Chapter Four
Sasha awoke with her nose buried in Rome’s neck, his chin resting on the top of her head, and their arms entwined around one another. The scent of his cologne still lingered on him from the day before, making her mouth water and her insides heat up again. She giggled at the memory of him saying she was the perfect height to be his chin rest.
They had made love two more times during the night, with him waking her from half sleep. He had taken her slowly the first time, in the spooned position they had fallen asleep in. The next time was more urgent, like a blazing inferno that needed to be put out. He had crawled on top of her, and whispered, “I’ll never get enough of you, my sweetness,” before he plunged inside of her and took her hard and fast.
Now, she wanted him again, and this time, decided it was her turn to wake him. She slid her hand in between them, wrapped it around the center of his hardening shaft, and began to stroke him as she planted open-mouthed kisses to his neck. When she heard him moaning, she looked up at him to find his bright eyes staring back at her with a lust filled gaze.
Rome nuzzled his nose against hers. “We’re out of condoms.”
“We’ll just have to get some more later,” she said. “But for now…” Sasha continued to stroke him as she hitched her leg over his hip, bringing her most intimate part closer to his. She rubbed herself against his cock, making them both moan, and then he easily slid in between her wet lips. It wasn’t quite the feeling of having him inside of her, but intimate and pleasurable enough to have them both calling out each other’s names as they came in unison.
He turned her over on her back and glanced down at her body, his hot cum on her mound and lower belly. When their eyes met again, Rome wore a feral expression, his eyes ablaze with possession.
“This turns you on, doesn’t it?” Sasha asked him, although his newly hardening cock was proof enough.
He nodded. “Very much.” He leaned forward and playfully bit her neck. “I’m buying a truck load of condoms later.”
She giggled at his enthusiasm, although a truck load sounded about right to her. Right now, however, as much as she wanted him to make her come again, nature called.
Rome cleaned her up with tissues first, before she excused herself to go to the bathroom. She felt completely unabashed walking around naked in front of him given the fact he had touched, licked, and kissed practically every inch of her, and the way he perused her body as she walked toward him when she came out of the bathroom, made her feel like a goddess, as if he worshiped what he saw in her.
He sat at the edge of bed. When she reached him, he pulled her close and hugged her to him, his head against her breasts. “Last night was amazing … and this morning. I can’t wait to do it again.”
Sasha kissed the top of his head and then cradled it against her. “Me either.” She was trying not to overthink what would happen after their few days were up, but the feelings growing for him were a definite indication she would not walk away from him unscathed. She hugged him tighter.
Rome looked up at her, his brows knit in concern. “Are you all right, sladast?”
“What?”
“Sorry, it means sweetness in Russian,” he said.
Sasha knew what the word meant. She was fluent in Russian. She just had no idea he spoke the language, too. Then again, there was so much they didn’t know about each other yet, but she yearned to get that chance with him. “I’m fine. Just hungry.”
Rome stood and cupped her cheeks. “Uh-oh.” He nuzzled her nose and then gave her a peck on the lips. “We’d better get you fed before you start growling again.”
“Shut it,” she said while playfully smacking at his arm.
He gave her one more quick squeeze before he headed toward the bathroom, swatting her butt along the way. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then we’ll go.”
She had her bra and panties on when she heard the water start to run and then Rome popped his head out of the bathroom holding a toothbrush and wearing a goofy grin.
“I just remembered I have a condom in my wallet,” he announced. “It’s on the dresser. Get naked again and come join me, sweetness.”
“Score.” That was enough to stamp out any negative thoughts. Sparks of desire lanced through her at the thought of their naked soapy bodies sliding against one another under the warm spray of water.
She spotted his black leather wallet, and sure enough, there was a condom, just like every responsible male hoping to get lucky should have. She knew she shouldn’t snoop, but sheer curiosity won out when she noticed his driver’s license. Damn, even in a photo where most people make it look like a mug shot, he managed to pull off male model.
And then she felt all the blood drain from her body and her insides withered when her gaze landed upon his name. Roman Valeri Valentin, it said, with a Brooklyn address underneath. She had heard that name many times before, and it was too much of a coincidence for Rome to turn out to be simply someone with the same name.
She felt like such a fucking fool.
“You coming, sweetness?”
Sasha jumped, startled by his voice. She took a deep breath to try and hold it together. “Be right there,” she lied, hoping to buy herself some time.
Her vision blurred with unshed tears as she quickly scrambled to put her sundress on. She grabbed her shoes and bag and was almost to the door when she made a last-minute decision. When they had had their first dinner date, Rome admitted he had only skimmed through Romeo and Juliet in high school, though he had seen several movie adaptations. In college, however, he had gained an appreciation for Shakespeare and always meant to actually read about the star-crossed lovers. When she saw a copy of the book in an exquisite leather-bound edition with gold lettering on the cover yesterday at the bookstore, she just knew she had to buy it for him. She retrieved the book she had bought for Rome yesterday out of her bag and left it on the little table by the door, quickly making her exit right after.
There wasn’t much time before he’d come to her hotel to look for her, but Sasha had plenty of experience with quick getaways and she knew how to disappear. A million thoughts filtered through her head as she ran down the stairs, and then she slowed to a brisk walk through the lobby of his hotel so as not to draw attention to herself. She shoved those thoughts aside right now. There would be plenty of time to dwell on them later.
Once outside, she didn’t care about drawing attention. She made a run for it. Six blocks later, and she was by her hotel, though she didn’t dare go inside. Instead, she walked around the block to her rental car. She thought back to the conversations she had with Rome, and was positive she never mentioned that her next stop would be Sienna, so that’s where she decided to go. She had her trusty tote. Everything else in the hotel was just clothes and toiletries, easily replaceable, though she could send for her things later when she was sure it was safe. He hadn’t known the name she stayed under, after all.
She called the hotel from the road. “Buon giorno,” she began in Italian. “My name is Francesca Rossi in room 613. I’ve had a family emergency…” She explained she had to leave town unexpectedly to the young woman on the phone and that she would send for her things if they didn’t mind storing it. Of course, she also told her to charge her credit card on file for the remaining days and left a generous bonus for the staff.
An hour into her drive, and it all came crashing down on her, and Sasha’s tears began to compete with the sudden torrential downpour. She pulled over and let her grief consume her. She wondered if Rome knew who she was the whole time. The thought of that being remotely true, made her taste bile. The way he had kissed her, held her, made love to her, that couldn’t have all been an act. Why go through all that if he came to Verona to kill her? Why save her life in the first place? If she was indeed the business he came to Italy for, it would have been far less cruel of him if he had just killed her.
Sasha looked down at her right hand, the ring he had bought her yesterday still on her finger. Images of his smile assaulted her, his laugh rang in her ears, and his touch, his taste, his scent, all of him, left a permanent brand on her body.
The truth was, though, it didn’t even matter if he was in fact ignorant of her identity, if fate simply decided to throw two people together whose paths would be better left uncrossed. The families they were born into could only mean one thing.
They could never be together.