Page 169 of King of Obsession

‘Are you going to thank me for your baby miniature goats?’

They nibbled my ear, and I laughed, nestling myself into their taut, wriggling forms.

I set them down, and they pranced around me.

‘Grazie, my love. They’re so perfect,’ I murmured, stroking Alessio’s chin, my eyes fixed on the squirming little bodies.

‘You told me a dog would be too much but that you loved goats.’

‘You remembered?’

‘I always remember,’ he rasped. ‘Everything you say and do is etched in my mind.’

I leaned in and gave him a long kiss.

‘But wait, there’s more.’

He reached for one of the kids who was butting his knee.

That’s when I saw a small package around its neck.

Alessio extended the goat to me with a smirk. ‘Cleo Michele, your whole being is so beautiful, cara. You help me to discover me. Now, I know it was less obsession and more destiny thatwe’re together. I want to build a tribe with you, protect and provide for you. I know the past has been hard on you, but Dio, I see the divine in you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?’

With shaking hands, I retrieved the velvet pouch he was extending.

He nodded as I undid the string and delved in to retrieve a stunning emerald green ring crowned by a cluster of diamonds arranged in a perfect square cut.

I gasped at it, twirling it in the air in wonder.

He set the baby goat down and reached for my hand.

‘Woman, will you agree to wife me or play with your new toy?’

He growled with impatience, yet I tagged worry interlaced in his demand.

I leaned back and smiled.

‘Let me think.’ I teased.

‘Cleo,’ he snarled in warning, his face blanching with concern.

I convulsed into laughter. ‘Of course honey, yes, I’ll marry you.’

The look of relief on his face was priceless.

‘Never thought I’d see a badass sweat as much as you did just now.’

He slid the ring on my finger, adding a scorching kiss, then, in retaliation, captured me, threw me over his shoulder, and marched to the primary bedroom.

Where he tossed me onto the bed.

Our desire re-ignited like wildfire.

Shedding our clothes, we made love again with the doors to the garden open, the wind flowing over our bodies entwinedin a dance as old as time itself.

‘Ah Cleo, you undo me, inflame me,’ he rasped into my ear, hoarse, raw, grating. Slicking in and out of me as he growled, ‘Luce dei miei occhi, the light of my life, carissima.’

‘Baby, ti amo, you are my life,’ I whispered, rocking under him, lips to his.

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