Matteo #3
The air thickens, and that night all those years ago rushes to the forefront of my mind. I’ve tried to scrub that moment from my memory but our worst decisions always seem to haunt us. If I’m not thinking about it, I’m dreaming about it—more like reliving the nightmare of it.
Pushing up, I round the island. I’m about to tell her the truth, why I said what I said that night, and she knows it. I can see her pupils expand, her chest rising on a deep inhale.
Before I can so much as utter a single word, she’s shoving something at my chest. “Face mask?”
Stopping in my tracks, I look down at the jar in my hand. “Face mask?”
Why doesn’t she want me to talk about that night?
“Face mask.”
“Why are we repeating the same thing?”
“Well, mine was a question. You’re the one who’s suddenly a parrot.”
“Am I now?” I ask around a chuckle.
Smiling at me coyly, she pulls the tub back, holding it up and giving it a little shake. “What do you say?” She rubs a hand over her cheeks. “I think the mud from the hike is messing with my skin.”
“Okay.” I shrug. “Let me know what to do.”
Evie’s eyes widen before they narrow. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re going to let me put this stuff on your face?”
“Why not?”
I’d do anything to keep you smiling. I’d do anything you ask of me.
“Okay, but don’t complain to me when you look like the Loch Ness monster.”
“Have you ever heard me complain to you?” Her lips part eagerly, but then she frowns, and then her mouth snaps shut. Tapping her on the nose, I grin victoriously. “Precisely. Now, where do you want me?”
A blush forms on her cheeks as she hops off the stool. Clasping my wrist, she pulls me toward the sofa, pushing me down in such a way I can’t help it, my dick twitches.
I lean back, fisting my hands at my sides to keep myself from touching her as Evie sits on her knees beside me. She opens the jar, the smell wafting out making me take another sniff.
“Not bad.”
Evie smirks. “Better than not bad. This stuff smells like heaven.”
“You’re right, though, it looks…”
“We’re going to look like Shrek and Fiona by the time I’m done.” She grabs my jaw, turning my head this way and that as she inspects me. I don’t dare utter a word, not when I want her to continue touching me.
Her finger slides along my jawline. “Scruffy.”
“Didn’t have time to shave this morning.” Even to my own ears, my voice sounds rough. This is what she does to me.
She scoops a dollop onto her finger. “Hold still,” she whispers. As she starts to lather the cream on my face, I have to be honest, it does feel nice—thick, but not in a suffocating way.
“You have nice skin for a man,” she murmurs.
“Thank you? I think?”
Her lips twitch as she scoops out another clump. “It was a compliment.” Rising a little higher, she tries to layer some on the other side of my cheek, but starts wobbling slightly, balancing at an odd angle.
I’m not sure what possesses me—that’s a lie, I know what does. I’ve wanted to do this a million fucking times, except this time, I don’t hold back.
Placing my hands on her hips, I lift her and then lower her on my lap, her legs on either side of my hips. Evie’s breath hitches, eyes snapping to mine.
The question in them makes me drawl, “It’ll be easier for you this way.”
“For the skin,” she says through labored pants.
“The skin,” I agree.
This isn’t for the fucking skin and we both know it.
She scoots forward slightly and, fuck me, I know she feels it. We both hiss out a breath as Evie aligns herself perfectly over me and that’s when I realize my hands are still on her hips and she’s wearing nothing under my hoodie but her underwear.
Oh my fucking god.
I didn’t think this through. I didn’t fucking think this through at all because now that Evie’s on my lap—wearing my hoodie, her hair all messy, her breathing labored, hooded eyes on mine—I have to try and not get hard, and my dick is not cooperating right now.
Panic mingles with the pure ecstasy that’s coursing through my veins at having her so close to me. I’ve dreamed—fantasized—about this happening and I can’t believe it is.
And she likes it.
There’s no way she doesn’t. She’s barely paying attention to the mask anymore. Her hips keep slightly rocking, her thighs on either side of mine squeezing.
We’ve always danced around each other, have always had that insatiable pull, but it’s never been so clear to me that I’m not the only one that’s fighting it.
She feels it too.
Holy fucking shit, she feels it too.
My fingers twitch on her hips.
I can’t force myself to let go, couldn’t pry my hands off her body even if my life depended on it.
She’s perfect, so goddamn perfect I’m finding it hard to breathe. Like two trains barreling toward each other on the same track, I don’t think we can stop what we’ve started.
