Chapter 23 – Alessandro
I f anyone were to ask, I was here to make sure Penelope looked like the goddess I knew she could be. While my assistant should have been able to instruct the stores exactly what my wife would need, I used my reputation for control as my reason for overseeing the shopping excursion. It had nothing to do with missing her wholesome, smiling face at the breakfast table, and the fact that I wouldn’t see it again tonight.
My schedule was not conducive to family life, and yet I didn’t want my wife to feel neglected.
That would never happen again.
This time around, this marriage, would be different. I swore it on a solitary tombstone of a girl who died too young—if I had to stretch myself thin to keep that vow, so be it.
But coming with Penelope, making time for her, wasn’t the burden I predicted married life to be. I had no idea how intoxicating it was to watch her try on gowns. Torturous was the better word. Each dress brought a new fantasy to play out in my mind. Sheer torment wracked my body, making my bones ache, and all because I wouldn’t allow myself to reach out and touch.
Not a burden. Not by a long shot.
Penelope stepped from the changing room in a shimmering forest-green dress. I shifted on the sofa. The semi-hard arousal, which was tucked up in the waist of my pants, was growing increasingly uncomfortable with each dress. The way this one brought out the jade in her hazel eyes…fuck me.
“Not that one,” I said gruffly.
Penelope put her hands on her hips, and I had to suppress a groan. “This is the fifth dress! What’s wrong with it?”
Her ponytail snapped as she jerked her chin. My fingers involuntarily clenched. Dio! How I wanted to wrap that length around my palm, use the shimmering hair to pull her neck back as I drove into her—
“Mancini,” she barked. “Seriously? What is wrong with this? It’s not red, my tits aren’t going to fall out, and it isn’t too tight, which means I can breathe.”
Nothing’s wrong, gorgeous. Except that if I had this strong a reaction to her, every other male who set eyes on her would as well.
It was the color. The green transformed her from beautiful to divine.
“Not that one,” I repeated.
With an outraged groan, she stomped back into the dressing room.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees and pushed my hands through my hair. This was the trouble with a beautiful wife. Everyone was going to see her and want her.
“They can’t have her, she’s mine,” I rasped. The tickle at the back of my throat had me clearing it yet again.
I reached for my bottle of water and chugged. It did nothing to relieve the scratch.
“Alright, we have a problem,” Penelope called out.
I shot to my feet, gaze darting about for a threat. With the two guards stationed at each entrance, and the store to ourselves, there shouldn’t be danger, but I hadn’t been paying attention. Not with her to distract me.
“Alessandro! Get in here,” Penelope instructed.
Eyes narrowed, I stalked forward.
“Help me with the zipper…please.” It was the way she looked up at me. Gaze hooded, eyes flashing with emotions, but trying to be polite.
Wait…she used my name.
A deep breath filled my lungs. “Since you said please.”
She rolled her eyes. “But seriously, what is wrong with this one?”
I smoothed my hand down her side. “It’s a beautiful dress, but it’s not the right one.”
Penelope shivered at my touch. “The zipper’s stuck, and I don’t want you to buy it if it breaks and it’s not right for the events.”
I drew the tips of my fingers back up her spine, a low, rough hum rumbling in my throat. “You look stunning,” I confessed.
“What! Why? Wwhhat—?” she stammered, shaking her head. “Then why can’t we just get this one and be done?”
I tugged her back against me. Our gazes clashed in the mirror.
“Not this one.”
“Is it me?” she murmured. “Do these dresses not work for someone like me?”
“On the contrary.”
“Then why not?” she insisted.
My fingers splayed over her belly, pressing her tightly against my erection digging into her lower back. Those hazel eyes popped when she realized what that was.
“Do you see what you do to me?” I rasped against her ear.
Another shiver raced through her. “So…it’s not me.”
I shook my head. “It most certainly is—just not in the way you’re insinuating.”
As she watched, I continued to touch her, tracing the lines of the dress, and freely exploring her body.
“I am a very jealous man, vespina,” I warned. “And because I know what dogs men are, I won’t have them salivating over you like a damn bone.”
Penelope snorted. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
She spoke so low, I wasn’t sure I heard correctly. Was she talking about the incident at her uncle’s restaurant? Because if there was more….
“I’ll pummel any man I catch looking at you. Destroy any who dares touch you,” I promised, rage making my voice gruff.
“Well, we can’t have that, now can we?” she drawled. “Can’t start trouble over your pretty little charity case when you’re trying so hard to convince the world that I’m a catch.”
