The Twelve Vitali Ch. 17

"Marcus, we will talk tomorrow," Matteo said stiffly. "I am going to stay tonight because it would break my sister's heart to leave so soon. If you think for one minute, however, that I will leave Cat here with someone who has so little regard for her status as my future wife in his public forum, you can think again."

"My deepest apologies, this breach of protocol will be dealt with, I assure you," Marcus assured him. "I will call to see you in the morning to negotiate a new plan of action, perhaps Marina and Peri can visit you in Melbourne for a few days instead."

"Perhaps," Matteo looked dubious. "If you will excuse us," he threw Hella a look of loathing and escorted Cat toward Ricco.

"Keep an eye on that blonde bitch with Marcus!" he growled, making Ricco frown and look at Cat, whose cheeks still held the heat of her blush. "I'm taking Cat back to the townhouse. All bets are off with the watches. You had better text Cosimo and let him know something happened and we had to separate for a while. I'll fill you in later, okay?"

"Yeah, alright," Ricco said carefully, wondering what the hell happened. "Give me the watch, maybe the alarm won't go off if I wear them both. I'll call you when I'm coming back," he said seriously, taking the watch and slipping it into his pocket.

"You look beautiful, Cat," he bent and kissed her cheek. "Even more beautiful than I remember, if that's possible." He smiled encouragingly at her, then headed in the direction of Marcus and the woman Matteo seemed to loathe at that moment.

"Hey," Ricco said in his easy-going way as he approached a thunderous looking Marcus. "You know, Matt just stormed out of here with the exact same look on his face. Care to enlighten me?" he directed his question at the blonde woman beside Marcus.

"They were over-sensitive, I meant no offence," Hella said flippantly with as much bravado as she could muster. She knew the family had spent a lot of time rebuilding their reputation after the debacle with Peri Donati, and she had jeopardised it again. This was something she wouldn't live down easily, but she was sure that once she had a chance to speak with Cat, she could clear it all up.

"One thing Matt is not is over-sensitive," Ricco said, defending his brother.

"Hella used what she considered a term of endearment but was quite inappropriate for this situation, considering the recipient of that particular term of endearment will marry the future leader of the Vitali family," Marcus said in a low growl. "Unfortunately, it is my fault for putting my trust in the wrong person, and I will do my best to make amends."

"Ah," Ricco said, as he got the general idea of what had occurred. "You sought to prove your power over Cat in front of Matteo?" He laughed. "You can't have taken the time to get to know her at all, because, if you had, you would have realised that breaking her trust in that way made you lose any power she allowed you." He shook his head as he saw the woman go pale. "It won't matter if you apologise or threaten to fail her trial now, even if Matteo agreed under those conditions, she will walk away rather than allow you near her again."

"That's ridiculous," Hella said, not quite as confident as she had been before speaking to Ricco.

"How could you not know at least that much about her? She doesn't trust easily or lightly, and you just broke the trust she placed in you by humiliating her in front of the man she loves enough to put herself through this shit. She was forced to come here or lose Matteo, not by him, but the thirteenth. You can't possibly be deluded enough to think that she wanted to be here and would allow you treat her like a submissive in public?" Ricco continued to talk and laugh in a low, hushed tone. "That's too funny!"

Marcus said nothing as he watched the interaction, comfortable in the fact that they wouldn't be overheard with the music from the band and the crowd at the ball buzzing around them. Anyone more than a foot away would have struggled to hear anything but a pleasant laugh from the handsome visiting dignitary. He watched Hella's face as she realised just how badly she had fucked up with the use of just one word, and considered it a fitting punishment that Ricco spoke to her in an equally humiliating way. The two subtly dressed military police came to where Marcus stood, and he smiled, nodding at them, making sure Ricco had finished talking before he interrupted.

"These men will escort Hella to her room for tonight. I believe my father will want to speak with her once his official duties are dispensed with," Marcus said to Ricco. "If you have more to say, however, I am sure they won't mind if you accompany them. They will direct you back once you are done."

