dropping to my knees.

He watched me watch him, and when I poked the tip of my tongue out to slowly swipe the bead of precome, he closed his eyes and moaned.

Before I knew what was happening, he raised me to my feet and stood shaking his head. “These are my wishes, remember?” He removed my bra and panties and lowered me onto the thick, plush rug. As promised, he kissed every inch of me, starting from my forehead and moving down inch by inch until he settled between my thighs.

He looked up at me and winked before he poked out the tip of his tongue to slowly swipe across my clit.

“Copycat,” I said, causing him to chuckle. I smiled along with him, until another swipe of his tongue wiped the smile right off my face.

He grabbed my ankles and pushed them up, spreading me completely. While holding them, he began to suck on my inner thigh, gifting me with another hickey. After he mirrored one on my other thigh, he tormented me with his tongue and lips until an orgasm ravished my lower half.

I called out to the orgasm gods as he continued to suck on my clit relentlessly.

“Marco,” I panted because the exertion of my release stole my ability to breathe normally.

He kissed his way up my body until his lips found mine. “Yes, my love?”

“Is it time for wish number two?”

With a nod, he placed his hands under my thighs, once again lifting and spreading my legs so he could bury himself deeply inside me. Determinedly, he made love to me in front of the fire. The heat from the flames caused a sheen of sweat to cover us like an erotic blanket.

I came first, and he quickly followed. Tears of joy leaked from my eyes, and he watched them instead of trying to stop them. He kissed me instead of speaking. He let me have my moment while watching in awe.

He knew—he absolutely knew the reason for my tears. And from the look on his face, I knew he felt the same with every tear that fell.

I’d made love to this man many times in the past few months, but this was by far the most poignant of them all. This was one of those moments the minister spoke of. It was bittersweet that we’d never have another first time as husband and wife, but we’d have many more other firsts to accumulate for the rest of our lives.

“Thank you for a wonderful honeymoon,” I said before kissing his wedding band sweetly.

“You’re welcome. What was your favorite part?”

“Is this a trick question? My list is long.”

“So is mine. Tell me top five.”

“Well, I loved being introduced as your wife. Getting dressed up and having dinner at the top of the Skylon Tower, and then dancing afterward.”

“Yes, seeing you back in that black dress is definitely on my list. What else?”

“The cabin and all the things we did in the cabin. It was like a fairytale.”

“I’ll buy you one.”

“Stop that. You already made all my dreams come true. I can’t wait to get you home and live as husband and wife.”

“Um. It’s sort of not over yet.” He cut his eyes to me nervously as we approached the counter hand in hand to check in for our flight.

“It’s not?” I asked, curious as to what had him so out of sorts.

“Promise me you won’t get mad.”

“We Americans consider that statement a big-ass red flag, just sayin’.” He shrugged but didn’t retract his words. “Only because I’m curious. I promise I’ll
try
not to get mad.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Not exactly what I said, but fine. We aren’t going back to Florida yet.”

“Where are we going?”

“I know Ricky is anxious to get things rolling now that we were legally married, but with the holidays, there wasn’t much we could do until January. So…” I waited for him to continue, but instead, he chewed on his lip.

“So?” I prompted.

“So, we’re taking a detour.” I immediately thought, what beautiful place was he planning on taking me to now? We hadn’t packed for warm weather, so it had to be somewhere…

“Wait a minute. What did you do?”

“You said you wouldn’t get mad.”

“I said I’d
try not to
. Marco, we don’t have to go there for Christmas.”

“Yes, we do.” He nodded adamantly. “You need to do this. It will eat at you until you do. I’ll be there with you. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“What can happen?” My eyes bulged while I stared at him openmouthed. “I’ll tell you what can happen. We can all end up in a screaming fight, and I could end up in jail for stabbing my brother with the wishbone from my mom’s dead turkey carcass while dad chases you around the house with his wet vac.”

He blinked a few times before he said, “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Marco,” I said on a sigh. “I don’t want to ruin our wonderful honeymoon visiting my crazy family.”

“It won’t be ruined. Trust me. We know what to expect. When you go in with honey, you’ll come out with the bees.”

I laughed at his analogy. “You catch more flies with honey.”

“That’s what I said.”

His earnest look melted my heart. He only wanted me to be happy. How could I deny this man that? “Fine. But if I feel it’s time to go, and I don’t care if it’s literally smack in the middle of Christmas dinner, then we go…no questions asked.
Capisce
?”

He smirked and nodded. “
Capisce
.”

Not much had changed since our last visit, except this time, I rented a black Mustang instead of a silver one, there was snow on the ground now, and I packed earplugs to drown out the sound of power tools.

I prayed no one would end up in the hospital, most importantly me.

I kept that from her; there was no need to scare her.

I knew she wasn’t happy with me, but in spite of my nerves, I didn’t regret doing this. I also knew my wife well enough to know if she didn’t see her family on Christmas, it would forever cause her more guilt. And she was already carrying enough of it to fill the Vatican.

“Do they know we’re coming?” she asked quietly. She hadn’t spoken much since learning where we were spending Christmas.

“No, they don’t.”

“Good. It’s better that they don’t know. The element of surprise could be a useful tool.” She repeatedly nodded her head, like she was trying to convince herself of that tidbit.

During the ride, she fired scenario after scenario at me in hopes I’d turn back. With each crazy visual she tried to scare me with, I came back with a positive response.

“Did I tell you Griffin studied karate for years?”

“No, that’s cool. Maybe he’ll teach me some of his moves. I can use them on Ricky.”

“I know what you’re doing.”

“And I know what you’re doing,” I countered.                

I pulled into the Stantons’ driveway and looked over at her profile. She sat and stared at the house like it was haunted. It was Christmas Eve, and the driveway and street were filled with various cars.

In a last attempt to change my mind, she warned, “Besides my siblings being here, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mom invited some of the cops in town.”

“Great, I look forward to meeting Griffin, Janis, their spouses, as well as your fine law-enforcement team.”

She quickly threw me the evil eye, becoming more and more frustrated. Without removing her gaze from the front door, she said, “I know you said it was up to me, but if I tell them we’re married, it could get really ugly tonight.”

“
Bella
.” I changed my teasing tone to a serious one. I didn’t want her leaving not having told them. That was why I’d dragged her there. “I think by not telling them, you’re only replacing one guilt with a new one when we get home. Look at me.”