R. MATTHEWS DISCLAIMER! This story i...

  R. MATTHEWS DISCLAIMER!   This story is about two-thirds of the way written at this very moment.  What that means is that even though this first chapter is fairly solid, there’s a very good chance that it may see some changes by the time it officially publishes.  This has also not gone through any professional editing either, so please do allow me some grace if you come across any errors.  Now that that’s out of the way, let me say a huge THANK YOU for your interest in the Masquerade series!  I can’t tell you how great it is to know that my work has resonated with readers.  I honestly never thought that would happen.  When I finished Her Soundtrack in the beginning of Spring, I was fully prepared to comfortably close the door on Ella and Jonathan and let them live their lives.  Of course, I was always day dreaming about what they were up to, but nothing more.  Since clicking ‘publish’ at the end of June, all of your wonderful, endearing and encouraging comments have poured in and I couldn’t help but start writing about them again.  So it’s thanks to you that this sequel is on the way!  Thank you again for all of your amazing support.  In exchange for this chapter, I only ask two things of you… first, tell me what you think of it!  And second, please, please, please help me spread the word about the series.  Happy reading!  Renee  iv HIS SOUNDTRACK                                   v

 

I  
 
I’ve Got the World on a String                    
                                              – Frank Sinatra
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I am a king.
I woke up in my favorite way to wake up.  I had a girl under each arm, both brunettes; one with long, dark curly hair and the other with light brown curly hair.  They were both devastatingly gorgeous with thick, long lashes and they were both breathing deeply as they slept, snuggled tightly against my chest.  My grin had gotten wider these days and it was definitely because of them.  
The morning sunlight crept in through the gauzy cream colored curtains of the French doors.  Valentina’s eye lids began to twitch a little and I started the countdown to when she’d actually wake up.  Even though she had an olive complexion, the skin of her eyelids was pretty pale and thin.  Enough so that I could see all of the fine little lines of red networking under the thin skin of her eyelids.  I found that intricate network ridiculously pretty and interesting.  Who knew I’d ever spend this much time thinking about eyelid skin?  And who knew I’d ever call it pretty?  Not me.
Claudia probably would have seen it coming, but she’s clever like that.  She can read a person pretty well now and she probably would have laughed at me and my stupid eyelid skin thoughts and lovingly told me I was a goner.
It was all thanks to the girl on the other side of me though.  
Ella.
Ella breathed life into me and then gave me one better; our daughter, Valentina.  The fact that they were both tucked into my sides was not a treasure I took for granted either.  It was a miracle they were both there beside me.  They should have died.  They would have died.    Every doctor in the hospital said so.  Just the thought makes me shudder.  But my beautiful girls had strength.  As a proud man, I always liked to think I had strength, but it wasn’t like theirs.  Theirs ran so deep.
Naturally, the best and worst day of my life had to be one and the same.  
Both of the curly, brown heads that lay on my bare chest started to stir, but Ella beat Valentina by opening her eyes first.  She squinted a few times and then smiled.  That smile just killed me every time.  I was helpless against it.  And believe me, I had to work to get a smile out of her.  
The first time I’d seen Ella was at that fated masquerade party
in Italy and she definitely wasn’t smiling that night.  That doesn’t mean she wasn’t still the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, with her perfection of a bowed mouth and big, beautiful eyes.  She was just nervous that night.  I had suspected as much, but she confirmed to me later that going to the masquerade that night was definitely stepping outside of the box for her.  She’d gone against her parents, something she never did, and took a chance; also something she never did.  I was stepping outside of the box too, for that matter.  I wasn’t even supposed to be there.
I’d only planned on being in Italy for two days, max.  I was going to swoop in, snatch the property from Pat Kelly, and swoop back out.  But something happened between the swoop and the snatch.  
The concierge for the hotel I was staying at caught my eye.  She was an unnaturally blond Italian woman with very long legs and a great accent.  She was just my type.  I don’t even remember her name, but when I attempted my charms on her earlier that day, she easily succumbed like they always did.  She encouraged me to go to the hotel’s masquerade party that night, saying she’d be there herself.  That night, I threw on my tux, which my personal assistant, Nina, knew was a staple when packing for an international flight, and went down to the terrace to find the tall blonde.  Day in, day out, this had been my life.  Business warfare during the day, nameless blonde to ride at night.  It was all pretty standard for me, procedure wise.  What I found instead was anything but procedure.
Gabriella Marie Kelly.  
She stunned me.  And I don’t get stunned.  I swear, she was glowing that night.  When I think back on it, everyone and everything else at the masquerade but her seems dull and dark; all the men in their black tuxes and the women in their sleek, colorful dresses with these wild masks, but not my Ella.  She wore an ivory dress that was all puffy on the bottom, like Cinderella, but fitted at the top like a vixen. 
