Chapter 26
26
Layne
“ C an we wait until Dante is here too?” I ask as we walk across to the elevator.
The car ride home was a simmering pot of Alpha aggression and Beta worry, making me feel like I was suffocating. Or that might have been because Rocco’s arrival at The Dock had unlocked fears I thought I had managed to curtail.
I honestly didn’t think Rocco would have the balls to chase after me. It seems I completely misjudged him, and that annoys the hell out of me because I should have expected it. I’d sunk into a broody mood in the car because of it.
Matteo follows me as I walk toward my room, hovering close in case I want to talk, but I only want to tell them once.
“How long do you think Dante will be?”
“Probably a few more hours,” Matteo says, undoing my belt when I turn around.
“I’m going to have a shower. Then do you think we can take the dogs for a walk?”
He nods immediately. “Let me get changed and find something to distract Valentine, and then we can head out. There’s a park close by.”
I leave the bathroom door open as I shower. I’m so far in my head, I don’t realize Valentine is climbing in behind me until I turn around.
“You didn’t want to ask me to go for a walk with you?” He glares, but he also pushes my hair off my face before hooking his hand behind my neck and pulling me against his chest.
God, the way this pack makes me feel so safe and comfortable probably scares me as much as Rocco showing up at Styke does. I circle my hands around his waist, sinking into the comfort he offers.
“No.”
“Why?”
“You’d be overbearing and demanding.”
His muscles bunch under my arms, and he grabs a hold of my hair to pull my head back, making it impossible for me to avoid looking at him. Except, Valentine doesn’t bark or demand my submission.
“Damn, you’re good at that.” I exhale after a few minutes of floating in his gaze.
“I’m glad you noticed that I’m trying hard. The second Dante walks in, though, I want answers.” He says almost tenderly.
As I lean up for his mouth, he dips down and kisses me hard. Valentine keeps blurring my mind, and not just by being a stunning kisser. The blurring comes when he shows me all the nearly endless sides of his personality. It’s in those times, when he chooses not to be as dominant as I know he can be, that I struggle with sorting through fact from fiction. He keeps rewriting my assumptions.
“Is it stupid I’m going out for a walk with Matteo after what we heard at lunch?”
He shrugs before his lips twist up in a nearly cheeky smirk. “Even smart people make stupid decisions every now and then. If you feel anything besides calm and relaxed, I want you back here. Keep the dogs on high alert and go armed. Now, if something happens, at least we can say we were prepared and not flat-out stupid.”
I push out of his arms, or I won’t get out. I rinse my hair for a final time before walking past him. “Valentine, while I’m gone, I think I’d really like you to delete Ariana.”
He’s quiet, and I twist around, already preparing to answer questions or argue. Instead, I watch him tipping his head back with his eyes closed, and I’m struck by a wave of fear at the realization of how deeply I’m falling under his spell. As if we mystically share something besides insatiable lust and wedding bands, he opens his eyes and looks at me, unable to hide something similar in his eyes.
Valentine and his pack keep saying this is real. What we share feels so real. And I’m starting to believe them more and more.
I leave the bathroom before he asks me to stay, because right here and now, I would pretty much do anything he wants.
Dressing quickly in baggy shorts and an oversized hoodie, I’m hopping on one foot, trying to pull on my sneakers, when he walks out of my bathroom, naked.
“Valentine!” I hiss and giggle because his ego is so goddamn huge—and attractive. And, once again, he has me second-guessing who the real Valentine De Luca is.
With no shame, he falls onto my bed, his massive frame nearly taking up the whole space. No matter how much I school myself not to, I end up watching as he strokes himself with my panties wrapped around his fist. Of course, since it’s Valentine we’re talking about, he holds his covered fist in such a way it showcases those mind-blowing additions to his cock.
I force myself to turn away, and he starts groaning loudly the farther I walk away from him, and as magnetic as he is, Matteo holds the same draw for me. While Valentine keeps me guessing, Matteo is the constant I crave.
“Sorry I kept you waiting,” I say, sliding straight under the arm he holds out.
We side hug, collecting a couple of things from the kitchen before I whistle for Bella and Edward. Matteo stands back as I harness them up, and I appreciate the gesture, his small sign they are my responsibility but also his respect for my decision to have them.
“Are you armed?” he asks as he goes to push the button to the elevator.
Instead of answering, I turn around and beeline back to the kitchen, where I disarmed when we got back earlier. Not the safest practice, and I was relying on these three to be responsible when it comes to gun safety, which makes sense but is a bit disrespectful too.
Hoisting my top up, I make quick work of the shoulder holster, adjusting it to fit better with the oversized hoodie. Since I’m wearing shorts, I elect not to wear the thigh strap for the knife.
Returning to Matteo, I find him already inside the elevator, and I take the leads for the dogs out of his hands.
“Looking forward to getting out for a walk?” he asks as soon as the elevator starts to descend.
“Fresh air will do me good.”
“But you do know we want to know about the phone call when we get back.” He’s careful in his insistence.
“Yeah.”
Before I can say anything else, the doors open, and Matteo grabs my hand. “For now, though, it’s me and you. And about ten other people shadowing us.”
I pull a face, and he winks. “It’s not really in response to anything that has happened today. More of how things are in this world.”
