Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“No, nothing.” I clear my throat. “Are you going to bed now?”
I feel silly even asking, but my brain is completely fried after what I just found out.
“Well, I don’t want to, but it’s what the doctor prescribed,” he replies. “And my wife wants me to listen to my doctors.”
“True …” I mutter, but my voice tapers off as he begins to take off his shirt, one button after the other, revealing all the chiseled, tattooed muscles underneath.
And I just forgot how to think.
Matteo
Her eyes follow every move of my fingers, and she bites her lip when I remove the fabric entirely and chuck it onto the floor. I adore the way she looks at me, how she can barely help her eyes from gorging on me, as the same lewd thoughts currently rushing through my mind are probably zinging through hers.
I unzip and pull the button loose, and my fingers curl under the fabric of my pants to push them down while she just keeps staring like I’m a five-course meal. What a brazen little vixen.
“Are you going to stand there and watch me?” I ask.
She clears her throat as a massive blush forms on her skin, and then she turns around, probably embarrassed I caught her in the act.
Guess I’m not the only one fantasizing about having her in twenty different ways.
I chuckle. “I don’t mind.”
I take everything off and put on the sweatpants I fished from my closet, then walk over to her, brushing the tip of my index finger along her shoulder to move her hair out of the way so I can lean in and whisper.
“Thank you.”
Goose bumps erupt on her skin, scattering everywhere my finger left a mark.
She spins on her heels, shocked by my closeness. “What?”
“You heard me,” I say.
“But why?”
“Because you stayed by my side.”
She sucks on her bottom lip while looking at me, really looking at me for the first time, and I feel humbled by her gaze. Her fingers rise to touch the scar on my skin left by the bullet, almost as if she can’t stop herself. It doesn’t hurt anymore. It only reminds me of the stakes I have in this game.
It used to be all about my revenge. I didn’t care about anything else, not even my life. But now there is her.
All there is … is her.
My hand instinctively covers hers, and she swallows.
“Is it painful?”
I shake my head. “I’m lucky. Pain doesn’t faze me, but I’m far luckier that I have you by my side.”
She averts her gaze, so I cup her face and make her look at me. “You stayed with me. Tell me why you didn’t run.”
“Because …” she mutters without finishing her sentence.
“I told you to run. Why didn’t you?” I ask, searching her face for the truth. “Tell me.”
“I didn’t want you to die,” she says, tears staining her eyes. “And if I had run, you’d be dead, and it would’ve been all my fault.”
I grab her close and hug her tight. “I’m still alive thanks to you. If you hadn’t been there, Lucio would have certainly gotten to me.”
She rests her head on my shoulder, and I feel her visibly relax. It means the world to me that she feels safe in my arms.
“When you got hit by the bullet, I was so scared you were going to die,” she whispers.
“Scared that your unwanted husband would be dead?” I smirk, finding her eyes in the light. “And then you’ll be left with all of his fortune. Pity.”
She chuckles and playfully slaps me on the shoulder. “Oh my God, Matteo. You know I don’t care about money.”
I smile. Her laughter always brings me joy. “Good night.”
With my hand on her waist, I lean in to press the smallest of pecks to her cheek, but when my lips leave her skin, my body refuses to move away as her eyes find mine again, lips quaking, a needy breath shuddering in her throat. I can feel the tension, like a physical spark lighting the air between us.
Fuck.
I want her. I want her so badly I can barely breathe.
But I have to remain a gentleman, always, because she’s worth the wait.
I know she wants me too, because I can feel it from the way she touches me and the way she looks at me, but she’s still fighting the attraction. That is why she didn’t listen in the cemetery. She wasn’t scared of all those men. She couldn’t bear to leave my side.
If it wasn’t for her, I would have died. She saved me, and that means something.
And maybe, just maybe, we’re both tired as hell of fighting against it. And I think it’s about time we do something about that.
Stella
His jaw clenches. And I don’t know why I notice, but I do.
As he steps away from me, my skin still tingles where he kissed me. He walks backward, not taking his eyes off me for one single second as he sits down on the edge of his bed, legs spread, pants obviously tented.