Chapter Twenty-Two
Gualtiero
Ilet her go.
Every instinct in me roars to pull her back as I watch her disappear into the hotel.
I turn toward the silvery sea and grip the handrail until my knuckles pale and the tendons in my wrist strain. My body demands release, and I draw in a slow breath, dragging control back over the heat clawing through me.
I’ve never nearly lost it from just a kiss.
If I had ever doubted that Ella is it, that kiss erased it.
For a moment, I stand there, jaw tight, my body still burning from the taste of her.
She pulled away. I didn’t see it coming.
I do not get denied.
We were both going up in flames. It wasn’t because she didn’t want me.
She did.
I saw it in her eyes, felt it in the way her fingers twisted in my hair, and heard it in the small sound she made when I deepened the kiss.
She was seconds away from surrendering.
And so was I.
I drag another slow breath into my lungs, but it does nothing to cool the fire raging under my skin.
The memory of her mouth opening for me plays again in brutal clarity. The softness of her lips. The way her body melted against mine. The heat of her pressed so perfectly to my front.
She fits.
Like she was made only for me.
When I kissed her neck and felt her tremble, I nearly lost control. I wanted to lift her, carry her to the nearest room, lay her down and see how far that trembling would go.
Instead, I felt her hesitate, her mind taking over once more.
Ella doesn’t give herself lightly.
I love that. And hate it in this very instant.
The thought sends another surge of fire through me, tightening low in my abdomen. My cock reacts instantly, still painfully aware of how close I came to having her.
I’ve never wanted a woman like this. Not like this.
And when she gives herself to me, it will mean something. She’s the kind of woman who, once she gives herself, does so completely.
The idea settles in my body like a promise.
I will be the only one who matters to her.
Santino clears his throat behind me. A silent reminder that we are still on the hotel terrace.
I nod once and turn toward the exit.
As we walk through the hotel, my control is stretched thin. I’m still hard, aching, unrelieved.
Soon. I will have her soon.
She pulled back because she’s protecting her heart. Because she still believes this ends in six days. She has no idea how wrong she is.
I slide into the back of the waiting SUV and close my eyes. Immediately, I see her again, lips swollen from my kiss, breath unsteady, eyes wide with want and fear.
I need to strip that fear away. Not by force. By certainty. I need her to choose me… us.
Time is ticking.
Only six days left.
We need to spend more time together. Just her and me.
But how?
I open my eyes and stare out at the passing lights.
An idea occurs to me. I pull out my phone and call Mateo. We speak briefly, and when I hang up, I have a smile on my face.
Ella, my angel, you are mine.
And the truth hits me just as hard. I’m hers too.
How quickly she has gotten under my skin. She’s buried deep already. And she dominates my thoughts, her essence running in my blood.
When the car pulls up at my house, I exit without a word and head straight inside. The quiet greets me like an old ally. Controlled. Predictable.
Unlike the storm Ella stirred inside me.
My body is still coiled tight, craving the continuation she denied us.
Denied for now.
I make my way to the gym downstairs and change into shorts. I need to clear my head.
Wrapping my hands, I step up to the heavy bag and land the first punch.
That felt good.
I put more force into the second, hitting it harder. I strike the bag again, sweat already gathering at my temples.
I need to bleed off the edge before I see her again.
Because next time, when I kiss her, I intend to push further.
To test how much of that restraint is truly hers and how much is fear. I will obliterate her doubts, because we are meant to be.
And when she finally gives in to me, it will be all the sweeter.
Because she will have chosen me.
And then she will be truly mine.
Forever.