The Twelve Tables Ch. 15

"Josh," she said tentatively, pulling away from his slightly. "I know how important your family is to you but after breakfast, I don't want to go to any more family gatherings, for a while at least." Last night had upset her and she had felt suffocated after returning to the party. Only a few of her friends had been there out of the hundreds of guests invited. She had been a stranger at her engagement party and she had hated the feeling.

"We've only seen them all so much recently because of the holidays and then, well what's happened. Honestly aside of family celebrations and the gatherings, I don't expect you will see them at all," he said easily. "You don't even have to work with them if you don't want to, you can work with me, or work from home, until things get better for us both." He continued to refrain from putting the blame solely on her for their difficulties.

"I don't think working from home would work with all Andie's work stuff lying around," Peri laughed softly.

"Maybe we should look for a place of our own," he suggested. "Just the two of us no family dropping by unannounced and having Andie let them in," he smiled. "I can sell my place and we can buy something we both like here in the city and eventually build a family home out at the vineyard if you still want to. It could be the fresh start we both need at the moment."

"Andie's been so good to me, I don't know that I could leave her on her own," Peri said thoughtfully.

"I doubt she would be by herself, she and Charles are very close in case you hadn't noticed," Josh said surprising himself. Charles hadn't been interested in a long term relationship since the death of his wife. Andie though had seemed to get past that barrier and Josh was fairly sure that Andie was just waiting for Peri to move on before she made any plans of her own. He decided to have a chat with Charles about it. Things weren't always as they seemed and it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I know that in your family the women become part of their husband's family and tend to leave their families behind but Andie is all I have; all I've ever had really. She mightn't have been the best mother in the world but she has been there for me lately like I wouldn't have believed possible," she said carefully.

"We'll still be in the same city, and closer to her than my parents," Josh reasoned. "Everyone moves away from their parent's home eventually. I'm not saying we have to do it straight away but it's something to think about. Having a space that is one hundred percent ours, not mine and not yours, but ours could be exactly what we need."

"It can't hurt to look," she said softly still unsure about the idea. Only last night she had been prepared to leave him and now laying in his arms she wanted nothing more than his love and the future he offered her.

Josh smiled and held her close. He hated not being in full control of their relationship. The past few months he had found it beyond difficult to take the gentle approach when all he wanted was the power he once had in her life. He adored her. He couldn't imagine loving anyone the way he loved her but he craved the relationship they once had where they had loved and trusted each other completely.

He rolled her onto her back and kissed her passionately. He wanted to be that dominant presence in her life whose presence could lull her to sleep or wake her with a gasp just by the way he touched her and what it meant. He wished for the symbolism of the jewelled necklace he had given her to signify the balance in their relationship and the trust she had in wearing it. He ran his hand through her hair pulling it over her shoulder to hover just above her breast.

Peri looked up at him as his fingers tickled at her skin barely touching it at first as he began to draw invisible contours around the surface of her breast slowly decreasing the size until he reached the nipple. She gasped as his fingers closed around it tightly and twisted it until she whimpered her eyes widening.

Josh felt his cock harden further at the sounds she made and looked down into her face desire for her filling him. He placed his hand behind her neck and kissed her again deeply and passionately. His hand glided from her breast down over her curves, her ribs, tummy and pussy teasingly light before continuing down over her thigh and knee, pulling it up and out from her body making more room for him. His hand then quickly retraced the path back up her body lightly teasing her until it once again reached her breasts.

Laying alongside her, he pressed the hardness of his cock into her thigh as his hand lazily played over her body. He loved its curves and soft, pliant flesh and he explored every inch in a sensual massage occasionally stopping to make her mewl and whimper with sharp flicks, pinches and twists to the pink buds that rose and fell with her accelerated breath. He rolled her onto her side facing away from him and pulled her back into his body, his hard cock resting against her ass. The hand at her neck moved to surround her throat gently and she stiffened in panic.

