“I don’t understand. You said a marriage would be arranged.”
He nodded. “Given time for us to find the one we wanted. If that failed, then a marriage would be arranged. Sometimes those marriages turned into love matches, and that hope was always there. I married you because I love you. I want you more than I want children. I choose you. If we can’t have children, you will be my choice. If you want children and we can’t have our own, we will explore other options. But our marriage stands, and there will be no going outside of it for any reason by either of us.” He made that a decree as well as a promise.
He kissed her gently. She tasted like fresh mint. She tasted like what he was coming to associate with love. “Thank you for bringing up those fears, Nicoletta. If you have them, it’s possible my sisters-in-law do as well. I’m going to make certain my brothers have talks with them so they know they would never be put aside because they can’t produce a child.”
“I know Francesca doesn’t think Stefano would really get rid of her, but she does feel that he is disappointed. She’s determined that she’ll have more children. She’s taking vitamins and working out, trying to make herself very healthy so she won’t have problems. I overheard both Emmanuelle and Mariko telling her that being healthy was never her problem, but she won’t listen to them. She said it doesn’t make sense that when every other woman in the world can have children, she can’t.”
“Not every woman can,” Taviano said. “That’s just ridiculous and she knows better. She’s too intelligent for that.” He slid off the bed and made his way to the master bath, leaving the door open. “It’s a wonder Stefano hasn’t done something crazy like put her over his knee or something. That’s just nuts.”
She followed him slowly. “It’s an emotional issue for a woman, Taviano, it isn’t nuts. You should have a little more compassion. And when the pressure of marrying into a family like yours is added, it makes it all the worse.”
He couldn’t argue with that. “Are you going to shower with me?”
She had her hip against the doorjamb, draped artistically whether she knew it or not, his shirt looking like a dress on her, the open edges framing her midsection beautifully. She didn’t avert her gaze from his body as he turned on the water from the various sprayers. He liked the water coming at him from all angles. He arched an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t know if I can do that yet.”
“What’s the determining factor?” He couldn’t keep amusement from his voice. She made his life fun. “Maybe I can help with your decision.”
“Are you going to keep your hands to yourself?”
He cocked his head to one side and then stepped under the hot water. It fell on him from above and came at him from three sides. “I have to be honest, amore mio, I don’t know. You’re tempting. The idea of washing you is hard to resist. I thought we might exchange tasks, but I’m willing to do all the work.”
She moved all the way into the room, slipping the shirt from her shoulders. “How very sweet of you, Taviano. I think I can manage on my own, and I’ll let you handle your own washing.”
He refused to be disappointed. She had come a long way as far as he was concerned. He hadn’t expected they would get as far as they had. And she was already pulling out the topknot and stepping into the double shower with him. That was a huge victory. He had hoped she would feel safe and comfortable enough to join him, but he honestly hadn’t thought she would.
He tried to appear as casual as possible, flashing her a little grin before using the gel to soap his body thoroughly. He wanted to be exceptionally clean just in case she decided she wanted to repeat their exploration of each other’s bodies later. He tried not to react in any way to the sight of her washing and conditioning her hair or gliding her hands over her breasts and lower to her belly and then those little ringlets that called to him, guarding the treasure just below.
No matter how disciplined he was, no matter how sated his body had been, the way her hands moved with the gel and then used the handheld water wand, his cock turned treacherous on him. He had to turn his back on her before his vicious erection had him in trouble.
“You’re killing me, woman.” He gave a little groan to prove it.
“I am?”
He glanced over his shoulder at her with open suspicion. She sounded just a little too innocent. There was definitely a little too much laughter in her eyes.