Sweet On You - By Kate Perry Page 0,60

need as his erection pulsed against her hip.

His hands speared into her hair, and he tugged her head back. "Condom?"

She swallowed, and then she shook her head. "Unless you aren't sure."

"Baby, I'm all in." He kissed her like she was treasure. As he slid into her, he brushed her hair from her eyes. "You're mine, Daniela."

She heard the future in his rough voice. She heard the passion and so much love that her heart overflowed. She squeezed him close. "I love you, too."

He thrust all the way into her, and she moaned. He paused there, his eyes squeezed shut.

So she took the reigns. She swiveled her hips, deep, faster and faster until they were sweaty. The couch squeaked, and her legs stuck to the surface. But she barely noticed—her entire focus was on Nico lying under her, the taut column of his neck as he struggled not to come, the desperate grip of his hands on her hips, the hard pulse of him inside her.

She could feel him escalate, and that brought her closer. "I can't hold out."

"Then come," he whispered darkly against her neck, driving into her.

She cried out just as he did. He stiffened under her as she undulated over him, wringing every last bit of pleasure from him.

She collapsed on top of him. "Checkmate," she whispered triumphantly.

Nico held her closer. "We both won."

She nodded, kissed his shoulder, and then sighed happily as she felt him stir inside her. "And I think we're going to win again, very soon."

Epilogue

Nonna always said the recipe for the perfect Christmas morning was equal parts sweet and bitter, sprinkled with joy and served with hope.

Daniela stood in the window of the kitchen nook and stared at the sunshine streaking across the sky. The sweet was Tony, Marley, and all her new neighborhood friends. The bitter was her grandmother being gone and her parents all the way across the world.

Joy was Nico.

Hope was the future.

Nonna would say this was the perfect Christmas, and Daniela would have to agree.

There was the shuffling of feet. She turned as Nico strode in. His hair was sleep-rumpled, and he wore silk pajama bottoms and a T-shirt. She knew under the pajamas he was completely bare, and the thought made her grin devilishly.

"Your bathroom is atrocious, even in the dark," he said, walking up to her.

"The red velvet walls are unfortunate, but the bathtub rocks."

"I followed the leopard print carpet to the kitchen. It's like some sort of strange African yellow brick road." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly. "You're up early."

"Christmas breakfast. I'm making my grandmother's pain perdu." Nonna believed all things Italian were the best, but the French did know a thing or two, and their version of French toast was one of them.

"Is that what smells delicious?" Nico nuzzled her neck. "I thought it was you."

"I'm dessert." She slipped her hands under his shirt and sighed. "After presents, of course."

"I gave you your present last night," he whispered against her ear.

She held up her hand, a shiver of excitement shooting through her as she looked at the engagement ring. It was an art deco ring with a ruby, large and bold, surrounded on one side by a spray of sparkly white diamonds in all shapes and sizes. He told her it reminded him of her: fiery passion with a combination of old-fashioned and modern that he found enchanting.

"I still can't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "It's all so fast."

"I told you that when I find what I want, I get it, and I want you." He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Forever."

Tony stumbled into the kitchen like a zombie. "Coffee," he moaned. "And please stop mauling each other in my presence."

She grinned at Nico before stepping away to get two coffee mugs out. She poured them each coffee, both black, and handed it to each of her men, who'd sat down at the large table. "You're going to have to get used to Nico mauling me, Tony. He asked me to marry him."

"I know."

"What do you mean, you know?" She frowned. "He only asked me last night."

"I talked to your brother first," Nico said, drawing her down onto his lap.

"Nico has old world sensibilities. Nonna would have approved." Tony sipped his coffee, closing his eyes in bliss. "You're good at cake, Dani, but at coffee you're the best. You're a lucky man, Nico."

Her fiancé smiled like the cat that ate the canary. "I know."

Marley entered