Behind the Masque Book 2

ROXANNE

Spence throws me down onto the bed, jumping on top of me as soon as my back hits the mattress, and I’m giggling uncontrollably.

“God, I love that sound,” he smiles, hovering over me.

His hair flops down into his face, and I reach up and smooth it back for him as I calm down. A soft sigh leaves my lips as he dips his head down and kisses me gently, his arms supporting his weight on either side of my head.

My hands find their way to his collar, and my fingers start tugging at the buttons of his white shirt. I miss the feeling of his skin on mine.

I get the last button undone and tug his shirt out of his pants, then push it off his shoulders. He helps me out by sitting up, straddling me, and pulling his hands out of mine; he throws the shirt aside.

“Your turn,” he smirks, and I lift my arms over my head, waiting.

He reaches down and makes quick work of removing my shirt. Then he just stares at me for a moment before nodding.

“Yes, much better.”

“I think you’re still wearing too many clothes, Mr. Manfredi,” I giggle, eyeing his pants that are now tented by his straining erection.

He looks down at himself and chuckles.

“I’ve been holding it in for a week, baby, thought I’d save it all for you.”

“Same here,” I tell him.

“Really now?” he raises an eyebrow. “You didn’t give yourself a hand all week?”

I shake my head.

“I guess we’re just going to have to take care of that now, aren’t we?” he purrs, reaching for the button of my jeans and releasing it; he slides my zipper down slowly.

He hooks his fingers into the hem of my pants, sliding them down my legs and tossing them aside. He then runs his warm hands back up my legs, awakening all my senses.

He reaches for my panties and pulls them off as well, and then he reaches for my knees and gently parts them.

He gazes between them with an expression that only makes me wetter. I reach down between my legs and touch myself there for him to see, and he looks up and meets my eyes, licking his lips.

“You want me there, Roxanne?” he murmurs, lowering himself between my legs.

“I want you to kiss me there,” I whisper.

Being with Spence has really made me more vocal about what I like and want. He brings it out of me.

“Your wish is my command.” He smiles before lowering his mouth onto my sex.

He moves his tongue in gentle little circles around my clit, warming me up. I gasp and tangle my fingers into his hair, tugging on it.

“More, Spence,” I breathe.

He hums his acknowledgment and then starts covering more area, sliding his tongue up and down and from side to side. I groan and buck my hips against his mouth, pulling harder on his hair.

Spence adds two fingers to the mix, slowly and torturously moving them in and out until I can’t take it anymore. I sit up abruptly, and Spence looks up at me in confusion.

“Get on your back!” I order. I want him in my mouth right now.

He flashes his teeth and happily obliges. I flip over and straddle his legs, quickly undoing his belt and fly and desperately tugging his pants off; I chuck them clear across my room.

“Whoa, Roxanne!” he laughs as his pants hit the wall. “Happy to see me?”

I don’t answer him. Instead, I very nearly rip his underwear off, releasing him. I lean down and take his beautiful cock into my hands, stroking him gently.

Spence sucks in air through his teeth and closes his eyes. I smile and bend forward, brushing my lips against his tip and then up and down the shaft without putting him in my mouth, teasing him.

“Roxanne,” Spence warns, peeking at me through hooded eyelids.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask him innocently, sticking my tongue out and flicking the head with it.

He jerks slightly.

“I want you to put my cock in your mouth,” he groans, swiveling his hips as I stroke him again.

My mouth hovers just over him so he can feel my breath.

“Yeah?” I whisper against him.

“Yeah,” he grunts, reaching down and running his fingers through my hair.

I smile up at him and finally give him what he wants, taking him into my mouth.

“Fuck!” he gasps, placing his other hand in my hair and holding on as I work some magic.

He’s so big and smooth, and he tastes so good. It took me a while to fully get used to his size, but I’ve come to really love every single inch of him.

I love to see this powerful man come apart at my will. I suck and stroke him in an even rhythm, savoring him. After not having him for a week, I suck him like my life depended on it.

“Fuck me, Roxanne,” Spence growls, grabbing my shoulders to stop me.

I shoot him a satisfied smile and climb on top of him. I place my hands on his chest to brace myself and slowly sink down onto him.

Now that we are monogamous, Spence and I have done away with condoms and pretty much rely on my birth control, which I take religiously; I don’t want any accidents to happen, but I do enjoy the skin-on-skin feeling.