"Trust me," he purred into her ear. "I never have and will never harm you, trust me, I will keep you safe, always and forever."

Her brain screamed at her but she took a deep shuddering breath as he continued to croon into her ear begging her to trust him again, to let him love her the way he needed to, as they always had done. She closed her eyes fighting and listening to her body alone. This man wanted her, desired her, needed her and at that moment she knew in her heart that she loved him enough to trust him, she always had. She relaxed under his hands as one held her in place by her throat and the other teased her body making her mewl and whimper in need.

She pressed her ass back into his cock and his fingers stopped the soft stroking at her throat and settled more firmly, not tight enough to choke but to hold her in place and claim her as his. Josh felt closer to her as she gave in to the need they felt. Pressing his lips into her neck he breathed in her scent feeling the heat of their bodies pressing against each other. He let the sensations of sight, smell, taste, sound and the tactile feelings of claiming the woman he loved wash over both of them. His hand slid down to part her thighs and he moved until his cocked nestled between them nudging at the lips of her wet cunt.

A growl slowly rose from Josh as his hand travelled down her body to her wet cunt moving his fingers into her wet slit. He rubbed at her clit enjoying the tremor of sensation that rolled through her body as he played with her. His fingers work into her alternately teasing her clit and slipping his fingers into her tight cunt. He revelled in the closeness of their bodies, and he felt her build up to her climax slowly as he crooned into her ear his hand closing further around her throat, still not tight enough to choke her but to make her feel his possession of her body more keenly.

Her body bowed between the restraining hands as her orgasm hit her and she shook in pure pleasure. In his hands, she felt safe like nowhere else in her life. In his hands, she melted and became his. She knew within the same moment he was hers. This was what she desired, wanted and needed as much as he did. Together they were whole. She placed a hand gently over his hand at her loosening his grip slightly, and rolled in his arms tilting her head up to kiss him.

Josh kept his hand at her throat and rolled her to her back manoeuvring between her legs. He pushed his hand into the mattress to keep his weight off her as he pushed into her hot, wet cunt. He groaned loudly enjoying the feel of her as he thrust gently at first, further into her. He smiled as she shifted below him mewling softly.

Once all the way in he moved his hand from her throat to the side of her face, as she so often did to him. He teased himself by taking it slowly in long slow thrusts leaving him shivering in anticipation waiting for her to beg for more. Waiting for her to beg him to take her as he always had, hard and possessively. He craved that feeling and he needed her to crave it too.

Peri looked up into his face and saw his need and desire, "Please," she whispered and it was all he needed. His head lowered and he swallowed the rest of her words as he thrust heavily into her. His strokes remained slow and long but he rammed into her on each one now enjoying the music of her passion.

"Mine," he growled into the kiss and lifted his head beginning to fuck her in earnest.

"Yes," she hissed, "Yours, Mine," she panted back wrapping her legs around his hips to pull him further into her body. She felt her climax rising with his and she rocked her hips to meet his every thrust. They came explosively each crying out their pleasure in perfect counterpoint. Josh collapsed on the bed beside her and pulled her close. Their ragged breathing slowing as they lay snuggled in each other's arms.

"I love you," Peri whispered. Sex had never been their problem, Peri acknowledged. Their love for each other and the intimacy they had only strengthened their bond. Their problems lay with other people, particularly their families. If she was honest with herself, Andie had become part of Josh's family as well now that she and Charles had become even closer since her injuries. Josh was right she thought. Having a place of their own would allow them to set boundaries and put in place ground rules for their family while they rebuilt their relationship and all that came with it.

"I love you too," he kissed the top of her head and tightened his arms around her. "Let's get ready for breakfast, I'm starving," he grinned. He wanted more than anything for their relationship to return to what they once had. It could never be the same he admitted but he wanted the normalcy of their life to return and if that meant excluding his family for a short time he was prepared to do just that to ensure the woman he loved healed properly.

