She smiled. “This is such a special place, Teo. I could live and die here.”
I turned her around so fast, she gasped. “You could live here. That’s it.”
Her eyes widened at whatever she saw in mine, but then they softened, like she caught on. “Death scares you,” she whispered.
“Not mine.” I took her wrists in my hands, feeling her pulse beat against me.
“You really love me,” she whispered again.
“More than my own life.” I lifted her wrists and placed a kiss on each one. “I can’t live without you.”
Our eyes locked, and that thing my mamma and papà both claimed moved between them, was moving between us too. I never questioned papa’s truth, but there were times I never thoughtitwould exist for me. I’d tried it out a few times. Looking at a woman in this same way, waiting for something to move…me. A feeling that would bring me to my knees. It never did. Not until this woman.
That same power brought me to my knees when I had my sister translate the words I couldn’t seem to say in English. My heart was speaking a certain language. Stella understood the undertone, even if Mia had to help with the specifics. As years passed, I knew Stella would learn my language, just like I’d learn hers.
Whatever moved between us was so powerful, I felt like if we both reached out, we could touch it. It was almost like gazing at the stars. It seemed like I could reach up and grab one, even if it was an illusion, but somewhere those stars burned. They were as real as the floor beneath our feet.
Most people believe love can only be felt on a cellular level, but I knew if I wanted to feel it, on a flesh level, all I had to do was reach out and touch the woman standing before me.
She wiggled out of my hold with one hand, tracing the star tattoo on my chest. “You’re so beautiful, Matteo. The most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.” She lifted up on her toes, wrapped her arms around my neck, and set her lips against mine.
A noise I had no control over vibrated in my throat at the pleasure of it. She was waiting for me to make the next move, but having her arms around my neck, her body pressed against mine, her lips flush against mine...it did things to me I could never recover from.
Our lips started to move, so in sync, I wondered how my lips ever worked being apart from hers. Her lips were soft. Her mouth tasted sweet. And my hands, they started to roam over her body, feeling how chilled her skin was in some areas and warm in others. She had curves that were dangerous. A dancer’s body.
Her face.
Fucking heartbreaking.
Her eyes were guileless, though so cat like. The color was such a frosty blue, especially in the waning light, that theybecame almost silver. Spellbinding. Her hair was slicked back, and it showcased her perfect bone structure. She had hard lines, but she was soft too—so fucking soft, I had a hard time controlling the impulse to sink my fingers into her pillowy flesh.
We kissed from the window to the bed, where I set her down, and while her eyes were hard on mine, undid the tie of the robe. I’d done it myself, wrapped her up, and seeing her naked was a phenomenon I’d never get used to. Every inch of her skin was a gift to mine. So was how she wanted me. Like she was as starved for me as I was for her.
Her breathing was too fast. Her breasts rose and fell with each frantic heartbeat.
Her breasts…they overflowed in my hands. So fucking perfect. Her nipples were hard, and I could smell the scent of her sweet want in the air, just like her perfume. Her thighs were soaked with it.
I slipped a hand on each side of her breasts. It seemed like I could break her ribs with one squeeze. She wasn’t extremely delicate, but compared to me, we were lion and lamb. Using my thumbs, I caressed her nipples, and she closed her eyes, arching into my touch.
She whimpered. “Teo.”
“Tell me what you want, baby.”
“More of this. More of you. Forever. It feels so, so, so good.” She moaned deep inside of her throat, moving against the bed for friction.
I moved my hands down, slowly, softly, and she trembled at my touch.
“Even that,” she breathed out. “It feels like you’re touching me between the legs. That’s how sensitive I am to you. When you touch me…” She sighed.
I gripped her hips in my hands, my touch harder, and she made a breathless noise.
“You like that?”
“Yes. It feels like…you’re claiming me. I’m yours. Down to the bone.”
Too fucking late for that. I’d claimed her the moment my eyes found her in that underground club.
My hands ventured even further down, and it took all my restraint not to drop to my knees and lick her thighs clean. Instead, I trailed my fingertips close to what belonged to me only, getting closer and closer to slipping my hand between and burying my finger in her warmth. Watching her ride it out, coming apart for me until I cleaned her up with my tongue, making her come apart again against my mouth, drinking her in.
