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Chapter Eleven
-Noemi-
ITHOUGHT OUR FIRSTkiss on the veranda was the kiss to end all kisses, but that one...
Dante held my face in his hand while his index finger traced the shape of my lips with a feathery softness I didn’t know he was capable of. He never stopped surprising me, but this gentleness, this Dante that I didn’t know yet, was a much nicer surprise than finding out he was an assassin. Like everything about him, the notion was such a complete contradiction my head hurt from trying to understand it.
“I see you,” he said throatily, dropping a whisper of a kiss onto my parted lips.
I closed my eyes and leaned forward, wanting more than such a chaste touch. My mind still reeled from everything I’d just learned, including that I was possibly someone’s target, though I had no idea why anyone would want to kill me. The thought made me shiver as I reached out for Dante’s strength. I wanted him to hold me. Wanted his touch to remind me that he was in charge and that I could surrender all of this to him. I believed he’d make it better.
“Over-thinking. Trying to solve this. That’s my job. You think too much, Noemi.”
His mouth skated over my cheek before reaching my ear. I gasped when his hand touched my chest. He didn’t fondle me as I anticipated but placed his palm flat against the opening of my coverup.
“I feel you. Your heartbeat has increased. Has anyone else ever made your heart beat this fast or is it just for me?”
“Just you.” He had to already know that since there were no others before him.
“You think I already knew the answer to that question, don’t you? The answer’s yes, I did. But I needed to hear you say it,bambina. Remember? Words matter. What I can see, what I can feel, what I can hear. That’s all that matters to me. Your body talks to me in ways you don’t even understand.”
I tilted my head to search his eyes. “What is it telling you now?” I asked breathlessly.
One corner of his mouth ticked upward. “That you want to dance with me again.”
He stepped away from the surf, holding my hand and stretching my arm out.
“You haven’t been paying attention,” I teased him back. “I don’t like to dance, remember?”
I knew what he was doing. The conversation had taken a sour turn and he was trying to distract me the same way he had on the plane when the fear of flying held me in its grip.
“Oh, I remember very well.”
With a determined tug, he snapped his wrist, pulling my body up against his.
“I remember how good you felt in my arms: how your body pressed up against mine. I remember how the tension eased from you, and how your arms slid around my neck once you relaxed. Yes,bambina. I’ve paid attention. I will remembereverythingabout you.”
Will? I wanted to ask him what he meant but asking that question meant facing the answer. He had no intention of there being an “after” for us. We’d go back to Connecticut. He’d go back to his secretive life and I’d go back to longing for someone I could never have. Only once I returned home, it’d be worse. I’d had a glimpse of what heaven could be like. Dante Calegari was a temptation, but he’d always be just out of my reach.
Dante’s hands rested on my hips. He stood there waiting for me, letting me make the decision. And, yes, he knew what I wanted. Forget the dancing. Leaning against him while we swayed back and forth wasn’t really dancing anyway, was it? It was just another excuse to be back in his arms. To wax poetic about the beauty of a starry night, a warm tropical breeze, and the roaring surf that drowned out everything except how much I needed him, how much I wanted him, and how very little time I had to keep living in this fantasy world he had created for me.
I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Dance with me, Dante. Before I wake up and find out that none of this is real.”
He buried his hand in my hair, angling my head to that familiar position that let loose the butterflies in my stomach.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask you why you think this isn’t real. Tonight, I don’t give a damn.”
The gentleness was gone. The Dante I knew I could count on had returned, demanding, forceful, taking as much as he gave as his mouth devoured mine. At some point during that kiss, we started our dance, creating a rhythm that belonged just to us, witnessed only by the sand, surf and stars. Our mouths came together again and again as our bodies reached out for one another.
Dante picked me up and carried me down the moonlit path to my room. Kicking the door open, he didn’t set me on my feet until we were inside. The room was completely covered in shadows with a strip of moonlight streaming through the window, highlighting the bed.
I didn’t wait for his demands or hesitate in order to protect my own sensitivities. I knew what I wanted. I was the one who offered him my virginity. If I could do that, the power was mine.
When my feet touched the floor, I pushed away from him and smiled at his confused expression right before it morphed to one of surprise, then pleasure, as I started to untie my wrap. I’d never seen so many emotions cross his face in such a short span of time.
He tilted his head, studying me with a wicked gleam in his eye. He crossed his arms and leaned against the door with a cocky “I dare you” stance.
“Challenge accepted,” I said as the lace coverup fell to the floor.
I wielded the power I finally recognized I possessed. Of course, he would fight it. Dante Calegari gave up control to no one. I was okay with that, too. I’d fight him for it and enjoy every second of the battle because that night, I planned to win.
