Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 84756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Needing to hold him, I turn around, and wrapping my arms around his neck, I nudge him to tuck his face beneath my chin.
Brushing my hand over his hair, I press a kiss to his temple.
His arms tighten around me, and he presses closer to me.
I throw my leg over his and try to engulf him with my smaller body.
With one of my hands in his hair, I let the other gently brush up and down his back.
He shudders again, and I feel how the tension in his body eases a little.
He just needs to decompress from whatever hell he faced the past two weeks.
In the darkness, I become a safe space for him, and it makes a new emotion fill my chest.
It’s feral, an instinct to protect what’s mine.
I press another kiss to his temple and hold him as if he’s my most precious possession.
It takes almost an hour before the tension in the air fades away. Damiano presses a kiss to my throat, and lifting his head, his eyes meet mine.
I reach for the remote control on the bedside table and switch on the lights. After dimming them slightly, I set the remote down again.
My eyes lock on Damiano’s, and I say, “Let me look at you.”
“I’m fine,” he murmurs.
“Hmm…” I grumble at him.
My eyes flit over his chest, and when I don’t see any wounds, I look at his face.
Lifting my hand to his jaw, I say, “You must be so tired.”
He turns his head and presses a kiss to my palm, then his body pushes mine back as he crawls over me.
I have to open my legs to accommodate his hips, while my hands settle on either side of his neck.
For a moment, Damiano just lies down on top of me, his eyes drifting over my face with an emotion I haven’t seen before.
The look in his gaze finds an echo in my chest, and not wanting to disturb the moment, I whisper, “What are you thinking about?”
“You.”
The corners of my mouth lift slightly. “What about me?”
“I hate people.”
A frown forms on my forehead from the sudden change in topic, but then he says, “Usually, I need to be alone so I can recharge,” he shakes his head, “but not with you.”
My smile widens again, and lifting my head, I press a soft kiss to his lips. “I’m happy to hear that.”
His eyes just drift over my face, and I realize he’s looking at me with wonder.
As if I’m a miracle.
Damiano's features are always expressionless or angry, but as I stare up at him, I watch as emotion after emotion plays out on his face.
My heart starts to beat faster when his dark eyes fill with a tenderness that makes me want to cry, then he whispers, “At fucking first sight.”
“What?”
“I fell for you the moment I saw you,” he admits. “So fucking hard.” His features grow serious again. “Don’t use it against me.”
I quickly shake my head, and thinking he needs to hear the words, I say, “You’re safe with me.” I lift my head again, giving him another tender kiss. “I’ll never betray you.”
Because I know he’ll kill me if I do. Whether he cares about me or not. It’s the code we live by.
Our eyes lock, then he says, “I hope I’m the first.”
“First to what?” I whisper.
“To say the words to you.”
“Which ones?”
He braces his arm beside my head, and his other hand brushes over my cheek.
For the longest moment, his eyes burn into mine. My heart beats faster and faster.
“I love you, Gabriella.”
My eyebrows draw together because it’s the last thing I expected to hear from him. I thought he was just going to say he cares.
But love?
So quickly?
He must see the questions on my face because he explains, “It was instant for me. I tried to ignore it, but we both know that didn’t work.”
I let out a chuckle.
Then it sinks in hard and fast – Damiano loves me.
My voice trembles as I ask, “Can you say it again?”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “I love you, mia regina.”
The words soak into my bones, filling me with a warmth I’ve never experienced before. It feels safe and as if I’ve finally found a place where I truly belong.
I’ve found my home.
“Am I the first?” he asks.
I nod, not trusting my voice right now.
“Good,” he sighs before he lowers his head to claim my lips.
The kiss starts out slow as if Damiano’s taking his time to show me how he feels. But as the seconds pass, the need grows between us, and he becomes impatient.
His tongue lashes at mine, and when his teeth tug at my bottom lip, his hand moves away from my face, and he suddenly ends the kiss.
He crawls down my body, and taking hold of my shorts, he tugs them off of me.