“I can’t even remember her name, Scarlett. If I couldn’t remember your name, would you be convinced that I loved you?”
“Why didn’t you just tell me, Brando?” No longer crying, her tone was on the verge of anger.
The laugh that broke free from my mouth was not really a laugh at all. Manic release.
“Swear to me that you didn’t…that you don’t…”
“No. I shouldn’t have to. And I won’t. You know me better. I’m not your father. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want this.”
“And I’m not your mother,” she snapped.
“Thank God for small mercies.” I stood, taking off my shirt, throwing it to the floor. “You know when I’m in danger. That I believe. I trust it with every ounce of trust I have to give. You need to learn how to differentiate between fear and the truth when it comes to my intentions. I’ve been lost to your love ever since that night out in the snow. You can’t lose what’s already been lost. That’s logic. As far as anyone else, I haven’t touched another woman since you. I had things to prove. To the both of us.”
The tension she held seemed to release at once and her shoulders slumped. Words were hard for me when emotion demanded to be behind them. Now that I had a grip, I continued forward.
“I run through your blood, woman; you still feel me. I’m yours, Scarlett.Sono tuo. The connection is ours, but those words are yours alone. Claim them—a vow from me to you. You’ve grown.” I shrugged. “Bene. I’ve already fallen in love with each woman that you’ll grow into; each one will take time to know. The strands of your hair could turn into hissing snakes and you’d still be mine.”
She laughed; it sounded embarrassed, highlighting the sadness that made my heart hurt again. “All that I said…and the little that you said…”
“Needed to be said.”
“What I did to you tonight—”
“Will take time to forgive.”
She nodded, her profile sketched by the flames.
Removing pants, boxers, and then socks, I threw them on top of the shirt, standing naked before the fire. I had left the jacket to the tux in the back of the car. Her eyes roamed over my body, lowering to almost closed when she met my eyes again. A rush of red rose to her cheeks, made even fiercer by the heat in the room. Her beautiful lips parted.
“Invitami al tuo letto,” I said.
“Invite me to your bed,” she whispered, repeating the words in English.
After a minute, she did, pulling the covers back. I slipped in next to her, her back still turned to me. My hand came up to touch her hair. Instead, I placed my fingers against her back, a subtle connection. The light from the fire softened her, made her seem like she glowed, and goosebumps rose on her skin.
“Rest next to me,” I said, my voice rough, my tone light.
There was no doubt that she had caught the burning desire behind the demand; her body trembled in response. She turned, rested her head on the pillow next to mine, and instead of miles, the only space between us now was made of soft fabric. Her tears came in a steady stream, running along her nose and cheeks, collecting at her temples and falling to the bed.
“Tu piangi,” I said, taking her hand and placing it over my heart. I used my lips to collect her tears. “Ho sanguinato per loro.”You cry. I bleed for them.
My reflection held in her eyes. The depth of what would always exist stared back at me. She searched my eyes, frantic and starved. I kept steady. It was there, whatever it was; she just had to allow it to rise to the surface. She had gone too long denying it.
“Oh,” she cried harder, sobbing, in a way that someone does when relief has come after a horrendous time.
At the sound of her cries, the beast sucker punched me in the gut. He loathed me. Wanted to kill me. I couldn’t blame him. I loathed me too. I pulled her even closer, starved myself, still needing to absorb her into my skin like hydration. Her head rested against the beating of my heart; I wondered if she heard the ferocious blows.
* * *
Pride truly comes before the fall.
Back to the floor, I stared up at Scarlett’s ceiling. Dawn was close on the horizon, the shadows not as dark. A water patch had formed there in the shape of a church bell. Chill settled around me, bare back against the layer of ice that had formed on the wood, my ass cheeks slowly freezing into chunks.
Sleep had been lost to me, even after she had found it. Then sleep came but disappeared again. And here I was, staring up at the ceiling, wondering how in the hell I got down here. The bed was on the smaller side; she could have possibly kicked me out.
“Brando?” Scarlett’s sleepy voice floated. I heard her pat the spot next to her.
“Down here.”
