ANTONIO

Lauren’s towel-drying her hair, wearing the sexiest silk nightgown that perfectly shows off every curve and the hardness of her nipples. My mouth salivates as her breasts sway with each movement.

“Why didn’t you tell me Stefano was your identical twin?” She peers at me through the doorway of the bathroom as I sit on the edge of the bed, transfixed by her beauty.

“I don’t know.”

I can’t explain what it’s like to have an identical twin. Most people don’t have someone walking around that looks exactly like them, like I do. If I’m being honest, Stefano and I have always competed for the attention of women, especially at first glance.

“You’re worried, aren’t you?” she asks, setting her towel down on the counter. She walks toward the doorway and leans against the frame with one shoulder, watching me.

“A little,” I admit before rising to my feet and walking toward her. “You didn’t like me very much when we met. We were enemies. You don’t have the history with Stefano like you do with me. What would stop you from deciding that he’s worthy of you because the baggage isn’t there?”

She wraps her fingers around my shirt collar, pulling me forward. “It’s true. I didn’t like you.”

I sweep my arm behind her and press my body against hers. “But then I did that thing you liked.” I waggle my eyebrows, referencing our first night together at the hotel. She laughs softly as I bring my lips within inches of hers. “You remember, don’t you?” My cock strains against the fabric of my pants, pressing into her core.

She stares into my eyes, moving her mouth closer as her warm breath sweeps across my lips. “I remember very well, Mr. Forte.”

“Want a refresher?” I raise an eyebrow, aching to be inside her.

“Not until you tell me why you think I’d trade you in for your brother.”

I tangle my hand in her hair before resting my palm against her neck, feeling the steady beat of her heart against my thumb. “We have a long history together, my brother and I. And you and I have a sordid history that complicated everything.”

Her fingers slide under my shirt, splaying against my back as she flattens her body against my front. “But he’s not the one who rescued me.”

“He’s also not the one who tried to steal your company.”

“Once the ball got rolling, there was nothing you could do to stop it. But you’ve done more than enough to make up for it. We’re stronger as a team than individual entities.”

I smirk against her mouth, wanting to taste her. “Does that go for us as well as our companies?”

She blinks slowly as her cheeks rise into a smile. “It does. Together, we’ll be unstoppable.”

“Truer words, Ms. Bradley. Now about that refresher…” I let the words drift into her mouth as I press my lips to hers. Soft at first, relishing the delicateness of her in my arms and against my skin.

Lauren Bradley is intoxicating. Never have I been so swept up in someone that I am willing to give up my position in the company and open up my entire world to her too. I can’t seem to get enough of her even when I’m buried deep inside her. I always want more.

Sliding my hand down her back, I deepen the kiss, moaning into her mouth as my palms cup her ass. I grind my cock into the soft, silky fabric near her core, and when the friction becomes too much, I lift her into the air and carry her back toward the bed.

She moans as my fingers bite into her skin, and she rubs herself against me. I lean forward, placing her gently on the bed before releasing her. Standing upright, I unbutton my dress shirt while keeping my eyes on her.

The look in her eyes is filled with longing and want, and it matches my own. Her gaze follows my fingers as I expose my chest and toss the shirt to the floor. Her eyes linger on my pecs, sweeping over my skin as she licks her lips, making it hard not to rip my clothes off and pounce on top of her.

She places her hands above her head and writhes against the bed as I undo the button on my pants. Patience has never been a virtue of mine, and the way the light splinters off her nightgown, showing off every dip and curve, makes it almost impossible.

“Antonio, I need you,” she says in a sultry tone.

I strip off my pants, kicking them away from me in a hurry before climbing between her legs. Slowly, I pull down the straps of her nightgown, exposing her plump breasts that are begging for attention. She moans, arching her back as I close my lips around her nipple and flick the hardness with my tongue.

Taking it slow almost to the point of torture, I don’t slide my cock into her right away, although the need to do so is almost painful. I take my time, moving between each breast until she’s unable to lie still. I’m about to push myself down to bury my face between her legs and feast on her until she’s spent and almost unable to breathe, but she grabs my face and forces me to look at her.

“Fuck me, Antonio. I need you inside me.”

Unable to wait a second longer, I grab my shaft and rub the tip through her wetness. Her legs widen as her knees fall to the mattress, waiting for me to push inside.

“Say it again,” I tell her, teasing her with my cock as I rub it around the entrance to her pussy.

LAUREN

I love a good tease as much as the next girl, but right now, the only thing I want is to feel his cock as deep inside me as he can go. I want all of him. Every inch, stroking my insides repeatedly until the need I feel has waned and my body is spent from too many orgasms.

