“Matteo.”
“I want you. But I have to stop things here first.”
Alyssa nodded.
“Will you go back home? Wait for me. I’ll call Claudia.”
“I… Well, she…”
“Of course. She managed this. I’ll be home soon. I’ll be there. I promise.”
Alyssa nodded. She couldn’t tear herself away, though. She moved closer for another kiss, and another, until he pulled away again.
“I promise. An hour. I’ll be home in an hour. Wait for me.”
She nodded. When he smiled and pulled the pins from her hair, wiped her smudged lipstick away with his pocket handkerchief, she felt more cherished than she had been ever in her life.
“Thank you.”
“We’ll talk later. Go on, now. Wait for me. You will wait for me, won’t you?”
She nodded. She would.
She made her way back to the car that was waiting for her, got in, and was driven back to Matteo’s home. This time, she saw the beauty in everything, because her heart was full. She managed to text Brianna and let her know that everything would probably be fine, and when she got to the mansion—a big, sprawling mansion lit brightly—Claudia was waiting for her.
“Looks like we’re not destroyed.”
Alyssa smiled.
“You don’t back losers.”
Claudia grinned.
“Welcome, Alyssa. I got you a few things for your stay here. I hope you’ll be comfortable. Please make sure you let me know whatever you need.”
Alyssa nodded. When she was taken to her room, she saw that there was a night dress, in ivory lace and silk, laid out for her. She grinned.
Well, why not?
They would have something to celebrate that night, wouldn’t they? Sure, they would have to talk, but there would be time for talking later.
So she used the hour she had to soak her cramped muscles—flying economy to Italy had not been fun—and put on the night dress that she hoped he would appreciate.
She’d just finished brushing her hair when she felt him. The air changed when he was there. She looked up, and smiled.
“Alyssa. You’re really here. It wasn’t a dream.”
She shook her head.
“I’m here. You… you won’t marry her.”
He walked to her, pulled her into his arms and just held her.
“I can’t believe you came. You came all the way here.”
“You came all the way there, too. And I sent you away.”
“You did.”
“I can’t believe you almost married her.”
Alyssa huffed a little over that, making him chuckle and kiss her again.
“But you saved me right in the nick of time. Now let me thank you,” he said, and this time, when he kissed her, it was long, and slow, and deep, until her heart beat against his, her blood roared in her ears. She sighed and held on to him, opened her heart to him, and accepted it.
Accepted her fate.
He was her fate.
“Make love to me.”
“Oh yes,” he promised her, and stripped her slowly, gently, until she was revealed to him, naked and beautiful, dark and tempting. He had no reason to resist her.
He swept her up into his arms and carried her to the big bed, laid her down on it, and moved over her, kissing her again, and again. She sighed, and she let herself surrender as he kissed his way down her body. His hot tongue stroked down her neck, making her tremble. He nipped at her collarbone, making her cry out softly. He nibbled at her shoulder, down her torso, before teasing her by leaving soft kisses all over her generous breasts, going so close to her taut nipple, but making her wait until she said everything he wanted to hear.
“Tell me again.”
“I missed you. I missed how you touch me. I missed you, please, Matteo. Please, I need you.”
He rewarded her with one slow, lazy stroke of his tongue over her nipple, making her say it again, and again, before he finally closed his lips around her nipple and sucked, hard enough to make her back arch off the bed. She wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him closer, making him take more of her in his mouth. When he moved away, she cried out in protest, but he came back to give her other nipple the same attention, over and over again until she was breathless with need for him. She writhed under him, desperate to be claimed by him.
“Don’t stop, please. I need you. God, yes, I need you!”
She panted the words because she couldn’t get them out any other way. She held on and wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer, and closer, as if she would draw him inside her.
She wanted him inside her.
“Please. Please, now.”
He moved away, leaving her momentarily bereft. The cool breeze washed over her body, making her shiver. But she was heated from the inside when she saw that he was undressing. He took off his shirt, making it slow, revealing himself to her as seductively as he'd revealed her to him. When he took off his shirt, she reached for him, eager to touch him. She wanted to feel how his muscles rippled under her fingers. She'd missed the feel of his skin against hers. She wanted him close to her, with nothing between them.
He took off his pants, and his desire for her was evident in how his crotch bulged, stretching his briefs tight. She sighed, shivered deliciously as he drew them down, too. She pleasured herself by looking at him, naked and glorious, and all hers now.
He moved over her, and she opened for him, ready to draw him inside her already. But he wanted her to wait longer. He kissed her again, and again, starting that deliciously thrilling journey dow her body again. He pleasured her again, teased her again, before stroking his tongue down her belly, over her hips to make her cry out and shift. He didn’t have to ask her to open for him. Her legs fell open as if of their own volition, and she had nothing to hide from him. She felt his gaze on her and grew wetter, needier. When he touched her, his fingertips moving over her, dipping inside her for one soft, sweet second, she cried out again.
