Page 261 of Merciless Desires

The weight of him on me and in me was quickly becoming one of my favorite sensations. And when he kissed me roughly and passionately, cradling my body against his, that simply rounded out the perfection of being fucked by Matteo Cortese.

The gentleness he had shown me last night after we slept together returned as he sat back and drew me onto his lap. He held me against him, tucking my head into the crook of his neck as we came down from our high together, breathing in sync, hearts beating as one.

Matteo’s kisses against my shoulder shifted to soft nibbles, and when I groaned, his grip on me became rougher. Holding me tight, Matteo got to his knees and stepped off the bed, carrying me once again to a bathroom to clean me up.

But he was the one that needed to be cleaned. Blood had dried across his face in splatters, up his arms, and darkened his fingertips until everything was red.

He settled me on the counter, and I reached up to push dark wispy waves out of his face.

“Will you tell me whose blood this is?”

Matteo’s jaw tensed. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Am I going to spend my life being kept in the dark about what you do?”

I had to ask. I wanted to know if Matteo would ever trust me.

“Keeping you in the dark is what keeps you safe, amorina.”

“That sounds like a shitty excuse.”

“Marcella—” Matteo began, but I cut him off.

“You’re going to tell me that’s how this world works, right? Like I don’t know that already? My papà might be the lowest of the low in your eyes, but he did what he had to so we could have a good life.”

“Amorina…”

“Please don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. Don’t tell me I can’t handle it, or that I wouldn’t like it, because let’s face the facts here, Mr. Cortese. We don’t know each other.” I held my hand up and flashed the ring he had given me. “We’re supposed to get married, and we’ve fucked. That’s it. Now, would you please get out of me and go clean off that blood?”

It wasn’t about organized crime. It wasn’t about him coming home covered in blood on a daily basis. It wasn’t about Matteo killing people.

It was about trust, something Mamma had said was more important than almost everything in a relationship. She trusted Papà with her entire soul, so she believed so fiercely that this—my current situation—was what was the best for us. As a family.

What was best for me.

“No,” Matteo menaced and fixed me with a glare.

“No?” My voice jumped an octave with sheer surprise.

Planting his hands on either side of my hips, he leaned in. “I said no, amorina. I’m not just going to pull my dick out of you and walk away like you mean nothing to me. That’s not how we work. You deserve more, probably more than I can ever give you, but I’ll give you what I have.”

He hung his head and slowly inhaled.

“The blood…belongs to a man that was found on my papà’s property early this morning. We…were trying to get information out of him.”

I reached for his face and forced his gaze to meet mine. “Was that so hard?”

He grimaced, but removed all emotion from his face quickly until he resembled a marble sculpture.

“I’ll clean you up if you clean us…” I trailed my hand down the center of his chest to just below his belly button.

Matteo nodded, his lips pressed firmly together. He found a washcloth and cleaned the sex from both of us. He then ran a warm bath, pouring bubble bath that smelled like fresh limes into the tub that wasn’t as nice as the one in his room.

The bath was hotter than the one we had last night. Matteo still lifted me into the bubbly water, but he didn’t draw me toward his chest. He relaxed against the edge of the tub, and I settled between his legs, facing him.

Pushing up onto my knees, I reached past him for my citrus body wash and a sea sponge. Matteo watched every movement I made with an intensity that made my insides ache.

I wet the sponge and dripped warm water across his chest and arms. He closed his eyes and rested his head back, slipping deeper into the water and closer to me.

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