by Piper Stone
Why the hell was he so damn frustrating?
“Maria. What happened to Mr. Benedetti years ago?” It was a last ditch effort to find out my way.
She was more startled than ever before, her entire face turning bright red. As she shook her head, I could tell her entire body was shaking. “No, Mrs. Benedetti. I can’t. No. I sorry.” She backed away so quickly I thought she was going to trip. When she flew out of the room, all I could do was sigh.
I closed my eyes, shivering from the rush of adrenaline as well as the continued chill. When he’d gathered me into his arms, I’d never felt such joy or the feeling of being safe.
And loved.
I was a fool. He wasn’t capable of loving anyone. Why was I even worried about it? Maybe because of the ordeal I’d been through.
One of your own making.
Now my inner voice was snarking at me. Perfect. That’s exactly what I needed. Maybe a shower would make me feel better, although I knew the ache centered in my heart. I’d wanted him to curl up beside me, sharing his feelings. I should have known better.
I wiped the wetness from my eyes more roughly before standing, forced to grip the edge of the nightstand to keep from falling. This was ridiculous. I knew my place and Matteo was right that I simply needed to fall into line. As I walked into the bathroom, turning on the light, I rested against the doorjamb for a full minute, unable to eliminate my thoughts about needing him.
If only he could trust me enough to share the tragedy.
Sighing, I turned on the water to as hot as I thought I could stand it, waiting for a full minute before sliding out of my robe. At least he’d come for me.
The moment I stepped inside, I breathed a sigh of relief, the water soothing. As I stood under the stream, I continued to shake, unable to stop the tears from falling and I hated myself for it. I’d always been so strong, self-reliant. After a few seconds of sniveling like some child, I slammed my hand over and over again against the tile. My life was a joke.
The instant cold wafting of air made me jerk my head up. Seeing the look on Matteo’s face, I was instantly on edge. If he thought he was going to punish me, I would fucking fight him.
“Back away from me, Matteo. Just leave me alone. I deserve a little peace if nothing else.” I threw my hand up, as if that was going to stop him from taking what he wanted. As usual, the damn air swirling around us was ripe with current, the hard jolts taking my breath away.
“You deserve much more than that, Catherine.” His chest rose and fell as he closed the distance.
While a part of me wanted to fight him, doing everything I could to push him away, instead I clung to him, pulling myself closer. The heat of our bodies was explosive, yet there was such a strange expression on his face. He was battling with the demons inside of him, trying to break free of the chains that he’d wrapped around his body years before.
I brushed my hand across his cheek, trembling all the way to my toes. “Tell me.”
Seconds ticked by, maybe minutes. I could see his resolve crumbling as another wave of pain rushed into his system.
“Remember, I won’t hurt you,” I whispered.
He closed his eyes, taking several ragged breaths. “I’m not worried about you hurting me, my bride. I’m terrified that I will destroy you.”
“Nothing you can say will destroy or break me, Matteo. I’m far too strong to allow any man to do that to me, including you. But I will listen, and I will care for you as much as you’ll let me.”
He studied my eyes for a few seconds before finally allowing me to hear a story that I knew had haunted him for a good portion of his life.
“Her name was Sophia. She was beautiful and as vulnerable as you are, but the arrangement for us to marry had been made years before. There was no choice for either one of us. She wanted nothing to do with me.” He laughed bitterly. “Sound familiar?”
I kept my hand on his face, caressing.
“She was so unhappy that she’d been brought here to wait for our wedding, doing everything she could to escape. I gave her no options.” When he opened his eyes, he lowered his head, rubbing his lips across mine. “I did love her in my way, but I’m not a man capable of caring for anyone, at least not in the manner that beautiful creatures deserve.”
“That’s not true, Matteo. You are so strong and virile, capable of doing anything you want to do.”
“I couldn’t save her. I wasn’t able to protect her against the evils of the lifestyle we’d been born into.”
“What happened?”
He slipped his fingers through my long strands of hair, his eyes no longer focusing. “She found some sleeping pills. Since she was being watched all the time, just like you are, she managed to find a place that no one looked for her until it was too late.”
“The gazebo.”
Exhaling, he darted his tongue just inside my mouth, gently sweeping it against mine. When he pulled back, there was dampness in his eyes. “She was found floating in the lovely pool I’d installed at her request. Little did I know what she planned on doing.”
“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.” I gripped his arms, pulling him tightly against me. When he fisted my hair, dragging me onto my toes, I could feel the rapid beating of his heart.
“I tried to save her, but I was too late. I’ve never forgiven myself.”
Why he’d allowed himself to enter into another arranged marriage was beyond me. He’d forced a box around his heart, one made of steel. But the seals were already broken, the metal bending from the feelings that we shared, the need we had for each other.
“You aren’t to blame, Matteo.”
“Yes, I was. Don’t you understand now? I can’t love anyone else. I don’t deserve it.”
“No. That’s not true,” I insisted.
