Page 65 of Salvatore

Chapter Seventeen

Aedry

I’m not sure what time it is. All I recognize is that it’s pitch black, I’m in my bed, and I hear Salvatore’s voice.

“I’m staying at Aedry’s tonight,” he says, his deep vibrato like a soft echo in the darkness. “If you’re hungry, get some cash from my drawer and order food . . . No?no . . . no parties, no guests . . . I swear to Christ I’ll beat your asses if I find out you had anyone over . . . What? . . . Yeah, we’re still together . . . She’s fine . . . Apollo, don’t worry, everything’s all right.”

It’s what he claims, but I catch the worry in his voice. I blink my eyes a few times, trying to shake the sleep as my vision adjusts to the darkness. It’s funny how everything can change in a matter of hours. At the festival, we were having so much fun, until Sal pushed me away.

I spent the rest of our trip in absolute misery, doing my best to keep my smile for the boys and my distance from Salvatore. He gave me space, but he wouldn’t leave me completely alone. He’d stand outside each makeshift shop I visited, waiting for me to finish browsing, despite how I barely looked at what was in front of me.

He realized I needed time, and maybe he did, too. But that wedge that grew between us devastated me. He didn’t make an effort to reach for my hand, nor did he speak directly to me. It was as if he’d already moved on, and I was nothing more than a woman he was obliged to take home.

Although I blame myself for discussing such a sensitive subject in public place, I didn’t expect his response. But the way he regarded me when he stroked my cheek, I’ve never felt so adored. I hadn’t been certain about Salvatore’s feelings for me, but I was then, until he once more erected those proverbial walls I’d worked to push through.

My first reaction was hurt at how easily he seemed to dismiss me. Without actually saying the words, he told me to leave if I wasn’t happy with the way things were. But I am happy. I love him and I told him so. I could have chosen better circumstances, but the more I felt him shove me away, the more I needed him to know what he means to me.

My virginity was my gift to him, that final demonstration that he’s who I’ve been saving myself for. A small smile plays along my face as I realize how different he is from the man I’d envisioned myself falling for.

I’d convinced myself my “first” would wear polos and slacks, or perhaps a conservative suit. I was sure he’d be a professor or possibly an attorney, likely because that type was always my draw. I never expected someone so strong, sexy, and dark to fill my heart and make me feel beautiful. Perhaps, that was his gift to me.

I shift beneath the sheets, allowing my hand to skim along my belly. I’m not sure exactly what I expected sex to give me, but I honestly thought it might change me, even a little. But I’m still Aedry and no matter how much I’ve learned over these past few years, I’m still that young woman who drove to the big city from North Carolina.

My hand trails down my belly as I remember how it felt to have him push inside me. He kept each press gentle despite the lust sizzling in his eyes. He wanted to go harder, I could tell by the way the muscles of his shoulders strained as he passed his hands along my body. But he took his time. And that flash of tenderness that lit his eyes when our bodies joined . . . God, it was like a glimpse into his soul.

I tilt onto my side as I hear his fingers tap along his cell phone, my hand stroking his back. He pauses from where he sits naked on the edge of my bed before glancing over his shoulder.

“Hi,” I whisper, so filled with emotion my voice quakes.

He rolls over, the edges of his features wrought with concern as he cups my face. “You okay?” he asks, his thumb sweeping away a tear that escapes.

“I’m fine,” I answer.

His gaze drops briefly as he speaks. “You don’t seem fine,” he says, his frown deepening.

He’s worried he hurt me or that I have regrets, but that’s not case. “Sorry,” I say, swiping another tear. “It’s just . . . I waited a long time for you.”

The way he melds his gaze with mine, I’m unable to draw my next breath. “How do you do that?” he asks.

“Do what?”

“Say all the right things.”

Before I can deny it, he pulls me to him for a long, lazy kiss. As he inches away, I smile against his lips. “How do you do all the right things?”

My words aren’t meant to upset him, but as I watch, his features turn to stone. “I don’t,” he responds.

I press my palm over his heart, feeling it beat beneath the thick wall of muscle. “You do with me,” I whisper.

“That’s not what it seemed like today.”

“Today wasn’t easy,” I confess. “You made it better by staying with me.” My eyes burn with the words that follow. “But you have to stop pushing me away. I don’t like feeling like I’m someone you can easily discard?”

“You’re not,” he says. He forces a curse through his teeth as he jerks his attention away. “I should have let you go today. But I’m selfish as hell when it comes to you, so I couldn’t, and I did something I maybe shouldn’t have done.”

“Why did you want to let me go?” I ask, my throat tightening. I clasp his shoulder when he tries to ease away. “And why do you regret what we did?”

He squeezes his eyes shut, bowing his head. “Because you’re too good for me,” he bites out, returning the force of his focus on me. “You always have been and you always will be.”

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