Chapter 48 – Amanda
Iwanted to creep to the door, to listen to the conversation in the hall through the crack.
But the moment I moved from the kitchen table, the damn cats pounced on the remnants of dinner.
I had to wrestle a bone from Bianco while snatching the plates so Grigio didn’t follow suit.
By the time I pushed the chicken pieces into the trash, put the plates in the dishwasher, and covered the dishes for the fridge, Vincenzo was back inside.
“I’ve dreamed of you being here,” he said, leaning against the door. The sound was pure gravel, scraping with possession. “For so damn long, it almost doesn’t feel real now.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Vincenzo saw a future where we were together.
He never gave up on that dream. Whereas I was up in a big glass building, fighting for survival.
The saddest part was, if I’d known peace existed down here, I don’t think I would have been brave enough to crawl into the dark.
I had to fall.
I had to lose everything to see there was something more, waiting for me in the shadows.
Prickles of awareness spread over my skin as Vincenzo continued to watch me. My breathing turned choppy, as anticipation raced in hot spikes through my veins.
“I like it here,” I admitted, words shards in my throat.
The truth was, I was scared. I didn’t want to wake up and find this was all a beautiful dream.
Vincenzo pushed away from the door, stalking toward me. Those dark brown eyes turned black as the hunter approached. There was no running. No hiding from this man.
So, I reached out, sank my fingers into the soft material of his shirt, and pulled him close. His mouth was on mine a moment later. The kiss was hungry. A desperate claim, full of starvation.
Vincenzo’s tongue slid against the seam of my lips, and I opened, inviting him to stake his claim. I moaned as his tongue lashed against mine. Those strong hands slid down my body. He squeezed my ass.
“Fucking gorgeous,” he groaned against my mouth. “These muscles are still as strong and tight as ever.”
I grinned and thanked my obsession with Pilates for keeping my lower half athletic. “You’re welcome.”
Vincenzo growled and sank his teeth into my lower lip. “I’m going to fuck this ass.”
He squeezed it again, touch bruising.
I let out a small squeak when he lifted me and set me on the L counter. “I don’t know about that….”
“Do you trust me?” His hands skated around my body, finding the zipper and carefully tugging it down.
With my body? It wasn’t even a question.
“Yes,” I breathed, letting him have this truth.
“Do you trust me to take care of you?” He peeled off the dress.
This time the word was a whisper, caught in my throat. “Yes.”
“And do you trust me to give you everything you need?” The question was broken by kisses he peppered over my shoulders, my neck, the curve of my collarbone.
“Yes, Enzo, I trust you,” I moaned.
“Thank fuck.” He tore the rest of the dress. The fabric crackled as it ripped in pieces.
I gasped in a sharp protest, but he moved back and wrenched his shirt over his body. The words died as I took a good look at the beauty laid before me. There wasn’t much time to enjoy the view, though, because he stepped into me, pressing his fingers between my legs.
“This is mine.” His words thrilled me. “I’ll burn every lie, every fear, every shadow that tries to take you from my hands.”
My heart flipped inside my chest.
Vincenzo reached around and unclasped my bra, tossing it aside. He pulled me against him, leaned down, and fastened his wicked mouth around my nipple.
I moaned, digging my fingers into his arms. An anchor, steady and sure. That tongue. This man! He was good. Right. Mine. I ached for him. Ached with the desperation of years spent apart.
“Enzo,” I whimpered.
“Hush, fiore, I know what you need.” A kiss pressed against my breast before he moved to the other side.
“No,” I protested. “Not here.”
He pulled back, gaze dark and wicked hot.
“Bedroom,” I breathed.
“Soon.”
Believing his promise, I wrapped my legs around his middle, trying and failing to find the friction I desperately craved.
But Vincenzo splayed his hands on my thighs, forcing them open.
He dipped lower, feathering kisses down my stomach.
Crouching before me, he shoved his face between my legs and inhaled deeply against my panties.
The action was primal, full of a carnal claim.
My core contracted in response.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
Somehow, I found the ability to do that. Those dark eyes smoldered with a hunger so powerful, the chance of survival felt slim.
“If you walk away right now, the entire world becomes my enemy…because I’ll tear it apart to find you.”
The ability to respond failed me. I brushed my fingers over his hair, letting him see the truth in my gaze. If the eyes were the window to the soul, then he knew that mine was alive and his. Always and forever his.
Vincenzo nodded as if he understood. Pushing my thigh to the side, he tipped me over. My hands shot out to catch me against the counter just as his teeth sank into my ass. I yelped. It didn’t hurt. It was the surprise, the sensual shock that rocked me.
There wasn’t an inch of me that was safe from his sheer masculine dominance.
And he wanted me to know it.
Grabbing the elastic of my panties, Vincenzo cut them away with a knife I didn’t know he had. I snatched his wrist on pure instinct.
His chuckle was velvet and edged with menace. Rising, he dropped the knife on the counter and the next second, his fingers gripped my throat. “You touch my wrist like that again, and I swear—I’ll forget how to be gentle.”
Blood rushed to my cheeks, and my breath hitched in pleasure. His hold was firm, a reminder of his power, but not hard enough to do anything more than suggest.
Vincenzo pulled the material of the panties away, moving me to sit back on my ass. His fingers still grasping my neck, he tugged his bottoms off. Bare flesh pressed against my legs.
“You break me, fiore,” he rasped. “You give yourself up to this sinner with such trust.” He pressed his fingers against my pussy, stroking through my slick center. “How can I stay sane around you? You undo me without even trying.”
His fingers stroked my clit, already wet and swollen. I leaned into his touch, breathing hard. This time, when my legs wrapped around him, he didn’t move them. I rocked against him, greedy for more.
