Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“I know something special you can wear right now.” Massimo’s voice was husky and it made me squirm on the bed.
Had he gotten me something? “What?”
“Take off that T-shirt and you’ll find out.”
I stared at him, feeling torn. Though I had a lot more experience with men than I’d had a month ago, most of it had been stolen moments. In the hideaway. In Stefano’s office or Carmine’s car. Or in the dark. I couldn’t recall a time I’d been completely naked in front of any of them.
Massimo sensed my interior struggle. “No risk, no reward.”
“Will I like the reward?”
“I think so, yes.” There was a note of hesitation in his voice, and I wondered what he’d gotten me. It was probably just a sexy teddy, but ... he kind of looked as if it was important to him.
If I couldn’t be brave on my wedding night—one of them, at any rate—when could I be? And if I wasn’t willing to trust Massimo, then why was I marrying him?
Feeling nervous but resolved, I grasped the edge of the T-shirt and tugged upward, revealing my pale blue bikini panties underneath.
“Nice,” Massimo said, staring at them. Then he slid a hand under my upper back to support me as I pulled the T-shirt up and over my head.
Trembling slightly, I lay back down, Massimo’s eyes on my bare breasts.
“You’re beautiful, Leila.”
Some of my fear faded when he used the name I preferred. And as the hunger filled his eyes.
He traced around my nipple with his index finger, and it hardened under his touch. Then he cupped my breast in his large hand, squeezing it and lifting it. Delicious shivers thrilled me as he planted a gentle kiss on the tip and then sucked it into his mouth.
I sighed with pleasure, cupping the back of his head, holding him close to me. My hips made little circles on the mattress as his tongue flicked and swirled. But when he paused to move to my other breast, I thought of something. “What’s the surprise?”
He paused, looking into my eyes. “The what?”
“You said if I took off my shirt, you’d give me something special to wear.”
“Oh yeah. I’m not sure this is the right moment, but well ... it’s not like this night has been normal anyway.”
He was certainly right about that.
The mattress shifted as he reached over and opened the drawer in the bedside table. Then he placed something cold, metallic, and silver on my chest between my breasts.
I squirmed from the flash of cold and picked it up. It was a locket. A silver chain trailed down my chest, tickling me. “Is this…?”
“I wanted to replace the one I broke.”
I thumbed open the clasp and looked at the very familiar picture. “Isabella.”
“I wish she could be here for our wedding day.”
“Me too,” I whispered. I closed the locket, because as sweet as Massimo’s gesture was, I wasn’t entirely comfortable looking at my beloved sister’s picture while I was nearly naked in bed with a man. Instead, I focused on the locket itself. There were intricate coils and delicate flowers on the silver surface. “It’s beautiful.”
“The locket’s new, but the picture’s old. That counts, right?”
“Counts?”
“For something old and something new. For the wedding.” It astonished me that a man like Massimo would remember that old tradition. “Not sure what we’ll do for the other two.”
“Two out of four ain’t bad,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.” I put the locket on the table next to the bed. It didn’t seem right to wear it while practically naked.
He returned my smile and gave me a quick kiss. The feeling of his bare chest smashed against mine was definitely not an unpleasant one.
“And don’t worry about the other two. I’m borrowing my mom’s veil, and Jana gave me a little pin of the Polish flag that I put on the inside of my dress, so that’s something blue.”
Massimo frowned. “The Polish flag is red and white.”
“Oh. Well, then I guess it wasn’t their flag.”
Massimo grinned as he cupped my breast again. “We should probably look into that—see where the flag is really from. She might be trying to recruit you into a secret cult.”
I giggled. “That’s okay. I’m good at keeping secrets.”
He raised an eyebrow. “So if, for example, you weren’t actually a virgin when we said our vows, would you be able to keep that a secret?”
In spite of his joking tone, I knew what he was asking. I took a deep breath and then nodded. “My lips are sealed.”
He kissed me again, teasing my mouth open with his tongue. “No they aren’t,” he said, when we came up for air. He stroked his long fingers down the side of my body until he encountered my panties. Then he slipped his fingers under the waistband. A moment later, I groaned as he slid a finger along my slit.