The Twelve Tables Ch. 25

"May I speak?" she asked tentatively.

"Always," he frowned at her. "I may want to dominate and play with you in here, but you are still the woman I love. I would be disappointed if you felt you couldn't be honest about anything I ask of you." He took her hand and drew her to him. "You're overdressed," his eyes crinkled as he suppressed a smile. "You can talk, and I will help you out of this dress," he ran his hands up her legs lifting the dress as they rose.

"There is no rush, you have me to yourself for almost twenty-four hours," she grinned and took the necklace he had given her to signify her submission to him from one of the boxes and handed it to him. "I don't want you to overdo it with your leg," she said not keeping the concern from her voice as he placed it around her neck and fastened it.

"I'm not a masochist Peri," he chuckled. "Quite the opposite in fact. I will be careful and let you brush up on your riding skills. Now can we take this off?" He pushed the dress up her legs again, and she giggled helping him to remove the dress. "This too," he flicked her bra strap.

Peri reached behind her and undid the bra, slowly peeling the garment away to reveal her breasts. She was self-conscious with their lack of fullness since her milk had waned. Dante sat up cupping the soft globes of flesh and bring a nipple to his mouth. She felt the familiar tingles of arousal rather than the rush of milk letting down into her breasts, and she murmured softly in pleasure.

"Anything else?" He asked transferring his mouth to the other breast.

"There are other people on this boat with us, I don't want them running in here thinking you are killing me," she said softly. "It's not sound-proof like our room at home. I have found that Gerrard and Phillipe take their jobs very seriously."

"I understand, but they are Donati men. They have signed family contracts which means they will ignore certain aspects of what we do while they guard us," Dante murmured hooking his fingers into the tops of her panties and sliding them down her legs. "So beautiful," he murmured as his hands ran back up her legs and over her hips. One hand stroked over her belly, and he pulled her closer kissing it. Peri had glowed throughout her pregnancy, and he couldn't wait until she was fertile again determining that the next child she had would be his. Of course, he would never know for sure, but he knew he would love all of her children as if they were his own, including the three that had already arrived.

Wrapping his arms around her and the boxes of toys momentarily forgotten, Dante leaned back onto the bed carrying her with him. He kissed her deeply feeling the softness of her body as it pressed against him. She was right they had all night to play, and he desperately needed to fuck her right there and then. It had been over a week since his surgery, and she had not even entertained the idea of intimacy with him. He rolled her onto her back and hovered over momentarily lifting the lower part of the injured leg and placing a little of his weight on his knee.

"You're right," he murmured, "We have all night to play with toys." He pulled her legs up at the knee and pushed them wide. "I am glad you are wearing that necklace because you are going to regret enforcing a week of celibacy on me," he grinned and pushed his cock into her finding her as warm, wet and welcoming as ever. While not exactly a quick fuck there was no finesse in his actions as he pounded into her as hard as he could, making her feel every millimetre of his cock. He revelled in the sounds of her and the matching movements she made raising her hips to meet his as if needing this rough fuck as much as he did.

When they came, it wasn't the earth-shattering high that they were used to but rather a satisfying slow burn of their arousal and need for each other that left them breathless and sated. Dante rolled to his back taking the weight from his knees and groaned appreciatively as Peri kissed down his body and began to clean his cock with long slow strokes of her tongue.

"Keep that up and we won't be making it up onto the deck to watch the sunset," he growled.

"I would like that," she almost purred contentedly as she lay her head on his thigh and ran her fingers through the dark curly hair that crowned his manhood.

"We better put some clothes on then," he stroked her hair enjoying her attention being solely on him. "No underwear, just a loose shift if you brought one."

"I need a bra at least," she looked up at him.

"No," he said sternly. "Unless you have a bikini in that bag you are not fettering those wonderful tits until we leave for home."

"No, we can't swim with your leg the way it is," she said. Josh had a large aversion to bras and knowing she would travel from here to the chalet she had packed a dress with a halter neck and built-in support that made her feel more confident than going completely without any support for her sagging breasts.

