Fuck it.
For once, I didn’t care about pride or control or whatever dangerous game this was. I wanted to kiss him.
But just as I leaned in, Matteo froze. His throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “It’s getting late,” he said quietly, though his voice came out hoarse.
“Not really…” I whispered back.
Before I could say more, something shifted in the light around us. A faint, reddish hue kissed the edge of his hair, tinting the side of his face like paint on canvas. His eyes flicked over my shoulder, then back to mine – soft now, and full of that smile that always undid me.
“Look behind you,princesa.”
Still holding onto him for balance, I twisted in his arms.
And there it was.
On the far edge of the horizon, the first blush of dawn had begun to rise. The sun peeked over the dark water like a shy secret, setting the sky ablaze in deep red and rose-gold. The waves caught the light, scattering it in shimmering ribbons across the ocean’s surface.
I just stared, breath caught somewhere between my ribs and my throat.
The warmth of Matteo’s hands at my waist, the cool water against my skin, the red light of a new day unfurling across the sea – everything collided in that single, suspended moment.
The horizon bloomed like a secret unfolding.
The darkness that had held the beach in its quiet grip began to melt away, replaced by a slow, magnificent fire. Hues of crimson bled into streaks of orange and soft gold, stretching across the sky in ribbons. The sun rose slowly, yet with such undeniable power, pushing back the night with every shimmering inch.
It looked enormous – like it was rising just for us.
The ocean caught the light and scattered it, turning into a vast mirror of molten gold. A perfect path of sunlight stretched from the horizon to where Matteo and I floated, as if the universe itself was drawing us into the day.
I felt his hand tighten, warm and steady, against my waist. The strength in that single touch anchored me, even as everything else inside me threatened to drift away with the tide.
“This is…” My voice came out softer than I expected, almost reverent. “The most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.”
“I know.”
The reply wasn’t cocky, for once. It was quiet. Almost tender.
Slowly, I turned my head, glancing up at him over my shoulder.
Matteo wasn’t looking at the sunrise.
He was looking at me.
His golden-brown hair was damp and messy, clinging to his forehead, and the soft red light from the rising sun caught along the sharp edges of his face. But it was his eyes that stopped me cold – deep, dark, and lit with something I couldn’t quite name. Mysterious. Intense. Almost like adoration.
The world around us was transforming – night into day, shadows into light – yet the only thing I could feel was his hand on my waist and the weight of that gaze holding me in place.
I felt him shift beneath me – his chest expanding with a deep inhale, the subtle tightening of his grip at my waist. It was the kind of movement that saidwe should probably get going.
But I wasn’t ready.
Before he could say anything, I twisted slowly in his arms, the cool water sliding over my skin like silk. My legs stayed wrapped loosely around his hips for balance, and I lifted my arms to loop them around his neck. His damp hair brushed the inside of my wrists as I settled against him, holding on – not out of fear anymore, but because it suddenly felt right.
“Do you always get up early to watch the sunrise?” I asked, tilting my head just enough to catch his profile in the growing light.
His gaze flicked to me, steady and unguarded. “I do.”
“No matter where you are?”
