Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
CHASTITY
“ C ome here, Chastity.”
Matteo’s rumbling murmur floated across his bedroom before wrapping around me like a snake. The sound was hypnotic, almost impossible to ignore, and, just like any other viper, far too dangerous to handle.
Since the moment I’d said goodbye to my cousin at the club, I’d been doing my best to avoid contact with any part of him. His eyes, his hands, his voice—from this point on, every part of Matteo needed to be treated like the deadly temptation it was.
Because if I gave in and fell into the trap of desire he was setting, I feared I wouldn’t be able to do what had to be done. I wouldn’t be able to walk away.
No—not walk. Run .
Hell, if I’d been thinking clearly, I should have bolted for the front door the second I’d left that bathroom and never looked back. If I’d done that, I could have been halfway to the convent already.
And Matteo and the rest of his family would be safe.
But I couldn’t do it.
The second I looked over at the VIP section from the edge of the dance floor, my mind had started making up all sorts of reasons I could stay just one more night.
I needed money for the train ticket.
I needed a change of clothes.
I needed… him .
Just one more night sleeping in Matteo’s arms. Somehow, I convinced myself that if I could just have that, then I would be able to handle whatever came after—the years of loneliness, the solitude, the ache in the center of my chest as my heart broke a little more each day.
I didn’t know how I was going to do it. All I knew was there was no other option.
If Matteo was going to live, then I had to leave. It was as simple as that.
“Don’t make me wait, Chastity.”
Damn , I was going to miss the thrill that rushed through me every time he said my name. There was nothing like it.
“I’m not feeling patient tonight,” he said.
“Sorry.” I cursed myself for my weakness as the sensual nature of his words stoked my inner fire to life one last time. “I’m just having trouble taking the dress off.”
It was a feeble excuse, especially since I hadn’t even reached for the zipper since we’d shut the bedroom door.
But Matteo didn’t call me out. He did something worse. Dropping his vice down even lower as he beckoned me again.
“Come here, and I’ll take it off for you.”
I bit my lip, both excited by and dreading what came next.
God, I wanted him so bad—just like I always did.
Just like I always had and would.
But on the other side of that desire was the horrible knowledge that this was the last time I’d feel him like this. That once it was done, it was over.
There would be no more nights spent shaking in pleasure. No more days anticipating the rapture to come.
“I’m sure I can get it,” I tried, still not making a move to slip the dress from my body.
Matteo, though, was done playing around.
“ Come here .”
It was impossible to deny that commanding tone.
With a sigh, I turned toward him but kept my head down as I crossed the room.
“What’s going on with you tonight?” he asked the moment I was in front of him.
“Nothing.” Under the best circumstances, I was a terrible liar, but tonight, even I could hear how pathetic my words sounded.
Matteo’s hands glided over the swell of my hips, pulling me in closer before sliding up my back to the top of the zipper.
“You haven’t been yourself since we left the club.”
“I told you,” I said, trotting out yet another lie. “I’m not feeling well.”
With deliberate slowness, he pulled down the zipper, and the dress fell open, skimming over the rises and falls of my body before drifting down to the floor.
“You don’t look sick,” he said, taking in the sight of my flushed skin. My lips might be able to lie to him, but the rest of me couldn’t help but tell the whole truth. “You look sad.”
“I’m fine.”
His chin tilted up as his head fell rakishly to the side. “Well, which is it? Are you unwell, or are you fine?”
I shook my head—not to dismiss his question but to try to shake off the intoxicating sensation of his hands roaming over my hips… and the top of my thighs…and the small of my back.
“I’m just tired,” I said.
His dark smile grew. “Well, then I’ll help you wake up.”
It would have been the perfect time to protest. If I had, if I’d insisted that what I was feeling sleepy and not sexy, then he probably would have let up. He might not have been happy about it. He might have had to duck into the next room to take care of himself , but he wouldn’t have forced anything.
Of that, I was certain.
But the problem wasn’t with Matteo’s resolve.
It was with mine.
The truth was that I wanted this.