Dante pulled her up into his arms and kissed her deeply. "You are beautiful and sexy and mine," he murmured into her ear and stroking over the necklace she wore as a sign of her submission to him during their first encounters in the playroom. "Now get up and dressed before I change my mind about leaving this very comfortable bed." He slapped her ass hard making her yelp in surprise.

They made their way out onto the deck after dressing slowly, Peri into the comfortable revealing halter neck dress and Dante into loose filling shorts and a polo shirt. They made their way to the front of the main deck which faced the setting sun and stood at the rail. A steward approached wheeling a small silver trolley.

"Compliments of Master Vincenzo," he informed them quietly picking up a bottle of champagne from the ice bucket for Dante to inspect. "Would you like me to pour, Sir?"

"Please," Dante murmured with a nod. He turned to gaze at Peri speculatively. "You borrowed this boat from Vincenzo," he cocked his head to one side. It was a statement rather than a question.

"I borrowed from Zita, actually," Peri laughed. "Your uncles still intimidate me a little." She admitted. Dante chuckled with her quietly impressed that she had built relationships within the family so fast. "It's very nice of your Uncle to send a gift, though," she said taking the glass from the steward and sipping it as he pushed the bottle back into the ice and slowly melted away out of sight.

"To Date nights," Dante grinned and sipped the champagne. "What else do you have planned for this evening?"

"Dinner after sunset and I thought we could make the rest up as we went along," she smiled shyly.

"Wonderful planning," Dante moved forward and kissed her lightly. Stepping back, he leaned on the crutch he used for support and considered her thoughtfully. She was an extraordinary woman, and he understood her need to escape the confines of their home and the bed they shared with Josh. This time together apart from the world they knew was her attempt to bring him into her life as a couple separate from family expectations and the strain if feeling like she was betraying Josh. He didn't need it. It was enough that he knew she loved him. When he had woken up in recovery and seen her hovering over him, the concern etched on her face; it had reinforced in his mind that they had moved on from those first tentative days of their relationship.

"And tomorrow we go back to the real world?" He tilted his head.

"No," she said turning to face him. "Let's sit," she indicated the comfortable looking lounging area behind them.

"This sounds ominous," he frowned but followed her, and they sat closely on a small couch allowing him to wrap his arms around her as they looked out at the setting sun.

"We have the boat to ourselves until lunchtime tomorrow," she said softly. "Just you and me making our own memories." she snuggled closer to him.

"I understand," he murmured into her ear. "It can't be easy with both of us putting claims on your time and attention."

"It's not difficult but I think each of us deserves some time as a couple which made the suggestion to do this sooner rather than later easy to agree to." She said tentatively.

"Suggestion?" Dante questioned pulling back slightly to look at her.

"I will never deliberately lie to you or Josh," she reached up and touched Dante's cheek. "I love you. I don't ever want you to doubt that, and I want time like this to make our own memories." She paused as he narrowed his eyes and she went on again before he could speak. "In some ways, you and Josh are very similar and in others so very different. Josh needs to be in control of every facet of his life to be happy and successful. Our relationship, while he accepts and even encourages it, is a strain for him at times." She tried to explain.

"I got the feeling he wasn't happy at the New Year's Eve party," Dante considered her words carefully.

"I think you might not understand why that was," she whispered. "It wasn't what we were doing. He seems to enjoy our intimacy and watching us together, like that," she blushed. "It was that we didn't tell him we were leaving for a little while."

"It took me a long time to understand what it did to him when I left him, during my recovery and when I tried to leave him again at the engagement party. It's the not knowing, the loss of control. He needs it like he needs air. Finding me just gone without a word at the party rattled him badly," she tried to explain.

Dante could hear and acknowledge the truth in her words. He said nothing letting her talk.

