Page 89 of King of Obsession

I laughed, shoulders shaking with mirth and the release of the strain I’d carried for so many years.

Alessio gifted me with a rare, dimpled, crooked smile. ‘If you’ve had this much shit in life, carissima, anger is normal. It’s happiness that’s the real surprise. I look forward to seeing it on your face always.’

Chapter 18

ALESSIO

We went to bed and held each other.

I rocked her in my arms, heated by her limbs sprawled over mine.

Warmed by the thought that she’d shed her ice and shown me her true heart.

Which only stirred an unholy ire and a fierce, protective urge within me, a primal instinct to shield her from harm.

This, in addition to the fact that I was so drawn to her, so charged every time I saw her, it bordered on exploding for her.

I had to tread with care.

Cleo was an independent woman with layers and trauma.

Protecting her from danger didn’t warrant me caging her like her cult had tried to do.

My work was to give her the security she deserved withoutsuffocating her.

I sensed she was done with aggressive assholes.

She needed tenderness, respect, and attention from someone who could offer love and intimacy with no restraints.

Whether I was that man remained to be seen.

At the thought, my cock twitched, thinking of all the things I wanted to do to her.

I blazed with a primal urge, my skin tingling with electricity as my thoughts raced with the possibilities of passion and pleasure with her.

Every inch of me was hit with a visceral wave of yearning, longing to explore and claim her in all ways imaginable, to make her moan.

My breath caught in my throat, a growl escaping my lips.

She shifted, still awake, and tilted her head up.

I tagged her dark-haired pixie tresses, framing those jade eyes brimming with desire.

Shit, she was feeling this too.

The scent of arousal and passion wafted through the air, heavy and intoxicating.

I canted a brow, and she followed its arch.

‘Mia sola,’ I rasped. ‘Sono pazzo di te. I’m wild for you.’

‘Even after what I shared?’ Her ask was tentative, vulnerable.

I growled. ‘I want you even more after it. Not to save you or get off on your pain, but because I admire you, carissima. Now, you’re a goddess to me.’

To my surprise, she reached a hand and touched the back of my head, tugging me closer.

‘Kiss me, Alessio, make me forget.’

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