After the Storm (All I've Ever Needed)(28)

Standing in front of Stephano on Saturday evening wearing just a thong hadn’t been excruciating as she would have imagined it being, but it hadn’t been easy. Her body wasn’t perfect, but she’d seen enough naked female bodies in the changing room of the fitness club after exercise classes to know that hers was in pretty decent shape. Her hips and thighs could be smaller perhaps, but most women would probably say the same thing.

She had embraced her height and found it an advantage in many ways. She took time to pamper her skin and it glowed as a result. Every time she went for a facial massage, the beauty therapist always said that she wished her skin was as gorgeous as Natalie’s. The woman’s skin was flawless, but she’d confessed that it took a lot of maintenance to achieve the look.

When Michael had gripped her hair to force her to go down on him, he’d torn out clumps of it out and left several bald patches. The baldness hadn’t been permanent, but she’d had to crop the back really short. To her surprise the style really suited the shape of her face and her thick, healthy hair and it had become her signature hairstyle. Cut expertly it looked chic and whenever she wanted a softer, more feminine look, as she’d wanted for the dinner date, she curled it into loose carefree waves.

***

Natalie made a sound of annoyance when her doorbell rang much sooner than she’d anticipated. She’d rushed home after work hoping that she’d finish cooking and have a quick shower before Stephano arrived back from Uxbridge. She hadn’t tried to compete with his mother by cooking pasta or other Italian dish. Instead she’d cooked Curry Chicken with rice, instead of roti. She slipped the apron off and hurried to the front door.

Even after a long day of negotiations and the additional travel time King’s Cross St. Pancras to Uxbridge, Stephano looked gorgeous. The jacket of his suit folded neatly over one arm, holding the extendable handle of his small, wheeled travel case. He was the epitome of the young profession traveling for business.

“Hi,” she felt suddenly shy and a little nervous.

“Hi.” His response was like the purr of a lion as he placed the jacket over the handle of the case and wrapped his arms around her.

“Did you miss me, cara mia?”

Like crazy.

“You were only gone for two days!” she protested weakly as he found the vulnerable pulse point of her neck and sucked it into the heat of his mouth.

“I missed you,” he admitted, staring into her eyes.

It should have been the easiest thing to say that she’d missed him too, but the word stuck in her throat.

Stephano lowered his lips to hers as he lifted her bodily. She wrapped her legs around his hips and reveled in his strength and the feel of his arms around her. She was a tall, not-exactly skinny woman, yet he made her feel slender and utterly feminine in comparison to his larger frame. It was silly, but she loved it.

She was mostly leg and Michael had a long torso, it had been odd feeling his feet above hers when they made love.

Stephano strode to her large Moroccan sofa and lowered them onto it. His hand reached under the hem of her Indian cotton skirt to stroke her inner thighs and then move upwards to caress her through the gusset of her thong.

She felt heat flood her face—she was drenched already. She’d been thinking about him all day and in the last half an hour as she prepared the meal she’d allowed herself to relive the last time they had made love in glorious detail.

“Ah, sweetheart,” Stephano groaned as he slid two fingers slowly into her slippery warmth. “You missed me, too.”

The arrogance of the man thinking that only he could be the object of her sexual imaginings! But he was so right, she conceded.

“I can’t wait to be inside you, my sweet,” he growled, as he sat up and reached down to undo the laces of his black Oxford brogues.

“I’m cooking!” She suddenly remembered the meal and surged off the sofa.

“Turn it off, cara” Stephano encouraged with a seductive wink and he slipped his socks off.

The rice would have needed a few minutes more if they were sitting down to eat immediately, but it would soften to the perfect consistency by the time they were ready. The curried chicken breasts were perfect, fully cooked but tender. She moved it to one of the cool electric hobs to stop it cooking further.

“That smells wonderful.” Stephano came up behind her, pressing his erection into her bottom as he nibbled on her neck. “Almost as good as you do.”

She slid her arms around his neck as he lifted her and returned to the sofa.

He’d stripped down to his boxers.

He pushed the T-shirt up and stroked her bare breast—she wasn’t wearing a bra. She found them resistive and gladly rid herself of them as soon as she got indoors.