My pulse raced as I stared into the face I knew almost as well as my own, and wondered how I ever thought I’d be able to send him away. How I’d ever survive in the world knowing I’d never see such perfection again.
The answer was as clear as it was brutal.
I wouldn’t survive. Couldn’t.
But when Alessio put a hand on the wall by my head and leaned forward, I also knew I wouldn’t survivethis.
“Alessio…” My chest heaved as he shifted in closer. “We can’t do this.”
His lips curved into a wickedly seductive smile, and I knew right then that every single reason I’d told myself for coming here was a lie.
It was an alarming realization.
But an honest one.
“You forget, father,” he said by my ear, “I’m the one who knows all your secrets, and right now you’re lying to both of us. We can definitely do this. The question is, are you really going to turn around and walk out that door when we both know you want to stay?”
14
ALESSIO
THERE. I’D ISSUED the challenge, giving Rafael the permission he wouldn’t give himself. No way had he come here to end things. That was the lie he was telling himself. But the fact that he knew where I lived, that he’d come herealone? He knew better than to put himself in that position.
And it wasn’t only his eyes telling me he didn’t want to leave.
I’d backed him up against the wall, moving in so close my nose skimmed his ear when I whispered the words that had his whole body trembling. Any second now he could leave. Push me away. Tell me I was wrong and this was the last time we’d see each other.
“Alessio.” My name on his lips sounded like a warning, but I was past heeding those. He wasn’t saying no. He hadn’t walked out the door.
“You came all this way just to tell me tostayaway?” I murmured, softly brushing my lips over his heated skin, feeling the rapid beat of his pulse beneath them. “That’s not how you end things.”
Rafael’s breath hitched and then his hand shot out, pushing against my chest, and I lifted my head to look at him.
Fuck, he was beautiful. I’d watched him, stared at him, dreamed him for so long, and being this close to him now was doing twisted shit to my insides.
His eyes, usually blue with a hint of grey, had darkened, and I knew that look. It’d been a long time since I’d seen it, but there it was, his body betraying him, wanting what he knew he shouldn’t have. He gave a good fight, I’d give him that. But his hand was still on my chest, and he wasn’t pushing me away.
“Alessio,” he said again, but this time it came out more like a plea than a warning. Maybe it was him begging for me to see reason because he couldn’t in this moment.
But fuck that. I wasn’t about to be the voice of reason here.
His fingers flexed on my chest, and God, that was all I needed.
Achingly slow, I leaned in, giving him one last chance to tell me no. My mouth grazed over the top of his, and that was when I felt it—his fingers curling into my shirt.
Fuck.
There was no holding back this time as I angled my head and kissed him. His mouth parted immediately, a soft sound escaping him that went straight to my dick.
I slid my hand up his side, feeling how tightly wound he was and relishing the way he was finally kissing me back. Tentatively at first, like he was afraid that if he gave any more, I’d take it all.
He wasn’t wrong. I’d been waiting so long for this moment, to have him alone, that I couldn’t decide whether to take it slow and explore every inch of him and that intoxicating mouth, or to take what I wanted before he changed his mind.
As my tongue dove in deeper, I crowded him in, my body flush against his, and slid my thigh between his legs. Fuck, there was no hiding the way his body was reacting, his cock hardening through his black slacks and making my brain short-circuit.
I spread my fingers over his ribs and down the taut muscles of his abs as he fisted my shirt and held me tight to him. With my eyes closed, I didn’t have to see that fucking collar. Didn’t have to remember who he was now other than my Rafael.
His tongue swept inside my mouth, exploring, rubbing up against mine, remembering…
