Rafa made good on his promise to take Noemi on vacation. He rented a private cabin on the shores of Lake Tahoe, and they flew into Carson City before renting a car and driving to the lake.
Rafa’s parents had taken Bepi for a few days, and so Noemi and Rafa were finally alone together. The cabin was small but private enough for the two of them to really enjoy each other.
The peace of the place was a balm on Noemi’s grief, but it was Rafa who really saved her from the depths of despair. He kept her occupied the whole time, whether it was hiking around the lake or cooking meals together, and certainly at night, when they would sit out on the deck and make plans for their future. Noemi still hadn’t told Rafa or anyone about the baby—she knew she couldn’t ignore it forever but for the moment, she kept it to herself.
Their sex life became even more adventurous as they experimented with light BDSM. Noemi found she liked to have her hands bound behind her back as Rafa fucked her, liked being that helpless with him. The paddle she wasn’t keen on, but the crop? Now that was a different, sweetly painful matter…
“You have dirty thoughts going on in that pretty head of yours,” Rafa told her as they sat out on the deck, the remnants of their supper in front of them. Noemi picked up her glass of water—she was glad that he hadn’t questioned why she didn’t want wine—and sipped it, meeting his gaze.
“I was just thinking about that riding crop.”
Rafa’s smile widened. “That does it for you, doesn’t it, baby?”
She nodded, her eyes sparkling with arousal. “When you’re naked and stalking around me, your cock so thick and heavy, so hard and proud, huge against your belly, and you’re wielding that crop… Jesus, Rafa…”
His hand slipped under her dress and into her panties and he grinned. “You’re wet.”
“Not as wet as I could be… I bet you could make me come just with that crop.”
Rafa’s lips crushed against hers. “Let’s go test that theory.”
She was in his arms and being carried to the bedroom. He dropped her onto the bed, and unbuttoned the simply cotton dress she wore, opening up the fabric, and trailing his lips down her bare skin. “I’m going to make you so wet, you’re dripping,” he said, his voice practically a growl, and Noemi wriggled with pleasure.
“First things, first.” Rafa tied her hands behind her back, kissing her mouth, her jaw, her throat as he did. Laying her down, he stroked a finger down between her breasts then took each nipple into his mouth—just briefly—and then stood, stripping his own clothes off.
“Put the cock ring on,” Noemi urged him, and Rafa chuckled.
“I’m not sure I’ll need it looking at your beautiful body but if you like it…” He slid the metal cock ring to the base of his already stiffening cock.
“Perfect… you’re perfect,” Noemi breathed, and Rafa smiled. He picked up the short but heavy riding crop and slapped his palm with it.
“Where do you want this, baby?”
“Everywhere…” She gasped and arched her back as he brought the crop down hard across her belly. “God, yes… yes, Rafa.”
He struck her breasts and her thighs as she squirmed with pleasure, he nudged her knees apart. “Spread those delicious thighs, baby, show me your cunt.”
Noemi smiled as she drew her legs wide apart then squeaked as Rafa, grinning, brought the crop down across her sex, the tip catching her clit, making it jerk and pulse with pain and arousal. Her sex flooded, which didn’t go unnoticed by Rafa.
“Juicy,” he said with a lick of his lips, and sank to his knees.
“Uh-uh,” Noemi sat up, shaking her head and laughing. “You made a deal. Make me come with the crop first then you can eat me all you want.”
“Tyrant,” he grumbled but stood and stalked around her, teasing her before bringing the crop down across her breasts. He whipped her until she was half-crying, half-laughing, and she came—hard.
So turned on was Rafa, that she was still mid-orgasm when he thrust his aching, diamond-hard cock into her, slamming his hips so hard against her that the bed moved. Noemi grinned up at him. “Fuck me hard, Genova…”
He obliged, reaching behind her to release her hands, and they immediately flew to his face, pulling his lips to hers hungrily. They moved together, completely uninhibited, their fingers bruising each other’s skin in their mad desire for each other.
“What next?” A breathless Rafa grinned down at her as they recovered, and Noemi chuckled.
“Bend me over the breakfast bar,” she said, her mind whirling with endorphins, “and fuck me in the ass.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “I’ve never tried it, and I want to do everything with you, Rafa.”
“My pleasure.”
Noemi gasped as he eased into her ass and moved gently. “Oh, God…”
Rafa’s hand was stroking her clit, his lips were at her ear as he growled, “I’m going to make you cum so hard, baby.”
And he did, Noemi’s legs giving way as she screamed his name, her orgasm ripping through her. Rafa held her as they sank to the floor, panting for air and exhausted.
Noemi wound her body into his, her legs between his, her hands on his chest. “I love you so much, Rafa Genova. That was incredible.”
“And just think, Doc, we’ve only just begun…”
Noemi giggled as he locked his arms around her and pulled her on top of him. She gazed down at his handsome face. The sadness she’d seen that had been almost always present was gone, and his gorgeous green eyes shone with love. He looked ten years younger: this man, her man.
“I’ve never felt this close to another person in my life,” she said softly, “and it’s not just the mind-blowing sex. It’s you, Rafa.”
Rafa smiled back at her. “It’s us, Noe. We make sense; we always did. I’m going to tell you something now, something you may find… odd or strange.”
“Go on.”
Rafa stroked her hair back from her face. “Tomi… One afternoon, when we knew she was dying, after you’d had the accident and we didn’t know if you’d make it, she told me something. It’s been on my mind. She told me that if she could have picked the perfect partner for me, she would have picked you. She wished for it. She wished for us. Now, listen. As much as I adored Tomi, it’s not the reason I’m with you, Noe. But she would have loved this. Us. She would have been so pleased that we found each other.”
Noemi rolled off him and sat up, curling into a ball. Rafa sat up, not knowing whether she was upset and when he saw her shoulders shaking, he knew she was crying. “Hey.”
