Page 175 of Phantom Mine

A deeply pleased rumble sounds in Matteo’s chest as he rises. His hand finds mine and then he’s slipping the ring onto my fourth finger. I watch somewhat in disbelief at how quickly my future changed into everything I wanted it to be.

“It’s a perfect fit,” I whisper to myself.

“The first night I slept at your apartment, I went through your jewelry box and looked at your ring size.” When I give him an incredulous look, he laughs. “Like I said, I’ve been in love with you for far longer than I realized. I smothered my feelings for you but they kept manifesting regardless.” His thumb runs the length of the band. “I was wrong, you know. You didn’t ruin my life, you saved it.” He purrs possessively. “I fucking love seeing this ring on you,cara mia.”

“I love you, Matteo.” He smiles and his hands find my waist. “There’s just one thing.” I hesitate to burst our happy bubble, but he needs to know. He stiffens, his expression turning wary. “Thiago agreed to break off my engagement, but he wouldn’t agree to us getting married. I don’t know how he knew you’d ask—”

“I told him I was going to marry you. I didn’t want there to be any confusion about my intentions with you.” His jaw sets and a hard glint flashes through his gaze. “And Iwillmarry you, Leni.”

A soft smile tugs at my lips even as anxiety twists my stomach. “Please don’t kill him. He doesn’t know you or what you’ve done for me. He doesn’t trust that you won’t hurt me. It’s going to take some time, but I know I can convince him,” I say, my tone turning imploring.

Matteo rubs my upper arms comfortingly. “I’m not going to kill him,” he reassures me. “I’m not even going to fight him on not marrying you right away, but not because of anything to do with him.” He palms my jaw and presses a sweet kiss to my lips. “I desperately want to marry you, Leni, but I won’t until we’ve found Adriana. If she’s alive, she needs to be at our wedding. She needs to be standing right next to you when you walk down the aisle to me—tome—and officially become my wife. You’ve missed out on too many memories with her to not have her in your wedding photos.” His mouth stretches into a lazily possessive smile, his eyes hooding. “When we do get married, it’ll be on a Saturday.”

His words, his promise to me, swell the walls of my heart until it feels like it’s going to burst. I reach for him, clasping his neck and bringing his mouth down to mine. Where his previous kisses were adoring, mine is pure carnal lust.

I slip my tongue past his lips to tangle with his in a passionate duel. A throaty moan rumbles up Matteo’s throat and falls into my waiting mouth as I arch into him.

“Cara,” he rasps thickly, voice distorted by arousal.

“I never said I was sorry about the engagement,” I say, gasping for air. “But I am, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe you’re not mad at me.”

“Oh, Len,” he purrs low and rough as he strokes my cheek. His hand palms my ass and he pulls me closer. “I’m furious,” he rasps. My eyes widen at his tone. “Livid, actually.”

Excitement tingles along my sensitive nerve endings. My blood roars to life in my veins, going from dormant to rushing through my body.

“I didn’t ask for any of it,” I defend, trembling in anticipation at the suddenly dark look on his face. I love Matteo’s savage ruthlessness as much as I love his sweet, caring side.

“You didn’t,” he agrees, his tone deceptively even. Black eyes lift to mine and reveal the depth of his brutal obsession with me. “But you didn’t tell me either. You got yourself engaged and you announced it to me late and like you were going to go through with it. Now that you know how much I love you, I’m going to show you just how furious I am at you for thinking you’d ever marry someone who isn’t me.” His hands dig into my waist, his fingers vicious and possessive. He smiles sharply. “I’m going to punish you and you’re going to hate every second of it.” Matteo kisses my forehead lovingly in direct contrast to his harsh words. “But you’re going to be a good girl and take it anyway, rightcara?”

I nod nervously, shaking with as much anxiety as impatience. Matteo flicks the button of my trousers open and trails two fingers along the band of my panties.

“Use your words. I want to hear every moan, every whimper, every scream when I’m punishing you. Those sounds belong to me and they’re how you’re going to make it up to me.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Matteo

“Y-yes.”

That’s my wife.

That’s my wife trembling in response to the barest of my touches.

I’m getting ahead of myself. She’s not my wife yet, but she will be the second I find her sister.

I could die with excitement at the thought of her in a pretty white dress, walking down the aisle to me. My dreams, which for a long time have almost exclusively featured blood and gore, now include quite a worrisome amount of tulle.

My hand slips beneath the band of her panties and Valentina moans. I love how responsive she is to my darker side. It’s the only time she ever does what I ask. My fingers dance down her bare mound to her pussy where I dive down between her soaked folds.

“Matteo…” she whimpers.

I cup the back of her neck and bury my face in her throat, inhaling her scent with a ragged groan. She smells divine, like fig and vanilla, but just behind it, she still smells like me. My cock throbs, pushing against the zipper of my trousers like a beast pawing at the ground, demanding to be let out.

My fingers move up and down her wet pussy. I ignore her needy clit, ignore the way she tries to forcefully rub it against my palm, and tease her entrance instead, driving her wild.

“Yes,cara?” I rake my teeth on a vein along her throat and bite the underside of her jaw.

“What…” she gasps, arching into me. I don’t need to look up into her face to know her eyes are screwed shut, her mouth parted. “What are you going to do?Oh!”

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