Page 45 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)

I’m pretty sure I look like a disheveled mess, and I’m pretty sure he likes it.

I love that he does. My lips feel swollen, and my lipstick is smudged, my hair is all mussed up where Rio’s fingers gripped it.

I feel like a messy, wanton goddess, and when he looks at me like that, like he wants to fuck me all night long, in every position, I love it. I so love it.

He presses a kiss against my lips. “I love you being here.”

“I love being here.”

He wraps his arms around me and we stand like that, foreheads pressed together for a few quiet moments. “I’m not going to let you sleep tonight.”

I move my head back a few inches. “Promise?”

He nods. “But first, let me order some takeout. What are you in the mood for?”

I shoot him a mischievous grin. “I just had what I was in the mood for.”

This makes him smile. “You’re fucking unbelievable, you know that?”

I raise an eyebrow. “So I’ve been told. Mind if I take a shower?”

“Sure. Let me give you a quick tour of the place.”

He quickly shows me around his penthouse. I’m not in the slightest bit surprised that this man has a penthouse apartment with his own rooftop pool and garden. Everything about it, about the entire four-story building screams trendy and futuristic with its glass and steel structures.

I slip into a simple black dress after my shower and find Rio in the kitchen. He’s made a chicken Caesar salad. We sit outside, drinking white wine and eating a very impressive salad, under the stars.

“The old man’s pissed,” he says, finally. “I didn’t think he’d take it well, but he’s furious. He thought everything would go his way.”

Neither of us have mentioned the injunction, probably because neither of us wants to talk about the great big elephant sitting between us.

“Let’s not talk about work.” I feel conflicted about the case, and I need to recuse.

“Agreed. Let’s not.”

“Let’s talk about how we’re going to spend the weekend.” Ever since we got together, work has slipped to the background.

“Are we getting out of bed?” He waggles his brows.

I stroke his cheek. “At some point, we should.”

We make rough plans for the weekend. We want to hang out in the city, soak in the ambiance, go to Central Park, visit coffee shops and have brunch, or lunch, and make dinner back at his place, before I fly back late on Sunday evening.

“Should I wear a wig while we’re out?”

“No. Matteo and Enzo are visiting Mama in Italy, so there’s no danger of running into them here. I was more worried about Dani and Dex driving by. They visit me sometimes, but if we’re out and about in the crowds, there’s no danger of running into them.”

“Do they visit often?” I think it’s sweet. With five brothers, two of them living in this apartment block, I doubt this man is ever lonely.

“It happens more now. Dex and I used to meet in secret.”

“What?”

He explains the rivalry between the two sets of brothers.

How Matteo and Enzo didn’t know that he and Dex used to talk, neither did Jett and Zach, on Dex’s side.

I find this most bizarre and find myself sitting on the edge of my seat, needing to hear more about his past, and his family, and what made him who he is today.

“Do you guys visit your mom regularly?”

“As much as we can.” He intertwines his fingers in mine as we sit back, gazing out at the skyline. He asks if I have any plans for the things I want to do tomorrow. Any places or tourist attractions I want to see.

I move my foot and place it strategically over his cock. Just as I expected, its hard as steel. “We had a night in a hut during a storm on a tropical island. New York pales in comparison to that. I don’t need culture.”

“Just another adventure, then?” He grins, shifting in his seat, enjoying the weight of my foot.

“Some fun.” I press my big toe into him. His mouth falls open. Those dark, dangerous eyes meet mine. “What do you want?”

“Just you.”

“Come and get me, then.”

I jump up and walk towards the edge of the pool, where I shimmy out of my clothes, before diving into the pool.

He strips off, too, and dives in. We splash around and laugh like kids.

Something about being this high up, under cover of the night sky, imbues us with daring.

Makes me feel invincible, capable of anything, with this man beside me.

I love being in our own little bubble, where no one can touch us.

Where his father, the injunction, and Pierce are a million miles away.

We kiss again, tongues tangling, just like our hands, all over each other, teasing and touching. He’s hard again, and his fingers sink inside me again, but we pull apart, making it last, the torture of restraint.

After a while, we float on our backs, naked, staring at the stars studded in the inky night sky.

Floating like this, without a care in the world, we discover precious nuggets of information about one another, all the mundane but captivating things that form the foundation of who we’re becoming.

Favorite colour. Favourite place to travel to.

Favorite meal. Favorite film. It feels easy and natural, like we’ve known one another our entire lives.

Up here, on the rooftop, away from civilization, but closer to the stars, there are no more barriers between us.