Violetta sucked in a breath. “You want to marry me?”
“Of course, I do.” Thomas kissed her again. “I can’t imagine the rest of my life without you.”
“But—”
He silenced her protest by nudging her to her back and bending down to capture one of her breasts in his mouth. She hummed with pleasure and arched her back as he teased her nipple with his tongue. At the same time, he brushed his hand down her torso to play with her sex. His cock shot to life again when he found her dripping wet and hot for him. His fingers slipped easily inside of her, and she made a sound of pure, wanton fire as he suckled her breast and stroked her cunny from the inside.
“You’re so good at that,” she gasped, arching even more.
“You have no idea,” he replied with a wiggle of one eyebrow.
She gasped as he kissed his way down her belly while his fingers continued their work. Her hips twitched and she made desperate sounds of passion as his lips reached her sex. He could feel that she wouldn’t be able to last any longer than he had as he slipped his tongue between her folds, seeing out her clitoris. He worked his fingers harder inside of her as he stroked and sucked her clit. Her moans of pleasure intensified.
He was already hard again as her inner muscles began to tighten. Her sighs turned to cries as he intensified his attentions to her clit. At last, she broke into a sharp cry as her inner muscles squeezed hard around him. She throbbed with pleasure that went on and on as he worked her. Just as her intensity began to subside, he shifted above her, driving his cock deep into her hot, pulsing cunny. She cried out again as he fucked her, moving with him and gasping with each thrust.
He was certain he’d be able to hold out longer for his second orgasm, but when she grabbed his backside and dug her nails in, he burst inside of her. It was so good that they were both left panting loudly as every ounce of energy left both of their bodies. Thomas collapsed on top of her, not wanting to dislodge his softening cock from the place it knew was its home.
“I don’t think I’ll ever recover,” Violetta sighed, closing her arms and legs around him.
Thomas wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way. He might have dozed off at one point. Before long, their position grew uncomfortable enough that they moved, rolling to the side and pulling back the bedcovers so that they could snuggle together and get real sleep.
But as Violetta removed the bedcovers from her pillow, she revealed a piece of paper that had been concealed there.
“What’s this?” she asked, picking up the note with a frown.
As soon as she started reading it, she gasped and went pale.
“What?” Thomas frowned, taking the paper from her when she handed it over.
It was a note written in an awkward, shaky hand.
“My dearest, beloved Signorina,” it began. “I cannot begin to tell you how much I love you. I know that we are meant to be together. We have more things in common than you could possibly imagine. Say you’ll be mine, and you will have riches and respect beyond your imagination. I am so much more than I seem, and if you would only say you’ll be mine, the world would cower at your feet. I can protect you as well, from yourself as much as anyone else. I would be willing to turn my back on all of the people who think of me as their leader, if only I could have you by my side. Say you will be mine and I will give you a life you couldn’t possibly imagine. Your love, Antonio.”
“That bastard,” Thomas growled, climbing out of the bed and looking around as though the man were still there. “How dare he?”
Violetta got out of bed as well, clutching the bedcover to her chest and looking warily around. “He was in my apartment.”
“It’ll never happen again,” Thomas vowed. “Once our mission is complete tomorrow and we have my brother back, I’m taking you away from Rome.”
“What if Antonio comes after me?” Violetta asked, her face losing even more color. “I assumed he was harmless, but that isn’t the note of a harmless man. I’ve never been frightened of him….” Thomas didn’t need her to finish the sentence to know it ended with “…until now.”
“You’re coming back to the hotel with me,” he said, bending to pick up their clothes. “I can keep you safe there.”
Violetta nodded and began to dress. Thomas considered it a bad sign that she didn’t try to fight back or take matters into her own hands. Strangely, as much as he adored her strength and her power, it felt good to have her putting her trust in him. He wouldn’t let her down either. For the first time in a long time, possibly the first time in his life, he felt as though he could be a hero.
Chapter 9
After a night spent sleeping fitfully in Thomas’s arms, tucked securely into his bed at the hotel, Violetta woke with a feeling that she’d never had before. In her years working for Her Majesty’s Secret Service she’d certainly had moments of worry and even fear. She’d been in tight spots before, times when she knew her life was in danger. But never had she had such a sensation of wanting to stay with someone and have them protect her.
No, she thought as she rolled away from where she’d been snuggled against Thomas’s side to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling. It wasn’t that she wanted Thomas to take care of her and keep her out of harm, as though she were a fragile porcelain figure that might shatter. She wanted to have someone to lean on, a partner in crime rather than simply a man to shelter her from peril.
Thomas had asked her to marry him. Could she actually do it? Could she give up the independence she loved so much to tie herself to a man? As deeply as her heart felt like it knew Thomas, they had only just met. But some things went beyond sense and reason. If she were honest with herself, she could most certainly imagine a life by Thomas’s side.
As long as they continued to have adventures together.
The puzzling feeling as though her life were about to change stayed with Violetta through a day spent with the McGovern clan, pretending to simply have fun and enjoy the company of her new acquaintances.
“I’m pleased to see Lord Landry keeping company with someone who can be trusted,” the chaperone, Miss Wendine Sewett, told Violetta as they sat next to each other during luncheon. The woman spoke so frankly and with a look that unnerved Violetta.
“You believe I can be trusted?” It wasn’t the question she intended to ask, but it was the one that came out.
Miss Sewett narrowed her eyes and studied her. “I know who you are,” she said in a grim tone. “I know far more about you than you suspect.”
Violetta gulped her tea and nearly choked. “You do?”
Miss Sewett leaned closer to her. “Who do you think recommended you for this mission?”
Violetta’s mouth dropped open. “I had no idea you were….” She glanced around to make certain no one else was listening, then met Miss Sewett’s eyes. “You recommended me?”
Miss Sewett nodded. “I’ve been following your career, my girl,” she said with a sly smile. “Not only are you perfectly suited to the task of rescuing my dear friend, Lord Addlebury, from The Jackal, I think you might be useful in beating him to the undiscovered tombs of the pharaohs.”