Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 577 -

*Natalia*

Waking up in Rome was better than I had imagined it would be. That was due mostly to the delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafting through our villa. I felt Tallon's warmth by my side and smiled as I snuggled in close to him.

I barely remembered coming to bed last night. We had stayed at the restaurant for a long time drinking and talking, then went for a long walk to take in some of the scenery. By the time we got back, we were both so exhausted that we had

fallen into bed.

I was so happy to wake up with him next to me that for a moment I felt my eyes getting watery.

"Good morning," he said groggily.

"Morning," I muttered in response. "I've really missed waking up like this."

He wrapped his arm around me and kissed my temple. "So have I."

I smiled and let myself drift back towards sleep. I don't know how much time passed before Tallon spoke again.

"We have a lot to do today," he said. "We need to get up."

I frowned. There was a lot that I wanted to do while we were here. He was right. The longer we lazed here, the less I would get to experience.

I forced myself to sit up, but groaned as I did so. Tallon laughed softly and I ignored him as I got up and stumbled to the dresser to get ready for the day.

"I've hired a tour guide to show us around," he said.

I frowned at that. It seemed so touristy to hire a guide, but we were tourists, and I probably wouldn't know where to start without the guide.

"That sounds helpful," I admitted.

"I'm glad you think so. We're going to meet him after breakfast."

My stomach growled at the word and the smell of bread returned to the forefront of my mind. I was suddenly starving.

Once we were dressed, we went downstairs and enjoyed a light breakfast of bread and some of the most delicious preserves I had ever eaten. As we ate, I asked Tallon that we were going to see first, but he refused to answer. I wanted to be annoyed at his insistence that it be a surprise, but his surprises had worked out for me so far.

Tallon looked excited as we drove into the city, and it only made me more curious about where exactly we were going.

When we reached the city, the car pulled over and we got out to walk. There were areas of the city where cars just weren't an option, and this was one of them. I held Tallon's hand as he led me through the crowded streets towards a large courtyard. When I recognized the building ahead of us my heart nearly stopped.

I wasn't especially religious, but I stopped and crossed myself at the sight of the Vatican Basilica.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a swirl of exquisite sights and sounds. Our tour guide was fantastic as he led us on an extensive tour through the Vatican, Colosseum, and Sistine Chapel. The sights were burned into my mind, and I knew that these memories were going to stay with me forever.

When I thought back on this trip, Tallon's face was going to be the first thing that came to mind. Every time I glanced at him, he was looking at me. He was either looking at me with unmistakable heat or with an expression of such love that it made my heart flutter. Maybe it was our short time apart, but I felt like I was falling even more in love with him than I thought was possible.

We made our way back to the villa after our tour ended. It was already getting pretty late, and I was getting hungry again. "Do you want to go out to dinner?" I asked.

"I have dinner taken care of," he said with a smile. "I've hired a private chef to make us dinner here tonight."

I smiled and shook my head at him. "You've really thought of everything, haven't you?"

"I had a lot of time to think about it," he replied.

"This has been a dream come true," I said.

"It's not over yet," he said. "I'll meet you on the terrace in an hour," he said. He stopped to kiss me, then we parted ways.

I went upstairs to get cleaned up and change my clothes.

By the time I made it to the terrace, Tallon was already there. I paused and looked at him and committed the sight to memory.

There was a bottle of red wine on ice and the table was set with candles burning in the center and a fragrant basket of bread was waiting for us. The view of the garden behind him and the city skyline beyond that was breathtaking, but it was nothing compared to how he looked. He had taken some time to tame his hair, and the shirt he was wearing showed off just enough skin to be distracting.

I took my seat across from him and he smiled sweetly at me. "The food will be here soon," he assured me.

"You look incredible," I blurted. He chuckled and reached for my hands. "Sorry," I said. "This whole day has just been so much. I can't think of anything more romantic."

"I can," he said. "Our wedding."

"Hopefully," I said with a hint of nerves in my voice.

"It will be," he promised. "And it will be here before we know it."

"There's so much to do before then," I said.

"We're going to handle it together," he reminded me.

I smiled. With Tallon's help, I was sure that the planning would go much more smoothly than they had so far.