She was hotter than hell.
She doesn’t believe me when I tell her that every man was
staring at her that night, but it’s true.  There are far too many beautiful women in the world out there who don’t get how attractive they are simply because stupid men are too busy being too intimidated to talk to them.  Lucky for my girl, I’m a cocky son of a bitch.  
It was a miracle I got that dirty old perv off her when I did.  As soon as I saw her, I forgot all about the blonde and went to make a beeline for Ella.  I took my eyes off of her for a second, hoping to grab a couple of glasses of champagne to help my charms on my way across the terrace.  When I looked back a second later, some trash bag with a gnarled face mask was trying to mark my territory.  I immediately abandoned my champagne mission and took back what I knew was already mine.  
If I thought she was gorgeous from across the terrace, she was indescribable up close.  The first thing I noticed was her eyes.  They were big and bright with life and the same dark chocolate color as her hair.  When she stared at me that first time, I swear I could see her soul.  And it was even more beautiful than her perfect heart-shaped face.  I know it sounds crazy, but I think I knew I loved her from the moment I saw her.
When I had thought that she was mine from across the terrace, I had no idea how deep that sentiment would end up being, and how, in all reality, it’s the other way around.  I’m hers.  I like to walk around like I’m the man of the house, and by default, that term is true, but like the British guy says in that movie she loves, she has bewitched me, body and soul.  She could ask anything of me, anything, and as long as it wouldn’t harm her, I’d do whatever I could to make it happen.  
And even though she can’t talk yet, I know it’ll be the same when it comes to my Valentina too.  Never in a million years did I think I would end up being a sappy family man.  I saw my father and mother and the products of that marriage didn’t seem so great.  I generally enjoyed the game of the business world and chasing women, but I was under no illusions that I was some awesome human being. 
And, at the time, my sister Claudia was such a shell of a person… it was a thought I feel terrible about now, but I didn’t exactly see us as some amazing offspring.  Like I said, I was busy being amused with the game that was my life.  I thought that wife and kids stuff was for other guys, but definitely not me.  
But something changed when I met Ella.  She changed the way my heart beats.  After meeting this sweet, beautiful, funny person, suddenly the idea of being locked down wasn’t so bad.  At first, when I assumed she’d be a fling, long-time fling, but still fling, I actually felt myself missing her.  And I didn’t even know her.  When she’d shut me out after we first met, she left a gaping hole in my chest and the only remedy was her essence.  Before I knew it, I was looking to lock her down, not the other way around.  I’m eternally grateful to my baby girl for helping me make serious headway with that mission.
“Hi baby,” my sleepy wife mumbled.
Wife and daughter were my new favorite words in the entire
English language.  It’s just that mine were the best.
I kissed her forehead and inhaled deeply.  I could smell Ella’s shampoo, which I’d discovered was some kind of light honey scent, and I could smell Valentina’s baby scent.  When the two mixed together, I felt euphoric.
“This is becoming a really bad habit, Jonathan.  You know we’re not supposed to have her in the bed with us.  They say people roll over when they’re sleeping and don’t even realize they’ve hurt the baby.”  
“Come on, Ella, it’s fine.  Besides, she was crying and she sleeps longer with us anyway.”
She only frowned back.  Like any good new mom, Ella was
always trying to follow the rules and I couldn’t blame her.
Valentina’s face scrunched up to match her mother’s just then and I knew what was coming.
Right on cue, she wailed herself awake.  Ella sat up and I
shifted my body so I could cradle my little baby in my big arms.  “Shh shh shh, it’s okay, pretty girl, shh shh shh.”  I gave her a little rock in my arms, but she kept crying.  That’s when momma came to the rescue.
Ella gently scooped Valentina up from my arms and the crying
ceased, but I didn’t take offense.  I simply didn’t have what Valentina wanted.  And thank God for that.  
Ella slid one shoulder of her silky pink nightgown down, revealing half of her perfect chest while I wordlessly put a bunch of pillows behind her.  Leaning back onto the new mound of pillows behind her, she let out an exhausted sigh and closed her eyes while Valentina latched on eagerly.  We had a nice rhythm and developed a groove as parents.  We were a good team and words were often not necessary. 
“I feel like a cow,” Ella said with her tired eyes still closed.
I laughed, “Well, you are being drained of milk…”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t.  You love me.  A lot,” I replied after kissing her cheek while Valentina sucked on.
“I want a guy to know what this feels like; whipping your giant, engorged boob out and having a little mouth suck away for milk…”
‘Giant’ and ‘engorged’ were actually pretty good descriptors.  They were both those things these days.  And I loved them.  Ella was pushing past a double-D cup size and I was a happy husband.
“I thought you said you like nursing?”
