The mountains below still have a dusting of snow on top of them and some places remain coated in white, but most of the world is opening up, becoming warm as it comes back to life with the greeting of spring.
The clouds that pass my window are enough to make me cry – they’re like cotton candy floating in the air. It’s like I could reach out to touch them, pluck a piece away and let them melt on my tongue.
Even as the sun dips down below the horizon, the city lights shine up at us like a rainbow of glitter over a sea of darkness.
A hand brushes between my shoulder blades and I hear Colt’s voice in my ear. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Colt, it’s incredible,” I breathe. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“I used to fly away and back just to watch this,” he confesses. “The world is such a massive place. There’s something really special about seeing the different phases of its life and how small we really are, in the grand scheme of things.”
I reach a hand over to squeeze his knee. “Thank you.”
“This isn’t your surprise, you know,” he teases.
“I don’t care.”
His lips press gently to my cheek, and I can feel him smiling against my skin.
I fall asleep for a few hours, until I hear the pilot speaking to us over the intercom system.
“Lady and gentleman, we have begun our descent into Milan. Please be sure your seatbelts are fastened until we make our arrival at the terminal.”
My head whips in Colt’s direction. “Milan? As in—”
“Benvenuta in Italia, Rowan,” he tells me with a smile.
I can feel the flush rising to my cheeks, bringing a flaming heat with it. I should be panicking – I’ve never left the state before, let alone the country. I don’t speak any other languages, I don’t know the laws here or if certain things are disrespectful. Aren’t those the basics to going to someone else’s country? Oh, god.
The bumpiness of the landing sends up a giggle from my throat, and I’m almost certain I’m losing it. Instead of the panic I know I should be feeling, I’m overwhelmingly happy, and the way that Colt is staring at me – with those beautiful eyes of his sparkling and a wide smile on his face – it’s just adding to that happiness. I’m practically freaking giddy.
Another large black SUV is waiting for us as we leave the terminal, hand in hand, and a member of thestaff –Colt’sstaff - loads our bags into it as we climb in. That same person drives us through the city to an absolutely enormous building that looks just as historic as the rest of the city we’ve driven through. I don’t think my jaw has left the floor once since we landed, and it’s making my mouth go dry.
Colt strides casually toward the front desk when we enter the building, and I realize then that we’re in a hotel. It may as well be an art museum – this place is breathtaking.
Just a few minutes later, we’re stepping onto an elevator that takes us up so many floors I lose count, and my footing a little bit, until it finally stops at a penthouse suite.
I’ve never actually seen one of these in person, only on TV. I never realized how huge they really are inside; this is essentially a luxury apartment sitting on top of a hotel, with a view that is almost enough to make me think I’ve died and walked right into heaven.
“Oh my god,” I breathe as I walk around the room.
“It’s a beautiful city,” Colt says.
Without hesitation or second thought, I take a few long strides toward him, then grab his face in my hands and take his mouth in a hungry, desperate kiss. One of his arms snakes around my waist, the other tangling in my hair at the back of my head.
“You brought me to Italy?” I breathe.
A warm, affectionate smile plays at his lips and he brushes my hair from my face. “I brought you to Italy, baby.”
My mouth meets his again and he pulls me close to him until our bodies press together and the warmth of his body melts into me.
“Take me to bed,” I tell him.
That warm smile quickly turns feline and he tosses me over his shoulder, planting his hand on my ass with a smack as he carries me toward one of the bedrooms in the penthouse.
He gently sets me down onto the bed before climbing on top of me and taking my lips again with his as his hands start to explore my body, slowly carving out every curve and setting my skin on fire with his touch.
I let out a soft moan as his mouth meets my neck, trailing kisses from below my ear to my collarbone. He pulls the zipper down on my hoodie painfully slowly before peeling it off of me, his lips barely leaving my skin in the process.
