“That bother you?”
“Sì.” I nodded. “To have such a choice…” I shrugged and sighed at the same time. “It seems like such a sin to waste.”
“Some people might appreciate not having to make such a big decision when love isn’t involved.”
“That is cowardliness,” I said. “Pure and simple.”
“You think love should be involved in all decisions,” he said.
“Not in all.” I shook my head. “But in that decision love should play a part. Even the potential to feel it.” I hesitated but kept talking as we walked the groves. “That feeling of having your breath stolen when you see—” I looked at him and then turned forward “—someone. The madness that happens to your stomach. You cannot eat, but suddenly you taste everything. And—” I inhaled, smelling him in the air “—the smell that lingers, the one that belongs to the one you love. It is unforgettable. Itishome.”
“You’re fucking wild,” he said.
I threw my head back and laughed. “Sì! This is what myfamigliatells me! This is why—” I gave him a pointed look “—I am in so much trouble. I have a wild spirit,mammasays, one that some men would love to tame, and eyes that belong to a cat, which lure them in.”
“You blink,” he said.
“Not for everyone. Or so Anna says.”
We became quiet for a while, evening settling around us. Then a breath left my mouth when he took me by the arm and pulled me against his body. It was like crashing into solid rock, the soft parts of me forming to fit.
“You blink for me,” he said.
“Sì,” I whispered. “I do.”
His mouth was close to mine. I had to stop myself from biting his lip, and then sucking it afterward.
“Tell me, Corrado,” I said, breathing out his name, “why did they sendyouto find me?” I ran my hands up his chest, over his shoulders, until my fingers found the tattoo on his neck, right over his collarbone.
“Because I always find the ones who hide.”
“After you do?”
“I never fucking let them go,” he said, and then his mouth claimed mine.
I was lost to anything but him, like a moth to the volcanic heat of Mount Etna.
It was not until I lay in bed that night, thinking over the day, that I realized whytodaywas so hard after he had walked me to mycasa.
Todaywould never be enough. It was forever with him or nothing. My heart only would accept one, and if it was not to be, it might just stop beating.
I pressed my hands over my heart, over the hurt that welled up at even the thought, and whispered, “Il cielo mi aiuti.”
Heaven help me.
12
Corrado
That fucking mad energy was running through my veins again, and I blamed it on the full moon. It was so bright it looked like someone was shining a light in the window when I’d been trying to sleep.
I couldn’t sleep.
I couldn’t relax.
I couldn’t keep still.
It was hot as fuck outside. Sweat constantly beaded and fell from my temples.
