And for the next three hours that’s exactly what we did. We didn’t stop. Not when hit after hit played from the nineties into the early two-thousand-tens. From Selena and Ivy Queen, to Daddy Yankee and Tego Calderón and Don Omar.
Matteo and I switched between styles to match each song, and my cheeks hurt so much from singing and laughing, and my feet were so numb I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore.
The only thing I could feel was the euphoria in my veins. The sweat glistening on my skin.The sure beat of my pulse between my thighs every time we came in close and his hands were everywhere on me.
His rough palms on my waist and hips and arms. The length of my legs when he caught my knee to his torso. When I turned around and my back was pressed to his front and I swayed my hips back into him…
His forehead pressed against mine. His hands around me. His fingers trailing down my back. His breath on my neck…
His dark eyes looking into mine and seeing every naked part of me. His hand on the back of my neck. That bottom lip of his I wanted to sink my teeth into…
I was screwed.
At one in the morning, the streets were quieter as we left the club, the warm Hawaiian night wrapping around us like silk. A salty breeze drifted in from the ocean, and the sky above was a deep, endless navy, speckled with stars. My heels clicked softly against the cement streets as we walked, hand in hand, the music still faintly echoing behind us.
I swayed slightly into Matteo’s side – half tipsy from the cocktails, half sleepy from the dancing. My body felt deliciously heavy, relaxed in a way it hadn’t been in months.
Conversation flowed between us like water. We talked about everything and nothing – the couple on the dance floor who’d clearly been salsa champions, how unexpectedly good the street churros had been, how Matteo thought the old man selling shell bracelets near the pier had “the best sales pitch in history.”
By the time we reached the edge of town, the quiet hum of the resort replaced the lively rhythm of the nightlife. The soft glow of lanterns guided our path, and the distant sound of waves kissing the shore grew louder.
I sighed, just a little, tiredness sneaking into my bones now that the adrenaline was fading.
Before I could say a word, Matteo wrapped his arm around me – and in one impossibly smooth motion, swept me right off my feet.
“Matteo!” I gasped, instinctively gripping his shoulders. His laugh was low and warm against my ear.
“Relax,princesa,” he murmured, adjusting me easily in his arms. “I got you.”
“I can walk,” I protested, though my voice lacked conviction.
His smirk deepened. “I know. But I like carrying you.”
And just like that, my resistance fizzled out. I let my head rest lightly against his chest, inhaling the faint scent of his cologne – clean, masculine, warm. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat under my cheek made me feel inexplicably safe.
The walk back to the resort took ten minutes, but it felt shorter. Lantern light pooled over us as we passed through the gardens, the sound of crickets mingling with the surf.
When we reached the lobby, Matteo set me down gently, like I was something precious.
Neither of us spoke as we took the elevator up. The silence wasn’t awkward – if anything, it was… Charged.
He walked me all the way to my door, hands tucked casually in his pockets, but his gaze never once left me.
I stopped in front of my room and turned to face him. “Thank you,” I said softly. “For tonight. It was… Unforgetable.”
His smile was slow, almost lazy. “I look forward to doing it again in New York.”
Heat bloomed across my cheeks before I could stop it. I bit my lip, and that made it worse, because Matteo’s eyes dropped there – briefly, darkening.
For a suspended moment, neither of us moved.
We were standing too close. The soft hallway lighting caught on his golden skin, the sharp line of his jaw, the glint of his cross pendant. His hand twitched at his side, like he was fighting the urge to reach for me.
I tilted my chin up, meeting his gaze. My lips parted. His eyes flicked down to my mouth. Mine flicked to his.
The world around us blurred into quiet. All I could feel was the warmth radiating off his body, the faint scent of salt and spice in the air, and the pounding of my heart against my ribs.
He leaned in – just slightly. And I didn’t step back. I leaned in too.