*****

Peri sat stunned at the breakfast table listening to Josh take control of their lives. She never actually committed fully to any of the things they had spoken about that morning but he began making the boundaries of the family's continued interference in their lives very clear in an easy, friendly way. He chatted about selling his current apartment and finding a house they both liked between his business and the city where Peri would continue to work once she felt up to it again. They hadn't discussed her work but she loved her job and she knew she would eventually like to go back to it whether she needed to or not.

"I wanted to talk to you about your work," Joseph said directly to Peri making her look up at him. "Specifically the family history you did for us before the holidays."

"Was there a problem with my research?" Peri asked defensively.

"Not at all, you did a very thorough job," he smiled trying to ease her worry. "All of the original histories are available to us from our families in Italy. What we would like, however, is for you to concentrate on the families' histories since arriving in this country."

"I hadn't thought, I was just using the information available in the large old book Joshua had shown me," she said justifying her work on the original table of twelve.

"We like the way you have collated and presented the information and would like you to do this for each of the families that are joined by the tables here," he said. "For most of us that is only two to three generations. After that, you can look into contacting the archivists in Italy to create the historical volumes." He turned his attention to Josh. "Each of the families has asked for a copy of the volume detailing the original men and their vision for a united future. I believe your company can handle the creation of these?"

"Sure, do you want some mock ups or are you happy for us to choose the final binding and look of the volumes?" Josh said considering the prestige of delivering the histories not only for his family but all of the families that now lived in this country.

"I think Peri can oversee it, she has shown good judgement thus far," he said and inclined his head toward Peri.

"Thank you," Peri said in a small voice. She was stunned by the compliment especially with the enormous elephant that sat in the room with them called Nik.

"That's wonderful, baby," Andie said enthusiastically. "Just think you might get to travel to all the other families and meet all those interesting people."

"I'm not sure I am quite ready to sit in front of a computer for hours at a time yet," Peri laughed softly, "But when I am it would be an honour to continue with the Donati history."

"There is no hurry," Joseph agreed, "Take your time to heal properly and plan your wedding. Antonia and I would love to host the wedding out at the farm if you would indulge us."

"We haven't even decided on a date yet," Josh said good-naturedly putting off that discussion for another day knowing she would refuse the offer if pushed at this moment.

"We are just grateful to see you both looking so happy," Antonia said. "That's all I have ever wanted for you. I am glad you are trying to move past everything that happened," Antonia addressed the elephant in the room and strangely it was Peri who was grateful.

"I think it will take us all time to move past it," Peri said quietly and with understanding. "It must have been a very difficult time for you both and I am sorry for that."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Joseph said abruptly ending the conversation but Antonia smiled softly at Peri and nodded her head slightly.

All she had needed to know was that Peri and Joshua were still in love and happy. Both Marisol and Lucia had explained to her at length that she couldn't treat Peri as she would one of her daughters. She wasn't welcome to just barge into her life uninvited, but she had been so concerned about the sadness in Josh's voice, each time she had tried to speak to him about his relationship she had needed to see Peri herself, when the opportunity arose. She hadn't considered that Peri would react the way she did when she arrived at the lunch date a week ago.

Seeing them both now, however, she could admit that, Lucia had been right. Peri and Josh could work things out if given the space and time to do it on their own terms. She could see the happiness on her youngest son's face as he spoke about their plans and she was content to leave them to make their wedding plans as it suited them. She knew Joseph wanted the wedding to be held at the farm but she honestly didn't mind where it was as long as it happened and all the heartache that had occurred had been for a reason.

"I think it will be good for you two to find a place of your own, as long as it's not too far away," Andie said into the lull in the conversation. "You can always come home for visits but it will be good for you to put your unique style into a place of your own. Plus, I have no idea where we would put all those gifts you got last night!" She laughed easily.