He took several deep breaths before letting out a primal growl. The sound was intoxicating as well as haunting. “But I can’t lie to myself or to you any longer. I do love you, Catherine. I don’t deserve to ever be happy again, but I can’t stay away from you. Seeing you lying helpless and unconscious, I knew that I was paying the price for my sins. I never want you hurt. Ever.”
“Matteo. I love you too. I don’t know why or how it happened, but I love you. You can let go with me. Just let go. Make love to me. Please. Just don’t let me go.”
Everything about the moment was entirely different than any time we’d shared before. This was the real man, the one who had allowed his demons to escape, if only around me. I knew that he’d return to the powerful, dominating man I’d met, handling business as he always had. There was no reason for me to either trust or allow myself to fall in love with him, but both our emotions were raw and exposed.
And there was no denying what we shared.
For richer, for poorer.
In sickness and in health.
Until death do us part.
He issued a series of husky growls as he slipped his hands under my bottom, forcing me to wrap my legs around his. As he crushed our chests together, capturing my mouth, the feeling of being lightheaded returned as the passion exploded between us. The kiss was dynamic, the man just as demanding, but the desire was coming from somewhere else.
From the heart.
He dominated my tongue, sweeping his back and forth as he undulated his hips. The feel of his hard cock pressed against me was divine, pulling me into a cataclysm of fire. I was consumed by my needs, my hunger unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I would never be able to get enough of the man. Every sound he made was guttural, yet there was a peaceful resonance about the tone.
He would always be a brutal lover, but he was taking his time, the kiss long and sweet. I was intoxicated by his musky scent, the steam from the shower creating wave after wave of an exotic fragrance. I was giddy, butterflies consuming my stomach. Everything about this moment was so right, even if others would think it disgusting and wrong.
My mind was a blur as he rubbed his hand down my spine, every swipe of his fingers creat
ing another rush of heat between my legs. Every part of me was extra sensitive, every muscle in my body tensing from the desire that continued to build.
I continued to cling to him, sliding one hand around and entangling my fingers in his hair, using the other to grip his shoulder. When he broke the kiss, he pushed me further up along the wall, growling savagely before licking down the side of my neck, taking his time to drag his tongue back and forth before trailing the tip down to my breasts.
Several moans slipped up from my throat and I closed my eyes as he swirled his tongue around my nipple several times. I was already completely aroused, but as his actions became more brutal, I was pushed into the first round of bliss.
I knew there would be more.
Echoes formed in my ears as he nipped my tender tissue, taking my hardened buds between his teeth and sucking.
“Oh, yes. That is so… good.” My words were garbled, a laugh following. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, driving me to the point of madness.
When he shifted to my other breast, taking the time to lick under the curve, I was swooning, sensations coursing through me at a rapid rate.
“Are you my good girl?” he asked, the question alone making me giggle like some schoolgirl.
“Never.”
“Then we’ll have to deal with that.”
“Mmm… Maybe.”
His laugh was genuine, but the sound just as possessed with hunger as it always was. He sucked on my nipple for what seemed like forever before leaning back. “Look at me, Catherine.”
I obeyed him instantly, locking eyes with his.
“You are the light to my darkness.” His statement was haunting but as he pushed his cock past my swollen folds, I was lost in the heat of the moment.
While we’d shared the kind of passion before that fantasies were made of, the way he held me in his arms was entirely different.
His fingers brushing against my heated skin.
His heart beating in time with mine.
His eyelids were half closed, already drunk from the level of intoxication that we both felt.
The incredible moment was sensual, two people becoming one. I could feel my heart exploding as he thrust his cock all the way inside, still just holding me for several precious seconds as he murmured his feelings. They were deep and evocative, heartfelt and honest and while I wasn’t certain why, I couldn’t stop tears from trickling down my cheeks. I leaned my head against the cool tile, my pussy clenching around the thick invasion.
“Don’t cry, my little sunshine. I promise I won’t hurt you,” he whispered as he pressed his lips against my neck.
“I know.”
“Do you trust me?”
The question was one I had no problem answering, although I wasn’t certain why. “Yes.”
He exhaled, brushing his lips across my jaw, pumping into me in a slow and steady rhythm. Every cell in my body was erupting from the intensity of the electric jolts, several strangled cries pushing past my lips. I could hold him for hours, savoring the closeness. I only hoped this wouldn’t be the only time.
He growled in his usual husky tone, sending vibrations dancing down the length of my arms. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, stroking his neck as I tried to keep my eyes locked on his. All time seemed to stand still, no one able to interfere. There was no tenseness in his body, yet he was desperate to fill me with his seed.
As the beautiful seconds turned into minutes, I could feel an orgasm pulsing deep within me. Panting, I dragged my tongue across my lips before whispering in his ear, “Harder. Please, fuck me harder.”
His chuckle was dark and at the utmost level of danger as if he was warning me without words to be careful what I was asking for. But I wanted more. I craved more. I raked my nails down the back of his neck as he pulled me away from the wall, slamming me against the other side. Every sound he made was animalistic, but they only matched my ragged purrs.
