Love Me (The Elites of Cheshire shore #2)

44. Florence

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

florence

R ome curls his arm at the base of my neck and pulls my lips to his in a devouring kiss. My hands slowly trail down his hard body, working their way into the band of his boxers. Rome only breaks the kiss when my hand wraps around his thick, hard cock.

“Flo,” he groans, resting his forehead on my collarbone. I tighten my grip and slowly move my hand from base to tip, making sure to tighten my hand more when I hit his crown. His breath catches and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as my panties flood. Rome’s fingers secure themselves around my wrist, halting me halfway down.

“If you continue doing that, amore mio , it’s going to end too quickly, and I want to savor tonight as much as possible.”

Our gazes collide. My mouth falls open as he pulls my hand from his boxers and guides me on my back.

“The christening starts now, with my woman screaming my name.” He grips the tights between my legs and rips them. Our connection too great to resist anymore, the frayed rope keeping us apart finally snaps.

“Rome.” A mixture between a groan and a giggle leaves my lips.

“These tights are too fucking sexy to not be on you while I’m inside you.” Rome moves my thong aside and places a finger inside me, pumping it in and out before he adds a second one. I spread my legs wider, getting ready to have his hips settle between them, the sound of my tights ripping further causes me to become wetter.

“Shit, Rome.” I gasp when he curls his fingers, hitting just the right spot, while his thumb starts to draw small tight circles on my clit. Sparks lick across my skin as I move closer and closer to my orgasm. I pull the cups of my bra down and start teasing and tugging at my nipples. They’re already so stiff and hard, it only adds to the pleasure Rome is currently laying on me.

“What’s that, lolly?” Rome meets my stare with a wicked smile. “You should see yourself from my view. It’s fucking stunning.” He leans down and tugs at my bottom lip. “Fucking stunning.” He breaths against them. My lower belly tightens. Rome knocks one of my hands aside, cupping my breast, taking over from me. And that’s all I need before I explode.

“Rome,” I scream. A burst of hot waves roll over my body, and I thrash my head from side to side as I give myself over to it. He doesn’t give me time to recover, kicking off his boxers and gripping my thighs in each of his forearms. My tights rip again from how wide he has me, before he’s slamming straight into my spasming pussy.

“Flo,” he groans, “always the sweetest.” He punctuates each word with a thrust. I claw at his forearm, enjoying the red raised lines my nails make on his veiny forearms—a look of utter ecstasy on his face. I lift my hips to meet his thrusts in the dedicant pace he’s set.

“Whatever you do, don’t stop,” I pant as Rome lifts my legs higher, changing the angle. My body tightens, and a sweat bead rolls down the nape of my neck. Rome is a god and knows how to both worship and work my body. My back bows, a too-tight string ready to snap. I release his forearm, my hand sneaking down to draw slow circles on my clit. Rome watches the action, his eyes flaring with both heat and desire, and that’s all I need before I explode over the edge a second time.

“Rome.” My voice is hoarse and raspy as I call his name.

“Flo,” Rome grunts, following me over.

I wake to find him blanketing me. It wasn’t a dream. I curl my legs around his waist and my arms over his broad shoulders, enjoying the feel of him underneath me. Content. I’ve never felt so content. I run the pad of my fingers over his scalp, moving them in small circles as I go. My heart bleeds for him carrying such a heavy burden for so long. Death is scary, and hard to process. Being eighteen and watching someone you love immensely die in front of you is profound. No wonder he has felt this need to carry out my dad’s final wishes—even though that may not have even been what he was trying to say. The candles, him always buying my favorite drink, how quickly he jumped at the chance to chauffeur me to and from work, he’s been trying to show me he loves me in his own way.

“You’re thinking too hard.” He stirs, hot breath caressing my chest.

“How would you know?” I mumble, my fingers now tracing his spine.

“Because when you think too hard, you get this really cute little crinkle, right,” he lifts his hand his finger, touching the corner of my lips, “here. It’s adorable as fuck.”

“I do not.” I bat his hand away.

“No, you’re right, it’s the way you’re grasping my cock that woke me up.”

“Rome.”

“Yeah?” he replies.

“You’re so full of shit.” I laugh. “Wanna try that again?”

“Fine,” he huffs. “I’ve been watching you in the mirror.” He lifts his arm and points to our bathroom mirror, which, from his angle, gives him a perfect view of me. Of us. I lie back in the bed. I can’t believe I just said that. Our mirror. Our apartment. Our bedroom. My man.