"Not at all, I am enjoying the ball immensely, my friend," Ricco said jovially, showing that he did not blame Marcus for the woman's bad behaviour. "I believe I have promised a few young ladies a waltz, and I would hate to disappoint them."

*****

"Matt, I..." Cat tried to explain what had happened and her reaction.

"You don't have to say anything, I know exactly what that was," Matteo growled.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I was trying so hard, and I failed anyway."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, and you haven't failed. That woman failed her family by trying to exert some sort of power over you in such a public way." He stopped walking and pulled her into his arms. "You did the right thing, you should never allow anyone to speak to you that way," he turned her to look back at the building where people milled around on the balconies. "You are more important than anyone up there, not only to me but to our whole family, and possibly the Donati family as well. There is no one in this world who has the right to try to dominate you like that in public... Even me."

"I have missed you so much, I still can't believe you're here," she wrapped her arms around him. "Tell me this is all over and you will take me home tomorrow whether I pass or fail," she said into his neck.

"You are coming home with me," he murmured, finally kissing her deeply and holding her close to his body. "Tonight, however, we have a townhouse to use and explore." Matteo took Cat's hand and led her away from the ball.

Cat wanted to ask about him about Stefano, and about Ricco, but she had to hurry to keep up with Matteo's long strides as he seemed determined to reach the townhouse as soon as possible. She stopped to take off her shoes, making him turn to look at her, chuckling as she ran to catch up to him on steadier feet once the shoes were in her hands.

"You should have said something," he chuckled, swooping her up into his arms and carrying her the remaining distance and across the threshold of the place they were staying. Aware that Ricco would be here at some time during the night, he took the internal stairs two at a time and entered the spacious master suite before placing her on her feet.

When he looked into her blue eyes that were watching him in the darkness, he strangely felt a sense of peace. He felt like everything was just right in his world as long as he had his Cat with the beautiful blue eyes that looked at him in much the same way. They belonged together, she was his, and no relationship with some egotistical Domme, or even his brother, could ever change what they had or how they felt. The realisation of that hit him like a thunderbolt.

She saw the look on his face, felt the emotions he held bottled up ready to erupt and reached out to him. He took her into his arms, roughly pulling her close, making a tiny indistinguishable cry escape her lips. Without thinking, she reached up and curled her hands around the back of his neck and kissed him, her soft lips against his tense ones. When she felt his mouth start to soften under hers, she lifted her head to search his eyes and see the release of the tension inside him.

He looked down at her in the moonlight that lit the room through the large windows, all tension leaving his body only to be replaced with need and a burning desire for her and her alone. All the times he wanted and needed her over the past month coalescing in him. He drew in a ragged breath, the warm air scented with her perfume filling his lungs, and any and all thoughts of Hella and Ricco quickly left his lust-filled brain, he reached out and cupped the back of her head in his hand and drew her back into his kiss.

He kissed her hard, his tongue slipping past her lips, sliding erotically across hers. He tightened his hold on her head and deepened the kiss, stealing her ability to breathe as he swallowed her purring whimper. He roughly dragged his hand down her back and dug his fingers into one firm satin covered ass cheek, lifting her against him as he turned around and pressed her back against the smooth, wide post of the bed, pinning her body between it and his own hard, unyielding and aching body. His mouth devoured hers. She tasted more amazing than his imagination as she let him believe and she was his forever now, no matter what anyone said.

Cat purred and instinctively reached up to curl her fingers into his hair, arching against the broad expanse of his chest as his hard, heavy body pushed her back against the post. She felt an ache in her belly and a rush of wet heat flood her as she kissed him back, her tongue sliding hotly along his, purring into his mouth as the fingers that dug into her ass pulled her sharply into the solid ridge of his hard, thick cock. She fisted her fingers even tighter in his hair, gasping for breath as his mouth left hers to trail down the side of her neck, his hot tongue darting out to taste what his lips were gliding over. "Matt," she purred.