She doesn’t believe me. It was probably a good thing. She’d seen me kill already, but granted, forcing an addict to overdose was probably far more tame than what I should have done.
“You are mine. I won you, fair and square.” I pressed my lips against her fluttering pulse. “And I will kill anyone who tries to take you from me.”
Penelope gasped.
I chuckled darkly. “It’s a promise.”
She cleared her throat. “Fine, sure, whatever. Just get me out of this, okay?”
“If that’s what you want.”
She moved her arm. “It is.”
The zipper ran up the side. I tugged, but it didn’t budge. There was likely fabric caught in the teeth.
“Hold still,” I instructed.
I slipped my knife from an inner pocket. At the click, she jerked away, stammering protests. I caught her shoulder and slid the blade down her spine, with just the right amount of pressure not to graze the skin.
Penelope clutched the fabric to her breasts, breathing hard and staring at me in disbelief. “These dresses are one of a kind!”
I shrugged. “It was in my way.”
“Your way? You destroyed a luxury garment because it was in your way?”
I tugged it down. “Don’t keep me from seeing what is mine, vespina.”
“Unbelievable!” She tried to cover her bare breasts.
My heated gaze drew down her. She shivered again.
“Cold?”
“Yes, aren’t you?” she stuttered.
“I’m burning.” I was. My body was hot and clammy. Even my bones ached with the heat. All because she was right there, temptation incarnate.
“You are flushed.” She stepped forward, a sudden concern written on her face. She placed the back of her palm against my cheek. “Mancini, you’re—”
“Alessandro,” I rasped, catching her arm and placing my kiss against the sensitive skin of her inner wrist. “To you, it’s Alessandro.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“You taste so good,” I murmured. My lips drew a path up the inside of her arm. “I want to devour you, vespina.”
She groaned.
That was all I needed to hear. I reached out and traced along the expanse of her cotton panties, pink with red cherries on them. “These are hiding what I want to feast on.”
“You’re an animal,” she said, voice hoarse with desire.
I pressed my fingers against her sex, feeling her heat through the material. “Mio dio, you’re soaked for me.”
“I am.” She gulped. “And I hate it.”
A dark chuckle rippled from me. “I know.”
I continued to move my fingers against her sex. Penelope moaned. Her hips tipped into my touch, body more than interested in my attention.
“This pussy belongs to me, vespina,” I growled, cupping it in my palm.
“Why didn’t you cut those off too?” she muttered, clearly annoyed with her own interest in the matter.
I chuckled, pinching the elastic band, pulling it off her body, and then let it fall back with a snap.
Penelope gasped softly.
“If these were gone, I couldn’t touch you.” I knelt and pressed a kiss against her center. “Spread your legs wider.”
There was a beat of hesitation.
But she did it. She inched her feet out once, and then again.
“Better, much better,” I murmured, leaning forward to lick her panties. “This is what I want, but I’m not going to take it.”
Her fingers ran through my hair, tugging and pushing. I mouthed against the cotton material, enjoying the forbidden nature of the chase.
“What if I never give it to you?” she rasped.
“You will.” I continued to kiss her pussy. I could almost taste her through the material.
Her legs shook. Those fingers dug against my skull.
Penelope needed time. She needed to trust me enough to give into this fire between us. If I showed her how much I wanted her, how much she craved me, but without giving into it until she was ready, I hoped she would learn to trust me.
“Fuck it. Please, Mancini, just move them aside,” she pleaded.
I grinned. That note of desperation was a victory. A small one, but still the same. “No, maybe you need to wait for your relief a little longer.”
Even if it killed us both.
It nearly did as I rose and brushed a final caress over her panties.
“You bastard! You’re edging me,” she panted.
I cupped her cheeks in both hands and pressed a hard kiss against her lips. That hot tongue slid out to taste herself on me. The provocative action made my dick throb. My fingers slid into her braid, pulling the strands loose. I would burn my empire down to see this woman come undone.
The fact I contemplated that price showed how thin my control was when it came to her. But as I burned with desire, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Soon, I promised myself.
Tearing away, I stared down at her. Our hard breathing filled the space. Her hazel eyes flashed with predominant shades of amber. My wife was beautiful. It took every ounce of strength for me to step away and leave the dressing room before I gave in to her siren’s call.
Her curses at being denied relief followed me like stinging darts. The little wasp was incensed, but the evidence of her desire lingered on my tongue. It wouldn’t be long before we collided. And when that happened, the fireworks would be triumphant—or they would create an explosion that we wouldn’t recover from.