“I could do this for hours,” he managed as he drove into me in deep, savage plunges. Within seconds, there was no holding back, my entire body tensing as a powerful climax swept through me like a tidal wave.
“Yes. Yes. Yes!” I couldn’t care less whether anyone heard my raucous cry or my subsequent moans. I had no fear of being embarrassed any longer. I simply needed this man in ways that I might never understand.
In truth, he needed me just as much. I’d become a light that he’d been desperate to find, a beacon of hope in his dark and foreboding world.
And I might just be his only hope for salvation.
He refused to stop as a single orgasm boosted into another. I couldn’t stop the ragged moans or the way I was tossing my head back and forth. There was no doubt I’d left vicious scratches on his skin, but they would serve as a reminder that our hunger would forever be insatiable.
Could we survive on this kind of powerful love forever?
I refused to worry, succumbing to the electric moment.
Surrendering to the man who’d promised to break me.
Little did he know I couldn’t be broken, fueled by a resolve that would never be extinguished. Maybe that was enough to keep me sane and to protect my heart in case of tragedy.
Maybe…
“Come again for me, baby,” he commanded, the sound of his voice alone pushing me to the edge once again.
“I don’t know if…” But the words were lost, my voice stripped away as a third wave jetted into me. “Oh!” The single word was garbled, but his reaction was priceless.
“Mine. All mine.”
When I lolled my head against his shoulder, he rolled onto the balls of his feet, changing the angle. His breathing became heavier, his labored sounds rushing into my ears. As I lifted my head, barely able to focus, all I could do was smile.
And squeeze my pussy muscles.
The strain on his face was beautiful in my mind and as he finally released, filling me with his seed, I whispered the same words I’d promised myself I’d never say to anyone.
Especially a monster.
“I love you.”
“Decadent,” I whispered as I held the glass of champagne in my hand, swirling the thin crystal until the candlelight created a beautiful display of shimmers.
“Why not? You deserve it,” Matteo half whispered as he ran his fingers down my arm.
“I don’t know. It seems… unlike me.”
He laughed. “Then you’re going to need to get used to it, my bride.”
I wondered if I ever would. On one hand there would always be the dangerous element, the fear and worry that an enemy would try to eliminate one or both of us. On the other, there would be additional nights of passion. What about everything in between? Sighing, I tugged the sheet higher on my chest, fighting the insecurities and harsh thoughts that had resurfaced.
We both heard a knock on the door, and I yanked the sheet up even higher, biting back a laugh from the way Matteo growled in a deep warning.
“What is it?” he barked.
The door opened slowly, Maria peeking her head in. She was instantly embarrassed, lowering her eyes immediately. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Benedetti, but this little one is frantic.”
I sat up in the bed, giggling. “Come here, little man.”
As Matteo cursed under his breath, I refused to give him the satisfaction of questioning whether I could see the injured pup. Tough. He could get used to allowing me things I actually wanted.
Maria murmured to the squirming ball of fur before easing him down. The pup immediately scampered in our direction and to my shock, he had no issues jumping on the bed, fighting his way in the plush comforter until he could get to me.
“So sorry. So sorry,” Maria muttered and immediately closed the door.
“Oh, little one. You look so much better.” Maria had done an amazing job of washing dirt and blood out of his fur, even removing the majority of mats. He was an entirely different dog.
He was also still wet.
“Jesus. He’s not stayin
g in the bed,” Matteo huffed.
When the pup moved between us, curling up on the pillow, all I could do was laugh.
“I think he has other things in mind.”
Matteo glared at me, shaking his head and muttering in Italian.
“You’re going to have to teach me your language or only use English if you want any kind of response.”
“Fine,” he huffed. “I said you were a stubborn woman who needed harsh punishment.”
“Over this little pup that I saved from certain death?” I teased him and the moment felt natural, as if we’d been together for much longer. Was I fooling myself? Maybe. Was I willing to push the limits? That was my nature.
He thumped his back against the headboard, yanking his champagne off the nightstand, refusing to even look at the pup.
“You can keep him, but he’s your responsibility,” he finally said.
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll do my best.”
As he slowly turned his head, the fierce look in his eyes held more amusement than I’d ever seen. When he leaned over, growling like a wild animal, something unexpected happened.
The pup licked him across the face, wagging his little tail in happiness.
In the next few seconds, Matteo’s expression changed entirely, a softness removing the lines of worry and anger, his eyes twinkling as if he was finally delighted about something.
And the smile crossing his face highlighted his dimples.
That was the moment I knew that we could get through anything thrown our way, as long as we could share the small joys in life.
I only hoped I wasn’t fooling myself and that the ominous black cloud I’d felt from the day I’d met him didn’t drag us straight to hell.
Chapter 15
Matteo
Catherine.
Tough.
Beautiful.
Seductive.
Brat.
I allowed the words to bring me a smile, even though I had to concentrate on business. She still believed she was going to regain a portion of her past. No, she’d all but demanded it. I rubbed the side of my face, still remembering the licks the puppy had given me. Growling, I shook my head and pushed the memory away. I didn’t even like dogs.
