“Life in general.”
She looked away from me again, and then her eyes flew up. “Does your mom or dad not like me? Oh man. Nonno? Did I make a fool of?—”
I pulled her in so fast, she gasped before my mouth found hers. She pulled away when she couldn’t breathe.
“Nothing like that,” I said. “In fact, Nonno gave permission for our marriage at the end of dinner.”
“He did?” She looked thunderstruck.
“He did.” I led her to the blanket and bent down, taking her shoes off, moving them to the side. I ran my hands up her legs and she trembled. I continued doing it as I said, “My family doesn’t always speak directly. It’s an art form to speak the truth without saying the words.”
“Okay,” she barely got out. Her eyes were shut tight, and she was absorbing my touch.
She was so pliable, it didn’t take much to get her on the blanket with me. I used my body as a shield against the ground, placing myself between her and it. She rested her weight on me and got comfortable in my arms as we both looked toward the sky.
“New Year’s Eve,” she said.
I looked down at her, but she kept gazing up as she expanded on the date.
“Let’s get married then. I always wished for a new start—every year. I think it would be…perfect.”
“That’s over a year.”
“I’m not sure if I can last that long.” She grinned. “But…what do you say?”
“I say, whatever you want, you get.”
“That easy, huh?”
“Say the words. That’s it.”
She fiddled with the ring, and I noticed her breathing had picked up. Each slide of my hand along her arm made goose bumps rise. After a minute or so, she turned in my arms. Her eyes matched the stars in the sky, and she had a celestial quality about her. So beautiful, she almost seemed unreal, but it was believable that she’d burn like cold fire in my arms.
Crawling up my body some, her eyes never leaving mine, she started to fiddle with the buttons on my shirt. “If…if I understand the language of saying something without having to say something…and can communicate that way, do I get what I want? You can’t say no to me, if I do.”
I nodded, watching her closely. I’d already set my jacket down. She was working on the buttons of my white shirt. When she was able to free me from it, her eyes roamed over my chest. They stopped over my heart and narrowed. Her hand traced the shape of the tattoo there.
“This is new.” She became quiet and then breathed out, “Stars.”
I moved her hand over the writing. “Na muri scrivutu ne stiddi. Un amore scritto nelle stelle.” I helped her trace the shape of the two interlocking stars, then her name. “Stella.”
“You got this for me?”
“Yeah.” My voice came out gruff.
In a rush of air, she started kissing me like her life depended on it. Mine fucking did. I needed her kiss, her acceptance, morethan air. The kiss grew wilder and wilder as we tussled on the blanket.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” I said as my hands roved over her curves, the dress feeling like a barrier I was about to burn down with my palms.
She looked like she landed on top of me, straight from the stars that seemed to be moving behind her. Her eyes came to mine, and she started moving on top of my cock. I hissed out a breath, and before I could recover, she lifted her dress from over her head.
“Fuck,” I breathed out, reaching out to caress a finger over her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and her underwear were nothing but a thin piece of silky material.
She lifted up some, shimmying the underwear down, tossing them with her dress.
This sweet creature was naked before me, and even the stars above couldn’t compare. She was the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen.
She reached down and ran her hand along my length. My hips went forward, and her eyes lowered even more. Her mouth parted, like she wanted to say something, but she was doing this another way. Her palms were against my chest, and she lifted herself up some, her hips moving a little. I ran my fingertip along her lips, and she closed her eyes, her fingernails sinking into my skin.
