“Honestly, I have no idea,” she says. “I’m not sure how you’ll feel about it once you know.”
I weigh my options, but decision paralysis has me in a chokehold. Eventually, I’ll have to face the truth, whatever it is. He can’t go on wearing a mask forever, and I can’t ignore these complicated feelings I have for him. But right now, I’m already dealing with so much change, and realistically, I can only handle so much at a time. So I make a choice that I think is best.
“I do want to know, but not today. I want to handle the thing with Riccardo first. If that goes smoothly, then you can tell me before I leave the island this weekend.”
“Okay,” she agrees. “Do you want to come over on Saturday? We can do brunch and have an impromptu girls’ night. We have plenty of guest rooms you can stay in.”
“Sure. That would be nice.”
“Good.” She lets out a relieved sigh. “This is going to be the best birthday weekend ever.”
27
GABRIELA
Something stirsme from my sleep, and it takes me a moment to register the warmth of his lips against my ear.
“Happy birthday, little shark.”
“Hi,” I murmur, opening my eyes to find the room completely blacked out.
He must have lowered the shades, and I didn’t even hear it.
“Miss me?” He kisses a path along my jaw, sparking a wave of goosebumps over my skin.
A soft sound of pleasure escapes me, and he crushes his lips against mine and kisses me like we’ve been apart for months, rather than days.
I understand that frantic, all-consuming need, because I feel it too.
I have missed him, and I don’t care if he knows it.
I reach out for him in the dark, fingers pressing into his back, but as I try to pull him closer, his muscles tense. It reminds me of the last time he was here, and I wonder if he’s been injured somehow.
“Are you okay?” I break free from the kiss, concern seeping through my voice.
“I’ll be better when I’m inside you.”
He distracts me by sliding his palm beneath my tank top, fingers grazing my breast until I forget what I was trying to ask him.
“How many times does the birthday girl want to come?” He teases the words against my lips.
“As many as you’re willing to give me?”
A low, dark laugh hums in his chest. “You’ll regret saying that.”
“I’m open to testing that theory.”
He pushes up the fabric of my top and sucks my nipple into his mouth, and I arch into him.
My fingers slide through his hair, cradling the back of his head as he worships my body with his lips. It’s the only way to describe how he touches me. Everything he does is laced with that deep, aching hunger, and it feeds my craving to be the sole focus of his attention.
A thought enters my mind that this kind of chemistry can’t possibly be normal, and before I can stop myself, the question tumbles out.
“Do you think it’s like this between other people?”
He pauses momentarily, tilting his gaze up, even though he can’t see me.
“No,” he answers roughly. “There’s nothing else in the world that could compare to this.”
