Six
THIS MAN...COULD HAVE fallen in love with me five years ago.
The thought popped out of nowhere as soon as Massimo filled her vision, and Ysabel realized dazedly how such a thought changed everything. Guilt still lingered in her heart, and while she would've done anything to keep this arranged marriage from hurting Ynez—-
Anything, that was, except to give up her last chance to see what could've been.
Massimo's jaw hardened at Ysabel's inability to answer. Her prolonged silence spoke volumes, and it forced him to confront a truth he still found particularly galling.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
What if his earlier suspicions were right? What if she was pregnant with someone else's child, and his grandmother saw it as reason enough to cancel their arranged marriage?
That was for the best, was it not? Ysabel was an unnecessary and unwanted complication in his life...regardless of how earth-shatteringly explosive their kiss had been.
Let her go, Marchetti.
It made no sense to feel possessive towards a woman he barely knew, and what he did know of her was not at all complimentary. It would be the height of foolishness to still choose to marry her when—-
"Why are you all here?" La Strega was the last to step out of the clinic, and her exasperated tone drew everyone's attention to her in an instant.
"Are you sick, signora ?" Sarica, as always, was first to speak, and she had inadvertently answered Potenziana's question as well with her words.
This was all Giancarlo's doing, the older woman realized with a silent sigh. Giancarlo was extremely thorough when it came to the family's safety, and all of their bodyguards reported to him directly. He would have known right away of her intention to visit the hospital, and she could see why he would've seen it as a cause for concern.
"Are you here because of Ysabel?"
Massimo's abrupt question had the lady in question turning red, but Potenziana only regarded her grandson with amusement. "Should I be flattered or concerned that you are not worried about my health?"
A flush darkened Massimo's features at his grandmother's words. Shit. His grandmother was right. Even though they had all been issued a clean bill of health by the family physician, there was still a chance that it was Potenziana who needed to see Dr. Rivera and Ysabel being with her was merely a coincidence.
"Chiedo scusa, nonna—- "
Potenziana smiled. "There is no need for an apology, Massimo. Especially since you are right—-"
All eyes swung to Ysabel, whose cheeks immediately turned red under everyone's scrutiny.
"We came here because of your fidanzata. "
"Signora, per favore!" Ysabel was dismayed to realize Massimo's entire famiglia could soon be privy to the truth behind their visit.
"And according to Dr. Rivera..."
Massimo's handsome face turned impassive. If his suspicions proved to be true, he already knew what he had to do.
"Your fidanzata is without a doubt—-"
And that was to not let go of Ysabel. Regardless of her past, he wanted to...do his duty.
"One hundred percent—-"
His duty was what mattered , he thought determinedly. He would stand by her even if she was—-
" Una vergine."
A pregnant—- cos'era quello? Cosa ha detto sua nonna? What was that his grandmother said?
Did she just say his fidanzata was a virgin?
The stunned expression that flashed over Massimo's features had his famiglia coughing (except for Sarica, of course, who snickered without shame) while his fidanzata turned red as a tomato at the matriarch's revelation.
"This was something we had to medically certify," Potenziana relayed briefly, "as it was the only request made by Ysabel's mother. She wishes her daughter to be given the choice to stay pure until her wedding day, and it shall be so...if it is Ysabel's desire as well?"
Ysabel wished the ground could swallow her up. If she said 'yes', would Massimo not think her a prude? But if she said 'no', would he not think of her as easy?
She took a deep breath even though she still had no idea what to say, but just as her lips parted, she heard Massimo drawl—-
"The answer to that shall be between my fidanzata and me, but you have my word that I will abide by whichever choice Ysabel makes. And now, if you could excuse us..."
Giancarlo returned to his family's side just in time to see Massimo walk away with his fidanzata, and worth noting was how his brother's hand was already pressed possessively against Ysabel's back.
"It seems I have missed a lot," he murmured to his fidanzata.