My gritty eyes survey the room. Our apartment , my man. I smile up at the ceiling. Something about it just felt so right. Excitement licks across my skin as Rome curls his arm around me tighter.

“That’s not creepy,” I joke as a blush creeps over my chest.

“If it wasn’t obvious by now, Flo, I’m kind of obsessed with you.”

“I’m kind of obsessed with you too,” I reply. I have been for a long time.

I check my watch, another double shift down in the books. I’m actually starting to enjoy my time in orthopedics—shocker, I know. Thoracic has always been where I wanted to end up, but if I don’t make it, ortho is a pretty good backup. I close my locker door and grab my thick, puffy coat, zipping myself into it. As I make my way outside to where Rome is already waiting for me, the automatic doors open, and a blast of cold hair slaps my face.

“Fuck, it’s cold,” I whisper, burrowing myself into my jacket. I quickly scan the darkened parking lot for Rome. I run my teeth along my bottom lip when I find him casually leaning against his Bentley. He must be mad to be waiting out in the cold like this for me. Rome spots me, his long strides eating up the distance between us.

“Hello, beautiful girlfriend.” He stops in front of me and cups the back of my neck, the only warning before his lips descend on mine in a breath-stealing kiss. I love the way Rome kisses; he does it with purpose, with passion, with conviction…with love. Fire encases my heart. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing him say those words. We pull apart our chests, heaving with giant breaths.

“How was work?” Rome grabs my workbag and tucks his hand into the side pocket of my Lululemon yoga pants, a magnet suctioning my body against his.

“The usual.” I shrug. “Knees seem to be the vibe this week. We did four today.”

“Dr. Liu-Savino saving knees since 2024.”

I laugh as Rome opens the car door for me.

The moment we enter the apartment I freeze, and Rome crashes into me.

“What’s wrong?” His hands fall to my hips, using them as an anchor to steady himself. Our apartment is filled with flowers. Deep, blood-red rose petals line the hallway with a crystal chalice filled with bunches of roses acting as a rail down the entire length, with lit, tall, white candles between the bunches of flowers, casting a soft glow.

“I think we’re in the wrong apartment?” I breathe.

Behind me, Rome bends slightly, his hot breath rushing against the back of my neck. “Why would you think that?”

My eyebrows raise, and I work hard to swallow. “Just a haunch.”

“Believe it or not, but our key,” Rome holds up the item in front of my face, “opens the door to, our apartment.” While his tongue lightly trails from the spot between my neck and shoulders and the shell of my ear, driving me absolutely wild.

“O-kay, then someone has broken into our apartment.” It really is the only logical explanation, and the burglar must have a thing for candles and roses. I’m sure that would make a great headline for those cold-case shows I love to indulge in.

“You’re going down swinging, huh?” Rome mutters, replacing his tongue with his lips.

“Is all this for me?” I ask, moving my neck to give him more access.

“Actually, it was for my girlfriend, so you gotta get out of here before she arrives. She will kick your ass.”

I turn in his arms, disengaging his lips from my neck. “Why?”

“Because she’s possessive, but it’s kind of a quality I like in her. It also makes me hard to see her all fired up.”

“Not that, you weirdo. Why did you do this?”

“Do you know we’ve been dating for a few weeks now and we haven’t actually been on a date?”

“We’ve had plenty of dates.”

“Lolli, I’m offended you think that the most romantic thing I could do for you is a fake date for a business deal.” He scoffs, genuine hurt in his voice.

“So those weren’t dates?” I ask, staring into the vivid depths of his green eyes.

“That was our hard launch,” he replies. “And this,” he motions with a hand to the rose petals, “is our first official date.”

“Does that mean I’m still your girlfriend?” I’ve been walking on eggshells these last few days, waiting for him to pop my bubble and realize that once my apartment is fixed, I don’t need to live here anymore. Every time I use the term our apartment I’m just waiting for him to correct me.

He rears back like I’ve slapped him. “What kind of a dumb question is that?”

“I don’t know. Since I kind of ran off because I thought you were cheating on me…maybe you decided I was a bit too much.”

“Flo.” He bends at the knee and cups my cheek in his large hand. “There was never anything fake about you and me. I’ve loved you forever, and I plan to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.” He takes my hand and leads me to the beautifully set table. He pulls out my chair and waits for me to sit down.

“Wait, but I’m in my yoga pants and a crummy shirt.” Definitely not the picture of a first date outfit I was going for. I’m also pretty sure I smell like some sort of bodily function I don’t want to name.

