He runs his fingers over my bare skin, the heat between us growing as we inhale, savoring this moment for what it is — the beginning of our love story. We feel it — know it — and won’t let it pass us by.
“God, Bella, you make me feel alive.”
I close my eyes, our noses brush, our lips meet. I whimper as he kisses me, and I run my hands over his chiseled jaw.
He pulls me closer, and I feel his thickness, feel the way my pussy drips with excitement. I feel so ready for what comes next. I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.
He runs his hands under my dress, and he groans as he takes hold of my ass, his fingers under my panties, my entrance welcoming and wet. I lick my lips, nodding my need.
“Please,” I whisper. “Touch me.”
He kisses me deeply as his fingers push my panties aside, and he strokes me the way I crave. Slowly, deliberately, making me delirious. He eases me back onto the sofa, then moves to the floor, on his knees. I bite hard on my bottom lip as his head dips under my dress, and he teases down my panties, past my knees, my ankles, then he spreads me open. Ready for dinner.
“I want to make you come, baby,” he tells me.
I close my eyes, his tongue running over my slit, making me moan softly, not expecting it to feel so good. So much better than whenever I touch myself.
His fingers massage the outside of my pussy, warming me up and helping the tension mount. I move my skirt aside so I can touch his shoulders, his head, feel him as he licks me. His tongue swirls around my clit expertly, making my knees tense from the growing pleasure.
“That feels so good,” I tell him as he adds a finger to my hole, teasing me open in a brand-new way. My pussy is tight, and when his fingers fill me, a new sense of want washes over me.
“You’re so wet, Bella,” he tells me, kissing my inner thighs, my mound — not at all rushing this. His fingers dip deep inside me, and he looks me in the eyes as I pant, the pressure mounting in the most delicious way.
“I’m gonna come,” I whimper. “You going to make me come…”
And then the pleasure reaches its peak, the glorious rush of emotions flood my body as heat rises from my toes to my core, my heart pounding and my soft moans demanding to be heard. He fingers me as I come for him, and he dips his mouth to my pussy, licking me up as I finish, as my shoulders shiver, the surge of emotions overtaking me.
He sits on the couch, next to me, pulling me against him. “You taste so good.”
“That mean we don’t have to stay for dinner?” I ask, with a big smile.
“What did you have in mind?”
“I was hoping,” I say, kissing Matteo again, “that maybe we could get dessert back at your place.”
Chapter Six
Matt
When we get to my penthouse, I can tell Mirabella is overwhelmed. Her eyes go wide as she looks around the sleek apartment.
“This is where you live?” she asks, surprise in her voice.
“I know it's not very warm and cozy,” I tell her, looking around the black leather and concrete countertops, the matte finish appliances.
“It's just so fancy,” she says. “If you saw my place, the apartment Tony and I share — I don't know, I kind of feel out of my league.”
“Hey,” I say stepping toward her, the crook of my finger lifting her chin so our eyes meet. “It doesn't matter where we come from, it matters where we want to go, and Mirabella, I want to go there with you. I would give you the world.”
“You're sure?” she asks. “Because I feel like we come from different places, we’re opposites, and—”
“You're going to let that stop you from having what you want?” I ask her.
She licks her lips — lips that taste like cherry pie, that are pink and swollen from our earlier kisses.
“No,” she says, “I won't let that stop me. I feel like I’m in some sort of fairy tale.”
“Maybe you are,” I tell her. “This can be our fairy tale.”
“I like the sound of that,” she says.
“So do I,” I tell her, taking her hand and leading her through the apartment, past the kitchen and living room, the library, my guest bedrooms, and finally the master suite. “This is where we can grow old,” I tell her with a smile.
She laughs. “I see you're not taking this lightly.”
“I'm not. I mean it, Mirabella, I'm really fucking into you.”
“I’m into you too,” she admits. “I’m like, all into you.”
“Good,” I tell her. “Now, where did we leave off?” I run my hands over her back, my fingers feeling for the zipper of her peach-colored dress. My cock is so hard for her and my mind is ablaze with the taste of her sweet pussy. The way her juicy cunt dripped for me, the way I dreamed it would. God, she's so much more than I ever imagined.
“What next?” I ask, kissing her shoulders.
“I think you take me to that giant bed. Naked.”
I chuckle. “You really do know what you want, don't you, baby?”
She laughs. “I do, but I have to warn you. I've never done this before.”
“That's okay, baby. I got you. We can take it nice and slow.”
She laughs. “Or hard and fast.”
I shake my head, laughing. “You really are made for me, aren't you?”
“I think so, Matteo.” Her eyes sparkle as we quickly undress. It doesn't take long. We’re eager to have our skin pressed against one another.
She seems ready as she stands before me in her lacy bra and satin panties. I groan. “God, you’re just so hot, Mirabella,” I say. “Really fucking hot.”
Every inch of her is perfect. Curves for days, big tits that I'm eager to kiss, to suck, to please. I unhook her bra so I can see them more fully and I dip my mouth to her nipples, swirling my tongue around the hard buds. She drops her head back, teasing her panties down past her hips, letting them fall to the floor. Her fingers hook on my boxers and my cock groans.
