He kisses passionately down my neck and I arch up, wanting his touch, wantinghim, but he stops, his lips still pressed against my throat. “We must discuss some things, you and I.”
“I’m negative for everything,” I tell him. “Because, you know, I’m a—Iwasa virgin. If that’s what—”
“It’s not,” he says. “But—yes, I should have…we should have discussed that. My apologies. My last tests were negative; I can show you the results if you like.”
“I’d rather stay here in bed with you.”
He sighs, and it’s not just a sigh, but a portent. “You can lie here a little longer,topolino, but today is the day you must go home.”
I pull away at once and sit up, staring at him until he pushes himself up in bed as well. “What do you mean?”
He gives his crooked smile, so familiar now, and says, “Ihopedyou would be pleased.”
“What do you mean?” I demand again. “You’re—throwing me out?”
He gives a huff of laughter, but quickly kills it at the sight of my face. “I’m not throwing you out. I’mreleasingyou.”
I pull my knees up, hugging them tight. “But I don’t want to be released.”
Alessandro wearily rubs a hand over his face. “You will leave today. And you will say nothing more about it but ‘thank you, Don Castellani, for your mercy.’”
My heart is sinking rapidly. “But…when will I see you again?”
“You won’t.”
“But—”
“Enough!” Irritated, he twitches the sheets aside and gets out of bed. I can’t help sucking in a breath as my eyes travel over his naked form. He’s sobig—so tall and broad, his back rippling as he reaches for his robe, and yes—he’s bigdown there, too, which I knew last night when my jaw went numb while I was sucking him, but seeing him swing thick and long as he moves…
He pulls the robe closed and ties the belt with a forceful yank. “Get up and shower. You may have breakfast, and then a guard will drive you home.”
He leaves the room without a backward glance. My eyes sting at the coldness of it all, at the abrupt change in his manner.
Hecan’twant me to leave. The way he set my body on fire last night…the way he held me afterward…the way hekissedme just moments ago…
And he still needs my help, even if he seems to have forgotten about that.
In his adjoining bathroom, I hear the shower start. I struggle out of the bed—the sheets seem to get all tangled up in my legs—and tiptoe into the bathroom. I listen at the door, hear the shower door slam shut with a violence that makes me wince. I feel almost sick at the idea of going in there, but it’s my last chance. Perhaps if I get down on my knees for him, give him the best blow job of his life—
Fat chance, from someone as inexperienced as me, but I cantry.
Ihaveto try.
I strip off outside the doorway, then slip into the bathroom and walk past the vanity and the bathtub to the shower at the end of the room. I can see him silhouetted against the window through the steam, the luscious curve of his ass as he bends his head under the water, pressing his hands against the tiles…
I gather together all my bravery, and open the shower door. “Alessandro, I—” He grabs me, throwing me up against the tiles, a hand around my throat. “Wait!” I choke out.
He lets go at once. “Cazzo!What in the hell are you doing?” He slicks back his wet hair. “I thought you were—I thought you were an assassin.”
I shake my head. “I’m just…me.” My eyes travel down his body. I can’t stop them. “I wanted to…”
He lets go of my shoulder, his hand trailing over my chest, and I think his eyes seem a little softer. “Say goodbye?” he guesses.
That’s not it. That’s not it at all. But it will do for now. “Yes.” I reach up for his face, but he grabs my forearm before I can touch him, staring at my wrist.
“What is…” he asks, trailing off.
It’s the first time I’m seeing it, too: the red-brown bruises encircling my wrist,bothmy wrists. He takes both my hands in his, turning them over to see the damage, while the water torrents on behind him.