"Oh I had forgotten about those, how will we get them all home?" Peri asked Josh.

"Lio organised one of the vans from the warehouse last night to take them back to the warehouse," Josh said with a smile. "There are perks to having a big family; someone is always around to help out with the details."

"It will take me a week to sort through it all and write the thank you cards," Peri laughed. "Everyone was so generous."

"We would love to help you do that, wouldn't we Andie," Antonia suggested. She liked Peri's mother despite hearing contradicting reports about the woman.

"Who doesn't love opening presents," Andie laughed. "That's a wonderful idea."

"Joshua, why don't you take your father and Charles for a tour of your company after breakfast and we ladies will go down to the warehouse and make a start on the gifts," Antonia suggested.

"What if I want to open presents," Josh deflected the suggestion unsure of how Peri would feel about spending the morning with his mother.

"I will save you a couple of small ones," Peri grinned showing she was okay with the idea as long as Andie was there with her. "We will also have to open all those envelopes from the wishing well, there is probably enough there for a deposit on a house," she laughed.

"Are you sure you want to do that today?" Josh asked giving her another out if she needed it and feeling concerned that she may panic again if his mother tried to talk to her about Nik or anything to do with the family expectations.

"Sometimes it better to just get in and get a job done," Peri said. "Andie will be there to make sure I don't overdo it," she smiled nervously reading the concern on his face. "I will be fine."

They left the restaurant then and checked out of the hotel, with Josh asking at least twice more if she was sure she wanted to spend the morning with his mother.

"It's all part of the healing process. I had a panic attack last night and I am so sorry I scared you and said all of those things. I think Andie showed us both that she will step in if I start to panic again and I think your mother just wants to be involved in some small way. If opening presents can make things better for us then it's a pretty simple way to start," she said reasonably. "I love you, and you come as part of a great big package deal. I realise now that I can't ignore your family so I need to start building some bridges."

"You're amazing, you know that?" he asked.

"No I'm just insanely in love with you," she smiled and reached up to touch his cheek softly and he bent to kiss her.

"I'll take that sort of insanity any day," Josh murmured and straightened up looking into her eyes.

Peri's eyes flicked to the movement of people checking out nearby. "Speaking of building bridges. Could you introduce me to Izabella properly now that I am a little less crazy than last night?"

Josh looked around and spotted them in the foyer. "Izzy," he called and held Peri's hand tightly as he walked toward them. "I'm not sure you got to meet Peri properly last night," he said easily.

"I'm so sorry," Peri smiled putting on a brave face. "No one had told me you were coming or that you would look so much like your sister. I hope I didn't upset you. I tried to find you to apologise last night but Lucy said you had jet lag and went upstairs early."

"It's such a big flight home," Izabella smiled taken aback by Peri's apology. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to give you such a fright. I didn't know what had been happening here and I wanted to surprise my baby brother." She looked at Josh with genuine warmth. "This is my husband, Giovanni," she introduced the man standing beside her.

"Nice to finally meet you," Giovanni took her hand and then extended it to Josh. "It's good to see you again Josh."

"Likewise, it's been too long," Josh said. "Are you staying long this time?"

"Once we've got our heads around everything that's been happening, we'll know for sure but we were talking last night about staying through to the gathering with part of that time spent with my family," he said without confidence.

"That'd give us lots of time to catch up," Josh agreed.

"I hope so," Izabella said with a smile. "We spoke to the management team in Italy this morning, they are going to negotiate with our replacements to stay on until the end of this tour and will let us know. Honestly I could use the holiday."

"Aren't musicians on permanent holidays?" Josh teased his sister.

"Don't start," she rolled her eyes. "What are you up to today? We're going over to Ben's this morning but we're free this afternoon."

"Taking Papa out to the publishing house while Mama opens presents with Peri," he shrugged. "Not sure when we'll be done but there's plenty of time to catch up if you're here for a while. Are you staying in the city or going out to the farm?"