Deep (Pagano Family #4)(96)
“I am.” He pulled her hand to his crotch and showed her.
The limo stopped. Beverly peered through the windows. “Where are we? Not a hotel.”
“No, not a hotel.” The driver opened the door, and Nick stepped out, then turned around and held his hand out for her. She took it and, after some negotiation with the miles of satin and lace she was wearing, got out and stood at his side.
She looked up, her forehead creased. “Okay. Is it still a surprise? Because I don’t get it.”
They were parked on the circular drive of a large, two-story, shake-shingle house at the top of a hill. It wasn’t Greenback Hill, but it wasn’t far from it. The back of the house faced the ocean. The beach was at the bottom of a fairly steep rise of sand and beach grass—all the sea sounds, the sea view, but none of the beachgoers to invade privacy. But Beverly didn’t know all that yet. Right now, they were looking up at the front of the house. All the lights were on.
“It’s empty.”
“Mostly, yes.”
She scanned the front of the property and then saw the real estate broker’s sign. “Oh, my God. Did you buy this?”
“No. I rented it for the night. I wouldn’t buy a house you hadn’t seen and agreed to. But I think you’ll like this one, so all the papers are ready, and the seller has already agreed to my price. If you like it, it’ll be ready for us when we get back from our trip.”
“My God.” She turned that fantastic smile on him. “You’re amazing.”
“So are you, bella. So are you.”
Then she frowned again. “Wait. We’re spending our wedding night in an empty house? That’s…I don’t know.”
The driver had their bag in his hand, and Nick waved him up and took it from him, then sent him on his way. They’d have no more need of him tonight. “Not exactly empty. Come see.” He took her hand and led her to the door.
Once inside, he ushered her forward. “We can poke around to your heart’s content in the morning. Right now, follow me.”
He led her up to the second floor and down to the end of the hallway, her dress swishing and rustling all the way. Then he opened the door to the master suite.
And then, feeling an old-fashioned romantic impulse, he swept her up and carried her through. Her elated laugh at that heated his blood.
The suite was furnished with a king-size, four-poster bed, dressed in luxurious linens, a linen-covered table laden with snacks and drinks, and a bathroom ready for bathing or anything else one could think of to do in a tub and a shower, both built for two.
“All the amenities of a fine hotel, but perfect privacy.”
He set her down and watched her take it all in, her mouth open, its corners turned up in pleasure. She spun in place, making her confection of a skirt puff up even more. “This is…this is so beautiful and perfect I don’t know what to say. It’s so romantic!”
He caught her hands. “I want you to feel the way you feel right now every day of your life. Ti amo, Signora Pagano.”
She shook his hands from hers and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you! I love you! I love you! Now get me out of this dress!”
Laughing, feeling content and complete, he did her bidding.
oOo
There were, indeed, a lot of buttons, long lines of them at her wrists and all the way down the length of her spine. Tiny satin buttons. But what was underneath was brilliant.
First, there was a full underskirt that seemed to be made of about a hundred layers of netting. It cinched at her waist with lacing. He untied it slowly and lifted her out of the mountain of fabric that was her dress and that skirt. He carried her to the bed and laid her down. She smiled sexily up at him and stretched, arching until her breasts came up out of her corset.
The corset was ornate lace, strapless and stopping just at her hips. Below, she wore a matching lace thong and a garter belt holding shimmery stockings on her beautiful legs. He trailed his hand down the center of the corset—it was tight and stiff, but there were no hooks. It laced up the back.
“Roll over.”
Her grin stretched to brilliance, and she rolled onto her belly. Nick stripped down to his tuxedo pants, kicking his shoes off, tossing his clothes carelessly away, and then climbed onto the high bed and straddled her.
He bent over and kissed her back, just above the line of stiff lace below her shoulder blades. When he licked the same spot lightly, she purred. Then he sat up and undid the bow at the bottom. Working slowly, making each movement languorous and sensual, he eased the narrow, satin lacing completely out and then tossed it to the floor at the side of the bed. Beverly had pillowed her head on her crossed arms, so the unbound corset fell open at her sides.
Her back was striped with dark red lines. “Oh, bella. It hurt you.” He brushed his fingers down one red mark, and she took a deep, sharp breath.
She lifted her head and looked at him over her shoulder, her smile bright. “Not hurt. Uncomfortable. I think Sky might have been feeling a little jealous when she tightened it. But I had great posture all day.”
He pulled the corset out from under her and added it to the discards on the bedroom floor. And then, feeling an urge even stronger than the urge to f*ck her, he soothed her sore skin. Sitting astride her hips, holding his weight in his legs, he caressed and massaged her back until the red marks were gone. Every now and then, he’d lean forward and kiss a shoulder or nibble on her ear. By the time he was satisfied that the pain in her back was gone, she was moaning and writhing between his legs, and her hands had come out from under her head to clutch fistfuls of the down pillows.