Ella sighed and opened her eyes, “I do, I love knowing I can
nourish my baby and it’s very natural and all that, it’s just getting a little old after six months… Does that make me a horrible mother?”
“Ella, you’re the best mother I’ve ever seen,” I said, staring her straight in the eyes.  I still got a little mesmerized by the depth her eyes had, like she was hypnotizing me.
“Really?” she questioned as she propped the baby over her shoulder for a burp.
“Look at you, love, you’re a natural.  And if it’s any help, Valentina was telling me last night that she thinks you’re pretty awesome.”
Ella finally gave me smile with a little chuckle and I literally
felt my heart get warmer.  “Oh really?  She said that?”
“Scout’s honor,” I said, holding up two fingers to swear to it. 
“Frankly, she wouldn’t shut up about it.  I finally had to put the binky in her mouth to make her be quiet.”  
That really got a laugh out of her and she leaned forward toward me, still cradling the baby, and I met her halfway with the kiss I knew she was looking for.  “Thank you, Jonathan.”
“I’ll never get why you’re ever insecure about anything.  You rock pretty much anything I’ve ever seen you do.”  
Ella sighed, I hoped out of contentment, and held the baby out to face her.  “Okay Teenie, what do you want to wear to church today? 
How about that lacey white dress Nonna gave you?”
Ella and I had a boy and girl name picked out before Valentina was born and neither of them was Valentina.  She came into the waking world on Valentine’s Day, so it was fitting.  And she looks like a Valentina.  With her violet eyes, head full of curly brown hair, and perfect face, just like her mother’s, it’s a fact that she was the prettiest baby ever born and has only gotten prettier since.  When you look at her, you can see that when she’s older, she’s going to be a stunner just like her mom.  That’s when I’m going to have to lock her away in a tower and some chump is going to have to fight me to the death for the key.
When Ella finally regained full consciousness two days after Valentina was born, she was looking down into our baby’s face, who was yet unnamed, cooing and saying, “Are you mommy’s beautiful little valentine?”  Valentina naturally came spilling from her lips a minute later and we both loved it.
Valentina Anna di Luca.
Anna was my mother’s name.  Valentina would never meet the woman who gave her, her middle name, but I hoped she’d have a little of her warmth tucked inside her heart anyway.  
It wasn’t long after she was born that we started calling her
‘Teenie’ for short.  It’s cute and sweet and I discovered if you say, “Teenie, Teenie, Teenie!” really quickly while pretending to eat her feet, she giggles like a little loon.  I love it.
Life wasn’t getting much better than this.  
I started to caress the outside of Ella’s thigh, just little strokes, at first with the back of my hand and then with the pads of my fingers, developing a lazy rhythm.  Valentina’s eyes started to look a little heavy and I went in for a long, slow kiss of Ella’s neck.  “How about when Valentina takes her post-breakfast snooze, you and I have a prebreakfast naughty fest?”
Ella feigned being appalled, “Jonathan, it’s Sunday morning!”
“So?  We’re married.  It’s what we’re supposed to do.  God wants us to have sex.”
I got a swift smack in the arm.  Ella meant it to hurt, but it definitely didn’t.  “I can’t believe you just said that!  And I think it’s meant more for pro-creation purposes when it comes to God.”
“Fine, let’s have a pre-breakfast procreation fest.”  I was
trying, but failing at hiding my grin.  “I’ll procreate with you all day long.  We can make a kid every year, like that family down south. 
Look at this one,” I said, nodding my head out toward our prefect little baby who was resting peacefully against Ella’s chest, “We make really great kids.  Look how pretty this one is.”
Ella responded with a sideways glance and a smile and I knew I had my window.  I gently scooped Valentina off her chest, trying to be careful not to jostle her from her dozed state, and brought her into her room next to ours, laying her carefully in her crib.  I paused for a second, looking down to see her soft little face scrunch up.  For a quick beat, I was worried she’d start crying, but then her pretty little nose and eyes relaxed and I knew the coast was clear.  I lightly traced a little heart on her belly and made a dash for it.
I sprinted back into our bedroom and pounced hard on the bed like a tiger.  Ella squealed as she bounced up a little from the force of my attack.   
Hell yeah, this is going to be fun.
Without a word, I started to crawl on all fours from the end of the bed, closer and closer to where she waited for me in all her perfection.  Her long, dark hair was spilling all around her, against the pillows and the top of her nightgown was still down from when she was nursing, leaving her large, round breast on display for me.  I licked my lips as I stalked toward her.  I was like an animal and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into her.  Literally.
“Jonathan…” she started to whine a little.  And not the good kind of whining.
“No,” I replied firmly and paused mid-stalk.  “I’m not hearing that now or ever again.  You’re perfect.”  