Matteo slid his hand into her hair and tugged her head back, exposing the smooth column of her throat to his greedy mouth. His teeth grazed her skin as he pressed a hot, sucking kiss to her neck, leaving a mark there for everyone to see, branding her as his. He could feel her breath on his hair, feel her blood pounding through her veins against his tongue, and he took a sharp nip of her neck before his mouth ventured lower, skimming over her collarbone as the hand that was gripping her ass slid higher, cupping her breast in his palm. He roughly dragged his thumb across her nipple and it instantly hardened, straining against the material of her bra and dress. He ground his hips against hers; forcing his straining erection into the softness of her lower belly, pressing her hard against the solid, unyielding post. Her whimpering purrs of surrender were music to his ears.

She gasped under the firm pressure of his hand on her breast, the roughness of his thumb rubbing against her nipple as it rapidly rose to a hardened point. She had been aching for Matteo's touch for weeks, she wanted to see him, feel him and look into his eyes when he possessed her the way only he could. She sucked in her breath when he trailed his hot tongue across her collarbone, unzipping her dress and letting it slip down her body to pool at her feet. She moved slightly to her right to step out of the dress, sliding across the post until they both toppled to the bed side by side.

Matteo rolled to his back pulling her with him, and she straddled his lap, slowly sinking down, settling her panty covered ass against his thighs, her eyes never leaving his much darker ones that were burning hotter than they had for her before their enforced separation. She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, her thumbs lightly caressing his cheekbones as she gazed down into his eyes, her breath, like his, becoming ragged. Their lips were a hairsbreadth apart, gazes locked, hearts pounding... "I love you," she whispered breathlessly, right before she kissed him.

An animalistic sound seemed to escape him as he reached up, shoving his fingers into her hair and freeing it from the pins that had held it in place, the heavy, silky locks curling around his fingers as he opened his mouth under her kiss. He immediately took control of the kiss, kissing her hard and deep, his tongue forcing her lips apart as he explored and tasted the hot wetness of her mouth. She was more delectable than he remembered, and her intoxicating taste went straight to his cock, pulsing in the confines of the pants he still wore as he kissed her passionately, his tongue doing things to her mouth that he promised to do to the rest of her body.

His tongue savoured the taste of her, his teeth pulling lightly on her bottom lip, swallowing her whimper as she pressed even closer to him. His heart was slamming against his ribcage, what blood he had left for his head was roaring in his ears, and his thoughts were nothing more than pure unadulterated lust for her. He tore his mouth from hers, drawing in a ragged breath as he looked down, first at her bruised lips and then up at her blue eyes so full of desire.

She inched further up his lap until the solid ridge of his erection was nestled snugly against the damp crotch of her lace panties, rocking her hips against his. A smile slowly came to her kiss-swollen lips when a deep groan rumbled up from the very depths of his need for her.

"Catriona," he groaned. She couldn't remember him ever using her full name before, and it couldn't have sounded more erotic. He gazed deep into her eyes as he brushed back a lock of silky hair from her face. "My kitten," he murmured, his desire heavy in his voice. His cock was throbbing against her hot panty-covered flesh, evidence that he wanted her more than anything else in this world, and he feared that if he didn't force himself to take things slow, he was going to take her so hard and so fast that he would hurt her.

He moved his head the fraction of an inch it took to brush his lips over hers again, kissing her softly but just as hotly as the maelstrom of desire for her that burned inside of him. His tongue lapped at her lips, coaxing them apart, smiling against her mouth as a soft purr escaped her, and he cupped the back of her head in his large hand, kissing her long, hard and deep, his tongue enticing another long hot purr from deep inside her. His mouth left hers only to trail down her jaw to the expanse of her graceful neck.

Cat gasped, her fingers curling into his short hair as his mouth trailed down the side of her neck, his teeth nibbling, tongue flicking as he tasted her skin and his mouth found the curve of her neck and shoulder. She couldn't hold it in any longer, and she moaned as his tongue found the hollow at the base of her collarbone, the cool night air caressing her heated skin as he removed her bra, exposing her naked breasts to his gaze. She moaned in a deep purring sound of pure pleasure, arching her spine as he slid his hands around her back, and tender fingers caressed her soft skin as his mouth trailed further and further down her chest in hot, wet kisses.

