Page 23 of Dark Masquerade
Aldo laughed, then looked up across the room. “I have an idea.” He went across the room and dragged an old, antique, free-standing mirror to the side of the bed. “Let’s watch ourselves fuck.”
He covered her body with his, his cock already stiffening again, and hitched her legs around his waist. “I’m going to fuck you so hard, pretty girl …watch my cock go in and out, in out …”
As he plunged his cock into her, Elli was mesmerized by the sight of it driving deeper and deeper into her cunt, the way their bodies entangled, and how masterful he was with her as he fucked her. His fingers bit into the soft flesh of her hips as he gathered pace, his eyes locked onto her face as she moved beneath him. “Scream my name, Elli. Scream it,” he ordered as she came, and she obeyed, gasping, moaning, and calling his name over and over.
His breath was hot against the back of her neck.
“You belong to me now, Elli. It’s you and me from now on, yes?”
“Yes,” she breathed, then gave a long moan as his cock drove deeper inside her again and again. She felt him bite down on her shoulder as he came, his hand stroking her clit. Eli shivered through another orgasm, then begged Aldo to let her catch her breath. She turned onto her back as he lay down beside her, his fingers stroking a pattern on her belly, which was rising up and down as she panted for breath.
Aldo smiled at her. “You’re so beautiful, Elli. Every man in the world would be jealous of me.”
She flushed and laughed. “You’re biased.”
“I admit I am, but it’s still the truth. Look, let me draw a map.”
Elli giggled as he started to trace a pattern on her belly. “Venice …Rome …London …Paris …New York …” Aldo was grinning, knowing he was tickling her and feeling her abs quivering. “Seattle …”
Elli froze. “What?”
Aldo frowned at her. “Is something wrong? Don’t you like Seattle?”
“I’ve never been,” Elli felt her face burn and she regretted saying anything. “Sorry, I guess I was just expecting San Francisco or something. Silly me.”
Aldo still looked bemused. “You would love Seattle. I have friends there. It’s about time we took a trip together.”
Elli felt the panic rise up in her.No. No way.She would spend the entire trip looking for Indio everywhere.God. No.“I really can’t take any more time off at the moment, Aldo. Maybe later in the year?”
Aldo shrugged. “As you wish. Anything to make my girl happy.”
They made love again, until Aldo decided he really was exhausted and Elli wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head onto her chest.
Later, in the early hours, Aldo had fallen into a deep sleep, but Elli stayed awake. She wished Tandy hadn’t told her that Indio was in, or at least had been and had people in, Seattle. Elli wanted so much to live in the now, with this wonderful man.
And I will, she swore.We will have a happy life together.She tucked herself into the curve of Aldo’s back and tried to sleep, only succumbing just as the sun started to rise.
A month later, and Elli was starting to believe she could do it. She and Aldo spent their time together laughing and talking and making love—as well as making plans. She found Aldo, for all his wealth, loved the simple things she loved: home-cooked meals, art, and books. They took long walks together out in the Italian countryside near his home and spent one weekend in Rome together.
“I was born in New York, but raised here,” Aldo told Elli one day as they strolled through the manic and crowded streets of the capital city, worsened by the crowds that were arriving in preparation forCarnevale di Venezia. Vivienne alwaysgave her staff part of the festival period as a vacation.“Somehow, in the last few years, I gravitated toward Venice—I must have known you were waiting there for me.”
Elli smiled at that. “You’re sweet to say that.”
Aldo shrugged. “I love you. I am starting to believe, Elli, that you are the love of my life.”
Elli felt uncomfortable. “What about Yvetta?”
“I will always love and miss her, but even with Yvetta, there wasn’t such a complete connection, you know?”
Elli smiled, but changed the subject, not knowing really how to respond to such a declaration. “I loveCarnevale,” she confided as they walked past a vendor hawking excessively expensive costumes. She lifted a glittering mask and held it to her face, winking at Aldo from behind it and laughing when he swooped in for a kiss that ended up with a feather almost poking out his eye. “I love walking among all the masked figures, even when they creep me out.”
Aldo chuckled. “I have to admit, it gives you pause to think who’s behind them,” he said. “There’s always a frisson of danger and sensuality. Speaking of which …”
He leaned in closer to kiss her, his big body shielding her from the crowds shoving past. Elli smiled, her lips curving up against his. Fortunately, Venice was a city of lovers, and no one paid any attention to them as they clung to each other.
“I have something to tell you about, Elli. Something that might interest you.” Aldo’s smile was mischievous, and Elli laughed.
“Why do I think this has something to do with sex?”
