“Oh.”
“Is he going to sell it?”
“Of course. I wish I could buy it myself. But I’ve seen his work, and I can’t afford it.” It had made her feel strange at first, the idea that someone would own a nude painting of her. But she also wanted her body, her courage in this small act, to be a source of inspiration and joy for another. “He’s offering me a chunky model’s fee, though. It will be displayed at a gallery in a few months. The tickets are already sold out.”
Sam eyed the peaceful square. The sunny day, the colorful shops and restaurants and Alessandro’s fingers clasped around her, it was a moment out of her dreams.
She wanted the dark intimacy of his desire, but she wanted this time with him even more. She wanted to talk to him, get to know him. She wanted to steal away pieces of him whether he was willing to part with them or not.
“I have a couple of hours before the sitting,” she said, managing to sound breezy. “Keep me company until then?”
“If you promise to go to bed on time tonight,” he countered instantly.
“Fine.” She dragged him to a faded but cheerful yellow table away from the rest, one with a chess board drawn into its worn grain.
When she went for the chair opposite him, he tugged her into his lap. And then he took her mouth with a roughness that made her gasp. On and on the kiss went, his tongue thrusting in an erotic dance that made her cheeks heat.
A little urgency, a lot of impatience and a whole lot of darkly possessive declaration that she was his—despite who saw her naked—the kiss was eloquent.
“Whether I sleep or not is up to you, isn’t it?” she whispered, when he released her. “I’m not letting you leave me alone in that bed again.”
That raised brow greeted her like an old friend.
It was the warmth he got in his eyes when she argued with him, the hitch of his mouth when he smiled at her, that little tic in his jaw when his control was teetering on the edge that returned that fizzy feeling to her chest.
Alessandro knew he should’ve waited for her at the villa, waited for her to finish her appointments and come to him. He could catch up on much-needed sleep, try to recoup the time he’d lost because he’d walked away from two more days of business meetings.
But he was done denying himself this small pocket of pleasure.
To leave Sam that night, her soft pliant body, her flushed face, her wide smile had been the hardest thing he’d ever had to do.
Not just because what he wanted was to be buried inside her, because he wanted to discover if having Sam, if losing himself in her body, would rid him of this…obsession. This constant need. This…voracious hunger.
She looked like a sunflower when she teased him. Or laughed with him. Or when she mentioned orgasms and blushed fiercely. Or when she got mad at him. Or when she tried to hide how much he hurt her or how aroused she got around him.
Every minute with her was like standing alone in an entire field of sunflowers. He constantly felt as if he’d miss something precious or that he could spend a lifetime with her and still be unable to take it all in.
The want she made him feel was a drive for life. A fire in his belly. A newfound appreciation for each day, each minute. As if she were introducing him back to himself, one facet at a time. And he was on constant edge, trying to manage it all. Trying to not feel so much. Trying to do damage control for when she left him and suddenly he had no one but himself again. Nothing but a yawning ocean of loneliness in front of him.
The alternative that he could ask her to stay was unthinkable. Unbearable.
“What are your plans for fall?” he said, once their orders were out of the way.
“Starting college for a business degree. Eventually, I want to stretch beyond just oil paintings. They’re tedious and time-consuming, but I love them. I need to build passive income streams.” She dipped her fork into the pasta and took a big bite. “It would be fun if I can get out of California, but out of state means I’ll end up with huge loans. Also, I don’t think Mom can take it. A community college is my best bet.”
“If you need money for college, I’ll pay…” He cleared his throat when she pinned him with a fierce look. “I will loan it to you.”
She cast him a sweet look that packed a punch. If he weren’t so damned turned on by her temper, by her clever moves in chess, by her voracious appetite, that sweet sarcasm that made her eyes pop would’ve floored him. “And why would you do that?”
“Because I have more money than I know what to do with,tesoro.” Irritation coated his words. How did he explain to her that he wanted to remain a part of her life even when he wasn’t there? He didn’t understand it himself. “Like I said, it can be a loan.” There, he was even making all kinds of adjustments for her.
“So we’re going to keep in touch after I leave?”
He suppressed the fingers of panic that rose at that idea. “You’re being difficult on purpose.”
“Just establishing the etiquette for after-fling behavior.”
“Sameera…”