At first, I only go down halfway, trying to get accustomed to the fullness. Then I lift up and go back down again, going all the way this time.

Spence slides his hands up my chest and fondles my breasts as I start moving my hips back and forth to create delicious friction. I lean over him and take his bottom lip between mine, sucking on it.

Spence grabs my face and kisses me hard, thrusting his tongue into my mouth, not caring where it just was. I sit back up and smile down at his handsome face.

The way he looks up at me is the way every woman wants to be looked at by the man she loves. Love, lust, and reverence all wrapped up into one hot gaze.

Spence grabs my hands in his as I ride him harder, helping me keep up the pace.

“That’s right, baby,” he murmurs encouragingly and swivels his hips slightly, hitting all the right spots.

I moan loudly as I push myself against him even harder, feeling my orgasm building quickly.

Spence releases my hands and places his hands on my hips moving me forward and backward, knowing exactly what I need from him.

The buildup finally plateaus and spills over, sending strong pulses through me, and I cry out some garbled version of Spence’s name as he pushes into me even deeper until I feel a ripple run through him, and he holds me still as he comes with a loud grunt.

I collapse forward onto Spence’s chest, now slightly damp with sweat, and he wraps his arms around me, holding on tight and in no hurry to release me. I don’t want him to.

Spence and I have been an official couple for nearly seven months now. After I got back from Italy, Spence was a really great friend to me, never once making any advances on me.

He gave me the space I had needed but also support. As the months went by, working closely together, we started hanging out more and more.

The feelings got stronger until I gave in to them and realized that I wanted to be with him.

I haven’t seen or heard from Seth since that night at the restaurant; he apparently cut off all ties from Lucas and Spence.

I had tried to reach him when I got back from Italy to no avail. He would not answer my calls or return my messages. I must have hurt him more than I thought.

It’s still something that haunts me deeply, the way his face looked that night when I pulled away in the limousine with Spence. I was never able to tell him that it wasn’t what he thought.

That night, I had not gone home with Spence, and I never got the chance to tell Seth otherwise. I still miss him, but he’s gone now, and everyone has moved on.

Spence strokes my back, and I lay my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat slow down.

“I still don’t know why you bought this place when I told you could just move in with me,” Spence says quietly, peeking down at me.

“Spence, I told you I’m not ready for that yet,” I sigh.

He bugs me about this all the time, but I like the sense of security that having my own place offers me.

“I think you’re just scared,” he replies.

“Scared? No, I’m not scared,” I contest.

“I think you are worried that if we were to break up, you’ll have nothing to fall back on.”

He’s got a point there. That is one of the reasons I don’t want to move in with him.

“But I don’t think we’re going to break up, Roxanne,” he adds.

I look up at him, and he’s gazing down at me.

“Spence…,” I start, but I don’t know what to say exactly.

How do I respond to that? How can he know that for sure?

“I love you, Roxanne, and I want to be with you every night, in the same bed. Come on, move in with me,” he implores me.

“I love you too, but I can’t, Spence.” I shake my head slightly, and he sighs loudly.

I know this frustrates him, but I cannot give up my independence. I don’t want to rely on Spence like that yet. He had even offered to buy this place for me when I got it.

I’d adamantly refused, which only got me a ridiculous pay raise that I thought was overkill. Then I told him to take it back because it wasn’t fair to everybody else, and what did he do?

He gave Chris the same raise, and increased the rest of the kitchen staff’s pay by at least another thousand a month, which is way, way beyond the standard pay grade.

That was one big drunken celebratory party they held in Spence’s honor. We’ve since been bombarded with new applications when word got out about his generosity.

“What do I have to do to convince you?” he finally asks, clearly unwilling to drop the subject.

“Spence, please just drop it okay?” I plead, sitting up.

He sits up too and shifts so that we’re now sitting cross-legged and facing each other, our knees touching.

“I don’t want to drop it, Rox,” he shakes his head. “We’ve been together for seven months now, and I want to take the next step.”

“Spence, I spend the night at your house all the time,” I argue.

“It’s not enough. I hate it when you leave.”

He reaches out and takes my hands in his, begging me with his eyes.

“Seven months is not that long…,” I murmur, grasping at straws, trying to come up with a better argument.

He frowns at me and tilts his head to the side, something clearly going through his head.

We sit there staring at each other in silence for a long minute before he speaks again, and what he says next is not something I would have ever expected.

