Page 74 of Bellini Bound
For a long time afterward, I lay there, reluctant to leave, drinking in the sight of my sleeping wife. The minute I allowed my eyes to close, this brief chapter of my life would be over, so I fought against heavy eyelids while trying to pinpoint the exact moment where it all went wrong.
What could I have done differently to avoid losing her? Or had we been doomed from the start, our marriage built on a foundation of threats and betrayal?
In the end, it didn’t matter because we couldn’t go back. There was no changing the fact that, as soon as the sun came up, our budding relationship would be abruptly cut short, like a seed plucked from the soil before it had a chance to take root.
For nearly four decades, I had managed to keep people from getting too close. Then Allie burst into my life, and it hadn’t taken long before she found a way to sneak through the cracks in the shield I’d placed around my heart a long time ago.
Once I got around to sealing them up again, she would be locked inside, and I wasn’t sure whether that would be a comfort or a curse. Holding onto the woman I loved—holy shit, I love her; maybe I always have—for all of eternity, even after we went our separate ways.
The gentle rise and fall of her chest was mesmerizing, and each time I blinked, it became more of a struggle to lift my heavy eyelids.
Tucked to my wife’s side, with my hand resting atop her beating heart, I had no choice but to allow the darkness to pull me under.
I miss you already.
Chapter 19
Allie
Iwashot.Reallyhot.
And stuck. Why couldn’t I move?
Forcing my eyes open, it didn’t take me long to piece together why I was not only burning up but pinned down. Enzo’s bulky body was draped over top of me—an arm locked around my waist, his thigh thrown over both of mine—where I lay on my back in bed.
Then it hit me.
He spent the night!
This was huge, but at the same time, I had no idea what it meant for us moving forward. Would this become a common occurrence? Would the same rules apply when we found ourselves tangled up inhisbed? Or was this nothing more than a case of a man simply passing out after sex? I knew how wiped out I was post-orgasm; I could only imagine it was the same for him.
No. I dismissed the notion almost as soon as it entered my brain.
Last night was . . . I had no words.
With Enzo’s body acting like a heated weighted blanket, my eyes slid shut, a smile creeping onto my lips when I recalled how tender his touch had been. How cherished I felt as he kissed every inch of my skin before sinking into me slowly—in a way he claimed he wasn’t capable of.
Despite the countless screaming orgasms I’d experienced at Enzo’s hands—and cock and mouth, for that matter—last night had been the best sex of my life. Hands down, no question.
There had been so much emotion in his dark eyes as we’d writhed together, moving as one. Almost as if he were in awe, completely captivated by the sheer intensity of our joining, which was a stark contrast to all the other times that came before. Picturing it now warmed me to the very tips of my toes. The man sure knew how to make a girl melt.
In desperate need of the restroom, I carefully extracted myself from his hold, breathing a sigh of relief when he didn’t stir as I eased off the mattress. Tiptoeing across the suite, I sealed the bathroom door, relieved myself, then quickly brushed my teeth. Since this was my first time waking up beside a man, I didn’t know the protocol—whether there would be morning extracurricular activities—and wanted to be prepared.
I refused to let something as silly as morning breath ruin my chances at a daylight encore of last night’s lovemaking. No way.
Climbing back into bed, I took a moment to simply stare at the handsome creature I married. The harsh lines of his face were relaxed in sleep, thick black lashes—why were men always blessed to have naturally long ones, while women were stuck applying false ones to achieve the same effect?—fanned across his sharp cheekbones, and his plush pink lips were parted as steady breaths sawed past them.
Then there was all that ink on display, covering almost every available inch of skin, starting at his neck, moving down his chest, arms, and abs, before snaking around the sides of his hips and outer thighs. Until thenight I met Enzo, I didn’t know I could be so attracted to tattoos. But boy, they turned me on something fierce. And learning that they served as his armor, concealing the most vulnerable parts of his past, only made me love them more.
My heart began to soar, thinking that maybe last night marked a turning point for me and Enzo, but it quickly plummeted to my stomach when Enzo opened his eyes and said, “We need to talk.”
His words acted like a dark cloud blocking out the sun, and I shivered involuntarily, reaching for the sheets to cover my naked body. I held the cotton tight to my chest, my voice wavering in my reply. “O-kay.”
Dragging in a deep breath, Enzo let it out slowly before lifting his tortured gaze to meet mine. “Allie, I should have never let you get tangled up in this. Giving your father the choice to hand over your life in exchange for his was a mistake.”
My mouth dropped open. “M-mistake?” I repeated.
His lips pressed into a thin line, and he nodded. “While you would have been forced to mourn the death of your father, the debt to the Bellinis would have been settled. You would have been free to live your life however you wanted without further interference from us.”
