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With an exhale, Rafael pulls me close while we sway. When he can feel I’m on my tiptoes, he lifts me to rest on top of his feet. I turn my cheek so it’s resting against his chest. His heart is pounding directly in time with the music. I know I miss the first couple of lines, but then the lyrics enter my ears and then my soul.
It’s talking about how the demons in his head are loud but I am the one who turns them down. He doesn’t know who he’d be if he’d never found me. I start to shiver a bit when the song tells me to give not just tonight but the rest of my life. Rafael told me to listen to the lyrics. Is he trying to tell me he loves me?
I want to have it all with you.
Those words repeat in word and deed throughout the entire length of the song. I never knew that three minutes could become a lifetime. They have and do. My heart begins to race at the thought of being his everything. Then I realize I’m not as scared of being his everything as I am at him being mine.
He could have any woman he wants. He is choosing me. He brought me here. Rafael said he wants to make me feel like a princess. How could he not know he does that with a simple smile?
When the song ends, his hand cups the side of my neck, begging me to look at him. I allow my eyes to roll up to his. I watch the flickers of the flames from the torches in his eyes. They look at me with such longing and desire. He makes me feel more beautiful than I ever have. What we have between us is natural, easy, intense…it’s biblical.
Rafael
The night could have gone on forever and I’d have been okay with that. I held her in my arms until the only thing I wanted was to have her pinned between them. The outdoor double king lounge was our bed for the night. She slowly removed every bit of my tuxedo and I went even slower in peeling her from her dress.
Words are completely inadequate when I recall in my mind how Ava looked. The cherry color of the dress reminded me of her lips and the flush to her cheeks. The rich color of her toes played hide-and-seek with every movement of the fabric of her skirt. Her beautiful eyes would morph from demure to timid to one of complete contentment, and finally, one of desire. Desire for me.
She could absolutely have any man she wanted. Her intelligence alone would attract that. What she fails to understand is she’s not only a feast for the mind, but the eyes and soul as well. Ava Caron is a stunning force of nature roaming free on the planet. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to encounter this truly magical creature.
I was stroking her head after we made love. It’s how I fell asleep. My racing heart wakes me at sunrise as the purples and pinks cast a glow over my sleeping beauty. She’s wrapped against my body with her hand and head on my chest, keeping warm with a sea of blankets coating us.
“Bella,” I whisper. “Bella, wake up.”
“Hmmm,” she groans.
“Open your eyes. Look at the sky.”
Her sleepy eyes blink a couple of times before she kisses my chest then looks at the sky. “Wow. It keeps getting more and more beautiful each day.”
“Hmmm. I agree.” Ava finally realizes I’m looking at her. She turns her eyes down and buries her face in my chest. I can’t do anything but chuckle, smile, and kiss the top of her head. “I have an idea for today, if you’d like.”
“I hope it doesn’t involve a workout or getting up right now. I’m too sleepy and wobbly for that yet.”
“No, Bella. We can sleep as late as you like, although the sun may force our hand. I’d like to take you into town. There is a restaurant I’d like to take you to. It’s one of my favorites. We could look in a few of the boutiques as well, and make a day out of it.”
“I like the sound of that. I also like the sound of your breathing beneath my ear.”
“We have that in common then.” I wrap my hands around her body, allowing them to mingle on her hip. “Go back to sleep, Ava.”
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping too?”
“I will. I just want to watch you first.” I allow my lips to imprint on her head as she’s imprinted on my heart. “Sei tutto ciò di cui ho bisogno,” I whisper. I hope she knows, and yet doesn’t at the same time, what I’ve said to her. It’s true. In such a short time, it’s true. Even in seeing my parents true connection, I don’t think I believed it could be real. Now I know.
The universe has conspired and has been heard. How I respond when the real world returns is the next question.
Even though we could walk up the beach about two miles to get to town, I decide we should take a car in. Ava looks stunning as always in her short black sundress. The wide straps cover nearly all of her shoulders but the wider neckline in the front allows me to be able to see her bronzed skin. The more I look at it, the more I want to touch and taste it.
As we walk the streets in the sun, she opts to put on her oversized sunglasses and black beach hat. Her goofy sensibilities surface with the pairing. I tell her she looks like a vintage film star, so she runs with it every chance she gets with a pouty lip or pulling the rims of the glasses down to peer at me over the top. One other benefit is I can kiss her under the cover of the brim or whisk it away completely in a chance to match her playful nature.
I can honestly say I’ve never been more enamored with a woman in my life. She brings a light and joy to me I didn’t know could be possible. As we window-shop, she’s like a young child getting excited about any and everything that tickles her. I’ve discovered she loves not only shells but other earth representations. Rocks, crystals…she explains to me in great detail what she knows about the healing properties. I try to commit everything to memory.
Midafternoon, just after getting her favorite ice cream from a street vendor, a rogue shower rolls in sending us scattering for cover. Ava tugs on my arm as we run into a nearby jewelry store, Luciano’s. This is a place I know well. The owner has become a trusted acquaintance. He greets me with a warm welcome, like that of home. My Bella laughs at us in our animated Italian as she wanders the cases in the back.
Every so often I peer over and try to listen to the conversation she’s having with Luca’s wife. The words don’t matter. What matters is her smile, the light in her face. I have so much more I want to share with her. Time is not on my side.
Tomorrow is coming too fast. As much as I want to ignore it, I can’t. It’s coming too fast and we have to find the conversation about how this will either continue, or in my worst fears, end.
Chapter twelve
