Page 114 of Rosetti Family New York

I roll onto my side, pulling her closer. She fits into the crook of my arm. Even in her sleep, she’s wary. She doesn’t say much about him, but I know her father keeps her on a tight leash. I know what men like him do. She said I was like him once. Cold. Unfeeling. As though I couldn’t love her if I wanted to.

I’ll never forget the look in her eyes when I told her I loved her. She tried to cover it up, to be careful and sharp and Besiana, but I saw her. I see her now, as she really is. The sheet pulls tight across her breasts and belly, and I want to see all of her again. I want to wake her up and watch the surprise on her face.

I follow the trail of her hair with my fingers, letting it slip through my hands. My cock is so hard, it almost hurts. I should let her sleep, but I don’t have that kind of patience. Not when she’s right here, soft and warm and all I’ve ever wanted. The restof the world is waiting for us to destroy each other. I’m ready for it, but not yet.

Not now.

I drag the sheets away, slowly, and she shivers at the loss of them. It bares her breasts, her belly, her legs. She’s too perfect, too tempting. She still doesn’t wake. I don’t know if I want her to, if I want her like this, vulnerable and yielding. She murmurs something I don’t quite catch, but I don’t need to. The sound is enough. Her panties are a lacy black tangle on the floor, and I love the thought of them still there, a perfect reminder of last night.

I slip my fingers down her thigh, and she squirms. So damn perfect. I reach between her legs, already slick and ready for me. Her skin is hot, her pulse frantic against my palm. She shudders, pushes into me like she can’t help herself, and my control snaps.

I roll her onto her back, my breath rough in my throat. The weight of her body underneath mine makes me feel like a different man. Like someone who’s capable of more than control and calculation. I watch her face as she starts to wake, as she turns that soft look on me, and it makes me wild. Her breathing quickens, and her hands come up, slipping into my hair and pulling me down.

I let them stay there.

“Were you dreaming about me, baby?” I whisper against her ear, pressing the length of my body to hers. Her lips part, the start of my name escaping, and it’s the only answer I need. I thrust into her, deep and sure, burying myself with one hard stroke. She cries out, breathless, needy, so goddamn beautiful.

“Dom—”

My name, a prayer, a promise. She arches into me, greedy and gasping, pulling me even closer. Her thighs grip my sides, and she’s got a dozen complaints on the tip of her tongue. I don’t let her get them out.

“You can’t let me sleep?” she says, voice breaking, teasing. I don’t let her do that either.

Her nails dig into my back, and I swallow the rest of her words. I take her hard and fast, pressing her wrists above her head and holding them there, relentless and sure. She wants this as much as I do, and it’s never been like this before. Never.

Her legs lock around my waist, and I thrust deeper, harder. She bites her lip, fighting against the way she feels. It’s what I love about her. It’s what drives me mad.

“You don’t have to hold back,” I tell her, a low growl in my throat. “Not with me.”

She moans, tossing her head, lips red and desperate and driving me insane. I don’t let up, watching her come undone, watching the surprise on her face as I move faster. Her hips come up to meet me, and I have to tell her again, have to say the words that unmake us both.

“I love you.”

I don’t know if she hears me, don’t know if she’s capable of anything but this, the push and pull and drive of our bodies together. I lose myself to it, to her, to us, the rest of the world falling away. She gasps, shudders, then says it back in a rush of breath, a rush of heat, a rush of everything.

“I—” Her voice cracks open, then her entire body, and she screams my name.

It’s all I want. It’s more than I expected.

I come with a shudder and a groan, collapsing into her arms. She holds me there like she never plans to let go.

She laughs a little, breathless and sated beneath me.

Her cheeks are flushed, lips swollen, eyes half-lidded, and she's the most beautiful sight I've ever seen.

Her fingers comb through my hair, the nails grazing my scalp in a way that makes me want to start all over again. I shiftslightly, careful not to crush her, and she sighs against my chest when I roll off her.

“You...” she starts, but her voice trails off as she yawns and nuzzles into me.

I grin at the ceiling, happier than I have any right to be. “What about me?”

Her response is a long silence followed by another yawn. “You’re making it very hard for me to wake up,” she mumbles against my skin.

“Good. Stay.”

She stretches lazily, limbs warm against mine. “We can’t just lie here all day.”

I push myself up on an elbow to look at her better, and she blushes under my gaze. Her dark hair is spread out over the white pillowcase like an inky halo and her pale green eyes hold a softness I've rarely seen before now.