"If you want the TL;DR version—-Massimo has numerous cold showers to look forward to, in case Ysabel chooses to keep her V-card before their big day."
A slight smile curved over Giancarlo's lips at her explanation, and the sight immediately had Sarica's hatefully gullible heart skipping a beat. Grr. She turned away without a word, intending to hitch a ride back home with Ezio...but this was easier said than done, with strong fingers already cupping her elbow to spin her back into facing her annoyingly gorgeous fidanzato.
Just a few months more , Sarica desperately reminded herself. Just a few months more, and then she'd be free.
I AM TO BE HER FIRST . The words were all Massimo could think about as he led Ysabel to his car, which was parked just outside the hospital's basement lobby.
I am to be her first!
It was the craziest thought to have, especially since just seconds ago he had been convinced that she was pregnant with another man's child—-and he had been willing to claim her baby as his if that was what it took for their wedding to push through.
How the hell had he come to this point?
It was as if Ysabel had woven a spell around him, and he would rather face an eternity of torment with her by his side rather than have her leave.
Ysabel glanced warily at Massimo when he opened the car door for her. "Where are we going?"
"I'm driving you home." Massimo's tone was curt. "Unless there is somewhere else you want to go?"
Ysabel shook her head, and once inside, she watched him walk around the car, all the while thinking... was this truly happening?
Massimo slid behind the wheel and noticed Ysabel struggling with her seatbelt. "Let me..." He reached across her to help her out, but then he heard Ysabel catch her breath as the side of his arm brushed against her breasts...
Fuck.
The sound of her seatbelt snapping back to the side of the car had Ysabel gasping in surprise, but as soon as her lips parted open, Massimo was already covering her mouth with his, and butterfly wings fluttered like crazy inside her stomach.
Aaah.
The sudden onslaught of Massimo's deep, forceful kiss swept all thoughts out of Ysabel's mind, and all she could do was hold on to his massive shoulders for life as his tongue delved past her lips. The way his fingers gripped her hair as he pulled her head back made her toes curl inside her shoes; his touch was almost savage in its possessiveness, and she loved it.
This...
This was what her subconscious mind had secretly and shamefully yearned for.
This was what she had fought against thinking of every waking moment of her life in the past five years.
This was once forbidden , but when she remembered what La Strega and Cattleya had revealed earlier, and what their words had made her realize—-
This man...could have fallen in love with me five years ago.
The thought was instantly liberating, with Ysabel breaking free from every self-imposed restriction she had chained herself to, and before she realized what she was doing, her arms were already winding around his neck, and her body molding against Massimo's lethally muscular form in surrender as her tongue tentatively mated with his.
A rough growl of need escaped Massimo's lips at Ysabel's unexpected response, and he was no longer able to keep his hands to himself. As he kissed her harder and more hungrily, he also became busy acquainting himself with the tantalizing curves of her body, with his hands briefly spanning her waist before moving up once again until his fingers finally claimed one swollen breast.
Ysabel could only whimper against Massimo's lips when he started kneading her breast, and she whimpered again when both of his hands were now in full possession of her aching flesh. Her nipples began to pucker at the way his hands felt so impossibly big and strong, and when Massimo's fingers suddenly tweaked her nipples before pinching them hard—-
Aaaaaah!
Disbelief and satisfaction unlike any other roared through Massimo's veins when Ysabel suddenly gasped against her lips, and soft, telltale shudders of release ripped through her body. He was no innocent boy not to know when a woman was faking her orgasm, and the fact that this was real - that he had truly made his fidanzata climax with merely his hands on her breasts - turned his world completely outside down.
This, dammit.
This was the kind of explosive chemistry he had thought he would have with Ynez. And the first time he had visited Ynez in her university, what they had shared afterward was almost like this.
Almost.
But after that, it had never been so again, and Massimo had even convinced himself the kind of chemistry he had been hoping for was unrealistic...until now.