Chapter 14 #4
The dance floor was a kaleidoscope of movement – couples tangled together in salsa and bachata, bodies swaying and spinning in perfect sync. Everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing, their hips rolling effortlessly to the rhythm.
I had never seen anything like it.
Everywhere I looked, people were laughing, twirling, dipping, clapping. It wasn’t just a club – it was a celebration. Of rhythm. Of life.
And right in the middle of it all, Matteo turned to look at me, that grin still playing on his lips, like he already knew he was about to ruin my perfectly planned quiet night in.
The music faded into a roar of clapping and cheers, and then – like a spark catching fire – the opening notes of Bailando filled the air.
The club erupted.
Everyone cheered, moving toward the dance floor like they’d been waiting all night for this exact moment. I laughed. That song. It dragged me back to hot Italian summers as a teen, pasta and gelato, dancing in crowded piazzas until midnight.
Matteo’s warm hand tightened around mine.
“Matteo – ” I laughed, but he didn’t give me a chance to resist. He tugged me straight into the center of the crowd, weaving us between couples until we were swallowed by the rhythm.
The song swelled, the beat settling deep into my bones.
And then, without warning, Matteo pulled me straight into him.
I collided with his chest, the linen of his shirt soft but firm against my skin, the heat of his body radiating through the thin fabric of my dress. My hands instinctively flew up to steady myself – and ended up clasped behind his neck.
For a heartbeat, we just stood there, staring at each other.
His brown eyes locked onto mine, honey-warm and full of something that made my stomach tighten. The air between us felt electric, alive.
His hands slid to my waist, sure and possessive but not overwhelming, guiding me into the music. We started slow, bodies swaying in perfect sync, the world around us fading into nothing but the song pulsing through the floor and the heat of his hands.
But then the beat shifted, the chorus exploded, and the dance floor came alive.
Matteo grinned down at me, and before I could blink, he spun me out and back in again. I laughed, catching the beat like it was second nature, my hips moving effortlessly to the rhythm.
I saw the flash of surprise in his eyes, but he adapted fast, matching me step for step.
The crowd around us blurred as we fell into an unspoken challenge.
Every time he pushed, I matched him. When he twirled me, I spun like I’d grown up on this floor. At one point, I broke away from him completely, dancing on my own, hips rolling, arms raised, teasing him with a mischievous smile.
He stood there watching me, eyes dark with something between amusement and hunger.
Then, with one smooth movement, he grabbed my waist and pulled me back in, our bodies crashing together right on beat.
By the end of the song, we were breathless. My arms were looped around his neck, fingers tangled in the soft hair at his nape. His hands were firm on my hips, anchoring me to him as if the entire club had disappeared.
His forehead was nearly touching mine when he murmured, low enough that only I could hear, “Why haven’t I ever seen you dance before? You’re incredible.”
I felt the blush creep up my neck. “I love dancing.”
Matteo’s smile turned slow, dangerous, like he’d just learned a secret. “Noted.”
And for the next three hours that’s exactly what we did. We didn’t stop. Not when hit after hit played from the nineties into the early two-thousand-tens. From Selena and Ivy Queen, to Daddy Yankee and Tego Calderón and Don Omar.
Matteo and I switched between styles to match each song, and my cheeks hurt so much from singing and laughing, and my feet were so numb I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore.
The only thing I could feel was the euphoria in my veins. The sweat glistening on my skin. The sure beat of my pulse between my thighs every time we came in close and his hands were everywhere on me.
His rough palms on my waist and hips and arms. The length of my legs when he caught my knee to his torso. When I turned around and my back was pressed to his front and I swayed my hips back into him…
His forehead pressed against mine. His hands around me. His fingers trailing down my back. His breath on my neck…
His dark eyes looking into mine and seeing every naked part of me. His hand on the back of my neck. That bottom lip of his I wanted to sink my teeth into…
I was screwed.
At one in the morning, the streets were quieter as we left the club, the warm Hawaiian night wrapping around us like silk.
A salty breeze drifted in from the ocean, and the sky above was a deep, endless navy, speckled with stars.
My heels clicked softly against the cement streets as we walked, hand in hand, the music still faintly echoing behind us.
I swayed slightly into Matteo’s side – half tipsy from the cocktails, half sleepy from the dancing. My body felt deliciously heavy, relaxed in a way it hadn’t been in months.
Conversation flowed between us like water.
We talked about everything and nothing – the couple on the dance floor who’d clearly been salsa champions, how unexpectedly good the street churros had been, how Matteo thought the old man selling shell bracelets near the pier had “the best sales pitch in history.”
By the time we reached the edge of town, the quiet hum of the resort replaced the lively rhythm of the nightlife. The soft glow of lanterns guided our path, and the distant sound of waves kissing the shore grew louder.
I sighed, just a little, tiredness sneaking into my bones now that the adrenaline was fading.
Before I could say a word, Matteo wrapped his arm around me – and in one impossibly smooth motion, swept me right off my feet.
“Matteo!” I gasped, instinctively gripping his shoulders. His laugh was low and warm against my ear.
“Relax, princesa,” he murmured, adjusting me easily in his arms. “I got you.”
“I can walk,” I protested, though my voice lacked conviction.
His smirk deepened. “I know. But I like carrying you.”
And just like that, my resistance fizzled out. I let my head rest lightly against his chest, inhaling the faint scent of his cologne – clean, masculine, warm. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat under my cheek made me feel inexplicably safe.
The walk back to the resort took ten minutes, but it felt shorter. Lantern light pooled over us as we passed through the gardens, the sound of crickets mingling with the surf.
When we reached the lobby, Matteo set me down gently, like I was something precious.
Neither of us spoke as we took the elevator up. The silence wasn’t awkward – if anything, it was… Charged.
He walked me all the way to my door, hands tucked casually in his pockets, but his gaze never once left me.
I stopped in front of my room and turned to face him. “Thank you,” I said softly. “For tonight. It was… Unforgetable.”
His smile was slow, almost lazy. “I look forward to doing it again in New York.”
Heat bloomed across my cheeks before I could stop it. I bit my lip, and that made it worse, because Matteo’s eyes dropped there – briefly, darkening.
For a suspended moment, neither of us moved.
We were standing too close. The soft hallway lighting caught on his golden skin, the sharp line of his jaw, the glint of his cross pendant. His hand twitched at his side, like he was fighting the urge to reach for me.
I tilted my chin up, meeting his gaze. My lips parted. His eyes flicked down to my mouth. Mine flicked to his.
The world around us blurred into quiet. All I could feel was the warmth radiating off his body, the faint scent of salt and spice in the air, and the pounding of my heart against my ribs.
He leaned in – just slightly. And I didn’t step back. I leaned in too.
His face was so close I could feel his breath against my lips. My heart was racing now, my hands curling into the fabric of my dress. Another inch. Just one more inch and –
I broke eye contact first, blushing furiously, looking down like I was suddenly scared.
Matteo slowly pulled back. When I glanced up, he was still smiling softly. Respectful. Like he understood me exactly.
“Good night, princesa,” He murmured.
“Good night,” I whispered back.
I slipped into my room before I could make a bigger fool of myself and closed the door, leaning against it as my knees turned traitors beneath me.
My heart was still racing. My skin was warm where his eyes had lingered.
What the hell happened tonight?