Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
JADE
“What is obsession, but a matter of the heart?” - Clara Foss, Painted Inferno
Matteo backs me up against the side of the car, my heels scraping on the cobblestone driveway.
His hands travel the length of my body, around the back of my neck before tangling in my hair.
I reach for his waist, pulling him flush against me.
“Fuck, Sunny,” he growls, leaning into me as his mouth finds mine.
His lips are hot and urgent, kissing me with a desperate need. His tongue dances with mine, tasting and teasing me. His mouth moves, trailing along my jaw and down the side of my neck, licking and nipping at my skin.
“Shouldn’t we go inside?” I pant, holding him firmly against me. My head tips back against the window, my eyelids fluttering shut as he runs his tongue along the side of my throat.
“No one can see us here,” he murmurs against my flesh. “My property’s lined with foliage thick enough to keep any wandering eyes away.”
The driveway’s lined with small lights, but it’s still dark here. Matteo’s hands abandon my hair, sliding down the length of my torso, curling his fingers around my hips.
“Goddamn, I’m addicted to you.” He pulls back, his mouth leaving the side of my neck as his gray eyes search mine. “I need you to know, this isn’t the only thing I want from you.”
My breath catches in my throat. I didn’t think we were going to talk about our feelings again. After our conversation in the car, I’m not so sure I trust myself with my words right now.
He told me he’s in love with me.
And if I’m not careful, I’m going to tell him that I’m in love with him too.
“It’s not the only thing I want either,” I admit, my voice barely audible. I’m still afraid—too afraid to tell him the truth.
His eyebrows rise, just a hair, and his breath catches as he stares back at me. “I want it all, Jade. The good, the bad, the in-between. The way I feel for you, it’s not something I’ve ever felt for anyone before. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here, but all I know is I want you.”
Emotion lodges in my throat. “I want you too. I just—I need some time to process.” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, my brow furrowing. “I want to believe you and trust you, I just need a minute.”
A smile tugs on the corners of his lips. “I’m not going anywhere, Sunny. I promise you, I will be right here, ready whenever you are.”
The words are on the tip of my tongue, because how the hell could they not be? With the way he’s looking at me and the things he’s promising? I think anyone would be telling him they’re in love with him.
He steps away, sliding his hand down to mine. “Do you need a minute now, or can I have you for the rest of the night?”
A smile drifts across my lips. “I can process after tonight.”
He pulls me away from the car, whisking me across the driveway, leading me back into the house. We kick our shoes off in the mudroom and then he’s spinning me around to face him, his hands sliding back into my hair as his mouth crashes into mine.
His lips are soft and warm, his kisses gentle as he eases me backwards into the house, through the kitchen and into the living room. His hands leave my hair, raking down my body until he’s breaking away from me and lifting me in the air.
“I want you in my bed,” he murmurs, holding me close as he carries me to his bedroom. “Right where you belong.”
My chest warms, my heart swelling at his words as I wrap my legs and arms around him. I press my head against the side of his, my eyelids falling shut as I revel in the way he feels, inhaling the smell of him.
Matteo carries me into his room, not putting me down until his legs are brushing against the side of his bed and he’s laying me on the mattress. My hands are linked around the back of his neck and I pull him with me. He hovers above me, his mouth seeking mine, lips slow and tender.
His tongue sweeps across mine and he rocks back onto his shins, pulling me with him. His hands find the bottom hem of my shirt and he pushes it up, his mouth breaking apart from mine as he drags it over my head and tosses it onto the floor.
I reach for him, mimicking his movements as I remove his shirt, discarding it with mine. The comfortable silence settles around us, it’s just him and me. We take each other in with heated gazes and feather-like touches as we slowly remove the rest of each other’s clothing, one article at a time.
His eyes rake over my face, his expression unreadable as he lowers me back onto the bed. “Jade,” he rasps, my name like a plea. His lips part, as if he’s going to continue, but instead, his mouth finds mine once more.
He kisses me with a silent emotion. With a heated reverence. With a warmth that settles in my chest, encapsulates my heart. He’s in love with me.