I feel like the luckiest man in the world with my virgin girl. Her innocence makes me feel like a man — like her man, like a man who can truly give her what she needs.
Now, with both of us naked, I watch as she looks at my cock, her eyes growing in wonder. “It's so big,” she says, breathless, “and so thick.”
It seems like she's at a loss for words as she admires my big cock. I take her hand and place it on my dick. “You touch it like this, baby. Nice and slow. See how I grow for you? How hard I am for you?”
She nods like a good girl. “I do,” she says. “You feel so good. So soft, yet like a rod of steel.”
“Exactly, that's what you do to me.”
She smiles up at me as she touches my cock. “You make me so wet, Matteo. I don't think I've ever been like that before. When I try and get off, it's never like that. It's never so intense.”
I draw her to the bed and lay her gently on it. Her long, curly hair falls over the white pillowcase. She is soft all over and I love that about her. She's the kind of girl I can hold onto, that I can squeeze tight. I cradle her under me, kissing her gently, her lips, her nose, her cheeks, her breasts that are so big and full against my chest. My cock is hard between her thighs.
She opens her legs, wrapping them around me as if we've done this a hundred times, as if the story was written a long time ago. Our eyes meet. God. I could melt in those chocolate pools.
“I love you,” I tell her, my cock ready, pressed against her entrance.
She whispers back words that I will never, ever forget. “I love you too, Matteo. I do. I love you.”
Her truth sends a rush of want through me and I can't hold back. I won't hold back, and she doesn't need me to.
My cock begins to fill her sweet virgin hole and her eyes close. Her back arches and the love of my life is no longer a virgin.
Now she is mine: heart, mind, body, soul.
Mirabella
He enters me and it hurts, but not in a painful way. In a burst of light — of love —
a reckless rush of desire pulls me closer.
I wrap my arms around his neck. I draw him to me. “Oh, Matteo,” I whisper in his ear as he rocks against me, slowly filling me up inch by inch. His cock is big and thick, and my hole is small and tight, but somehow it works. We work. He fills me up in a way I never knew I needed.
I wrap my body around him as tight as I can.
“Oh baby, don't cry,” he says.
“They're happy tears,” I say, repeating the words from earlier. Tears slide down my cheek as he fills me up and takes me to a place I always wanted to go.
I can't help but think I'm the luckiest girl in the world. Me, a girl who works at a pizzeria with an overbearing brother and a past that's broken in a hundred different ways.
I told Matteo all about it and he wasn't scared. He didn't run.
Instead, he drew me close.
He fills me up. He loves me and I love him. This stranger and this soulmate all wrapped up in one.
“Oh God,” I whimper as he takes me. His cock isn't forceful. It's loving. It's moving deep inside of me in a way that fills me to my core, that has me gasping and panting and wanting so much more.
He gives it. He gives and gives, and I am selfishly taking everything he offers.
“Oh, Mirabella,” he groans. “You feel so good.”
His words surprise me, and I realize what's happening isn't selfish at all— because right now we're both getting something, giving and taking, and that's what love is. I'm learning all about it in a 24-hour whirlwind.
I laugh and Matteo looks at me, surprised. “What's funny?” he asks.
“This. Us. Everything. It's insane. It's beautiful.”
“And it's ours,” he says. “This is ours. I came for a piece of pizza and instead, you gave me a piece of your heart.”
“No,” I say. “Not a piece of it. You have all of it. All of me.”
Epilogue 1
Mirabella
One year later…
His Nonna’s diamond ring glitters on my ring finger. We've been married one whole year. And we have a baby on the way.
Our life is delicious.
Matteo loves to joke and say that he came to Sugar and Slice for a midday meal and left with a wife. It's practically what happened, and I wouldn't change it for the world.
He walks into the living room, where I am rocking sweatpants and a massive baby bump. “Hey baby,” he says, giving me a kiss. “You hungry? I can call and get you a pizza.”
“I’m starving, actually,” I say. “But Tony said he'd be bringing a pizza over.”
“Sounds great,” Matteo says with a smile as he hands me a Diet Coke on ice. It's my number one favorite pregnancy craving. Well, that and pepperoni pizza.
“Who were you talking to in the kitchen?” I ask.
“Oh, it was Josh. He was giving me a hard time — saying my CrossFit times are sucking lately and that I’m putting on pregnancy weight.”
I laugh. My husband is as ripped and chiseled as ever. But I’m glad he has a friend like Josh who can tease him. “He should be careful with his words… I have a feeling he might be a daddy any day himself.”
A few minutes later, Tony buzzes himself up and soon enough my brother, husband and I are sitting in the penthouse that is now my home. I've made it cozier. It's a gorgeous place, but I wasn’t one for all the leather and concrete. I prefer to have a few feminine touches around the place — scented candles, soft throws and pillows stitched with sentimental sayings like You had me at hello and You have a pizza my heart. Well, that last one was a custom wedding gift from my brother who, despite his over-protective and annoying former self, has finally changed his tune.
