“It was so long ago it feels like another life.” I cleared my throat and spotted the waitress delivering our food.
Nothing was mentioned as the first meal was brought out. It was Il Primo, garlic and butter laden gnocchi.
We ate in silence, and before the matter could be discussed again, the Il Secondo was delivered, which consisted of a delectable chicken dish I knew was from the northern portions of Italy where Vincenzo’s family came from. With the chicken, the Contorno was presented, a fresh salad with vinegar and oil dressing, and finished with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
Vincenzo came by to make sure everything looked perfect, and then left us.
The silence stretched between us, and although I didn’t want to spoil our supper with tales of how horrible my past had been, I’d already opened that box.
“You don’t have to talk about it. I know it’s painful.” She was so empathetic, so perfect in every way.
“I want to tell you. I want you to be let into every element of my life.”
“I’d like that, Seth.” The way she pronounced my name had my heart racing.
“My childhood consisted of being in my uncle’s shadow, learning the business, and being promptly neglected. I had no friends once I moved in with him. I was locked out from the rest of the world.” And fuck had I been isolated. “The only time he ever did show me any kind of attention was when he wanted to talk business, wanted to show me how things were run. In that moment, I was that young child who merely missed his parents and hated his life.”
The clank of my fork against my plate when I took it up seemed unnaturally loud. “My father had always told me to be strong, so I endured being alone, having nannies and being home schooled, knowing that the life I once had was no more.” I heard Vincenzo’s voice in the distance and couldn’t help but smile. “And then there was Vincenzo, the son of my uncle’s head of landscaping. We’d come from two opposing ends of the spectrum, but we became closest friends. It was during the summers when he’d spend most of his time at my uncle’s home with his father, that I discovered I wasn’t that alone.”
I glanced up and saw she watched me, a sad expression on her face, her food untouched. I cleared my throat again and shifted on the seat.
“Enough talk about that. It was so long ago, and life has changed since then. Please, eat and enjoy your meal.” She picked up her fork and started eating, not saying anything. But I could feel this gravity encircling her. And then I felt her eyes on me, understood that she had questions.
“But you became an educator instead? You didn’t end up following in his footsteps after all that?”
I took a bite of the entrée, chewed and swallowed, and then washed it down with a sip of wine. I shook my head. “My uncle passed away a decade ago. And although things had been secured, his business relations, his wealth, all of that already in place so it could sustain itself, I knew running things wasn’t what I wanted in life.” I watched as she took a bite of her meal, the way her lips wrapped around the fork an erotic sight that was turning me on.
God, everything having to do with Grace excited me.
“I refused to accept that was my future.” I smiled, a genuine one that wasn’t loaded with the stress of having the past weighing on me. Although my uncle’s firm had been placed in my name, although technically I held the fortune, that’s not what I concentrated on. “And so, I decided to do what I loved, to follow in my father’s footsteps. I went to school to become a teacher, to become the man you see now.”
The smile she gave me was pleasant. She was thrilled for me, and it made me feel like I was on top of the fucking world.
We finished our dinner.
“I’ve never had an authentic Italian meal before,” Grace said as she glanced at the fruits and cheese on the dish.
“This is to clear our pallets in preparation for the desserts,” I remarked and picked up a strawberry, not able to control myself as I extended my arm and presented it to her. She hesitated for a second before opening her mouth and allowed me to feed her. This low sigh of possessiveness emerged from me when her soft lips contacted my fingers when she ate the fruit off my fingertips.
And that’s what I did with the remainder of the fruit, fed her from my hand and got hard with desire.
When the coffee and dessert came, handcrafted cannoli and fresh whipped cream, I couldn’t keep myself from dipping my index finger into the cream and bringing the digit to her mouth. “And this is the Dolce, the final course.”
I was rock-hard at this time, so ready for her that I was at the point where I almost said fuck who would see us and took her right then and there.As we stared at each other, as the heat intensified and the talk that had been so weighty started to vanish, the only thing left between us in that moment was firm need.
It was raw and hungry, and it would devour us alive if we didn’t give in to it.
I felt that with everything in me.
But Grace owned the power, and she was in control of this moment.
“Take me to your place, Seth,” she muttered as I peered into her face.
I wanted nothing more than to hug Grace, to kiss her and show her that there wasn’t anything else more important in this moment, in this fucking world than the two of us being together.
“I need to be with you.”
I groaned, unable to help myself at hearing her say those words. And then a beast came up in me and I was helpless to stop it. I up and walked toward her, dragged her from her seat, and had my lips crushed to hers a second later. I fucked her mouth in the way I knew I’d be doing between her thighs tonight. I didn’t care who looked, who saw me claiming her in this way. I wanted everyone to know that she was mine and that nothing would come between us.