She needed him.
“Please. Please, now. I need… Please, Matteo.”
“Tell me.”
“I need you inside me. I need you inside me now, please. Please!”
He smiled.
“Not yet,” he told her, and he buried his face between her legs to lick and tease her, caress her so intimately until she was gasping for breath.
“Don’t… don’t stop! Don’t stop,” she begged, her body already beginning to shudder in anticipation as the pleasure built. She reached for it, greedy for it, and he gave it to her, sliding his fingers inside her and curling them to push her over the top. She wrapped her legs around his head and held him there as she climaxed, hard.
When he moved over her again, she wrapped her legs around him. There would be no denying her now. She pushed down with her heels, positioned herself right, and drew him inside her.
“Alyssa!”
“Don’t stop. Don’t stop, please. I need you inside me, like this, I don’t know what I’d do without… Don’t stop. Please.”
He made love to her, driving deep into her again, and again, before shifting to turn her to her side, pulling her leg back and thrusting even deeper inside her. He cupped her breast and caressed it, nuzzled her neck, bit her shoulder, as he thrust into her again, and again, steadily, driving them both mad with his control.
She begged, she pleaded, she demanded, but he held on for as long as he could. He took them both to the edge and held them there for long, breathless moments before easing back and taking them high again, higher and higher each time, until they were wild for each other. He pushed her down, moved over her, and took her from behind as she cried out in pleasure. There was only need now. They couldn’t deny each other. Or themselves.
Alyssa screamed his name as she climaxed, hard, and she rode that wave until she felt him go still, felt his breath catch, and she welcomed his pleasure deep inside her, too.
She whispered his name as they both collap
sed, spent. But they still found the energy to wrap themselves around each other and hold on tight.
“Matteo,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest, feeling his heart beat against her cheek.
“Tell me again.”
“I love you.”
“Tell me you will always love me.”
Alyssa wasn’t sure what promises she could make, but that was one promise she could give him, with all of her heart.
“Always. I will always love you,” she promised, and she hoped that that would be enough.
It would have to be. They’d have to make it work from there.
***
Breakfast in bed was a luxury she could get used to, she decided. Matteo’s grand master suite was another luxury she could get used to. The view, however, was one she hoped she would never get used to. She hoped she would always look at it in wonder.
They basked in the glow of the joy they had brought each other. They made love again, sweetly this time, and it was as much a promise as any words they'd said to each other.
But they couldn’t put it off for too long. There were too many things to figure out. So when Matteo finally looked at her with his serious look—how was it that she knew his looks so well?—she smiled.
“All right, we’ll talk.”
“I don’t want to scare you away again.”
“You won’t. I’m the one who came to you this time.”
Matteo smiled at her and drew her into his arms.
“Nevertheless, I think I’ll just hold on to you.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“You realize that you will have to marry me now, don’t you? Because you ruined my betrothal contract. So now you’re responsible for getting me respectable.”
Alyssa giggled.
“I have to make an honest man out of you?”
“I’m afraid so. I didn’t make the rules. No, really, I didn’t make the rules. My father did.”
Alyssa giggled again. She was so happy that no price seemed too high.
“All right, then. I’ll marry you.”
“We have time,” said Matteo.
Alyssa looked at him, surprised.
“Really? I thought something had changed. I thought that’s why you were… You know.”
“Things did change. I’m pushing my dear brother out of the business. He will be a man of considerable wealth, but he will have nothing to do with the family business anymore. The vineyards will be all mine.”
Alyssa considered.
“I can’t say I’m sad for him. He used my sister.”
“I know he did. I’m sorry. But… Well, we don’t have to hurry. He knows that there isn’t much he can do now. I have almost five years. You can take your time and we’ll figure out how to do this. I won’t make all the decisions for us. I promise.”
Alyssa nodded, and she thought about it again.
“Six months,” she told him.
“What?”
“Six months. A ceremony here, and a ceremony there. And we can figure out how to have homes in both places. You'll be expanding in the States. I think it would be good for Brianna to be a part of my business. I wouldn’t have to be there all the time. And, well, being here will only be good for me. I can acquire rare vintages more easily when I’m here. I’ll get better at what I do.”
“Are you sure? I won’t ask you to do that for me.”
“Really? Then you would move to the States? When you’re doing all this to make sure your legacy is safe here?”
Matteo smiled.
“I was doing what you found me about to do for that. I’m doing this because I love you. Because I want to be with you.”
Alyssa sighed and kissed her man again, softly.
“I know. I’m doing this because I love you, too. I want to be with you.”
“Are you sure? I can be a difficult man to live with.”
Alyssa chuckled.