Matteo caressed the length of her back as he rolled and pressed her back onto the soft bed, his lips and tongue gliding hotly along her skin, tasting her, savouring her. He found one perfect breast with his mouth, his tongue tracing the curve along the underside, his hot breath fanning her skin, drying his saliva as he darted his tongue across her breast, feeling it swell under his touch and her nipple harden further under his wet caress. When she moaned and arched closer, he smiled against her skin and continued his torturous exploration of her breasts. He felt her fingers fist into the material of his shirt to pull it taut across his chest, heard her blissful moan as he lightly flicked the tip of his tongue across her hard nipple. Her moan turned to a purring whimper when he opened his mouth over her breast and drew her nipple into his mouth, biting and letting his teeth graze over it. He reached up and cupped the other neglected breast in his hand, his thumb lightly flicking back and forth over her nipple until it grew achingly hard and he took it into his mouth. Her moans filled his ears as the slight breeze wafted through the windows over her well-sucked nipple, drawing it up into an even tighter bud for his thumb and forefinger to play with.

Her Mistress had preyed on how sensitive Cat's breasts were over the last two weeks, but under Matteo's hands and mouth jolts of electricity seemed to run from her nipples through her body, exciting her and feeding the adrenaline she felt at being with him again. She could feel that all too familiar longing in the pit of her stomach turning into a white-hot flame of desire for him and only him as his hands lovingly moulded themselves around her breasts. She moaned, arching under the assault of his mouth and fingers on her breasts. Her legs restlessly shifted back and forth against the hard, muscular thigh that was wedged solidly between hers, keeping her pinned to the bed so she couldn't escape his touch or his kiss, as if she even wanted to in the first place.

When his tongue circled her nipple, and he caught it between the graze of his teeth, pulling on it, she moaned even louder, feeling another rush of wetness saturate her very core and seep out to soak into the crotch of her panties. She moaned in a deep purr, digging her heels into the bed as she arched strongly against him, her soft body coming into sharp contact with his much larger unyielding one.

Matteo smiled against her well-sucked nipple, darting his tongue across the curve of her swollen breast, feeling her sudden intake of breath. He looked up at her, his scorching eyes dark with desire, his breath hot against her heated skin. "Patience, let me savour this moment of making you mine again," he whispered as he kissed his way back up her chest. He nuzzled the side of her neck, kissing her soft skin there as his hand left her breast to slowly caress the smooth, smooth flesh of her torso, down over the slight curve of her belly.

He shifted his weight to his forearm, his eyes taking in every inch as he bared her body to his hot gaze, save for a pair of white lace panties concealing her pussy, the front already wet with the evidence of her arousal. He sucked in his breath in a soft groan as he stared down at her. She was absolutely beautiful, and she was his forever now that this torturous trial and separation was over, which only made his desire for her that much stronger, making his heart pound painfully in his chest and his cock throb.

He slowly drew his fingers across the smooth, soft flesh of her belly, her skin much paler against his fingers, feeling her belly quiver under his touch. He traced the scalloped lace edge of her panties with the tip of his fingers, slipping just under the edge on its second trip across her stomach, and he lowered his head, kissing her again. He nibbled and sucked on her lips, her moans of pleasure filling his ears as her hips lifted up off the bed, seeking his touch. Her lips moulded to his, her hands coming up to curl into the front of his shirt, pulling him closer to start on the buttons. He deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking and gaining entrance into her hot, wet, and oh so sweet mouth, and he eased her panties down over her hips as she lifted them higher.

He quickly whisked them down her legs, his large, hot hand gliding up the inside of one quivering thigh, his long, thick fingers encountering smooth, slick flesh and a scant amount of saturated curls at the top of her pussy. He swallowed her needy whimper as he softly caressed her, his fingers gathering up her juices before he parted her even wider and slipped two fingers between her silky smooth and slick folds, caressing her. She grew even slicker with each caress, his fingers easily slipping along her wet flesh as his tongue dipped and retreated from her mouth, and he groaned as her hips arched strongly against his hand. He gently pushed his moistened middle and ring finger deep into her hot, tight pussy and rubbed her swollen clit with the pad of his thumb, swallowing her blissful cry.