When I finally slip out, I’m breathing hard. She rolls onto her side. Legs glistening with my release. Props herself on her elbow as a shaky smile takes hold of her gorgeous face.
“Well, that was …” She pauses, looking for the right word. “Pretty crazy.”
“Not how you imagined your first time would be?” I ask, gliding onto the bed next to her.
I shift position, moving her away from the wet spot. Then pull her into my arms. Her body is on fire. Her heart pounding hard.
She trails her hand over my chest. “I never imagined it,” she whispers.
“Never?”
She looks up with honesty in her youthful eyes. “Before you, Alex, I just didn’t think about it. I know that sounds like some cheesy line. But it’s the truth. And it scares the hell out of me.”
“Scares you? Why?” I demand.
She kisses my chest as if to placate the monster in me. Like she can see past the vineyard owner to the mafia boss beneath. “We just met.”
“Does it feel like we just met?” I move onto my side. Stare directly into her eyes. Into her soul. “You don’t need to answer.Iknow the answer—for both of us. No, Bella. It doesn’t. The moment I saw you, I knew you were different. The moment I saw you, you changed me. The moment I saw you, I knew I didn’t have to be so damn cold anymore.”
She leans back in my arms. Looks at me like I’m crazy. And not the good kind.
“What are you saying?”
That I love you.
But something about her torn expression stops me.
7
BELLA
Istare into his smoldering eyes. My body is sore in the best way. Content. I felt so powerful toward the end of the lovemaking. The sex. The in-between passion that turned me wild. That unlocked something in me.
Now, he stares with emotion on his savage face. For a surreal moment, I think he’s going to tell me he loves me.
Calm down, Bella.
He strokes his hand across my face. Gentle motion with rough fingers.
“It’s more than your beauty,” he says huskily. “It’s your passion. Your enthusiasm. Your fight. Your nerves. Your confidence. Your goddamn … humanity, Bella. It’s you—all of you. Every single inch. Inside and out. That’s what triggered something in me. Changed me. You’re a miracle, and I don’t care if I sound like some psycho. It’s the goddamn truth.”
My heart beats fast. “I felt something too,” I admit.
His smile is one of delight. His eyes brighten. He looks almost boyish, like this is the best news he’s ever received. “That’s good, Bella.”
But…
I can’t say it. Can’t break the spell.
“I’ve never felt anything like this before,” I whisper. “It’s not like I’ve got a lot of experience though, Alex. And we don’t even know anything about each other.”
He glides his hand down my body. Every time he finds a point of particular thickness, a curve that might make me feel self-conscious usually, his body stiffens. His mouth trembles like he’s thinking about feasting on me again.
“We can learn more, angel,” he says. “But this feeling here, this certainty we both have,thisis special. This means something. People spend their entire lives searching for this—for something we built the moment we laid eyes on each other.”
I wrap an arm around him. Pull myself closer. Feel his heart thundering against my body.
“Doesn’t it scare you?” I whisper.
