Chapter Ten
Erin
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, I am back there, the night of Lily’s wedding, standing in that moonlit hallway with the sound of laughter and music wafting in from the reception outside.
And Matteo is leaning on the opposite wall, watching me, his brown eyes so dark I can’t separate the irises from the pupils.
His burning gaze sends licks of fire over my skin as I bring the glass to my lips and take a long sip, welcoming the sting of the expensive whiskey in my throat.
I stole his glass a few minutes ago, a bratty little move because I don’t like champagne and also because I wanted his attention.
I am not sure if the flare in his eyes is anger over the theft, or something…
else. But the look sends shivers down my spine as we face each other in the dim hallway.
The corridor feels too quiet. Everyone else is out in the garden and I am suddenly aware that we are entirely alone in a secluded space. His presence is suffocating in the most intoxicating way.
I take another sip and hand him back the glass with a shrug. “Relax, big guy. You weren’t drinking it anyway.”
He doesn’t answer. He takes the glass from my hand, his fingers brushing mine. The touch is like lightning coursing through me, hot and electrifying, making me jump a little.
He downs the rest of the whiskey in one gulp, his eyes never leaving mine, then sets the glass on the nearby console lining the wall.
My breath stutters but I cover it with a bold smile. “You always this talkative at weddings?”
His voice is low and rough when he finally replies. “Only when I’m trying to behave.”
The air thickens and sizzles with tension.
“Good thing you don’t try too hard,” I murmur, forcing myself to hold his gaze. I know that it is reckless, flirtatious…and entirely unlike me. But something in him makes me want to be reckless.
He pushes off the wall slowly, his movements fluid and controlled. Like a predator circling. “I don’t think you know what you’re playing with.”
That should make me take a step back. But I don’t. I tilt my head up, pulse hammering. “Maybe I do.”
A beat of silence falls. He is close enough that I can see a muscle twitch in his jaw, the heat sparking in his eyes and the rise and fall of his chest.
My heart is slamming against my ribs.
Then we crash.
He kisses me like he is starving and I am the only food left on earth. He cups my jaw with one hand, fisting the other in my hair. I melt into him with fire running through my veins.
My back hits the wall hard, but I don’t care. I kiss him back harder, hungrier, until I am dizzy and aching and so tangled up in him I don’t know where I end and he begins.
He breaks away just long enough to rasp, “This is a mistake.”
But he is already pulling me back in, kissing me like his life depends on it.
And God help me, I kiss him back with everything I have, the taste of the whiskey on his tongue making me lightheaded.
Or maybe it’s him, overwhelming me with his heat and hands and the sound of his rough breath mixing with mine.
He lifts me effortlessly, and I wrap my legs around him, needing more.
I am vaguely aware of a door opening, of him carrying me inside and kicking it shut behind us.
Seconds later, he lays me down on a bed without breaking the kiss.
His hands are everywhere, and I fist his hair to pull him closer, our teeth clashing, tongues tangling in a desperate rhythm.
I push his jacket from his shoulders, and he leans back a fraction to help me shrug it off.
Then I grab the lapels of his shirt and rip it open, sending buttons flying everywhere.
I let my hands wander the expanse of his chest, exploring, reveling in the way his muscles shift under my touch.
God, he is ripped, and his tattoos are mesmerizing, they are crawling over his skin like tendrils of darkness.
Matteo runs his hands over me, in my hair, on my breasts, massaging my nipples through the fabric of my dress and bra, on my ass to pull me against him.
When he reaches between my thighs, he groans when he finds my panties soaking wet.
“Goddamnit Skye, you drive me crazy.” His hungry growl against my ear spurs me on and I push his shirt off his broad shoulders, then reach down to unbuckle his belt.
But his hands stop mine, he gathers my two wrists in one of his hands and pins my arms above my head.
“Not yet, beautiful, let me taste you some more.” And he does. He brushes his lips over the sensitive skin of my neck, sucking gently before he traces a slow, heated path toward my collarbone with his tongue.
“Hands above your head,” he orders as he releases my wrists, and I obey, moaning when he trails hot kisses between my breasts.
He slides his hand to my back to the zipper of my dress.
He smoothly pulls it down and slips the fabric over my head, leaving me breathless beneath him in just my bra and soaked panties.
