Page 320 of Niccolo

And as she came again, her head flung back on the pillow, it tipped me over the edge.

I buried my face in her hair and cried out her name as I exploded inside her –

And her screams filled my ears as her fingers clawed at my back.

After both our orgasms died away, we both lay there panting… me still inside her…

And I kept whispering in her ear, over and over:

I love you…

I love you…

I love you…

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Afterwards, we lay in bed with Sofia in my arms and her head on my chest.

I stayed silent for a while…

But I knew I had to try one last time.

“I’m begging you, please come with me,” I murmured. “At the very least, don’t go to the Council tomorrow.”

Sofia immediately forced herself up on her elbows to scowl at me. “Oh my god –now,of all times?!”

I grinned. “I figured a post-orgasmic haze might be the best time to ask.”

“I think you mean ‘manipulate.’”

“Tomato, to-mah-to.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do youeverstop trying to manipulate people?”

“…no, probably not,” I answered truthfully. “But I believe everyone does it, whether they realize it or not. In the end, I think the best we can ask for is to be manipulated by people who have our best interests at heart… and who love us.”

She averted her eyes almost guiltily.

She hadn’t saidI love youback to me yet –

Not in the Galleria Borghese –

And not during sex.

It didn’t matter.

I mean, it stung a tiny bit –

But it didn’t change the way I felt about her.

And the fact that she had cried during our lovemaking…

It revealed more to me about her feelings than any three little words ever could.

I tried to pull her back to me –

But she yanked away and began gathering her clothes, which were strewn across the floor.

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