Chapter 27 Alina #2
The car rolls through the familiar iron gates, slowing as it comes to a stop in front of Mauro’s house. We step out together, but he moves ahead of me, unlocking the door and walking inside without waiting for me like he always does.
My shoulders curve in as I cross the threshold, removing my jacket and hanging it beside the door.
I head toward the living room, coated in darkness, finding him standing beside the fire, staring outside, his mind a million miles away. His back is tight, lined with tension, his hands uncurling and curling into fists over and over again.
Cautiously, I step toward him, leaving a good distance between us. “Mauro,” I whisper, looking at the ground. “I think we should talk.”
He goes still, apprehension settling into his frame as he turns to face me.
And that’s when I see it.
So much anguish.
So much pain.
“I…”
You want to end this marriage.
“What?” I frown, my brows knitting together. “Why would you think that?”
That man was right.
“The man you just killed?”
His nostrils flare, and he turns away from me, his back rigid.
“Mauro,” I say, my voice sharper than I intend. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on inside your head. I don’t understand—”
He whirls around, his finger pointing at me. “Beauty,” he lashes out, his voice fierce and unsteady. He jabs his finger directly over his heart. “Beast.” His chest pants with labored force, each breath dragged in like it pains him to do so.
“Is that what you truly think?” I ask softly, fighting the sob clawing its way up my throat as my heart breaks for the man before me.
You deserve to be with someone worthy of you.
Someone who makes you feel proud when you stand by their side.
That person isn’t me. I’m a hideous beast covered in scars.
A monster with no soul. And you know it.
I see it in your eyes right now. Silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating.
He looks off before staring back at me. This marriage was doomed from the start, and that’s my fault.
His shoulders sag under the weight of the words.
We only have a short amount of time left on the contract, but if you can’t wait it out, I understand.
My heart pounds so loudly I’m sure he can hear it.
And I’ll… He swallows hard. I’ll let you go.
The words pierce my chest like a bullet.
He drops his head, fingers raking through his hair.
“You’ll let me go,” I echo, disbelief and pain bleeding into my voice.
“Just like that.” My breath shudders as I step back, distance opening between us.
Something hot and volatile ignites in my chest. Anger.
Hurt. Fear. I turn sharply, my heels clicking against the floor as I start toward the door.
I need to leave. I need air. I need space before I—
“Stop!”
My eyes find his…
His knees drop to the grass…
My arms slip around him…
His heart beats as fast as mine…
I’m done holding on to this secret.
My pulse roars in my ears as I spin back around, crossing the room in seconds, stopping a few feet away from him with the fire roaring between us.
“I saw the panic in your eyes tonight when the woman believed she felt our secret between us. The one I’ve never shared with a single soul.
But it’s time you know the truth about that day.
” I take a steady breath, blinking back tears.
“Seven and a half years ago,” I say, my voice rising, trembling with everything I’ve buried for too long, “you saved my life.”
The words echo, sharp and undeniable.
His head snaps up, confusion flooding his expression, his eyes searching my face like I’ve just rewritten his memory of that day.
I draw in a shaky breath. “You think it was me who saved you, but you have it wrong, Mauro.”
Maybe if I had told him the truth then, he wouldn’t be standing here now, appearing so defeated.
I swipe angrily at my cheeks, refusing to let the tears win. “I was sitting on that cliff, wondering why I was here. I was drowning in things I didn’t know how to say out loud. And there was no one I could lean on. I had never felt so…alone.”
I had just found out about my father. Early-onset dementia is what the doctors referred to it as, leaving him with possibly four to ten years of life left.
It’s why he announced his retirement, wanting to keep the news between only him and me.
Too proud to let others know. He asked me to promise to keep this a secret between us, and to this day I have.
Even now, when it’s begging to be released to the man standing before me.
But at seventeen years old, it felt like the world was sitting on my shoulders, waiting for me to break from the pressure.
Because overnight, the roles were reversed and I was no longer a child, but an adult.
One who was now responsible for her father, who sometimes had a hard time remembering… Remembering who his own daughter was.
“That day, I just wanted something beautiful. One moment where the world didn’t feel so heavy.
” My throat tightens. “So I brought a blanket. My favorite book. I leaned against that old tree and told myself I’d sit there until the sun set.
” My fingers tremble as I lace them together.
“I wanted to remember what it felt like to breathe.” I roll in my bottom lip.
“I’m not… I’m not sure I was actually going to go through with it.
Still, the thought hung heavy in the back of my mind.
I was so desperate and scared. Not sure what to do.
I was at my lowest,” I admit shamefully.
“But then… Then you came. You never saw me as you ran toward the edge of that cliff like nothing else existed. Like the rest of the world had faded away.” My voice breaks.
“And I knew.” I swallow, blinking hard. “I knew what you were about to do. Because it was the same reason why I was there.”
I lift my gaze to him. His eyes are wide now, stunned, his lips parted like he’s forgotten how to breathe.
“The word stop left my mouth before I even realized I was speaking. And when you froze so close to the edge, I felt this rush of relief.” I wrap my arms around myself, looking off to the side.
“Then you dropped to your knees, like the weight you were carrying finally became too much. The pain in your eyes…” My voice falters as I see his eyes fill with tears.
“Nothing I could have said would’ve been enough.
I couldn’t speak because words didn’t seem right in that moment.
They didn’t seem fair, not when they were taken from you.
So I hugged you. And you hugged me back, holding me against your body as if I were the only thing keeping you from falling off that edge.
But the truth is…” I wipe at my tears. “You were keeping me from falling.”
Mauro swallows the distance between us, not stopping until he has me in his arms. I collapse into his chest, burying my face against him as everything I’ve been holding back finally breaks free.