He draws in a sharp breath, his gaze dark and devouring as it burns over my skin. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
He rips my bra from me in one movement and before I have time to register the sound of fabric shredding, his mouth is on my nipple and I arch upward with a loud moan. He swirls his tongue around a nipple and strokes me through the thin lace of my panties.
“Stop teasing me and fuck me already.” I moan, but he merely chuckles, taking his sweet time with one pebbled nipple then with the other.
And I am about to combust. He trails farther south, kissing a burning path toward my panties.
Then he also rips those away and I moan.
I have never been this aroused. My blood is rushing in my ears and my breath comes out in pants and moans.
It is like I am igniting from within and only he can alleviate the want he sparked.
Suddenly, his mouth is on my pussy and my mind glitches.
He licks at my slit, then swirls his tongue around my clit before he spears it inside me.
He nips, licks, teases mercilessly until I am a writhing mess.
His low voice vibrates against my core, reverberating through my body, and traveling over my feverish skin like an inferno.
He flattens his tongue and inserts one finger in me, then two and suddenly it is all too much.
“Oh God… Please—”
And I shatter. My orgasm crashes through me, sudden and explosive. I hear myself shouting his name while my body convulses against his mouth. He doesn’t cease, though. He licks hungrily until I beg him to stop, unable to take anymore.
When I look down, I find his eyes on me and his mouth curves up in a predatory smile.
He hoists himself up and crawls up over my body like a panther over prey.
I lean up on one elbow and reach down to finish undressing him.
His pants are soon discarded, as are his boxer briefs, and he is naked in front of me in all his glory.
Even in the dim lighting, I can see that his cock is big.
Like, really big, and I gulp from the arousal gathering between my thighs again.
I take him in my hand and pump up and down, reveling in the velvety feel of his hot skin over steel.
He leans down and groans against my neck.
“Fuck, you’re killing me.”
He takes a condom out of his wallet and rips the packaging open with his teeth.
He sheaths himself while I watch every movement, transfixed.
Then he crashes his mouth over mine and kisses me hungrily while he positions himself at my opening.
His kiss becomes more forceful as he pushes into me in one punishing thrust and I cry out from the feeling of him stretching me, bottoming out inside me.
His kiss is voracious as he pounds inside me, his hips pumping in and out in a wild rhythm that has me drawing near the edge again, so soon after my first orgasm.
Our bodies collide with loud, lewd noises and his grunts mingle with my moans.
My arousal is overpowering, making me lightheaded and also acutely aware of every little detail.
Of his hot palms on my skin, his ragged breath against my lips, of him inside me. We both spiral closer and closer.
He is beginning to lose control, but he reaches down and rubs circles over my clit with his thumb. My mind blacks out again.
I hear his voice in a haze, harsh and commanding.
“Come for me, now!” And I explode in a hoarse cry.
Then he comes with a roar, “Fuuuck.” His cock twitches inside me as I continue to pulse around him, his groans a loud rumbling against my chest. We ride our orgasms out until the last tremor subsides and hold each other until our breathing returns to normal.
He lifts his face, hovering over me, and for a split second there is something raw in his expression, like awe. But maybe I am imagining it, because the next second his gaze shutters.
Without a word, he rises and disappears into the bathroom. I hear the soft splash of water before he returns, silent, holding a damp cloth. He kneels beside me and begins to gently clean between my thighs. His movements are careful, methodical…almost tender. And that tenderness nearly undoes me.
Then his eyes find mine, and the moment fractures.
“This can’t happen again. This is a…complication we can’t afford.”
My heart stutters, but I keep my face still. He is right, this is messy and complicated—he is working for the Mafia and I don’t need this kind of complication in my life. It is for the best , I tell myself.
I manage a nod, even as something cracks deep inside me. “Okay.”
He isn’t done. “And it never happened. We clear?”
I nod again. What else can I do? He is right, we are not meant to be, not that there is any us anyway.
This was nothing, simply two lonely people acting out on an attraction.
I put on a brave facade and smile. “Crystal clear. But since we’re here, why don’t we enjoy tonight?
No strings attached, and tomorrow we’re back to being strangers. ”
His eyes blaze with darkness and hunger, and I’m transfixed by their intensity. He seems to waver for a beat, jaw clenched and eyes burning. Then he leans down and crashes his mouth over mine in a scorching kiss.
In the morning he is gone and I wake up alone in the guest room.