"When I was entering the trial we had thought I would be kept at the farm, within his reach so that if anything went wrong he could come and fix it. Your father waited until we landed to tell us about the Battaglia and gave me all of thirty seconds to choose whether to agree or not continue. Josh didn't handle that well, but it is not my story to tell," she hesitated. "He was upset, angry even, then, well we know what happened there and my refusal to see him or any of you."

Dante knew the information, but he hadn't thought about it regarding Josh's feelings. The court trial had been tough for all of them, the knowledge of what Nik had done and the subsequent damage control within the family and the other tables. Josh had been strung out, but it had been easy to write off given that it was Nik. They all understood Peri's reaction, he just hadn't put it into context with everything else that was going on. If he was honest, he had been devastated that she wouldn't see any of them during that time. He hadn't acknowledged the depths of his feelings then, though he knew he felt more for her than he should have for his brother's woman.

"The point is, Josh needs to know that nothing between us has changed and when he feels me slipping even a little bit, well it unbalances his world," she took a breath. "Your father calls him domineering and a perfectionist in all facets of his life, and I can't say I disagree, but I also know that he is kind and generous and fair which balances out the other side of his personality. It's all about that balance, if that makes sense."

"Yes," Dante said quietly looking back over the year and all they had been through together in his minds eye.

"You, on the other hand, are intuitive and confident because you can read people. You are emotional and loving even in your dark times. You can see when someone needs support or the harsh truth and give it in equal measure. I don't think you realise just how much your brothers rely on you for that. Ben seriously lost it when he didn't have you to turn to the night of the shooting," Peri reached up to touch his cheek again.

"I think you have me mistaken with Lio," he said with a wry smile and reached up to take her hand from his cheek holding it softly in his own.

"You are an amazing man and people probably don't tell you often enough how important you are to them because Lio was always there to be the good guy. Even when he was alive, you were the one they all leant on, despite his sweetness. He may not have been as controlling as Josh, but Lio was a perfectionist, at work at least if not at home."

"He was," Dante chuckled acknowledging the fact.

"Ben and Romey have not taken their wives part in what happened at the auction house well," Peri said softly, "They need your understanding, and they need your forgiveness. Most of all they just need you and your natural way of seeing to the heart of the matter." She acknowledged the surprise on his face.

"There is nothing to forgive them for," he was stunned by the idea. He knew the full story, and he didn't blame either of the women. They had after all gone to Peri with the warning thinking the attack would be the following day. They had tried to avert what happened.

"Tomorrow when we dock, Vincenzo is bringing Ben to the boat and Charles is bringing Romey and Pete. They'd like to take you out for some manly bonding while deep sea fishing," she said, "Surprise!" she said cheerfully, but the concern in her eyes showed as she waited for his reaction.

"Whose suggestion was this?" he asked carefully remembering her earlier words.

"The fishing trip was my idea," Peri admitted.

"You said earlier that it was a suggestion," he narrowed his eyes and reached out for the bottle to refill their glasses.

"Your father came to me last week concerned about Josh. He suggested date night, I took it one step further and probably over organised everything," she bit her lip and looked down at their entwined hands.

"So you sent Josh off today so you could have this time with me, and you will send me off so you can go to Josh?" he asked not showing any emotion in his expression or voice.

"Are you mad at me?" She whispered.

"I feel like I have been ambushed, but I'm not mad. You've made me think about some things differently, and that will take some adjustment. I've never seen Josh as a control freak. I can see elements of it now you have pointed it out. I like the idea of Date Night, but you don't have to occupy my time like you would a child, while you spend time with Josh, if that is what he needs, I would never begrudge the two of you time alone. I am, however looking forward to our time alone tonight," he took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. "I appreciate your honesty and your insight, thank you."

"You are an amazing man, and I love you," she said looking up into his face

"I may be content to share your affections, but you are every bit as much mine now as you are Josh's. I have told Josh that I could never let you go now and walk away even if that is what he wanted. I know we told him that in the beginning but I am so in love with you that it would be impossible ever to do it now," he kissed her deeply pulling her against his body. "If it were up to me we would forgo dinner and head back downstairs again, but you will need your stamina for what I have in mind," he grinned. "Why don't we see if we can speed up the event a little."