Before I could respond, the door opened and a short, elderly man pushed a food cart out. He smiled at us kindly as he gently sat our plates in front of us.

Tallon thanked him and the man said something I didn't catch, then turned and went back inside.

The food was incredible, and for several minutes we ate in silence. We had both worked up an appetite walking all over the city and the food was so good that it deserved our full attention.

"This is almost too good," I muttered.

"I didn't think that was possible, but I agree," Tallon replied. "This is so good that I forgot where I was for a second."

I laughed. Tallon was joking around with me, how could I not laugh?

I absolutely loved seeing this relaxed, sillier side of him.

"This trip has been incredible," I said.

Tallon smiled brightly. "I'm glad," he said. "I wanted to do something special for you, to show you how much I appreciate everything that you do for me. I don't just mean the issue with Antonio, either. You're always by my side when I need you and the joy you bring to my life makes it worth all the nonsense I have to deal with."

My throat was tight with emotion, and it took me a moment to respond to him. "I love you," I said. "I'm glad that I'm able to bring some value to your life, because you bring so much to mine. I honestly don't know where I would be without you. I was so alone before we met, I...."

I let my words trail off. I had no idea how to articulate what I wanted to tell him. I just didn't have the words.

"I love you too," he said gently.

I stood suddenly and moved around the table to kiss Tallon. I didn't have the words to tell him what I wanted him to know, but maybe I could show him through my actions.

He reacted to the kiss with surprising heat, and after a few seconds he pulled me down onto his lap. I gasped at the sudden shift in position. I held onto his shoulders as he kissed me more deeply.

It was a slow, thorough kiss that left me panting by the time he pulled away. I was surprised to see how heated Tallon looked already. His normal composure seemed to be faltering.

I tried to move off his lap, but he held me in place. Before I had a chance to question him, he started to kiss my throat.

I shuddered at the contact, and it seemed to embolden him. Tallon's hands slid up my legs and under my dress, drawing a full body shiver from me.

The way he was touching me was so gentle, yet firm and he was moving so slowly. It was different enough that I wasn't sure how to react myself. I gasped and shuddered at his light touches until he had my dress bunched up above my hips. I was a little embarrassed because we might get caught, but the heat slowly building in me was more powerful than the risk of someone seeing us.

Tallon shifted around on the wide, sturdy chair and I realized that he was lowering his zipper. A thrill went through me at the idea of having sex right there on the terrace.

We had shared heated glances all day, and everything we had done had been intimate and romantic, so it really wasn't surprising that we had ended up here.

I thought we would make it back to the bedroom first, that's all.

I lifted onto my knees and helped Tallon shift our clothes around until there was nothing standing between us anymore.

He held onto my hips as I lowered onto him, and we both gasped into the darkening twilight.

I looked down at Tallon and his eyes locked with mine. The pleasure I was feeling was incredible and I wanted to moan in pleasure, but that look in his eyes stole my breath away.

I couldn't look away from his gaze. His hands guided my movements and I rose and fell over him. Our breaths mingle in the silence of the night and neither of us moaned or cried out, even though I was shuddering from the pleasurable sensations already.

It was like we were under a spell that neither of us wanted to break. The way my heart was pounding was due to more than exertion, but my mind wasn't clear enough to process that right now.

All I could do was look into Tallon's sharp, intense eyes and roll my hips into his.

I didn't know how much time passed before my climax was crashing into me, but it couldn't have been long. I shook like a leaf in a storm, and he brought his hips up into me, lifting us both from the chair. After a few more thrusts, he followed me into his climax.

I moaned desperately and fell forward, finally breaking our eye contact. I pressed my face into the side of his neck and rode out the waves of pleasure.

Tallon held me close as we both breathed heavily. I let my full weight rest on him, and he held me easily.

This was the first time that I had ever felt this way after sex. My heart was fluttering, and it wasn't from the activity. Something about the way Tallon had looked into my eyes went straight to my soul.

I felt a connection between us that I had only sensed hints of before. This wasn't just sex. As cheesy and cliche as it sounded, I knew why this was different.

Tallon and I had made love.