Nicoletta managed to match his rhythm only because she was so tuned to him, but it was a desperate tango, her mind telling her that she wasn’t going to survive the wash of this next orgasm. It was too strong. Too big. Too everything. She was terrified to let go. She’d gone too high with him and didn’t know how to come back from it.
“Look at me, Nicoletta.”
His voice. Soft. Firm. Always there. Always her safety net. Her eyes met his in the mirror. Those dark blue Ferraro eyes. So turbulent, like a dark summer storm. He was right about the mirror. About how sexy, how sensual, they were together.
“Let yourself fall. I’m right here. I’ll always catch you.”
He had. Her nightmares. In the shadows. Here. Where there was pleasure. Her gaze safe in his, she gave herself up to the beauty and love between them. Dio. Dio. It truly was a firestorm of perfection, flinging them both outward, sending them soaring. She felt the jerk of his cock, sending jet after jet of his hot semen deep, triggering more massive quakes. They just seemed to roll through her entire body, one after another.
Nicoletta pressed her face into the carpet, grateful it was so thick and comfortable. Taviano wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from totally collapsing forward. He rubbed his face on the small of her back.
“The mirror worked,” he whispered.
“The mirror totally worked,” she agreed and lay flat, closing her eyes. She intended to go back to sleep until they were absolutely forced to get up again and go out. Maybe, just maybe, they could someday make love in front of the mirror with Taviano on top of her, and she could stare at him the entire time, knowing she was safe. That would be heaven. Right now, she was happy, sated, and so in love she knew it would be all right if she never got there.CHAPTER EIGHTEENTaviano made certain he appeared calm and relaxed when he was anything but. Stefano had called a family meeting. He knew that prior to having dinner with Francesca and the rest of the family, the riders would be gathering to discuss whether or not Stefano felt that Nicoletta could officially train as a shadow rider and actually take rotations with Taviano on the roster. They would have no choice but to abide by his brother’s decision. Even if they tried to appeal his decision to the council, he knew the council would never go against Stefano’s judgment.
Nicoletta sent him several speculative glances, letting him know she knew he hadn’t told her everything, but she didn’t push him. They were already there. The moment they walked into the penthouse, Taviano’s stomach dropped; Eloisa was present. She was no longer a rider and she had no vote, no say in whether or not Nicoletta could be trained. That he could—and would—protest.
The room was full. Stefano had invited the cousins from New York, Geno, Lucca and Salvatore. That was unusual. Taviano took Nicoletta’s hand and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arm around her waist. He no longer had any idea what was going on. Whatever it was, this wasn’t about Nicoletta, unless Benito Valdez had been spotted. If he had, surely Stefano would have said something.
His brothers were all there. Ricco with Mariko. Giovanni had returned, and both Vittorio and Emmanuelle were present. Of his seven LA cousins, the four that had come earlier—Severino, Tore, Marzio, and Velia—were still present. They sat as if they’d been waiting for everyone, although he could see by Velia’s face that she wasn’t nearly as comfortable as she’d like everyone to think with Eloisa in the room.
“Now that Taviano and Nicoletta have arrived, we can get down to business,” Stefano said. “Before I go into the reason I’ve brought Eloisa here, I want to let all of you know that everyone did their job and the Demons heading this way were stopped. Unfortunately, Benito Valdez turned around before we could get a lock on his exact location, although our investigators have narrowed it down and I expect we’ll have that very soon.”
“He’s aware his army coming this way is dead?” Giovanni asked.
“It appears so,” Stefano said. “I doubt he would have turned around for any other reason. The cops were called to one of the locations. The bodies were discovered. It was bound to happen. We coordinated very well, but there were just too many of them.”
Eloisa stirred and looked pointedly at Nicoletta, as if she shouldn’t be there. “We are discussing rider business, aren’t we, Stefano? Technically, we shouldn’t be talking about anything that has to do with shadow riding if we aren’t all riders.” She sounded very stiff and annoyed.
Taviano tightened his arm around Nicoletta, drawing her beneath the protection of his shoulder. Damn his mother. He should have known she would continue her attack on Nicoletta, no matter how subtle or blatant. Given the opportunity, she was going to do it every time. His one consolation was that his older brother didn’t make mistakes. He had deliberately included Nicoletta in the circle of riders. Francesca, Grace and Sasha were in another room with Crispino. If Stefano hadn’t wanted Nicoletta there, she would have been asked to stay with the other family members in the sitting room or den, and she would have done so and probably been a hell of a lot more comfortable.