I wanted it so badly. It didn’t matter that this intimacy would only make my life a thousand times harder come morning. I still couldn’t resist.
I was a few inches taller than him when he sat in this chair, and I was able to run my fingers through his thick, dark hair as I looked him in the eye.
“Just kiss me,” I said.
I didn’t have to ask twice.
In an instant, his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me forward onto his lap. My knees slid over his thighs until I sat, straddling his legs.
The fine material of his suit brushed against my bare skin as I curled my hands into fists in his hair. With a not-so-gentle tug, I angled his head back to deepen the kiss.
He let out a growl that only made the flames inside me burn higher and hotter. “You’re a hungry little thing tonight, aren’t you?”
“And what if I am?” I surprised myself by asking.
Apparently, the mixture of depression and desperation had burned away any remaining trace of self-consciousness inside me.
After all, what else did I have to lose?
If I went too hard, if I crossed some line and truly made a fool out of myself, it would only make it easier for Matteo to get over me once I was gone.
But who was I kidding? He wasn’t the one who would need to get over me. Even though our time together had been amazing—better than I could have imagined—I was just another one of his flings.
The man owned a sex club, for heaven’s sake. Chances were good that, after a couple of nights with the ladies there, he wouldn’t even remember my name.
As much as the thought stung, it also freed any lingering inhibitions.
“No complaints here,” Matteo said, spreading his arms wide. “Take whatever you like.”
Why not? the little devil on my shoulder prodded. If this was going to be my last taste of freedom, I might as well drink in every drop.
I let go of his hair and dragged my hands down to his chest. I didn’t even bother with undoing the buttons. Giving my desire full rein, I grasped the collar of his Oxford shirt and ripped it open.
“Fuck, yes,” he snarled, sounding almost as feral as I was feeling.
After taking a second to shrug off his jacket and the tattered remains of his shirt, he gripped my head and pulled me down for a deeply passionate kiss—one that left me gasping for breath.
And starving for more.
“I want you so bad, Matteo,” I cried out as his mouth descended to my throat. “I need you inside me right fucking now.”
He didn’t answer—not in words anyway. Instead, he made a downright feral sound as he slid his hands down under my legs and lifted me up just long enough to kick off his pants.
And when he lowered me down again, it was over the thick column of his erect cock.
“Oh God, Matteo!”
My voice shook.
My whole body shook.
In that moment, I would have believed that the whole earth had shifted on its axis.
Nothing had ever felt so good before.
Nothing had ever been so right.
And the excruciating part was knowing that it never would be again.
“Why do you feel so perfect?” I cried out, not expecting an answer.
But I got one all the same.
“Because I was made for you,” he rasped against my shoulder as I rode him fast and hard and deep. “You and I were made for each other.”
How I wished that was true.
It didn’t take long to shatter in a brilliant orgasm. Not like this—grinding my hips against his, pounding his cock inside me over and over again. The closeness of our bodies, the intimacy of the position, it was all too much.
Matteo steadied my body, his strong arms holding tight to my waist as my spine arched and my head fell back.
“ Oh God, yes, please !”
It was a cry.
It was a plea.
It was a prayer.
But one that I knew would never be answered.
When the last of the shivers of ecstasy had left my body, I shifted my tired legs, ready for him to pull out and finish against my skin like he had all week.
But this time, he pulled me right back down again.
Forcing my head up, he stared me dead in the eye.
“Do you want it?” he demanded.
Still trying to catch my breath, I struggled to understand. “Do I want what?”
“My cum,” he growled. “Tell me you want it.”
Now he asked me. Why did fate have to be so cruel?
And why did I have to be so weak?
“Give it to me,” I begged. “Please, Matteo. Come inside me.”
I met every last one of his thrusts until his body tensed, and he roared against my ear.
With his arms still wrapped around me tight, he leaned back into the plush embrace of the leather high-back chair.
“I’m never letting you go,” he panted. “I don’t care who the hell tries to stand in our way. Now that I’ve found you, I’m never letting you go.”
I rolled my gaze up toward the ceiling, desperately trying to hold back the tears that were already stinging my eyes, and felt my heart crack clean in half.