My tears soak into his shirt, but he doesn’t care one bit as his grip tightens, his hands firm against my back, like he’s afraid I might run out the front door and never look back.
“I don’t see a monster when I look at you,” I whisper. “I see the man who saved me. One, I’m so in love with, it physically hurts, because I know this will all be over soon.”
His muscles stiffen beneath my touch.
He pulls back to see my face, dropping his hands so he can use them, and asks, You love me?
I sniffle and glance away, my chest aching.
“I do.” A small, broken laugh escapes me.
“And I know I shouldn’t because this is only temporary.
” I meet his eyes again. “But I can’t stop my heart from beating for you.
” My voice softens. “My heart has only ever beat for you. I was just too scared to tell you.”
His palms cradle my cheeks, his forehead rolling against mine. He closes his eyes, taking in a lungful of air. “I…love…” His voice falters. He swallows hard, pain and longing twisting over his face. “I love you,” he whispers in the dark, his words wrapping around me, setting my heart ablaze.
His lips press to mine, telling me so much more than words ever could. Devouring me with an untamed passion before suddenly pulling back to look down at me.
He parts from me, striding toward the kitchen. My eyes stay on him as he grabs something off the fridge. When he returns, he holds a piece of paper before us.
“The rules,” I breathe, my chest expanding with each deep breath.
He steps closer to the fire and tears the paper down the middle, tossing the fragments into the flames. I watch as they quickly disintegrate into nothing.
Every rule vanishing up the chimney.
His dark eyes return to me, causing my body to thrum to life.
He reaches for my hand and tries to lead me toward the stairs, but I keep my stance strong. “No.”
Looking over his shoulder, his brow arches.
“I want…” Shyness overcomes me, but I swallow it down. This is my husband. A man I love with everything inside me. “I want you to make me yours right here.”
Before the fire.
A place where we’ve spent many nights with a book in my hands as he listened to every story I read him.
A place where our love for one another blossomed.
Mauro reaches for the faux fur blanket on the side of the couch, and I step out of his way as he lays it on the floor. Standing straight, he offers me his hand, and I place my palm against his.
I stand before him, tilting my face up. His lips ghost over mine, barely touching, but leaving a tingle over my skin.
“Make me yours, Mauro,” I breathe.
There’s no hesitation when his lips consume mine.
Hauling me against him, his hand curves around my waist, and his other tangles in my hair.
A deep groan leaves him as I curl my fingers around his neck, seeking to eliminate every ounce of space between us.
His fingers pull on the zipper on the back of my dress, slowly tugging it down the length of my spine.
Dropping my arms, I let the fabric descend to the ground, leaving me completely naked before him.
Warmth skates over my exposed skin as Mauro’s eyes drift across me with a ravenous need, clearly pleased by my lack of underwear or bra.
I reach for his shirt and, with speed, undo the top few buttons, exposing his toned chest. Losing patience, he rips the rest of it apart, tugging the material from his pants and tossing it aside.
My eyes greedily take in his body.
Lust fills my center, creating an insatiable throb between my legs.
How he could ever view himself as a monster, I’ll never understand.
I rest my hand on his chest, feeling his heart pound, matching the speed of my own. Tracing my index finger back and forth, I glance up, locking eyes with him. “Mine.”
Satisfaction dances amidst his dark irises.
Bending down, his lips resume their place with mine, leaving me utterly breathless. With precision, his hand skims down my body, resting over my ass as he lifts me in the air. My legs loop around his torso, my body clinging to him as he kneels and then gently lowers me to the floor beneath him.
His large body covers me, his lips fusing to mine. I lift my hips, seeking friction as I slide over his hard length. With one hand, he reaches between us, unfastening his belt and lowering the zipper. He tugs the layers of material off his body, leaving nothing between us.
Pulling apart, he stares into my eyes, his palm covering my cheek. “Mine,” he says tenderly, his voice swirling around my heart, eliciting a euphoric haze around us.
Leaning down, his lips press tenderly to the center of my chest before he rests his forearm beside my head. My legs spread for him as he positions the head of his cock at my entrance.
Anticipation builds in the pit of my stomach as he gently nudges inside me.
I whimper, curling my fingers around his shoulders as he slides in, one inch at a time. The pressure from his size provides the fullness my body has come to crave from him.
His fingers float over my temple, pushing back my hair as he places a kiss on my forehead.
Once he’s fully seated, he takes a moment before moving. His thrusts start slow, but quickly build to the hard, fast pace he knows I desire.
My body willingly accepts everything he gives me as he claims me right here, right now. I cling to him with sweat coating our skin. His hand binds around my thigh, pulling it up past his shoulder. The new angle causes him to hit farther within me, prompting a moan I can’t control.
Tremors wash through me as every muscle in my body coils tightly. I feel right on the peak of pleasure that will consume me whole, but my body wants more.
Needs more.
Knowing my body better than myself, Mauro reaches between us, slipping two fingers over my clit. He rubs in a fast circular motion, detonating my orgasm.
My back arches.
My thighs tighten.
And my mind goes blank as stars dance across my vision.
He pulls every last ounce of satisfaction out of me, my body going slack beneath him. His movements become jerky, his own orgasm quickly following suit as he groans wildly, his warmth spilling inside me.
He rests his head beside mine, catching his breath as I come to. My fingers hold on to him, never wanting to let go.
A shiver runs down my spine as he brushes his lips over my ear. “My…heart,” he breathes with passion, his arms tightening around me.
I tilt my head to the side, staring into his eyes.
Seeing him for the first time as my husband.
The knight in shining armor in my fairy tale.
The one I will love long after our story ends.