And maybe I had.
Because when she clung to me, nails digging into my back, and whispered my name like a prayer—there was no circuit, no podium, no championship in the world that came close to the way that felt.
Like home.
“I have to tell you something,” Nicola whispered between kisses. I paused at her words and pulled back.
“Are you okay?” I asked. It was easy to see her anxiety now, her eyebrows creased, and her eyes looked stormy.
She nodded, and her voice was barely audible. “I got a promotion.”
I blinked. She was grinning so wide it was almost painful to look at. “The promotion. It’s chairwoman of the board for the Foundation.”
My heart stuttered, then pride slammed into me, knocking the air clean out of my lungs. “You’re serious?”
She nodded, biting her lip like she was trying to hide her smile. Pointless. It only made me want to kiss her senseless.
“Nic—” Her name broke out of me, rough, and I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything except touching her, holding her, making her feel what was storming through me. “You’re incredible.”
She cocked a brow, smug as ever. “So now I’m technically your boss? Or at least higher up than you.”
My voice dipped low. “Well, you’ve always been better than me. Smarter. Sharper. More stubborn. And now? Officially promoted. Which means”—I dipped to her ear, my lips brushing the shell—“I get to brag I’m datingtheNicola Moretti.”
Her laugh cut off in a gasp when my hands slipped under her bra, fingers spreading across warm skin.
“Matteo—”
“You have no idea how proud I am of you,” I murmured, pressing my forehead to hers. “How lucky I am. I could spend forever telling you, but I’d rather show you.”
Her breath hitched, her hands fisted in my shirt as she yanked me down into a kiss. Hungry. Familiar. A year of bickering between us twisted now into something hotter, deeper, unshakable. She wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling mecloser with a wicked smile. “Guess you’ll have to listen to your boss, then.”
I grinned against her mouth, already lost, already hers. “Baby, I’ll follow your orders all night.”
Her breath stuttered, her nails digging into my shoulders as I mouthed down her throat, then her collarbone, sucking hard enough to mark her. She gasped my name when I bit lightly, my hands already working open the button of her pants.
“Matteo, we need to be quiet?—”
“Fuck that,” I growled, spreading her legs with my hips, dragging her panties aside so I could slide my fingers against the wet heat waiting for me. “Fuck, baby…already dripping for me.”
Her head fell back, a strangled moan tearing out of her as my thumb circled her clit and two fingers pushed inside, stretching her tight around me.
“You get a promotion,” I rasped, curling my fingers until she cried out. “And I get the privilege of watching my brilliant, gorgeous girl fall apart on my hand.”
She bucked against me, nails clawing my skin, her panting breaths breaking on my name. I pressed my mouth to hers, swallowing every sound as I worked her harder, faster, my free hand gripping her thigh tight.
“Matteo—God, I’m gonna?—”
“That’s it, Princess. Let go for me.”
Her body bowed against mine, and she shattered—trembling, gasping, clenching hard around my fingers. I kept working her through it, kissing her like I’d never stop.
When she finally collapsed against me, trembling and spent, I slid my fingers free and sucked them into my mouth, groaning at the taste of her. Her eyes went wide, cheeks flushed scarlet.
“Promotion looks good on you,” I said with a wicked grin. “But I’m not done celebrating yet. Not even close.”
Her chest was still heaving when I popped the button on my jeans, her eyes flicking down as I shoved denim and briefs out of the way.
“Matteo,” she whispered, breathless, almost warning.