His fingertips are soft as he drags them over my skin, across my flesh, as if he’s memorizing every inch of my body. My legs fall to the side as he settles between them. His mouth leaves mine, trailing down the length of my body until he’s spreading my thighs, bringing his lips to my center.
My hands slide through his hair, tugging on the locks as he sweeps his tongue against me. My heart pounds harder, an unsteady thumping against my ribcage. He takes his time, drawing the pleasure from my core until I’m a mess of moans beneath his mouth on the bed.
“Don’t stop. Don’t stop. I’m so close.”
The inferno in the pit of my stomach spills into my veins, consuming me in a delicious euphoria as my orgasm tears through my body. Matteo pins me to the bed, not coming up for air until he’s had his fill and I have nothing left to give.
He lifts his face, pulling back as his heated gaze collides with mine. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes shifting down to the apex of my thighs before sliding back to my face.
He crawls up the length of my body, my hands reaching for him, sliding along his torso and up over his chiseled shoulders. He hovers above me and I get lost in his eyes, in the shimmering, swimming steel of his irises.
“Sunny,” he breathes, the tip of his cock pressing against my entrance. He sighs, his hips dropping, sinking deep inside of me. A soft moan falls from my lips and he groans, his eyelids fluttering shut. “Fuck…”
My legs lift from the bed, wrapping around his torso as he pauses for a moment, his eyelids lifting as he stares down at me. A fire burns in the depths of his irises, but there’s so much more than that inside them. There’s an intensity that seeps into my soul, into my marrow.
His throat bobs as he swallows hard and he lowers himself down to me, caging me in with his forearms pressed against the mattress. His lips brush against mine. “I could fuck you forever,” he rasps, his mouth claiming mine.
There’s no him or me anymore. It’s just us.
He shifts his hips, pulling back before pushing into me again. His tongue tangles with mine, kissing me deeply as he fucks me so gently that my heart is melting inside my chest.
His arms move from the mattress, sliding down to my hips and in one fluid movement, he rolls onto his back, taking me with him. The change in position leaves me breathless as his cock sinks in even deeper.
“Fuck me, Sunny baby.”
His hands grip my hips, fingertips digging into my flesh as I plant my hands on his chest and start to rock on top of him. His eyes drag down my torso and flicker back to my face as he watches me moving on top of him.
I bounce up and down and he moves with me, his hips lifting to thrust into me every time I sit back down on him. His left-hand slides to the front of my body. He presses his palm against my lower abdomen and finds my clit with his thumb.
He pounds into me the same time I slide down the length of his cock. His thumb rolls in circles over the most sensitive part of my body. My head tips back and I’m losing control as the warmth starts to build in the pit of my stomach again.
“That’s it, Jade,” he moans, his hand gripping me tighter as my face screws up, my eyelids slamming shut. “Come all over my cock.”
One more sweep of his thumb, another thrust of his pierced cock, and I’m losing myself around him. I shatter into a million pieces, my body shaking with pleasure as I rock on top of him, needing every inch. He’s right behind me, chasing after his own dose of ecstasy.
His hand leaves my clit and he pulls me down to his chest, his hands grabbing my ass as he pounds into me. One, two, three pumps and he’s losing himself inside of me, my name falling from his lips as if this is his dying wish.
His grip loosens on my cheeks and he slides one hand over the small of my back, the other moving to stroke my hair. He holds me close against him, my legs straddling his waist with his cock still deep inside me.
“Stay with me tonight?” he whispers, his breath warm against the side of neck.
My heart and my brain are at war with each other. “If I do, it doesn’t change anything. I still need time.”
He kisses the pulse bounding beneath my skin. “I know,” he murmurs. “I just want you here with me tonight.”
My heart crawls into my throat. I know how I feel about Matteo, but I don’t know if I trust him with those feelings. I don’t know if I can trust him with my heart.
“Me too,” I admit, my voice barely audible. I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here with him, cocooned in his familiar warmth. I want to believe this is something we can have. I want to believe he is someone I can have.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but we have this moment, and for now—it’s enough.
My heart wins the battle. “I’ll stay.”