“Please,” I whimpered. I would beg if I had to. I needed his cock inside me more than I needed my next breath.
Vincenzo flicked his fingers. A rough warning. The noise that rumbled in his chest bordered on violence.
“Come closer,” he demanded.
I scooted forward.
“Closer, fiore. I want to feel your breath when you tell me you’re mine.”
His. All his. Completely and wholly, I belonged to this man. “There’s never been anyone but you, Enzo.”
He pinched my clit hard enough to make me yelp. “Don’t tell me pretty lies, Mandy.”
This wasn’t the time to tell him I’d tried to forget him. That every attempt to erase him from my body, mind, and heart failed. The few times I tried were disastrous.
“I’m not,” I whispered. “You broke me for anyone else.”
With an animalistic growl, he surged forward. His grip on my throat tightened, cutting off the air. His tongue invaded my mouth; his lips bruised mine.
I reached for him, pulling him right where I needed him. But he caught my hands, both fitting easily in his grasp.
“Enzo, please,” I choked.
He loosened his hold around my throat. “What is it, fiore mio?”
“I need you,” I whimpered, helpless and completely at his mercy.
“Hmm,” he growled. “I know, my little flower.”
The sweet string of Italian was music to my ears.
He scooped me into his arms and held me close as he moved to the bedroom.
I took advantage of the position to take a taste of my own.
His skin was salty and warm. I sucked on the muscles that flexed from his neck into his shoulder, licking and even biting the inked skin.
I sucked harder, determined to leave my own mark there, if only for a few days before the hickey faded.
“Out!” he barked.
A yowl protested, but the door closed a moment later, plunging us into darkness and privacy.
Vincenzo tore me away, my mouth making a pop, and he tossed me on the bed. I scrambled onto my elbows, searching the sudden pitch for his shape.
A light blinked on from the bathroom, the door propped open a few inches to cast a shaft of yellow light across the bed.
Thunder cracked across the space, his words a deep, rumbling bass. “If you knew what you look like to me right now, you’d never doubt my devotion again.”
I shivered.
The mattress dipped with his weight. Vincenzo prowled over me, his breathing as stilted and ragged as mine.
His mouth found mine again, and he kissed me hard and without mercy as his body pinned me to the bed.
I felt the desperation roiling through him.
It met my own, like a current, feeding into me and rushing back out to fuel his again.
He broke the kiss, mouth moving to my ear. “Take me.”
There was no hesitation. I reached for his cock, stroking the steel length once—twice. He groaned, a husky, male sound of anguish. It made my nipples harden to the point of pain. I couldn’t stand the ache between my legs any longer.
I gave us both mercy.
As I slid my hand to the base, Vincenzo flexed his hips, moving his body over mine. He was hard, so hard. He was ready to snap, but held himself back for me.
“I did this to you,” I hissed.
Rubbing the tip in a slow circle around my clit, giving him a taste of my wetness, I added, “And you did this to me.”
“Mandy,” he prayed, voice cracking with pain.
I tipped my hips up and pressed him against my entrance. With a brutal thrust, he pushed inside. My body welcomed him, stretching at the invasion. I grasped his sides, holding on as he pulled back only to sink deeper.
Groaning, I tugged him closer. My legs looped over the small of his back as he started to pump into me without restraint.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I confessed, letting the ache show in my voice.
Vincenzo grunted, thrusting harder and stretching me open. I loved the way he filled me. The way we fit perfectly. We were made for one another.
“I shouldn’t crave you like this.” His body slammed into mine, sending ripples of pleasure racing through me. “I shouldn’t need your nearness just to breathe. But here we are.”
I whimpered and writhed against him. It was true. That was exactly what I felt. The distance, the heartbreak, the soul-crushing loss—none of it mattered. We were together again.
One brutal palm pressed between our bodies, closing over my breast. He gave it a rough squeeze, making my muscles clench tighter around his cock.
“It’s always been you,” I breathed.
“You’ll never find this in another man,” he promised.
I didn’t have to think twice. I shook my head vehemently. “I never have.”
“And I’ll never give you the chance to try again,” he swore and pinched my nipple.
I moved my head to the side and found his mouth. I kissed him with a frightening hunger, my mouth giving him no mercy.
Vincenzo held me tight, breath coming in hard rasps as he fucked hard. The release was right there, building with a desperation so powerful I thought I would break.
Without warning, he slid his arms under my body, and in one smooth move, without breaking contact, he rolled us over. I braced my palms on his chest as his hands landed on my hips and continued to fuck me from below.
His eyes blazed as he watched me.
I couldn’t look away, scared that if I did, he might vanish.
“Take it,” he commanded. “It’s yours.”
I met his thrusts, riding his cock as my knees clamped around his body. I murmured his name. It was a prayer. A plea for the climax I craved, but also for this moment never to end.
“I’ve got you,” he promised.
I collapsed on his chest, fingers digging into his hair, pushing against his scalp. His pulse pounded under my touch, and I held onto the beat, letting it revive my soul. A helpless moan escaped my lips, and then he was kissing me again.
The orgasm was right there, burning through my flesh. My body tensed, coiled like a spring ready to snap.
“Take it,” Vincenzo growled.
I did. With a scream, my body spasmed violently.
The beast beneath me groaned, taking everything I gave.
He didn’t stop moving, didn’t pull back.
When I went limp with pleasure, he thrust deep, holding me tight as he spilled himself deep inside me.
He was strong, unyielding, while I was a spent, shivering mess.
He clutched me close, brushing a hand over my back.
Such a strong touch. I leaned into his solid presence, letting my pleasure-drenched mind wander into oblivion.
He had me. He’s never letting me go.