“Marry me, Roxanne,” he implores, but somehow it comes out sounding more like a statement than a question.

My heart stops beating, my eyes bulge out of their sockets, and my mouth goes dry. Did he just say what I think he said?

“What?” I gasp.

“You heard me. Marry me, Roxanne. I love you. I want to be with you forever. I know this scares you, seeing that I have been married twice before, but it’s different this time.

“I’m tired of playing ‘the single game’, and I don’t want to do it anymore. I’m ready to settle down for good.”

Holy shit!

“Spence…I uh…,” I stutter.

Oh my God, Spence has just proposed to me. I had not seen this coming in a million years. I pull my gaze away from his and stare nervously down at our entwined hands. ~What do I do?~

Is this something I want? I had never really envisioned it happening. It’s so soon!

“Please say something, Roxanne,” Spence says softly, pulling his hands from mine and gently tilting my chin up to look at him.

His deep hazel eyes burn into me with such overwhelming intensity that I can really feel how much he loves me, and I do love him; so, what’s my problem?

This amazing man wants to be with me forever. Who would have thought it? How ever did I get here? My heart is beating erratically, threatening to jump right out of my chest.

Answer him already, Roxanne! Come on. Do it!

“Yes,” I whisper.

Really? Did I just say that? I just said yes! Spence’s lips slowly curl up until it’s a face-splitting grin, unleashing the full power of his smile.

“Really?” he whispers back in disbelief.

I nod slowly, my own lips turning up, and I realize that I’m happy, really happy. Spence pulls my face to his and kisses me hard; excitedly, I wrap my arms around his neck, giggling into his mouth.

Spence pulls away first, then abruptly gets up off the bed and runs naked out of my room as I stare after him in confusion. He comes back in after a minute, holding a little black box. Oh God!

Spence sits back down on the bed facing me and holds the box out in his palm. HW is emblazoned on the top of the box, and I recognize this to mean Harry Winston.

Not taking his eyes off me as I stare dumbfounded at the box, Spence opens it to reveal the ring. I’m almost blinded by it—it’s a large square-cut diamond surrounded by tiny diamonds on a platinum band. It’s absolutely stunning, and I don’t even want to know how much it probably cost.

“I’ve been thinking of doing this for a little while now, Roxanne, and I thought I would wait and do this in a different way.

“Maybe something a little grander, but I just couldn’t wait anymore,” he says seriously as he pulls the ring out and sets the box aside.

I finally manage to tear my eyes away from the ring and look up at him. I feel tears forming as I stare at him; they spill over as he takes my hand in his and slowly slides the ring onto my finger.

“Oh Spence,” I gasp.

“I love you, Roxanne,” Spence chokes, and I realize he’s emotional too.

“I love you too!” I cry and leap forward, practically tackling him as I hug him tightly.

“So, will you move in with me now?” he chuckles into my shoulder, kissing me there.

“I’ll think about it,” I joke.

“It’ll be done by the end of the week if I have anything to say about it,” he promises.

Spence and I make love a few more times, and it’s now almost eight pm, and I realize that I’m starving. My stomach agrees and lets out a loud growl. Spence chuckles quietly.

“I guess we should eat, huh?” he says.

“Yeah,” I murmur.

“Well then, as much as I would love to lie here with you forever, our other human needs need to be met. Come on, let’s go out for a bite,” he suggests, sitting up.

“You wanna go out?” I ask, not so sure I feel like it.

“Sure, let’s go celebrate. It’s our engagement night, Roxanne, and I also know that you really don’t have much in that fridge of yours.” He laughs.

“Yeah, I guess I haven’t had time to shop lately. I’ve been eating most meals at the restaurant,” I tell him, sitting up as well.

“Maybe you need some time off,” he hints.

“No, Spence, I don’t,” I affirm.

I do my best to curtail his habit of favoring me.

“Okay, okay, I know,” he nods, used to my protesting by now. “Come on, let's go have a shower and get ready,” he says, holding his hand out to me.

I take it and stand, and we head into my large bathroom—much larger than my previous one—which I will soon be saying goodbye to since I’ll be moving into Spence’s palace. How did I get here? What has just happened?

One minute, I’m Spence’s girlfriend, and now, I’m his fiancée? ~I had no inclination that that was where we were headed.~

I, Roxanne Vice, have just agreed to become Mrs. Spence Manfredi number three.