He put his arm around her and she curled into him. “I’m sorry. That’s so beautiful, Rafa…” She sniffled, trying to calm herself. “Rafa… I’m pregnant.”
That he wasn’t expecting. He drew in a deep breath. “Okay. Wow.”
“I know. I swear, I am on birth control, but you know it’s not always…” Noemi was rambling now, and Rafa, still reeling, realized he wasn’t saying the right things, the things Noe needed to hear.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay, I’m just a little…” He laughed. “We’re having a baby?”
Noemi took a shaky breath in. “I’m pregnant… whether or not we have it is something we have to discuss.”
Rafa felt ice in his veins. “You don’t want it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been so mixed up since Jack died. I want to bear your children, Rafa, but the thought of having a child and losing it… it would kill me.”
Rafa frowned. “Baby, we can’t think like that. If we all thought like that, the human race would have died out millions of years ago.”
Noemi nodded and Rafa could see how conflicted she was. “Look at me, baby.”
She turned her lovely dark eyes on him, and he leaned his forehead against hers for a moment.
“I love you. Whatever you decide is right for you is fine with me. I’ll just say this, and it’s what I should have said first. God, I’m happy. A child with you is my dream, Noe. A whole family with you is my dream. Bepi would love a sibling. But we have time, all the time in the world, so if right now isn’t going to work for you, then we take the next step. How far along are you?”
“About a month.”
“So, we have time.”
Noemi nodded and leaned her head onto his shoulder. “I want your babies, Rafa, I do. But we’re just in the beginning part. We have Bepi to think of, your family, my family.”
“Your career.”
Noemi shook her head. “That’s not… I’m a surgeon. They have kids all the time and go back to work. I wouldn’t consider a baby a hindrance to my career.” She chuckled suddenly. “I’m so mixed up, Rafa.”
“Look, we don’t have to make any decisions yet. Let’s just enjoy these few days and when we get back to Seattle, we can talk more.”
Noemi looked so relieved that Rafa smiled. She leaned against him. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Nommy.”
She smiled. “You should call Bepi. I bet he’s driving your parents crazy.” Her smile faded a little, and he noticed.
“What is it?”
“They’re going to think I’m a gold digger.”
Rafa gave a bark of laughter. “Believe me, they’re not.”
“But they know about us?”
“They do.” It was his turn to hesitate. “At least, they know I’m seeing someone.”
Noemi gaped at him. “But they don’t know it’s me?”
“Um…”
“Oh God.”
Rafa shook his head. “Right now, I can’t tell you why I haven’t told them. I will, of course, as soon as we get back.”
“At the same time, you can tell them I’ve trapped you with an unplanned pregnancy.”
“Noe—”
“—that’s how it’s going to look.” She got to her feet and padded away from him. For a moment, Rafa sat, shaking his head, then followed her into the bathroom.
Noemi was cranking on the shower.
“It’s okay,” she said sadly.
“No, it’s not, and you’re not being fair to them. They would never think that of you.”
“But you didn’t tell them. There must be a reason.”
“I didn’t tell them because you wanted to keep us secret!” The words came out harsher than he meant them to, but he also knew it was the truth. “It took Jack dying for you to tell your sister about us.”
Noemi winced, and he regretted his words.
“Oh, wow,” she said, her voice breaking, “that is so unfair.”
“I’m sorry, That came out wrong. But you did want us on the down low.”
“Because of this! First, I kill your fiancée, then I snag a billion-dollar donation for the hospital, and now I’m fucking you and carrying your child! How would that look to you?”
Rafa clenched his fists together and counted to ten. She was so screwed up. “Firstly, you did not kill Thomasina. I don’t know how many times you need to be told that. Secondly, the donation was all about me trying to make sense of Thomasina’s death and to show everyone that I, we, Bepi and me, we believed in you. Believe in you. Then we fell in love. To anyone else, that would seem a fairy tale, but to you…”
“Don’t patronize me!” Noemi snapped, suddenly. “I’m not a child.”
Rafa went very still. “Then stop behaving like one.” He turned around and walked into the bedroom, grabbing his jeans and putting them on. He stalked out to the deck.
This couldn’t go on. If Noemi couldn’t get over her guilt about Thomasina, her perceived paranoia about what people would think of their relationship… how did they stand a chance?
He could hear the shower running from inside the cabin, running far too long. He guessed she was crying but maybe that’s what she needed to do. She had lost so much, and Christ, the girl was only thirty years old. A baby. What she’d gone through…
He sat outside for an hour, trying to unravel his own thoughts. He heard the shower shut off and risked a quick glance through the large glass doors, but Noemi didn’t appear in the living room. She needed some space. Good. Maybe they both did for a few minutes.
When the cool breeze from the lake made him shiver, he went inside. Noemi, in a white fluffy robe, her long dark hair damp from the shower. He went to her and took her face in his hands. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her cheeks puffy from crying. He kissed her gently, then nuzzled her nose with his. “I’m sorry I yelled.”
Tears filled her eyes again, and she dashed them away impatiently. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said, her voice gravelly, “I can’t think straight.”
Rafa wrapped his arms around her, but she didn’t cry again. “Maybe it would help to talk to someone?”
He felt her nod. “Good. Then when we get back to Seattle, we’ll arrange it.”
“Okay.”
He cupped her face with his hand. “Are you tired?”
She nodded, looking exhausted. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”
Rafa found himself falling asleep almost as soon as Noemi did, exhausted by everything that had happened. He fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, only to wake with a start in the deep blue moonlight as Noemi shook his awake.
Her eyes were huge and frightened as she put her finger to her lips. Rafa sat up, confused, and she leaned in to whisper in his ear.
“There’s someone in the house.”