Unable to help it, and with a new sense of urgency, I drop to the floor in front of him and take him in my mouth.
This is it. This man and this body will be mine for life.
He hisses as he strokes my hair. “Yes, Bella,” he whispers darkly.
I keep going and going, and then he drags me to my feet and throws me on the bed. He moves over me, and in one swift motion, he slides in deep.
“Ah,” he hisses. “I love you, Olivia.” His dark eyes are locked on mine, and his hands trace my face, as if he’s memorizing every inch. His knees are wide to give him traction, and I lift my legs higher around his body, encasing his perfection.
“I want you deep,” I moan. God, I don’t think he can get deep enough today. I want every inch of him.
He inhales sharply and slams in hard, and I throw my head back with a laugh.
We can’t make gentle love if our lives depended on it.
This man makes me bad to the bone… and I fucking love it.
It’s been the most romantic night of our lives, and I can already see we are going to fuck like animals.
“Are you going to fuck me like this when we are married?” I tease.
He slams in hard. “Forever.”
* * *
Rici is wrapped around me like a blanket. My head is on his chest, and his lips rest on my forehead. We’ve made sweet, tender love well into the morning. I’m on an all-time high. I think way back to the two occasions I have been hurt when he left me. It all seems so long ago now, but even with all that devastation and heartbreak, I would do it all again to get where we are today. This is a closeness that we’ve earned, and I think the hard times have only made us a stronger unit.
“Where do you want to get married?” he asks.
I look up at him, surprised at the question. “Here, in Italy.” He frowns down at me. “Really?”
I shrug. “I’m not into big fancy things like your family are. If we got married in Australia, half of Italy would have to travel, whereas I have, like, twenty people I would want there.”
“Thank you. It would kill my mother if I didn’t marry here.”
“What do you think she’s going to say when you tell her?”
We decided not to call anyone tonight. We wanted to bask in the excitement alone for the weekend. Secretly, I think that Rici didn’t want anyone spoiling our excitement with the ‘you barely know each other’ talk.
We don’t care what they think. We know what this is.
“I shall look into next month then,” he says casually.
“Oh, you want the engagement party that soon?”
“No. I want the wedding that soon.” “A month.” I scoff. “We can’t organize a wedding in a month, Enrico. I have so much to do. I need at least… I don’t know… three months.”
He rolls his eyes. “We’ll have the engagement party in two weeks.”
“Two weeks,” I squeak. “Are you mad?”
“It will be easy to plan. My mother will do it all. This is her thing.”
I get a vision of her taking over the entire day. “No, that’s okay,” I tell him. “I want to handle this.”
He pulls me closer and inhales with a sleepy smile. “I am happy, my love.”
I kiss his broad chest. “Me too, baby.”
* * *
“Hi, Liv. How are you, lovely girl?”
“Hi, Mum.”
“How was the weekend in Rome?”
“Perfect.” I glance over to Enrico who is lying on the lounge listening, and I scrunch my face up. “Guess what happened?”
“What?”
“Enrico proposed.”
There’s silence for a while, until she eventually whispers, “What?”
“I’m getting married, Mum.”
“Liv, you hardly know this man.”
“I know him. He’s the one. He got down on one knee and proposed to me in The Pantheon. Mum, I’m so happy.”
Enrico’s eyes twinkle with a certain something as he watches me.
“Honey,” she sighs.
“Can’t you just be happy for us?” I ask. “We know what we’re doing. We’re not kids, Mum. I’m twenty-nine. I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing.”
“I just worry.”
“You don’t need to worry. I’ve got this.”
She stays silent for a moment before she speaks again. “What’s your ring like?”
“Gorgeous.” I smile. “It’s a simple gold band with a stunning two-carat diamond.”
“Wow!” She gasps.
I laugh at her reaction. “Will you come over for a holiday so we can pick my wedding dress?” I ask hopefully.
“Darling, yes, of course. I’ll have to save for a while though. My car needed major repairs that cleaned out my bank account.”
“Okay.” I smile knowing she’s coming around. This is really happening. “I can show you around Italy. It’s so beautiful here. You’ll love it.”
“Olivia, I can’t believe this. I’m so shocked.”
I giggle. “I know. Me, too.”
“I have to go to work. I’ll call you tonight.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She hangs up, and I turn to the sexy man on the couch. He taps his knee for me to go to him. When I do, he wraps me in his arms. “Was she okay?”
“A little worried about how quickly it’s all happened. She’ll come around as soon as she meets you.” I run my fingers through his curls. “Are you going to call your mother?”
“I’m going to see her today. I’ll tell her then.”
“What do you think she’s going to say?”
“She’ll be fine. It’s not up to her, anyway.” He flips me over and lays me on the couch to hover over me. “It’s up to us.”
* * *
On Monday morning, I dance into the café like a rock star, while holding my hand in the air. I wiggle my fingers to make my ring sparkle.
Jennifer and Natalie bounce in their seats with excitement. “Oh my God!” Nat cries. “I can’t fucking believe it.”
“I know,” I cry.
“Holy shit,” Jennifer whispers as she holds my hand in hers. “That ring is something else.”
With a laugh, I glance outside to see Lorenzo and Maso looking on through the window. They’re smiling almost as much as I am. Rici and I have been on Cloud Nine all weekend. We can hardly wipe the smiles off our faces. I never knew I could be this happy.
“Your coffees, lovely ladies.” The waiter arrives at the table with three cappuccinos.
“Thank you, Bosco,” Nat and I say in unison. We’ve gotten to know our waiter well.
Bosco gives us a huge smile of appreciation. This isn’t the nicest looking café in Milan, but the staff are so lovely, and it’s the only place that makes coffee taste like it does back home. It’s mostly filled with Australians all the time.
The other day, I made Rico come here with me before work. When Bosco saw him, he nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight of him.
“Ah.” He notices the girls staring at my engagement ring. “Are we celebrating?”
“We are.” I smile proudly and hold my hand up. “I’m engaged to be married.”
“Enrico Ferrara?” he whispers with wide eyes.
“Uh-huh.”
His mouth falls open and he claps his hands together. “Holy mother of God, we must celebrate.”
He rushes behind the counter, digs out a bottle of champagne, and pops the cork. It spurts out in spectacular fashion as we all laugh out loud. The other customers are giggling-his excitement is contagious.
I glance outside again and see Lorenzo and Maso laughing, too.
This is a happy day.
Bosco pours us all a bottle of bubbly and hands us the glasses. He pours one for the other three people in the café, also, and he takes two glasses outside for the boys. “I propose a toast,” he announces once back inside.
We hold our glasses up. “To Mrs. Ferrara to be.”
“To Mrs. Ferrara to be,” everyone says, I giggle in embarrassment. I feel famous.
Everyone goes back to their conversations and the girls’ attention comes back to me. “Were you expecting this?” Jennifer asks.
“No. I mean, I thought we would get married one day. But this early? No way. This is all his doing. It bothers Enrico that I’m not his wife. He wants it to be legal.”
Jennifer leans on her hand and smiles dreamily. “He’s so romantic.”
“I know, right? So, tell us about the proposal,” Nat says.
“He took me to our special place.”
“Where’s that?” Jennifer asks.
“The Pantheon.” I smile as I stare lovingly at my ring.
“In Rome?