Chapter Forty-Nine Ella
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ella
The sun glints off the surface of the water, turning it into an ocean of diamonds.
The sea is flat and calm, perfect for paddleboarding. It takes me a while to find my balance, but once I do, there’s no stopping me. I even attempt a few yoga poses on the board and fail spectacularly, tumbling into the water to the soundtrack of Tiero’s laughter.
After that “strenuous” workout, we stretch out on the daybed by the beach, basking in the late afternoon sun. Gentle waves lap at the shore while birds sing in the trees.
I sigh contentedly and set aside the book I borrowed from Tiero’s library, staring out at the glittering horizon.
I glance at him.
How did I get so lucky to end up on this island with him?
What the hell does he see in me?
If only I had the courage to ask. Maybe I will, before we leave here.
He looks so relaxed, so content, that I can’t bring myself to complicate it.
I roll onto my stomach and prop my chin on my hands.
“What are you reading?”
“The latest John Grisham thriller,” he replies without lifting his eyes from the page.
“You’re way too relaxed to be reading a thriller.”
Tiero smirks. “And how should I look?”
“Tense. Chewing your nails. Face scrunched up in anticipation…”
“Is that what you look like when you read a thriller?”
He sets his book aside and moves closer. I snuggle into his warm body and absentmindedly toy with his nipples.
“I don’t read thrillers. My poor little heart couldn’t handle the death and blood. Remember, I’m risk-averse,” I tease, even though it’s true.
“I prefer sweet and innocent. Relatively speaking. Though I do appreciate hot and steamy scenes in my sweet and innocent books.”
Tiero’s eyes gleam. “Tell me about your first hot and steamy experience. The one that robbed you of your innocence.”
He wants to know how I lost my virginity?
Really?
“Oh.” I feel heat rush to my face at the memory. “Well, it certainly wasn’t hot and steamy. More awkward and uncomfortable.”
Donald wasn’t very experienced. I was only the second girl he’d slept with, and I suspect his previous girlfriend hadn’t left glowing reviews.
“When we first got together, he tried to make it special,” I continue. “We went away for the weekend. He picked a cute little cottage in the countryside with a fireplace and a hot tub. So full marks for ambiance.”
I huff a soft laugh. “But the rest… not exactly something you’d write a romance novel about.”
It hurt. A lot. He was so nervous and excited that foreplay felt more like fore-groping, and it was over before I really understood what had happened.
“But we cared about each other,” I add more quietly. “Back then, that mattered more to me than the sex. And it did get better once we figured things out.”
The best part, though, had been the cuddling afterward. The closeness and intimacy.
Still, it was nothing like this. Nothing like what happens between Tiero and me.
The man holding me now couldn’t be more different.
“I kind of wish it had been you,” I admit softly. “I think with you… it would have been incredible.”
Tiero’s expression shifts. The playfulness disappears as something darker, more serious takes its place. He eases me onto my back and settles over me, bracing himself on his forearms.
“I wish I had been your first, too,” he says quietly. “I don’t like the thought of other men touching you. Being inside you.” His jaw tightens. “I want to be the only one.”
The intensity in his voice makes my heart misfire.
He kisses me then, as if sealing something between us.
If I had the space to think about what he just said, I’m sure I’d be shocked about his claim on me and the ownership in his tone. But my mind is too wrapped up in the sensations he awakens with just his lips.
He pulls back only when we’re both breathless, his fingers tracing my cheek with a tenderness I’m beginning to crave.
And just like that, the fierceness softens.
“What about you, Signor De Marco? Who took your innocence?” I whisper against his skin, my voice still rough.
“A girl named Gia. She worked in one of my father’s clubs. Nineteen. Experienced.” A faint smirk tugs at his mouth. “Good thing too, because I was terrible.”
“How old were you?”
Given what he’s told me about his wild teenage years, I have a fair idea, but I want to know for sure.
“It happened the day after my fifteenth birthday.” Yep, just like I thought.
Wow, he was so young. But then again, he was far more grown-up than boys his age.
“It was her present to me,” Tiero continues. “We slept together for a few weeks, and I learned a lot about pleasuring a woman from her. She was an excellent teacher.”
I smile at the thought of a teenage Gualtiero studying the art of pleasure. “Were you a good student?”
He considers it.
“I was eager. One of the first things she taught me was control, how to delay my climax,” he chuckles. “I lasted all of ten seconds the first time. So afterward, she made me go down on her and directed me on what to do with my tongue and mouth.”
Heat blooms across my cheeks as very vivid memories from being woken with his head between my legs surface. “Those lessons clearly paid off,” I murmur.
His grin turns unmistakably smug.
“What happened with Gia after all your lessons?” I ask. “Did you stay in touch?” After all, your first love is always special. Or does that apply only to girls?
“She moved away. I never heard from her again.” He shrugs lightly, without regret. “But it was over long before that. It was fun. Nothing more.”