“Do you know what I see?” he asks but doesn’t wait for me to respond. “I see a woman who has spent her whole day saving peoples’ lives. But most of all, I see the woman of my dreams. The woman who makes my world bearable even on the worst days, just because she’s in it. What you wear doesn’t change who you are. Who you are is the other half of my soul.”

My eyes sting, fucking sappy Rome Venuccio gets me every single time. I quickly park my butt on the seat as Rome tucks my chair in and busies himself with getting the food out. Moments later, Rome returns with my favorite beef soup. I sniff the heady aroma.

“Nanai helped me make it, she said it was your ultimate favorite.” The tips of his ears turn red.

“You made beef soup?” The amount of time this soup takes is eye watering, and Nanai’s is hands down the best. She won’t even share her recipe with me.

“Yeah, and I even toasted the bones in the oven first because, according to Nanai, it gives a superior flavor. And now I know how to make it whenever you want it.” He winks as I take another sip. Both of them are right, the flavor is superior when you toast the bones. If only I could work out the three other secret ingredients she’s adds in.

“Lucky me,” I whisper.

Rome really did go all out on his cooking lesson with Nanai. I would almost be hurt that she refuses to share her secret recipes with me, except for the fact that her showing Rome is her way of accepting him and our relationship.

“I don’t know how you’re ever going to top this,” I whisper as he places a giant piece of pistachio and raspberry tiramisu in the middle of the table, a tempered piece of chocolate sticking out of the center with Florence loves Rome written in white chocolate on it.

“This is only just the beginning.” Rome clinks his spoon with my raised one.

“Yeah, but you’ve clearly made a rookie error,” I grunt, dipping my spoon straight into my favorite dessert.

“And what’s that?” he asks.

“Where’s your piece? Because this is mine.”

Rome barks out a laugh, but I’m not joking. “I think we’ve found the piece of paper that will help us finally acquire Deeter’s port,” he says as he dips his spoon into the cake. Clearly, he doesn’t view my idol threat all that intimidating. Something I will have to work on.

“Well, that’s great news.”

“Yep, we just need to get one more thing clarified with Becks, then it’s going to go down.”

“And does that mean your dad will be off your back?”

“Yep. Then you and I have some planning to do.”

“Ooooo, I love it when you get all bossy. Makes my panties all wet.” I swipe another bite of tiramisu, making sure to pull the spoon out extra slowly.

Rome cocks his head to the side, the tip of his tongue playing along his bottom lip. “Is that something you like, lolli?”

I look at him under my thick lashes, biting the corner of my bottom lip. “I love it.” My voice is all low and breathy. Suddenly the need to have him inside me is too much. Our innocent date has turned into something much, much more.

“Good, then you won’t mind getting on your knees for me then? Hmmm?” Even though he poses it as a question, it is definitely not a question.

“And if I say no?” I reply, already sliding out of my chair and onto my knees in front of him.

“I guess you won’t get my cock like a good girl.”

Rome stands as my knees hit the ground in front of him, his hands going to the clasp on his belt. I reach up to help free him from his pants. “Nuh-uh,” he tsks. “Hands by your side.”

I oblige, my panties now completely drenched. I always knew this take-charge side of Rome existed, but fuck, experiencing it is a whole new level of sexy. A smirk touches the corner of his mouth as he releases his hard cock from his pants. My eyes heat at the bobbing length, watching the pearl of liquid form, the light glinting on the barbell poking through the head.

“Now be a good girl and wrap those lips around my cock.” His demand rolls over my body. I do exactly as he instructs and wrap my lips around the enlarged head, my tongue lightly stroking the slit, playing with his piercing, eliciting a grunt from deep within his chest.

“Harder,” he instructs, and I hollow my cheeks out, doing exactly as he asks. “That’s my good girl. Now show me how far you can take my cock.” That is the only warning I get before he slams into my throat. My eyes water and spit flies out the side of my mouth as Rome wraps my hair around his fist and continues to pump into my mouth at a punishing speed. I sink my fingers into his bunched ass cheeks, urging him on.

“Just like that, lollipop, take my cock.”

This side of Rome is driving me wild. I lift my chin up, opening my throat a bit more, enjoying the sting of pain as he tugs on my hair. Rome gives a few more pumps before he stiffens his cock snug in my throat as he explodes and I swallow him down. I release his cock with a soft pop and crawl up on the table. I sit up on my elbows.

“Since I just sucked your cock like a good girl, how about you come fuck me like you can’t live without me.”

Rome’s eyes heat like an out-of-control forest fire. “Oh, Florence. I intend to fuck you until you can’t scream anymore,” he says moments before he pounces on me.