Natalie laughed. It was the most carefree she could remember being in such a very long time. She rocked harder, taking him deeper, riding his cock like it was the last thing she would ever do, and she wanted to remember it.

Her fingers pinched and pulled on those nipples until they were berry red and diamond-hard.

Julio struggled to hold back. He wanted her to come; no, he needed her to come.

He drove his hips up hard, slamming their bodies together, and then she was coming, her body shaking as her pussy squeezed him.

Julio couldn’t hold on any longer. It had been far too long since she had taken him to paradise, and with a groan, he unloaded into her.

She shuddered as she felt him fill her. Natalie slumped over his chest, her body languid and her mind in a whirl.

His low chuckle shook her body. “That good?”

Natalie moved her head a little to catch his eye. “It wasn’t bad.”

He laughed harder, and she joined in. It should have been strange or uncomfortable after all of this time, but it wasn’t. She felt like she was finally back where she was supposed to be.

Natalie moved to get off him and noticed that the wetness between her thighs was more than what it should have been. She looked down and saw the condom had torn.

Julio, sensing her panic, followed her gaze.

“It’s okay,” he rushed to assure her, but Natalie shook her head and moved back.

“I just,” she swallowed hard, “I just need a minute.”

She went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Sliding underneath the wet stream, she thought about all of the implications that could come from this. Was this fate taking over, or just a run of shitty luck? There was the morning after pill. Did she want to take it or just wait and see?

As the thoughts rolled over and over her mind, she heard the bathroom door open. Then the shower curtain moved, and he joined her in the shower.

“Are you angry?” he asked, gathering her into his arms.

Natalie shook her head, “No.”

“Then what is it?”

She tried to put together her thoughts, but they were as fleeting as leaves in the wind.

Finally, she answered, “I’m just scared.”

“Of a pregnancy?” he asked.

But no, a child wasn’t what frightened her.

“Of everything, of this being too good to be true.”

Julio closed his eyes and kissed her forehead, “I am in love with you, Natalia. I have loved you for over a decade, and I can’t imagine not loving you. I changed my life around, arranged for the sale of my villa in Italy. Sweetheart, I would do anything for you.”

“Just hold me,” she whispered, and he did.

He carried her back to the bed, and they fell into an exhausted sleep. Between the jetlag and their time at Nan’s, both parties were completely exhausted.

But when they woke, they talked. For hours they talked about what went wrong and the things they’d been doing over the past eight years. They talked about their dreams and how life had changed. And for once, they talked about the future.

30

“And just what in the hell do you think you are doing?”

Jackson paused mid-raspberry and glanced up to see his boss staring down at him. He had one of Marco’s girls, and he was giving her a big slobbery kiss on her cheek.