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Bethany
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I’m posing for a picture for Dante in the Sabatini gardens—no relation—and I’m doing it willingly, with a smile on my face. The idea of telling Dante no to anything doesn’t even cross my mind, I love making him happy; when I see him smile, I can’t help but smile too. My face hurts from the near constant smile I’ve had since we got to Madrid. It’s our third day here and our first out of the hotel. If I had my way, we’d still be in our room, but Dante muttered something about dehydration and surprise I wasn’t sore yet. I admitted I was sore by the second day; however, I had known it would happen and packed a little something to help. It worked even better than I hoped. I wish I’d kept my mouth shut because he got all upset. Something about me hurting myself or him hurting me. I’m not sure, he lapsed into Italian a few times, then dressed the both of us at lightning speed and before I knew it I was walking through the Prado.
That was this morning and now as the sun sets, we make our way through the garden holding hands. I hear what sounds like a baby crying. What the hell? Dante stops, his eyes searching. “You heard it too?” I ask, glad I’m not losing it.
“Yeah, where is it coming from?”
“I’m not sure.”
For the next ten minutes we roam the edge of the gardens until I see movement under a bush. “Dante.” I kneel and scoop up the tiny bundle of white fur. Ah, it’s a kitten. “She’s so little. Where’s her mommy?”
I turn to mush at the tiny meow the kitten lets loose. Its eyes aren’t even open. Where in the world is the mama kitty? Dante is searching. “I don’t think there is a mom. It doesn’t look like a place a mother would have her kitten, and there’s no trace of a mom anywhere. Some asshole dumped the kitten.”
“It’s a good thing they aren’t here for me to kick their ass. Dante, this kitten is too small to be without her mom, her eyes aren’t open. We need to get her checked out by a vet and some baby bottles to feed her.”
He goes still for a few seconds, then nods. He’s pulling his phone out as he guides me toward the exit. “There’s a vet a little over a mile away open late.”
The kitten is purring as I hold her against my chest. Too late I realize I’m in a white lace dress and it’s covered in dirt from the kitten. I don’t care. A cab has us at the veterinarian’s office in a few minutes. The setup isn’t too different than an American office. Only one other person is in the waiting room, a woman with a paperback book reading quietly. I nod at the receptionist and tell her about finding the kitten. She hands us a clipboard and asks us to have a seat. I hate giving up the kitten to Dante, ridiculously attached to it already, but although he speaks enough Spanish to get by, he doesn’t read or write it. The sight of the tiny kitten cuddled close to his chest has me turning to mush all over again.
Before I’m done with the forms we’re called to the back. The portly male veterinarian isn’t concerned. He hands the kitten over to his assistant, Carla. I’m annoyed at how easily Carla cradles the kitten close as she croons to it. There’s no need to worry, he assures me, she has a lot of experience with bottle feeding kittens. She will take care of the kitten and their office will find a home for it soon.
I’m deflated as the visions I had of three a.m. kitten feedings are snatched away by the smiling Carla. Fine. I didn’t want to take care of the kitten anyway. After I explain everything to Dante, he thanks the man for stealing my kitten, then assures the vet he wants to not only pay for the care of the kitten, but also make a donation to the facility’s efforts to rescue animals. “More like paying him to take my kitten away,” I mutter as I push out of the room.
It feels like forever before Dante joins me on the busy sidewalk. “Let’s go back to the room to get changed for dinner.”
“Fine, whatever.”
We’re back in the room and I’m in the walk-in closet, trying to decide what to wear when Dante pulls me into his arms. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to keep the kitten. Even if it wasn’t feasible with the whole quarantine thing and it’s the best thing for the kitten. I understand you’re sad, we don’t have to go out for dinner.”
I wrap my arms around his middle and squeeze tight. “You being perfect is kind of annoying.”
“I’ll work on it.”
“Don’t change. I love it. It was such a cute kitten, and then she started purring.” I sigh.
“I didn’t know you liked cats.”
“I do, but Alicia is allergic to them so I felt like I couldn’t have one even though Alicia hardly ever visited me. I was the one to go see her.”
“Hmm, want to stay in?” Definitely, I press against him as my answer. “On second thought, I think it’s better we went out. You need a night of rest.” I pout as he lets me go. He tugs on my hair. “I mean it. Do you have anything in red?”
“Something in red coming right up.” I push him out of the closet, and he goes with a smile. Unzipping the bag, I eye the red long-sleeved dress I loved.
Dressed, I head into the bathroom. I take the items I went shopping for the day before we left. With a deep breath I pull out the foundation, concealer, weird sponge, primer, powder and brand-new mascara and both lipsticks. The lady at the counter was remarkably patient with me as she talked me through applying everything. Her explanations were simple and to the point, and she even allowed me to clean off what she did and apply it on my own. I had considered applying makeup this morning, only it was already pretty hot when we left, and I didn’t want the makeup running in the heat. Now with the sun set and the restaurant likely air-conditioned, I want to try it out.
Good lord, this is taking forever. I don’t bother using the brush to apply the lipstick; I go with the nude one since the red is more burgundy then the bold red of the dress. Stepping back, I’m excited by how it looks. Okay, not to brag or anything, but I’m hot.
I walk through the suite to find Dante out on the balcony. “Dante, sorry it took so long.”