Her pearly blue eyes seem to glisten as they stare at me and before I can stop myself, my brain completely hijacked by my heart, I whisper gutturally, “So fucking beautiful.”
Evie’s breathing stutters, her hand hovering midair before she throws caution to the wind and gently strokes my cheek, adding another layer of face mask, but I’m not paying attention to the creamy consistency. All I can feel are her fingers on my skin.
My eyes shutter closed, my grip on her hips tightening.
“Valenti.”
“Matteo,” I plead. “Say my name, Dove.”
It’s easy to imagine how hard her heart is beating because mine is out of control, and it takes a nose dive as Evie’s angelic voice huskily whispers, “Matteo.”
My eyes snap open as a groan of pure pleasure leaves me.
Evie’s eyes flash at the sound but all I can concentrate on is how fucking good it felt to hear her say my name while she’s sitting on my lap.
One of my hands leave her hips, trailing up her body. The face mask container tumbles from her hands as mine slides along her neck, cupping her jaw and pulling her down to me.
Not caring for the crap on my face, Evie lays her forehead against mine as I beg, “Again.”
Her hands grip my shirt, seemingly pulling me closer as her hips move atop mine, eliciting another groan of pleasure.
A small breathy moan tumbles from her lips and it takes all of my self-control not to flip her over right now, spread her legs apart, align our hips, and melt into the warmth of her.
To melt into the touch we’re both on the edge for.
The hand that’s still on her hip guides her, letting her know she can rock gently if she wants, and my fucking god does she take the invitation. Ever so slowly, just a fraction back and forth, her hips cant.
Tilting my chin up our lips brush as I beg, “Again, Dove,” I tell her. “Say my name again.”
Her hands slide up my chest, along my neck to the back of my head, where she sinks her fingers into my hair and holds me to her as she answers my prayer.
“Matteo.”
My resolve snaps.
With one hand on her jaw, I cup the cheek of the most precious woman in this world and lift my chin. Our lips brush, electricity sparking between us…right as someone pounds on my goddamn fucking door.
Evie jumps a foot in the air before scrambling off my lap and avoiding my eye.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
“I’m going to kill whoever the fuck that is,” I growl, low and deep. I stand, my hands fisted at my sides as loss slams into my chest because I see the walls she’s built already.
My one fucking shot.
My one goddamn fucking shot and it was ruined by—
Irving cowers as I fling the door open, taking a step back once he sees the murder promised in my eyes.
Wringing his hands, he looks from me and then over my shoulder to Evie somewhere behind me in the apartment.
“Ahh, Valenti…your face is green.”
I force myself to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. It takes an ungodly amount of time for my anger and disappointment to fade, and even then, it lingers like a stab wound.
“What do you want, Irving?”
He steps forward, hesitant, and I feel like a fucking dick, but I’ve wanted to kiss Evie Ellington for as long as I can remember and I was so close. So damn close, and now I’m worried I’ve fucked everything up.
His swallow is audible as he holds up a phone.
Kieran’s face appears on the screen, his brows raised. “Did we interrupt?” the fucker teases, smirking before he leans forward, squinting. “Why the fuck is your face green?”
Then the screen illuminates, a notification popping up to inform me that Ashford took a screenshot.
Growling, I snap, “I swear to God, if you fucking post that—”
“But you look so adorable.”
“What do you want?” I bark out.
“Mandatory party at Grayson’s, everyone is required to come. Be there in an hour, and bring Evie.”
“You sacrificed Irving to come down here and knock on my apartment, uninvited, to tell me to go to a party?” I ask, the tone of my voice showing my displeasure.
Ashford claps. “That’s what you get for not answering your phone, fucker! See you in an hour.”
He hangs up before I can say anything else.
Irving, his cheeks red, waves at Evie behind me. “Hey, little Ellington.”
“Hey, Irving.”
He swallows before smiling. “You got a little…” He points to his forehead and then to the spot above his lips.
Evie’s gasp behind me has my back straightening.
“Bye, Irving,” I grit out before slamming the door shut.
Turning, I catch the tail end of Evie’s feet as she bolts up the stairs. “I’ll be ready in an hour!”
The sound of her door closing seals my doom.
“What the fuck have I done?” I mutter to myself in the now-empty living room, my gaze snagged on the couch that will haunt me.