Page 49 of Under Pressure

Stunned, Kendra lay awake beside him, waiting for him to fall back into a more peaceful sleep. There was so much more to him than he’d ever tell her, and her mind wandered to the glove and the results she still sought. Whatever good feelings sex had given her were replaced by a strange anxiety that threatened to keep her awake for the rest of the night, thinking about her son and what the hell she was doing. Lucky for her, exhaustion finally won out once more, and she drifted into the lightest sleep, almost sleeping with one eye open, never knowing what would be next with him.

Not long enough later, Kendra woke to the sound of Delta stirring in bed beside her. She snapped her eyes open, thinking he was leaving her. As she came to her senses in the early rays of morning, he grinned at her and pulled her in close to him, planting a gentle kiss on her lips.

“Morning.”

The dark circles under his eyes did not look like a man who’d caught up on sleep at all, and for the first time, she understood part of why that was. She squinted at the clock—barely seven in the morning. They needed more rest, but she wasn’t sure she was going to get it, knowing she had to get back home sooner rather than later for reasons she wasn’t prepared to tell him. Her nerves already surging under his gaze, he brushed her stray blonde hairs out of her face.

“Sleep well?” he asked, reaching down her back to massage her. He shook his head, showing his disbelief. “You look too damn good for someone who just woke up. Tell me your secrets.”

She froze at his words but released as he laughed it off.

“Thanks,” she replied, a shy little smile forming on her lips.

His casual nature softened her up as he kneaded the tension out of her body with the roughest, warmest hands she’d ever felt. The way he touched her was nothing short of erotic. She craned her neck as he massaged, his selfless hands working even harder, making her feel too amazing for that early in the morning.

He pulled her in close once again, kissing her. “I don’t believe you are here. This must be a trick.”

And as he held her, something in her mind questioned if maybe she’d overreacted about the girl at the bar. It wasn’t like she had been upfront with what she’d held back from him.

Delta flipped to his side, stretching his arms above his head, and crawled out of bed, giving her a full view of his naked ass. It was an ass of gods. Damn. Sucking in breath, she lost it when he turned back to her, reaching up to smooth back his dark blond hair. His olive Italian skin was perfect in the morning sun, and he was a sculpted statue of muscle. The scars, gashes and bruises only added to his aesthetic of a warrior. But what struck her was that so many of them weren’t healed and too fresh to make sense.

“What are you doing to yourself?” she quizzed as she took in the scars decorating him.

“That…we can talk about after coffee.” He tapped the doorframe before making for the washroom across the hall.

“Matteo, I want to know everything,” she reiterated, calling after him.

It irked her that he wasn’t immediately upfront about it, but it was hard to be mad at a man who was showering her with adoration. It didn’t take long for her to throw on his old T-shirt and follow the scent of coffee.

Once she had a steaming cup in hand, sitting on his soft gray couch, she started to realize that it was beginning to feel too much like a dream. Hugging the handmade cappuccino that he’d just made her, watching him in the kitchen, she inhaled the rising steam. It smells amazing, she thought, as she brought the fresh coffee to her lips. And it tasted even better. Surely a dream couldn’t give her such sensations.

“This must be a real Italian coffee,” Kendra commented as Delta waltzed back into the room, plunking himself down beside her, holding his own steaming cup.

“I learned from the best.”

The two of them, side by side, her in his crumpled T-shirts was a picture she’d never thought she’d see. Falling into him, he grinned at her, like they were an old couple enjoying their usual routine. He squeezed her leg, toying with her inner thigh, causing her legs to part naturally in response, as if she hadn’t been fucked enough yet.

“My dad was serious about espresso and making it right. He’d disown me if I ever bought one of those puck machines.”

“You are a man of hidden talents,” she offered, biting her lip as she shot him a look.

She enjoyed the grooves at the edges of his eyes when he smiled naturally. And he seemed more than relaxed after all that mind-blowing sex, even with the lack of sleep and the obvious nightmares. The laughter in his eyes warmed her heart, especially so seeing him there in the morning light in his own home. It was a side of Matteo Valente she’d never seen before. Affectionately, his hand ran across her thigh.

“You look good on my couch. I could get used to this.”

“Me too.”

Leaning back, he put his other arm around her, pulling her in. She breathed in slowly, knowing that that was her moment. There would never be a better time.

“Thanks,” she whispered, barely audible.

“For what?”

“For saving me last night. Hunter’s going to have a real nice black eye this morning—” she started, but he waved her off.

“It was nothing.”

“It was something”—she turned to him—“to me.”

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