He turns and I fight not to laugh at his expression. I blink and he’s pulling me into his arms. “I changed my mind, you’re too beautiful to take out in public. I don’t want other men looking at you, wondering what you look like naked.”
“I told you I want to stay in. You, me, the big soaking tub, heaven.”
He groans. “You’re killing me. I’m trying to control my animal lust where you’re concerned, but you aren’t helping.”
“Considering I love your animal lust where I’m concerned, I’m afraid I’m not going to be much help.” I slide my arms around his neck to bring him down to me. It’s times like now I hate how much taller he is than me, even if most of the time I love it. He bends but he doesn’t kiss me; his mouth goes along my neck, turning me liquid in his arms. Until he nips at my neck where it meets my shoulder, and holy crap, it causes my pussy to flood for him. I’m clinging to him as he sucks at the spot, but not to soothe like I thought. Instead, he nips again. My hand is on him, trying to free him, as Dante’s large hand wraps around my wrist, bringing it up to his chest. I’m panting, desperate for him, only to find myself thrust away from him. Asshole. “I do believe we haven’t gotten around to your spankings yet. Tonight I’ll rectify that.”
“Dante, seriously?” Somehow I’m being propelled out of the room.
“Very seriously.”
It’s not until we’re in the cab that I realize it. “Did you give me a hickey like we’re fifteen?”
“Yep, and I never gave hickeys when I was fifteen. I was too cool.”
“Then why in the world are you giving me one now?”
“Because when men are looking at you wondering what you look like naked, they’ll also see you’re mine.”
I can’t stop laughing.
***
Bethany
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I’m fighting not to yawn in the cab on the way back to the hotel, only there’s no hiding it. Crap, like I always do when I’m verging on exhaustion, I go from tired to barely able to function in minutes. By the time we’re getting out of the cab Dante is practically carrying me through the hotel.
“Sorry,” I mutter as Dante carries me to bed.
“Don’t apologize. All the better for me to contain my lust for you. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have kept you out so late.” His hands are gentle as he undresses me.
“Hmm... not late,” I mumble. It’s barely midnight, I want to say, only the darkness sucks me in and I’m asleep before I can.
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Dante
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Damn, she went out like a light. I consider leaving her bra and panties on, the better to keep my hands off her, only she’s as sexy in them as she is out of them. I tuck her in under the covers. With a sigh I move off the bed, and into the bathroom. I find the makeup remover wipes and go back into the bedroom. The one thing I’ve heard women complain about, more than when a waiter screwed up and put salad dressing on the salad instead of on the side, is falling asleep with their makeup on.
I’m touched Bethany wore makeup for me, so I’ll never tell her I prefer her without it. She doesn’t need it, not really. Her skin is clear and glows from her natural olive skin tone, and even her lips are a soft pink. But if wearing makeup makes her feel better so be it. A few swipes of the moist wipe and it’s gone, and Bethany has barely moved.
Not trusting myself to stay away from her, I wander out of the bedroom through the suite to the balcony. While the last three days were exactly what I wanted, more than once in the back of my mind I wondered if she was sore, told myself not to touch her, but every time I did she climbed onto me and I couldn’t refuse her. I hate the idea she was in discomfort or even pain and hid it from me. Hell, I really do want to put her over my knee, only it would lead to another bout of making love.
While I was forcing her into a dress to keep me from taking her back to bed the way she was begging me to, I came to the conclusion the nagging thought I kept pushing back wasn’t ever going to go away. I’m in love with Bethany. Air comes out of me in a shudder, and I sag against the wall as I stare blindly over the city.
I long ago gave up on the idea of love. When I was young I believed in the back of my mind that someday I would meet a woman, fall in love and get married and have a few kids. Unlike Che and Enzo, I didn’t think there was anything scary about love. As a teenager I messed around with a few girls here and there, only to discover the girls knew exactly who I was. Hooking up with me was a dare, a walk on the wild side. Angry, I avoided girls to focus on working with Che. Enzo had taken off into the Army the day after he graduated high school. There were a lot of late nights, and I was determined to keep pace with Che.
It wasn’t until I graduated from business school that I began to even consider adding women back into my busy schedule. It helped being a multimillionaire. I set the rules, and either a woman was down to fuck or she wasn’t; it wasn’t a problem to find someone else. At first all I wanted was to release all the tension from working until I dropped. Nothing wrong with having a little fun. From the first time I had sex at the age of seventeen, until graduating from business school at twenty-five, there were all of six women. I was making up for lost time.
In the back of my mind I wondered if each woman might be the one, only none of them ever were. Then I watched Che fall in love, watched him become happier, whole again. And I wanted what he had. Nina came at the worst possible time. She wasn’t quite as greedy, at first, as the other women. She said all the right things and I began to wonder. Then I began to hope. Then shit started going south, but I refused to call time, refused to admit I was wrong, and in the end it all went to shit exactly like I deserved. There were lessons I needed to learn, and I have, and I hope to hell it keeps me from screwing up.
I’m pacing now, I want to scream it, I want to tell Bethany only the second I think it I flinch. Is she ready? Will she think I’m nuts? It’s only been three weeks. But what does it really matter when there isn’t a doubt inside me? It won’t hurt to wait a little while, maybe a whole month. I can take the time to show her, so she doesn’t question it, doesn’t doubt it, doesn’t doubt me.
A little more time and patience. Bethany isn’t going anywhere, and neither am I.