After we got the ‘all- clear’ for sex after Valentina was born, I was dying to resume our addictive routine of having sex at least once a day.  We did at first, but lately we were down to just a few times a week and there was a big reason why.  Ella, my perfect, gorgeous, sexy Ella, was so insecure about her post-baby body that when the mood struck her, or didn’t strike her, she would avoid ever being naked with me.  “Do you need another reminder of how sexy I think you are?”
“But I still have a pooch,” she whined.  “I gained fifty-fivepounds with Valentina and I’ve only lost thirty.  My hips are permanently wide now, they’re never going back.  I swear, I’m going to have a hard time getting through doorways.  And you can say you like big boobs all you want, but they’re just huge and gross and they’re starting to sag now…” I saw tears start to pool at the edges of her eyes and it broke my heart.  I leaned up, kissing her lashes and tasting the salty tears that tried to escape.  “There’s no way you could want me like this, Jonathan.”
She was legitimately upset.  Not like other girls I’d known who would down themselves just so you’d compliment them.  Somehow, my perfect angel thought she was lesser and I felt like I failed her as a husband.  I should have told her every second of the day how beautiful and sexy she was.
“Ella, I’ve heard enough of this.  You’re a beautiful woman. 
When we go places, men stare.  I know you don’t notice it, but they do.  And frankly, you needed the extra weight, you were too skinny before. 
And I love your hips and your tits.  Yeah, they’re bigger than before, but that’s a good thing.  Honestly, I think you’re hotter now than before you were pregnant.”
 “No you don’t.  You’re just saying that so you can get lucky.”
There she is.  I could see the tiny glint of humor in her eyes,
telling me my girl was in there; the pretty, sassy love of my life.  “Fine, I’ll just have to keep showing you how hot you are,” I said as I playfully sucked on her neck and pulled the other strap of her nightie down to reveal the rest of her.  “I hope you don’t have any plans because I’ll go all day if I have to.”
Crawling back down to the edge of the bed, I grabbed Ella’s ankles and yanked her roughly toward me, spreading her legs wide. 
They’d have to be wide for what I was planning.  Still with a firm grip on her ankles, I kissed my way up one leg, from toes to ankle, ankle to calf then knee.  From her knee, I licked a slow, wet line up to her center where another wet pool waited for me.  
Let it be known, I never liked going down on a woman before I met Ella.  It was a means to an end.  When I was with women during my bachelor days, I’d show off my oral talents and make them lose their minds in the hopes of reciprocity.  After a while, the older I got, the more experience I had under my belt.  But more importantly, the higher I rose in the business world, the more I realized, I didn’t need to do any of that, so I simply didn’t.  With Ella, it was different.  I was practically feral with her.  As soon as I met her, there was something about her that made me want to dive in, tongue first.  
I never realized how much pleasure would be gotten from giving.  It was the ‘thank you’ that made it worth it—not what Ella would do in return, but her uninhibited reaction to receiving pleasure was almost pleasure enough for me.  Almost.  
Little whimpers echoed from the back of her throat and I knew I’d won the battle, at least for then.  In the back of my mind, I thought that perhaps if she talked with a therapist about the trauma she suffered, it’d help her non-existent self-esteem too.
Swiping my tongue along her seam, she moaned deeply and opened her legs further, giving me better access.  I brought my eyes up as she brought hers down to meet mine and the desire I saw there was immeasurable.  Her lids were half closed and her eyebrows were slightly raised, as if in anticipation of the pleasure I was guaranteeing she was about to experience.  She parted her lips and ran her tongue along her plump bottom lip and I went wild.  
My heart rate accelerated as I continued working my tongue in and out of her and she fisted my hair while she caressed her full breasts with her delicate fingers.  
“Baby…” she moaned.  
“Yes…” she hissed.
                                      “More…” she whined.
                                               “Jonathan!” she screamed.
Her thighs began quivering on either side of my face and I couldn’t take it anymore.  Getting up on my knees, I took her mouth with my own for a long solid, tongue and soul searching moment, then flipped her onto her stomach in one quick motion and pulled her hips back and up.  Her round ass looked like a damn work of art as it was propped up into the air, practically begging me to take her.  So I did.  
Using her own moisture, I stroked my cock so it wouldn’t hurt her when I drove inside.  Her tight little opening wanted to stay tight, so as I probed for entry, I reached a hand around to the front of her and began stroking little circles around her bud.  This relaxed her muscles all over and I gained the access I was looking for.
“Oh, God!” I growled when I was fully inside.  It felt amazing. 
It didn’t take more than a few slow, deliberate pumps inside her tight body before my own pressure built and built until it spilled over and I exploded inside her.  My body shook and I circled my arms around her, holding her soft body as close to mine as possible.
“Mmm…” she moaned in satisfaction before collapsing into the bed.
Ditto.