Page 99 of Ice To Meet You

It was Matteo who drew my eyes.

His dark figure carved across the slope, moving with ease. Each of his turns was precise and every shift of his weight balanced and graceful. He had an effortless strength. As he sliced over the ice, the mountain might as well have been a playground.

It was warmer on the glacier and as the late morning sun beat down on us, beads of sweat formed at the base of my back.

We stopped occasionally, taking off our skis. We kissed, rolled in the drifts and even built a snowman, but we kept going down until he stopped on the edge of a ridge.

“What is it?”

He smiled, sweeping his arm across the valley. “Welcome toAltoNube.”

His voice curled around the word, accentuating the accent at the end.

“Alto …?”

“High cloud,” he said.

I glanced around. We’d been chasing the high clouds all morning.

“Down there,” he said, his hand at my back, pointing down at the valley.

I tightened my eyes into the white, just making out a building nestled between two slopes A thick bank of fir trees surrounded it. A thin line of smoke ascended into the sky. I sucked in a breath. “That’s your lodge? I expected something smaller.”

He chuckled, pulling off his goggles. “Esmé, nothing about me is small. And after the ride we just took, there’s a bottle of brandy and a hot tub where I can prove my point.”

The gleam in his eyes sent a bolt of need low to my belly. I leaned over and threaded my arm around his waist, trusting him to keep me upright. “A hot tub, you say?”

His smile met mine. “Yes. It’sveryhot, very steamy, built only for two, and I can’t wait to show you.”

I pulled away, roving my eyes over his face—over his body—a grin growing on my lips. “I hope you have adequate ice on hand if things get too heated.”

He quirked a brow. “Naturally. I’ve thought of everything.”

I drank in the details of his face, the wildness in his eyes making my legs wobble even more than our descent. My heart beat hard in my chest, and he blinked slowly, as if he could read my mind—knew just how much I wanted him—what I’d do to him when I had him alone and out of his ski gear.

I brought my lips close to his, giving him the filthiest grin I could muster. “So, come on then … I’ll race you!”

With a final and deliberately heavy dousing of freshpowder, I left Matteo on the ridge and took off down the hill, whooping like a banshee towards the promise of his hot tub and who knew what else.

34

ESMÉ

Iturned slow circles in his suite, my tired feet sinking into the thick carpet. “You created this? From scratch?”

Matteo shrugged, leaning against the exposed wooden door frame like we weren’t in the middle of a winter wonderland straight from the pages ofVogue Living.

“I had a little help, but the eventual choice of beds—particularly the mattresses—was all me. Did you want to do a bit of quality control?”

I drew my eyes over him. He looked so damn sexy right now, dripping confidence and wearing a plush bath towel around his hips. I smiled. Blue really was his colour. “How about the antlers?” I asked, running my hand along one of the sets mounted on the bed’s headboard. Do they have a special purpose? Back scratchers?”

He grinned. “No. That’s how I’ll keep you here. I’ll probably tether you up to a set later. You’ll be at my mercy while I keep you alive on a steady diet of chocolate, wine, andDono di Dio.”

I pulled my brows together as he sauntered my way. “Dono di what?”

He ran his fingers over the back of my neck, pulling thesnap buttons of my thermal under top free and sending shivers over my shoulder blades. “You’ll see.”

We moved to the window, and he stood behind me, circling his arms around my waist, his hardness pressing at the base of my spine.

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