If only it were Damiano I was marrying, and that it’s him who is going to see me wearing these lacy garments on my wedding night. I take the sheer corset out of the bag and hold it up to my body, craving a taste of how things might have been between us. “Do you think so?”
Damiano’s eyes rove over me, and I can tell he’s picturing me wearing nothing but the tempting white lace. “Lucy. I know so.”
“I think this lingerie will go to waste on my husband.”
“It will be a complete fucking waste on that idiot. He wouldn’t deserve you in a million years of trying.” Damiano reaches into the bag and pulls out the matching lace suspender belt. Lips parted, thumbing the fabric, he lets out a low, ragged, “Christ.”
My core clenches and aches. I’m burning with need for Damiano. I’ve tried quitting him cold turkey, but I’m craving him more than ever. My heart pounding, I move past him, close the door, and put my back against it. “This set cost over a thousand dollars. Someone with taste should appreciate them. I could…put them on.”
Two unspoken words hang in the air.
For you.
I could put them on for you.
Damiano stares at me, and I watch as his chest rises and falls.
“I just thought you could tell me how the lingerie looks. Maybe it will look terrible, and I should return them.”
“It won’t look terrible, sis.”
I put my fingertips against his chest and gently propel him backward until he sits down on my bed. “Let’s find out. Close your eyes.”
After giving me a long, searching look, he does.
I strip slowly down to my underwear, pausing every so often to check that his eyes are still closed. I unclasp my bra, slip off my panties, and drop them beside him on the bed. “Don’t open your eyes. I’m completely naked right now.”
Damiano’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and his hands, which are resting on his thighs, tighten into fists. His handsome face is tilted up to mine, his velvety black lashes resting on his cheeks. He’s wound tight with the anticipation of seeing me in my bridal lingerie. Throughout all the hideous days and nights to come with Andreas, I’ll have this memory of Damiano to cling to.
There are white stockings to go with the suspenders, and I put them on, slowly drawing them up my legs. I let the suspender straps snap against my thighs, and Damiano smothers a groan.
I’m ready. I could tell him to open his eyes.
But I don’t want him just to look at me.
Bracing my hands on his shoulders, I ease myself down into his lap. My thighs wrap around his hips, and I take his face in my hands. With my lips close to his, I whisper, “You can open your eyes.”
Damiano does, and his hands seize my waist as he takes in the sight of me. His pupils are blown and brown eyes are almost black as they linger on my face. I begin to wonder if he hasforgotten all about the lingerie until his fingers push beneath the suspender belt. He lowers his gaze and drinks in the sight of my breasts, pushed high by the corset, the lace covering but not concealing my nipples.
Damiano plants a slow kiss against my throat. “I never thought I’d be allowed to hold you again.”
I arch my back and rock against him. No one will ever look at me the way Damiano does. No one will ever make me feel this beautiful and loved.
“My lingerie. What do you think? Is it worth the money that Mom spent?”
“Lucy, you’re a goddess,” he breathes.
I turn my head to the side to admire our reflection in the mirror. The long, muscular lines of his body are curved possessively around mine. We fit together so perfectly, me dressed in white lace and nestled in his big, dangerous arms.
He meets my eyes in the mirror, and his are filled with reckless need. “Lucy, I love—”
I quickly cover his mouth with my hand. “Don’t. We have no future, so there’s no point in saying it. All we have is this moment, and I want to live in it with you.”
He takes my face in his hands. “Whenever you leave my sight, I die over and over again. So give me your lips and let me live.”
“Damiano,” I cry desperately.
He slants his mouth over mine in a hungry, devouring kiss. A kiss that meansI need youandI love youandgoodbyeall at once. A last kiss, because we can never do this again. I lose myself in the kiss, giving in to him completely. His fingers whisper up my back. His body moves against mine, desperate for more.
