Zurlo, Michele - Two Masters for Samantha [Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (32 page)

She shrugged, uncomfortable with the conversation. She had only ever discussed her artistic aspirations with a handful of people, and that had been so long ago. On their vacation, her father had expressed his relief that Samantha had finally pulled her head from the clouds and found a steady job. Sam didn’t mention the money Jonas had given her to help meet next month’s rent.

She swallowed, biting the bullet. Why not be honest? What was the worst that could happen? If he laughed at her, she could always leave and never see him again. That thought hurt a lot more than she thought it should.

“It takes so much time away from my art. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to take pictures and paint. I bounce from job to job, always something temporary to get me by enough so that I can make rent and afford equipment and supplies. I don’t mind working for
Elizabeth
. I freelance for her, so I only work when I need to, but I need to pay the rent, so I’m working pretty much all the time.”

Stefano stared at her, the thoughts winging through those blue eyes a complete mystery.

She continued, prattling on because she was nervous. “August was hard because of the wedding and the vacation my family takes together every year. Things will be more settled when I get back. I have a trip next week, but I think I’ll be able to take a few days after that.” She glanced over her shoulder. The sun no longer touched the horizon. “I think I’ll paint this.”

The wind whipped hair across her face. Stefano moved it aside, but his expression didn’t alter. At last, he spoke. “I’d like to see your work, Sammy. Maybe you’ll send me some of your pictures when you get back?”

He was humoring her. Samantha nodded because it was expected. “We’d better get back. Alexei is going to wonder where we are.”

Stefano took her hand, twining his fingers with hers and holding it loosely. “Lex isn’t going to wake up for at least three more hours. He did some work on the Galen deal last night. I’d be surprised if he got to sleep before four.” Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed the palm. “I have you all to myself until then.”

Samantha wondered if that was where Alexei had gone when they left her alone, but she knew better than to ask. Stef would want to maintain a certain level of mystique about that kind of thing. That didn’t mean she stopped wanting to know. She approached it as safely as she could. “I’m surprised he didn’t crash. You guys worked yesterday, then you spent the evening with me. It was a full day.”

Stefano laughed, his low tones washing over Sammy and eliciting an answering smile. “He was too wound up from watching over you, honey. It was that or molest you in your sleep, and he’s not that kind of guy.”

She peered at him through her lashes. “But you are?”

They had arrived back at the house. Stefano pulled her close. She melted into the contours of his body and submitted to his kiss. It wasn’t hard or fast like before. He brushed his lips over hers in feathery caresses, teasing her senses into frenzy. By the time he finished with her, Sammy was ready to throw him to the ground and have her way with him.

He kept his arm around her as they headed up the stairs to the patio that would take them into the kitchen. “I knew I was going to have you to myself this morning. Sammy, you’re going to pay many times over for making us watch last night while you learned your lesson.”

From the way her face flamed, she knew she was blushing furiously. She was a little behind him as they finished climbing the stairs. She hoped he wouldn’t glance back until the blush faded. “I didn’t know you watched.”

Her hopes dashed as he pushed her against the warm glass of the sliding door and caged her with his arms. Smoke steamed from his eyes, jolting electricity straight through her. His head dipped and his lips brushed those same teasing caresses along her neck and collar bone. She fisted her hands around the fabric at the hem of her sundress. Instinct told her not to touch him, not yet.

Sammy moaned, both from the way he imprisoned her body and the way he teased her senses. His skin and hair had absorbed the morning heat and the salt scent of the ocean. It combined with the tangy masculine aroma that was uniquely him to fill her consciousness and make her tremble.

“I couldn’t look away,” he said, breathing the words against her skin. He nipped at her neck and flicked his tongue over the tiny stings. “Have you ever watched yourself climax, honey? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more erotic sight than your body writhing and the expressions that cross your face when you come.”

He hadn’t waited for her to answer. Samantha wasn’t sure her response would have mattered anyway. This was about Stefano, about the way she affected him. She laughed, a desperate, nervous sound. “I didn’t think you would ever say something like that to me.”

Stefano stopped teasing. He impaled her with the question in his eyes. “Why not?”

“I thought you wouldn’t want me to know that I affect you, that I have power over you.”

His thumb traced a path down her cheek and over her lips. It didn’t seem like he would ever get tired of touching her face. “Sammy, I’m not ashamed of the way you make me feel.” He leaned closer, pressing his arousal to her stomach. “I’m not afraid to let you know how you affect me. It’s only a weak Dom who can’t admit how profoundly his sub affects him.”

This wasn’t the first time a man had told Sam how much he wanted her, but this was the first time her thighs weakened from a confession. It could have something to do with the fact she was still caged by his arms and his body.

She closed her palm over his erection, feeling his hardness through the soft denim of his shorts. “Do you want me to take care of that for you, Sir?”

He stared at her for the longest time. She would give anything to know his thoughts, but he didn’t share and she knew better than to ask. When he finally spoke, his words were strangled. “Get on your knees, Sammy.”

She dropped as gracefully as she could in the small space he allowed between the unyielding hardness of his body in front of her and the glass behind her. He didn’t move. His hands remained pressed against the door.