Maybe it's because he's seeing someone. Who that is, I’m not sure yet. He won't tell me, but I have a feeling that love is in the air for him. He literally came into the penthouse whistling.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” I ask, knowing full well that he's keeping a secret.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He laughs, handing the pizza box to my hubby.
Matteo opens it and places a slice on a plate for me. He gives it to me along with a kiss on my forehead. I rest the plate on my nine-month-pregnant belly, the perfect tabletop, and I take a sip of my Coke. Refreshing. Delicious. God, pregnancy is weird.
“So, what's the deal? You guys told me to be here for an important conversation… I admit to being slightly nervous.”
Tony and Matteo exchange a grin.
“Look, I know you guys have been talking behind my back and I'm not taking offense to it. I'd rather you guys get along any day than deal with my brother and husband in a fight. I just want to know what it's about.”
“It is good news,” Matteo says. “Tony and I have come to an agreement.”
“An agreement? Sounds ominous.”
“No, it's a good one,” Tony promises.
“Okay… So, spill the beans.”
“We're going into business together,” Matteo says.
My eyes widen and I take a massive bite of pizza as I swallow the news. “You're going into business together?” I finally manage to get out. “You, you two. Men who are as opposite as they come are going into business together?”
“We're not that opposite,” Tony says, “I mean sure, Matteo is a self-made millionaire and I’m still working on making my fortune, but we both love you. We have that in common.”
“And we're both Italian,” Matteo adds with a smile. “And we both like Italian food.”
“Okay, so what's the business?” I’m unable to resist asking the question.
Matteo clasps his hands together, excited. “We're going to franchise Sugar and Slice and bring it under the Angelina's umbrella.”
“We're going to open up a bunch more pizzerias,” Tony adds. “What do you think?”
My heart swells with happiness. "I think that is amazing,” I say honestly. “I think it would be the sweetest thing to have Mom and Dad's pizza shop all around the country.”
Matteo laughs. “We were thinking to start with the tri-state area, but sure, the whole country could work.”
“I like that you're thinking big,” Tony says, grabbing a slice of pizza and folding it in half, then eating half of it in one fell swoop.
“Go big or go home,” I say.
We finish the pizza, me peppering them with questions about the plans, when they're going to move forward, and what that means for us as a family, especially with the little one on the way.
“Don't worry about a thing,” Mateo says. “Family first.”
Tony nods in agreement. “Always family first.”
The baby gives a big kick, rolling over in my belly, moving the plate with her. “She has a lot on her mind,” I say.
Tony laughs. “Or maybe she just likes pepperoni like her mama.”
I smile, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world ten times over. We're going to name her Angelina.
My husband places the last piece of pizza on my plate before I even have to ask for it. He knows me so well. Tony says his goodbyes and says he'll check on me tomorrow. He's worried about me going into labor and missing something, even though he lives fifteen minutes away.
Alone in the apartment with my husband, I sit with him as I polish off the rest of the pizza. It feels cozy, safe, and I know soon enough this will change, our circle of love will grow, and we will greet our little one — so I am savoring these moments with my husband as a family of two.
“I love you so damn much,” he tells me, kissing my cheek.
“And I love you too.” I melt into him, knowing we don't want a slice of heaven.
We want the whole dang pie.
And somehow, despite all odds, we have it.
Epilogue 2
Matteo
Five years later…
Mirabella is in the kitchen with Angelina, and I hear them giggling as I walk in the door. It was a long work week, and it feels good to be coming home to my girls.
“Daddy
!” Angelina calls. “Come look!”
In the kitchen, my wife and daughter are wearing aprons, flour covering them, and there’s pizza crust on the cookie sheets. The crust is shaped into a heart, and it’s covered in red sauce and mozzarella.
“Look,” my little girl says. “It’s a heart. Mama says I have a pizza her heart. Do you too?”
I lift my little girl up in the air, smoothing her rosy cheeks. I set her down on the counter. “You have my whole heart, little one.”
She giggles adorably, and my heart goddamn melts. Mirabella gives our daughter a hand full of pepperoni. My wife has cut them into tiny hearts, too.
“Okay, this has to go on the menu,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s too perfect.”
“You think? Not too cheesy?” Mirabella asks, a sparkling in her chocolate-brown eyes.
“You know I love cheesy,” I say, pulling my wife in for a kiss.
Angelina is laughing as she places the heart-eroni on the pie. I wrap my arms around the love of my life, knowing I want more than a slice tonight. I am starving. And she knows just how I like it.
* * *
Later, with our daughter tucked into bed, I pull the jewelry box out of my jacket pocket and find Mirabella in our bedroom. She’s wearing a silky pink robe, her curly dark hair spilling down her back. I come up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, breathing her in. I work a lot. Tony and I have grown our business to expand nationwide — just as Mirabella predicted. And so, when I’m home, I do everything I can to be completely present, not wanting to miss any more than I already do.
“Hey baby,” I say into her ear. She spins, facing me, and her mouth meets mine.
“Mmmhhmm, I missed that,” she says. “I missed you.”
The Way To A Man’s Heart: Books 1-10 Page 3