I push aside a few strands of his mahogany hair that have fallen forward, almost covering his eyes, before pulling his face toward mine. “Fuck. Me.” I accentuate each word, driving the point home because my patience is slipping.

He pushes inside, inch-by-inch of his cock filling me so deliciously. Even though we’ve had sex more than a handful of times, each time is more glorious than the last. My body craves him and his touch. I’ve been drawn to Antonio like a junkie to a drug, but I’ll never admit my addiction to anyone but him.

My fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck and I stare into his ice-blue eyes, completely lost in the feel of him. Together, we feed off each other’s need. I push against his cock as he pulls out, only to have him slam into my body so forcefully that tingles shoot out from my clit. I’m quickly driven to the edge as each stroke of his cock pushes against my G-spot.

I gasp for air as his body so completely consumes me and I spiral over the edge, digging my fingernails into his skin as I scream out his name. He follows, holding his breath as he places his forehead against mine, riding the wave of ecstasy we so badly needed.

He collapses on top of me, almost crushing me with his weight. I curl into him, pressing my back into the mattress to fill my lungs with air.

“I’m sorry,” he says and rolls to his side, finally realizing that I can’t breathe.

Laying my head on his shoulder, I close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing and slowing my heart rate. It’s pumping so fast and hard that it feels like it’s pounding against my chest, trying to break free.

The room is almost silent other than our gasping for air and the beating of our hearts. Tracing the edge of his pecs with my fingernail, I watch the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

I stare down the length of his body and take in his beauty. I knew from the moment he stripped before me that his body was something that could cause women to drop to their knees and worship him, but not until the last week did I realize that the man is so much more complicated and beautiful than his exterior.

I’m falling for Antonio and falling hard. Being here with his family has only amplified every feeling and made it completely undeniable. The love, admiration, and lust that I had before are cemented to my being.

“Antonio,” I whisper against his skin.

He moans as his lips find the top of my hair, and his soft palm grazes my arm.

“I love you,” I admit with true conviction. I’ve held the declaration inside, sitting on the tip of my tongue all week, but I never had the guts to say it.

I don’t know if it’s everything I’ve been through or maybe it was speaking with his mother, but the words just come out. I mean them too. I’ve never felt this way about someone so quickly. His love of his family along with his work makes him the complete package.

I don’t even think I ever muttered the words when I dated Trent. Something always stopped me from saying it. Maybe my mind knew that my heart was wrong for having any feelings toward him and blocked me. He forced me to say it in the cabin, but I didn’t mean a word of it.

Antonio’s hand stills against my skin, and he pulls himself into a seated position, taking me with him. I sit next to him with my feet tucked underneath me and wait. He doesn’t speak as he gazes at me, but I can read the emotion on his face.

“I love you,” I repeat, wondering how I stunned him into silence. He’s never quiet and always has some quick reply.

He cups my face in his hands, brushing his thumbs against my cheeks. “I love you too,” he says before a giant smile spreads across his face. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say those words.”

“They’ve been on the tip of my tongue since you rescued me, but I wasn’t ready to say them before now.”

“What changed?”

I gaze into his blue eyes and feel every bit of apprehension I’d felt about him evaporate. “Being around your family and taking this trip have made me realize there’s no one else for me. I said I didn’t believe in fate, but everything in the universe is driving us together.”

“I can’t explain how happy it makes me to hear you say those words. I know it’s hard. I’ve never spoken them to another woman.”

My eyes widen as my head jerks back. “Never?”

I don’t know why it shocks me, but it does. Since the moment I first met him, I knew he was a playboy. But sleeping with women doesn’t involve professing love. Hell, I slept with him too. I’m sure many women have slept with Antonio in hopes they’d be the one he’d fall madly in love with. Sadly, none of them achieved what they’d set out to do. I wasn’t even trying, and the man suckered me into falling in love with him.

“Never. It’s not a word I toss around easily, Lauren.”

“This is so screwed up.” I laugh at the insanity of the last few weeks. If someone would have told me three months ago that I’d fall madly in love with Antonio Forte, I would’ve told them they had a screw loose.

In all honesty, if I hadn’t slept with him that night after a few too many martinis, we probably wouldn’t be sitting on the bed naked right now. But it’s hard to deny the connection and mutual respect we have for each other. What started out as sex has turned into so much more.

I’m verging on tears because of the way he’s looking at me. His eyes are filled with so much love and hope that I want to believe that everything will be okay. But there’s so much we need to learn about each other in the coming months, and the merger of our companies will inevitably push us to the brink.

“Nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice. We’ve been through too much in such a short time for us to screw it up now.”