“You said you’ve never been in a serious relationship? Why?”
“You know the answer to that question,” he says, his gaze laser-focused on me.
As if I could forget his belief that there’s only one woman meant for him.
I swallow hard.
“But besides that,” he mercifully continues. “I’ve never met a woman who could hold my interest long enough. Or someone I felt a real connection with.”
His eyes search mine.
“I feel a connection with you, Ella,” he says quietly.
The words land somewhere deep and fragile inside me.
My chest tightens. I can barely breathe.
I’m not alone in this. He feels it too.
Does that mean he thinks I’m…
I don’t let myself finish that thought and bury my face against his chest, inhaling his scent.
Emotion clogs my throat, stealing my voice. His arms tighten around me, drawing me closer until there’s no space left between us.
We lie like that for a long moment, suspended in something that feels dangerously close to truth, until Tiero breaks the silence.
“What about you, princess? Have you been in a serious relationship?”
“I only have serious relationships. Our vacation fling is my first casual encounter.”
He moves so quickly I barely register it.
One second he’s on top of me. The next, I’m in his lap, his hands framing my face, his gaze locking onto mine with startling focus.
“Let me be clear about something, angel,” he says quietly. “This isn’t a fling for me.”
My breath catches.
“I know we’ve only known each other for a few days,” he continues, his voice certain. “But whatever this is between us, it runs deeper for me.” His thumb brushes my cheek. “And I think it does for you too.”
My heart stutters.
This isn’t a fling for him?
Is Rhia right? Could this actually be the start of something real?
No.
No, that’s dangerous.
It’s just proximity. Crazy chemistry amplified by sun and skin and the knowledge that this is temporary. Everything feels more intense on vacation.
Never mind the traitorous world he seems to live in. No, this can’t be anything more than a vacation romance.
But he’s opened up to me. I owe him the truth.
“Tiero,” I say softly, my throat tightening. “I’d love for it to be more. What I feel for you… the way my body reacts to you…” I lower my gaze, feeling stripped too bare under the intensity of his stare.
“You live here,” I whisper, not having the courage to look him in the eyes. “And I’m going back to Dublin in a few days. That’s reality. This can never be more.”
The admission hurts more than I expect.
I never thought I’d be the one drawing boundaries like this. I’m really not built for casual.
He doesn’t argue.
He simply pulls me against him, holding me tight, his chin resting against my hair.
I listen to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, wishing it didn’t feel so much like home.
Thankfully, he lets the subject rest and shifts slightly.
“How many men were there before me?”
Heat climbs into my cheeks. Compared to him, I might as well be newly initiated.
“Two,” I admit. “Donald was my first. We were together for two years.”
“You lasted two years with a guy who couldn’t satisfy you?” Tiero sounds horrified.
“It wasn’t all that bad. First times are usually not that great. And it got better.”
He arches a brow.
“When you think you’re in love, you’re willing to compromise,” I add. “Besides, I didn’t know any different. Rhia told her wild stories, but I assumed she was made for it, and I wasn’t.”
“Oh princess. You’re definitely made for it,” Tiero says without hesitating. “I’m addicted to you.”
The words send a quiet thrill through me.
I know now it’s this insane connection between us that makes all the difference. I didn’t have that with Don or Marco. Tiero awakened a whole new side of me.
“I’m sorry your first experience wasn’t better,” he says more softly. “You deserve to be worshipped.”
And hasn’t he done exactly that?
He’s made me come so many times I’ve lost count.
“Did he ever make you come?” he asks, more gently this time.
The question makes me shift. Discussing my previous sex life or lack thereof makes me feel rather self-conscious.
“No,” I admit. “All my orgasms came from my own hands.” After a moment, I add, “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know what I was missing.”
“You wasted your life with that guy.”
“Two years isn’t that long. And we still had fun,” I protest. “Relationships aren’t all about sex. Don was a good guy. He was loyal and dependable.”
Tiero rolls his eyes at me. I can see now why Rhia finds it so annoying when I do it.
“Boring… especially when you’re that young,” he counters.
My expression hardens.
I don’t like being judged. Especially not by a man who has never committed to anyone in his life. He’s thirty-two and proudly unattached.
What does he know about the kind of love Don and I shared? Even if, in hindsight, it was more about comfort. Security. Wanting to be with someone who felt safe.
That was what I needed back then. And I refuse to let some charismatic Italian playboy reduce it to boredom.
Tiero must feel the shift in me because his hand that’s been drawing idle circles on my back stills.
“I’m sorry, cuore mio. I didn’t mean to upset you.” His thumb brushes over my knuckles. “It just… frustrates me that such a beautiful, intelligent, and warm-hearted woman like you settled for less than you deserve.”
His voice softens.
“You should have been worshipped. Even back then.”
And with that, the tension drains from my body, and I melt again.