“I hadn’t noticed. But you see, without you, I can’t seem to live at all. There’s no color in the world. There’s no sunshine. There’s no warmth. No matter how difficult you turn out to be, I have to be with you. Because I love you.”
He held her close, so tight, and she knew that her words had moved him.
“I’m glad you feel that way, because I have a surprise for you for lunch.”
“What surprise?”
“My stepmother. She heard about last night and is apparently on her way here right now.”
Alyssa sat up, shocked.
“What!” she yelped.
“Remember, you will soon be the one in charge here. Don’t let her push you around.”
“But… But this whole thing will push her son out, won’t it?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Then won’t she hate me?”
“She definitely already hates you. That’s why I suggest that you not try to please her. Be yourself, don’t let her push you around, and it’ll be fine. Let her get the impression that you’re a pushover and you’ll spend half your life avoiding her schemes.”
“What have I gotten myself into?”
“A messed up family, my love. But I have gotten myself a good one. You can go ahead and make me suffer when I’m there and meet your mother. And your friends. You have many friends who are all very protective of you.”
“Do I, though?”
“You do. And your sister, I’m sure she has a bone to pick with me, too.”
“Actually, she’s the one who convinced me to drop everything and come here.”
“Really? I should get her a present. What does she like? Other than wine?”
Alyssa giggled.
“I think you’ll get her approval pretty quickly. I should call her and see how she is. She was going to call her husband.”
“Ah.”
“It’s complicated.”
“It always is. But darling, if you look at a man like Gabriel after we’re married, it won’t be very complicated. I will bury him.”
Alyssa sighed.
“I’ve fallen in love with a caveman.”
“Only if I catch you looking at a man like Gabriel,” he told her, and she laughed again.
By the time she was dressed and ready for lunch, all that time with Matteo had done its job. She was nervous, but confident that she could handle it.
That confidence took a little knock when she saw Alexandra Tiffany-Colombo waiting for her in the dining room.
“You’re late,” she snapped.
“She will soon set the times, Alexandra. I suggest that you be polite to her.”
Alyssa threw him a warning look. If she could get along with her, she wanted to try. She didn’t want to turn it into a battle unless there was no choice.
“Well, you are nothing like the woman I expected to welcome into my family.”
Alyssa sighed.
“That’s life for you. You rarely get what you expect.”
“I suspect that’s a problem with how you plan your life,” shot back Alexandra, who sat straight and thin as a rake in the chair, her blue eyes cold and resentful, bitter but beautiful.
“Would you say so? I think you rather miss the point of life if you only get what you expect.”
“See, Matteo, she would never fit in. It’s not too late. You can still undo this.”
“Alexandra, this is not up for negotiation. My life never was. Now, can we get on with lunch?”
Alyssa sat there like a chided child and tried to ignore the woman who obviously resented her and everything she stood for. There was blessed silence for about three minutes.
“So, Gabriel tells me that you run a… a shop.”
“A wine shop, yes. I source wine for people, and stock regular wines, as well. I’m hoping to expand.”
“And you think that marrying into this family will help you. Well, I’ve got news for you, my dear. We have ways of doing things in this family. The women do not work outside the home. Our involvement is behind the scenes.”
“Matteo!” said Alexandra, in overblown despair.
“Listen to Alyssa, Alexandra.”
“This is insufferable.”
“Really? I think the fish is excellent,” declared Alyssa, earning herself another glower from Alexandra.
Alyssa was ignored for the rest of the conversation. Alexandra said no to dessert, cast a disdainful withering glance at Alyssa when she didn’t say no to it, and turned to Matteo again.
“Reconsider, Matteo. I know what I am talking about. This is a mistake. This woman will not be an asset to the family.”
“Perhaps not,” said Alyssa, fed up with being talked about as if she wasn’t there, “but I will be an asset to Matteo. I think that’s all I need to be, here. If I'm more than that, well, it will be a pleasant surprise. If I’m not, everything has run smoothly without me for so long. I see no reason why that shouldn’t continue. Now Matteo, if you’ll excuse me, I really must make a few calls.”
“Sure, love. Use the phone in the bedroom.”
“Thank you,” she said, and would’ve walked away, but he grabbed her hand.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“This,” he said, and pulled her down for a kiss. It wasn’t a soft peck. It definitely was not suitable for Alexandra’s eyes. But Matteo obviously didn’t care, and if he didn’t, why would she? So she kissed him back, held on tight, and pulled away after a long minute, reluctantly.
“We’ll get the details of the wedding planned tonight.”
“Okay,” she told him.
As she walked away, she could hear the horrified questions pouring forth from Alexandra. Oddly enough, she was happy as she walked through the halls, and she felt as if she already belonged. She found Claudia, waved, and was glad to be greeted by somebody who didn’t hate the sight of her.
“You had a phone call, Alyssa. You were at lunch, so…”
The Italian Billionaire’s Nubian Queen (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 12
