CHAPTER 11
Lea
The sight of the tropical paradise takes my breath away as the Jeep follows the trail.
“It really is beautiful as far as the eyes can see,” I remark, looking around.
“Yes, it is,” Massimo replies, but when I glance over, he’s looking at me, instead of the tropical paradise I’m enthralled by.
“Stop,” I say, blushing as I look down.
“Stop what?” he growls.
“Saying things like that. Looking at me.” I shake my head. “It’s almost… romantic.”
“Romantic?” he chuckles. “Not really my style. If I wanted to make you mine, I’d pull this Jeep over and kiss those beautiful lips the way they deserve to be kissed. Leave you breathless and begging for so much more,bambina.”
My breath hitches in my throat and my face gets redder. Yeah, that’s not romance. Not the kind I’d expect, anyway. But if he did that, I’m not sure what I’d beg for. I don’t want to find out, even if that’s the only thing I’m thinking about right now. Being his. Beingclaimedby those rough-looking lips and callused hands.
“You’ll be able to see the ruins as soon as we get to the top of the hill,” he says, gesturing ahead. “The official tour should have moved on from here by now, so we’ll have the place to ourselves. You can explore them to your heart’s content.”
My eyes get wide when the ruins come into view. I saw pictures online, but those were nothing compared to seeing them in real life. An ancient civilization, long forgotten. More mystery than answers. The locals call it the Valley of the Ancestors, but some artifacts discovered during the excavation suggest the people who built the impressive array came from somewhere else. They may have even ruled the ancestors the locals are referencing.
“Wow,” I say as we get closer. “You could spend a whole day exploring these ruins and not see everything.”
“Yeah, the tour just drives by them and moves on to the statues,” he explains. “But we can do whatever we want, as long as we don’t blow the place up.”
“I’d say that’ll never happen, but for all I know, you’ve got abombin the back of this Jeep,” I joke.
“Nah, just a shotgun,” he smiles. “A few knives. Some rope…”
I can’t tell if he’s serious or joking.
“Right.” I roll my eyes as I look away. “I doubt we’ll need any of that.”
“Depends on whether or not you’re a good girl,” he teases, but there’s some firmness to his tone that suggests it might not be a joke. “I’ll hogtie you if I have to.”
“I’ll be good!” I squeak out. “Please don’t threaten me like that, even if it’s a joke. Especially after you spanked me. That really hurt.”
“You might not have liked it, but I don’t think you hated it,” he says, parking the Jeep in front of the ruins. “I certainly enjoyed it.”
“I could tell,” I groan.
Massimo gets out of the Jeep and I mutter a few things under my breath. He’s not wrong. I didn’t like the pain, but my body reacted to it. It would be hard to say Ihatedit. But I’m not eager to experience it again. Nor am I eager to find out if he will actually hogtie me if I misbehave.
“Come on,bambina,” he says, opening my door. “Let’s have a look around.”
Massimo helps me out of the Jeep and we walk under a breathtaking archway carved from stone, with missing chunks that used to be marble, and grooves that were once filled with gold. According to legend, at least.
“I’m sure your grandmother told you about all the rumors and mysteries surrounding this place,” Massimo comments as we step into what was once a room—possibly a throne room, or a lavish dining hall. Most of it is missing.
“Yeah, the most popular one is that the people who built this place were the last survivors of Atlantis, right?” I ask, turningand marveling at all the impressive architecture that was built while most of the world was still in straw huts.
“It is, but… you know, wrong ocean,” he chuckles. “Atlantis was supposed be in the Atlantic. They would have passed plenty of islands before they made it to this one, so I’ve never believed that.”
“Then maybe they’re from the Lost City of Pacifis,” I joke. “Who says there was just one ancient civilization as impressive as Atlantis?”
“You might be on to something,” Massimo laughs, helping me down a flight of stairs carved out of stone. “Watch your step.”