"I'll go and find the steward," Peri smiled in relief that he wasn't upset for making the plans the way she had without telling him. She hoped it went as well with Josh as she tried to explain she needed time alone with Dante as well as him.

Dante watched her walk away considering all that she had said. He was almost ten years older than Josh and although they had spent time together during vacations and holidays he had missed most of his youngest brothers growing years leaving for boarding school when Josh was barely three and never returning home in a full-time capacity. Not that it would have mattered he thought, by that time Josh would have been at the same boarding school he had graduated from.

They were close, or at least he had thought they were, with family meetings in the city once Josh had started work. Josh even hung out with both himself and Emilio socially from time to time. How had he not seen Josh's controlling nature until it was pointed out to him? He had seen glimpses of it along with his perfectionism, but all of his brothers had confidence that bordered on arrogance in their personalities. They had grown up in a privileged world where nothing they did could not be undone by their family connections. He'd tested that theory often enough in his youth getting Emilio out of bar room brawls.

This was far from a boat, Dante thought and laughed at her word for the luxury yacht as he glanced up to where she stood to talk to the crew on the deck above where he sat. She'd gone to a lot of trouble and pulled herself away from the nursery and her babies to make this time with him and Josh possible. He'd never met a woman like her. She constantly sacrificed her needs for those around her. He determined that this, their first date, would be memorable for her, and he smiled as he watched her move from his line of sight, he guessed to move back to where he sat.

"So this is Vincenzo's catamaran?" Dante asked as she returned.

"Yes, it was lovely of him to let us have it a day early," she grinned. "We can go up to the dining area if you like but the first course won't be ready for a little while yet."

"We can finish our champagne then," he said easily pulling her back down onto the couch with him. "Thank you for this, I needed to get out of the house after so long being stuck there healing, how did you get Pete to agree to it?"

"I hinted that you would spend most of the time in bed, and I promised not to let you overdo anything," she admitted blushing slightly. "There isn't anything you would do here during a night with me that you couldn't do at home unless you're planning on swimming and I sincerely hope you're not."

"No, I'm not planning on swimming," he chuckled and kissed her. "I just thought that I could have spent the evening in bed with you at home, and it would be a crime to waste this beautiful view by spending all of it below decks."

Peri looked at him quizzically as he picked up her champagne glass and passed it to her. She took a sip and leaned back snuggling into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The sun had gone down, but the last of its light still stained the horizon with its golden glow as the darkness marched across the sky uncovering stars as it went.

"What delectable menu have you devised for us?" Dante asked into the silence.

"Truthfully, Zita said that the chef was superb, and she would organise that for me. I hope you don't mind it was one less thing I had to think about, and I am not very good at choosing wines that go with different dishes," she apologised.

"Oh my God, you know what this means?" Dante asked sitting back and looking at her in horror. He saw the panic register in her eyes, and he smirked. "You're not perfect? I've discovered your weakness. I am so relieved. I was starting to believe you were too perfect, and I could never measure up." He laughed heartily as she shook her head the tension flowing from her.

"If you wanted perfection, you are definitely looking in the wrong place here," she continued to shake her head.

"You are perfect in every way that matters, my love," he tilted her head up and tenderly kissed her taking his time to enjoy just being here in the moment.

"Who are you and what have you done with the man I love?" Peri asked feeling the difference in his kiss and hearing his full laugh for the first time it seemed since the New Year's Eve party.

"Oh, he's here," his hand dropped to her breast flicking the nipple below the soft material making her eyes widen. "I have just decided to slow down and enjoy every moment of this evening with you starting with wishing on the evening star for many more nights like this." He pointed at a bright star hovering above the horizon.

Peri snuggled back into his side and smiled contentedly as she sipped her champagne. She felt the arm wrapped around her slide under her arm and his fingers play over the soft material covering her breast as they sat in silence watching the stars appear above them.