Sammy ignored the moisture between her legs. She knew if she pleased him well, he would reward her well. Besides, she felt short-changed from not being able to make him come last night. Oh, he had come inside her, but it wasn’t something she did for him. She had been a vessel for release, nothing more. He had resisted her best efforts. When she had begun to make progress, Alexei had been there to thwart her attempt.

Her hands didn’t shake as she freed his erection. She handled him gently, taking him in her hands reverently. She licked her lips to make them moist, and then she devoured him. One hand wrapped around his base, and her tongue swirled around his cock. She varied her rhythm, alternating between a gentle and a forceful suction.

Above her, Stefano’s moans and incoherent cries told her all she needed to know. He fisted her hair and thrust in time to the rhythm she set. Sammy reveled in her power, a power he allowed her to have. She had no doubt he could—and would—take it away later. But for now, she was in charge.

An idea popped into her head and she went with it. She figured that if she liked it so much, then Stefano would, too. With her free hand, she caressed his sac. He moaned. She worked her way back until she found his puckered hole. She didn’t give him time to think, time to wonder what she was about to do. He had been so gentle with her that first time, so she gently inserted her finger into his anus.

“Fuck!” The oath fell from Stef’s lips and he pumped into her faster. “Oh God, Sammy. Don’t stop, honey.”

She sucked him harder and inserted a second finger, stretching him wider. With a loud cry, he came. Hot semen shot to the back of her throat, but she didn’t stop pumping her fingers into him until he collapsed against the door and his cock went limp in her mouth. She licked him clean before fixing his boxers and shorts.

The hand in her hair had fallen away. Samantha scooted out from her trapped position between Stef and the door. Standing, she looped her arms around his waist and slung his arm over her shoulders. “Let me help you into the house. Are you hungry for breakfast?”

Stefano’s body shook and a weak laugh issued from him. “Enjoy this, Sammy, because I’m going to make you beg after we eat.”

Sammy couldn’t keep the cocky grin from her face. She couldn’t think of a better reward.

Instead of using her as a crutch, Stef pulled her closer. His lips teased with promise and with some emotion she didn’t expect. Then he released her, leaving her wanting more of something she couldn’t identify. He slid the door open. “Come on, Sammy. I’m an excellent waffle maker.”

He sat her on a high stool on the other side of the counter. Samantha watched as he puttered around, stirred batter, and poured perfect waffles into the waffle iron.

“Do you have an online portfolio?”

His question startled Samantha. She scrunched up her nose in confusion before she figured it out. He was asking about her art. She thought they had left that topic in the waves and sand. “Yeah.”

Stefano nodded. While he worked and while they ate, he peppered her with questions about art and about her past. Samantha answered them, all the while wondering why he chose that topic. Uncomfortable talking about her art and her dreams, she changed the subject.

She pushed away her plate and leaned her hand on her palm, watching Stefano finish his meal. “Do you and Lex ever change places?”

The answering smile was devilish in the extreme. “When it suited us. We did all the normal things like go to each other’s classes and stuff. We didn’t switch when we both had to be in the same place at the same time. Our mother got really good at figuring out when we’d switch. I loved that she never told our dad when we did things like that. He’s always mixed us up. We stopped correcting him when we were about seven or eight.”

“He still mixes the two of you up?”

Stefano pushed his plate back. “Sammy, you’re the only person I’ve ever met who doesn’t mix us up. Some people wait and look for the obvious signs. I’m right-handed. Lex is left-handed.”

She could see where it could be confusing. Sam nodded. “Your smile is crooked. Yours is a little higher on the right side, and Lex’s is a little higher on the left. You tend to smile more, whereas Lex tends to be serious.” Though she would be the first to admit that mood was a poor indicator of identity.

Sam grinned as his gaze dropped to her bustline and that grin stretched his lips. “You stare at my chest quite a bit more. Lex might like posture, but he does tend to check out asses. I think he’s not even aware he does it so much.”

Stefano got to his feet and gathered their dishes. In the back of her mind, Samantha honestly thought they would make her do the cooking and clearing naked. Not only hadn’t she cooked, but she was still wearing her dress, and Stef was clearing the breakfast dishes.

Sam shot to her feet. “I can do that.”

Stefano’s brows drew together. “You’re my guest, honey. I’ll take care of this.” He headed to the sink and rinsed the plates.

“But isn’t that a submissive’s job?” She wrung her hands, nervous because she knew what was soon to come. When she realized what she was doing, she dropped them to her sides and smoothed the skirt of her dress. Luckily, Stefano wasn’t watching.

He nodded as he wiped down the waffle iron. “For some people, it can be. Lex and I don’t operate that way. We grew up watching our dad treat our mom like a servant, and we had servants, by the way. He made her cook and clean and wait on him. He controlled who she talked to and what she wore. She did nothing without his approval. She died fourteen years ago from a massive stroke. My dad yelled at her when she fell. Lex and I were there. We vowed that we’d never treat a woman the way our dad treated our mom.”

Sam stared at Stefano’s tense back. She sensed this wasn’t information he shared with just anyone, and she treasured his confidence in her. Though she hadn’t expected anything like this morning to happen, she was thankful Stefano seemed to be taking a break from their roles. The more she knew him, the more she liked him.

Though she was horrified at his description, she had to wonder if his father wasn’t just a Dom who took things to extremes. After all, Stef and Lex had to get their propensities from somewhere.