“What are we going to do? We have to face everyone eventually. We’re not going to be able to hide our relationship forever.”

“For now, we keep it quiet. Once the merger is done and you’re sitting at the helm, we’ll ease them into it.”

I slide my hand up his thigh, letting the coarse hair dotting his leg tickle my palm. “How long until we have to go back?”

“Two days until we have to return to the States.”

“Thank you,” I say and lean forward, resting my forehead against his. “Thank you for bringing me here and introducing me to your family.”

He pulls me down on the bed, settling on his back as I curl into his arm. “I knew they’d love you.”

“I adore them. You’re a lucky man to have them in your life, Antonio.”

“My mother is quite taken with you.” His fingertips trace circular patterns across the back of my arms as he speaks. “I hope she wasn’t too harsh with you.”

“Harsh?” I laugh, making the same drawing on his chest as he does on my arm. “She’s a lovely woman. She makes me miss my mother so much.”

“Tell me about her, about your mother,” he says softly.

“I was so young when she died.” I pause and give myself a moment to let the familiar pang of sorrow slice through me before I continue. “My memories of her come in flashes like a high-speed slideshow strung together in chunks.”

“I’m sorry.”

Nuzzling my face into his chest, I close my eyes and think back to the day she died. It’s the most vivid memory I have of her. “The last memory I have of her before she died was the day before my world changed. She took me to the park downtown near the Field Museum. We lay in the grass for hours enjoying the unseasonably warm spring day. I curled into her side, much like I am with you right now.”

“Days like that are always the best memories. I don’t remember much of what we had when I was a kid, but I remember the times I spent alone with my dad just being together.”

“It’s so true. I can’t remember my favorite doll that was probably sitting on my bed at that age, but I remember the time I spent alone with my parents doing the simple things like just being together in the park. We spent hours underneath the sunshine, and she told me stories about when she was a little girl. My mom was a gifted storyteller and could captivate an entire audience with her ability. She told me stories about the constellations and how they came to be. And she told me that my daddy would be going up there soon to touch the heavens and that we needed to support him. I remember being so torn about him going so far away.”

Antonio pulls me closer and rests his lips against my forehead.

“I promised her that day that I’d let my dad go to reach his dreams. She said he’d make us proud and that we had to sacrifice our time with him for the good of science. I didn’t really understand everything she was saying to me. I was just happy to be spending time curled in my mother’s arms. After that conversation, it’s more like flashes for the next few hours between the park and when she put me to bed. She kissed me goodnight and waited at my side until I fell asleep. She was dressed in the most beautiful red dress I’d ever seen because she and my father were going to a gala at the Museum of Science and Industry to benefit the growing space program that evening. The last memory I have of her is her beautiful face as she stared down at me until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Lauren,” Antonio whispers.

“It’s not your fault. I never saw her again, and more than anything, I wish I’d told her I loved her before she left.”

“I’m sure she knew.”

“I hope she did. My world ended that night. When I woke up in the morning, I ran into my parents’ room, but their bed was empty. My grandmother was waiting downstairs in the kitchen, sobbing. I knew something horrible had happened, but I didn’t understand the infiniteness of death.”

“We all learn in time. You just learned sooner than most.”

“Yeah.” I lay my hand against his chest and close my eyes. “With my mother gone, my father and I became a team. He was my world, and I wanted more than anything to make him proud.”

“You have.”

Before my dad died, he left no words unspoken. There wasn’t a day that passed when he didn’t tell me he loved me. Not a week went by where he didn’t make sure he told me he was the lucky one because I was his daughter. Even though he couldn’t follow his dream, he never made me feel guilty because he chose me over his work. Losing someone puts everything into perspective. The superhero complex most of us have, thinking we’re invincible, quickly disappears after we lose someone so close to our heart. Even though I didn’t have them in my life for long, I was blessed to have such wonderful, caring parents to bring me into the world.

“Although I wasn’t excited about our merger, I think, in the long run, it’ll allow us to go even further and do things we haven’t even begun to think are possible,” I say, knowing I’d have my parents’ blessing on Antonio and the new company.

“I have full faith you’ll push us into the next century, going further than any human before. Who knows, maybe because of us, humans will step foot on Mars before we die.”

“Mercury can make it a reality.”

“You can make it possible.”

I believe his words. As we fall asleep, I no longer want to walk blindly through my life buried in my work and forgetting to appreciate the wonders of the world around me.

Antonio makes me want more than the corner office with an amazing view. I no longer want to watch others live their lives. I want to do things I hadn’t let myself achieve because I hadn’t allowed myself to dream bigger.