Isabella's eyes remain open, fixed on mine. In them I see desire, but also trust and hope. Fuck, I wish I could give her everything she wants from me, from us.
Unable to hold her gaze, I kiss her deeply and keep moving, slow, steady, deep.
Her breath hitches, and I know she’s close, so I stop. She moans in frustration. My dick pulses, unhappy about it too. But right now, I feel good. Nearly happy, even. Not just physically. My chest is full. My mind is calm. I feel whole. Connected. She does that to me. And I’m not ready for it to end yet.
“Alessandro,” her voice is a whimper as her pussy pulses around my dick, her hips rock against me.
“There’s no hurry.” I slide out and in again, then pause. “Do you feel me, Isabella? Do you feel what you do to me?”
“Yes.” She arches her head back and leans over to suckle my neck.
“You undo me.” The words escape without my permission, and I hate the power they can give her over me.
Her eyes snap open, but I don’t see acknowledgement of the leverage I just gave her. Instead, I see more of her trust. Her… fuck…Is it love?
Unable to cope, I move, my thrusts growing faster, harder, driving us both up and up.
Her release washes over her in waves that ripple through her body. The sight of her coming undone beneath me, pushes me to the brink. I let go of the reins of control and plunge into her depths. My orgasm slams into me, rocks my body until I swear I feel it in every nerve ending. My dick pulses, my body shudders.
We ride the storm together until we collapse in a heap. As my breathing steadies, I’m hit with the realization that something has shifted between us. As much as I tried to guard against her, I’ve crossed into territory I swore I'd never enter.
What’s crazy is that I’m not as terrified as I should be. She has the power to bring me to my knees. If my enemies find out, she will become a vulnerability my enemies will exploit.
My father would call me a fool. Lorenzo Dante never allowed himself to love my mother enough that her loss would destroy him. He went through the motions when she passed, but he was off fucking his mistress hours after the funeral.
“You need to show respect to women, but never care too much. Your love for someone is the weapon your enemies will use to destroy you,” he’d explained.
My siblings clearly didn’t care. And I know without a doubt if their spouses died, they’d never survive it. Why risk all that pain?
Maybe they didn’t have a choice. Maybe, like me, love seeped in on its own and they were unable to stop it.
“Are you okay?”
I look down at Isabella, her eyes showing wariness again.
I press my lips to her forehead. “Rest.”
It’s not what she wants to hear, but it’s all I can give her. I roll off her but hold her close, wanting to give her some reassurance, even as I know this thing between us will either make me stronger or be my downfall.
Falling for my wife won’t stop her father from trying to kill me. It won’t bring back the men I lost tonight. It won’t guarantee my family’s victory.
“Alessandro?”
“Hmm?”
“You don’t have to love me.”
I glance at her, and my chest tightens as I realize I wish I could love her.
“But can you respect me? Can you figure out a way to trust that I’m with you, whatever happens?”
I kiss her temple in response because I can’t give her that. Not fully. Not yet.
25
ISABELLA
I’m not about to be killed or sent back to my father, so that’s a plus. And while Alessandro is back to being more attentive, he still holds part of himself back. While I understand why, it hurts that he can’t see the ally he has in me.