“You’re not worried about why Dante is out? I mean, I heard at the restaurant.”
“Like I said, it is our world, and this is how things are every day. New threats coming at you, old ones still needing to be resolved, and we both know power makes people dangerous. If they have it, they want more of it, and if they don’t, they will do anything to take it.”
“You could say that about most situations.”
“Correct. No more talking shop. I just want to hang out with my sweet savior.” He winks before we really do just walk and be together.
The dogs don’t get stressed by anything; they act almost like regular dogs, happy to be out for a walk in the sunshine. The park Matteo takes us to is big enough to have walking paths meandering around and through trees and large grassy areas. It also has secluded areas perfect for letting them off their leads while we lie in the sun.
Matteo’s eyes are closed, and I watch him snoozing. The sunlight hits his face, making his eyelashes seem even longer and his skin glow, showcasing his Mediterranean heritage.
“You keep watching me like that, and I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
I roll up to sitting. Jesus, honestly, I have to, so I’ll remember we’re in the middle of a park. With a couple of words, he has my thoughts racing back to the way he commanded my body very recently. Shaking my head, I swipe my hands over my face, but it doesn’t help.
I sigh, once I stop hiding behind my hands. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“How so?”
“You look at me, and I light up like a firecracker. A couple of words, and I’m wondering if there’s anywhere around here we can sneak off to for a few minutes.”
His eyes are hooded, and the way he rearranges himself, stretching one arm behind his head, has him throwing even more fuel on the fire.
“Is it me that makes you feel that way, or is it you being off suppressors?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve never been with a Beta, so I don’t know.”
“Which means it’s me that turns you on.” He smirks, stretching out like a cat in the sunshine, looking very pleased with himself. “Get over here.”
Without the influence of designation, my free will isn’t dragged out of me, so when I straddle his hips, the look of triumph on Matteo’s lush lips only becomes even more evident. He points to his mouth, his intentions obvious, and as I draw closer, he bends his knees up and drops a hand on my waist.
“I love this thing of ours. It’s so fucking volatile because it is one of those once-in-a-lifetime connections. Don’t question it, Layne. Just know I feel exactly the same for you.”
He buries his fingers into my hair as he takes a fist of it, holding me close. And then he rewires my brain, kissing the absolute bejesus out of me. Eventually pulling us apart, he gives me the chance to actually get some air into my lungs.
“I want to feel your cunt pulsing around my cock right here for anyone to watch,” he groans as he returns to licking his tongue into my mouth, leaving me moaning and writhing on his lap. “And considering it’s our honeymoon, I should flip you over and fill your pretty pussy until you can’t take any more. But not right now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I want to see the way your eyes dilate and how you bite your lips just before your breathing hitches when you come.”
“Is there a but coming?” I murmur against his lips.
Matteo winds my hair up tighter, craning my neck back before his lips suck against the column of my neck. “Nope. I already told you PDA is a weakness of mine.” Matteo drops his hand from my waist to tug down his shorts, so I can see the head of his cock. “I wish we had more people around us, but I can’t leave you hanging just because I’d like a larger audience.”
I make a noise that sounds overly needy, even to me.
He sits up, crossing his legs so I’m seated on his lap, my legs behind him.
“I watched Valentine touching you at lunch and have never come so close to killing him.” He scoops an arm under my ass before fiddling with his shorts, pulling them down enough so his cock is free, and then he hitches mine to the side and drops me straight down on him. The stretch and burn is to die for. “Ride my cock and scream my name. Hopefully, half the park comes running at the noise.”
Matteo makes it blatantly obvious what we’re doing too. He doesn’t let his movements be small and subtle; he basically bends me backward before getting Kama Sutra in his positions as he rails into my body.
“God, I love the way you make me feel,” I say with a groan when he slows down, teasing my clit just by the way he looks at it.
“I love the way you make me feel like I don’t need a knot to pleasure you,” he admits.
“You don’t. You, Matteo, exactly the way you are, is what I need,” I confess as easily as he does.
“Come on, Layne, show me how I make you feel. Soak my cock with your pussy juices, so I can give you all this.” He growls, dropping a hand to squeeze his balls.
I wrap one arm around his shoulders, holding him so tight, I worry I might suffocate him, but I feel the way parts of him melt against me. I whimper like a porn star every time he hits me deeper, and it seems like forever, but it’s over way too soon when I drop my mouth to his throat to muffle my scream as I come.
“Fuck, yes, ride me and squeeze my dick.” He grunts loudly, his hips fucking up harder, faster.
Opening my mouth, I clamp my teeth over his scent gland and bite down hard enough to set him off. Matteo grunts loudly as he erupts inside me.
Then he peppers kisses all over my face before he kisses me slowly on the lips like we have all the time, and privacy, in the world. He doesn’t stop when his cock softens, he doesn’t stop when Edward jumps to his feet and trots away, he doesn’t stop kissing me until he is ready.
His brown eyes are like whiskey in the sunshine, and there’s this pause between us. It’s the same as with Valentine in the shower, where I get this bone-jarring realization that their words and actions keep reaffirming that they are in this one hundred percent.
And then, eerily similar to how Valentine confirmed it too, Matteo grabs my face, his fingers digging into my skin with the tenderest of touches and the smallest of shakes. “This. Is. Real. Fall with me. Please.”