Chapter Fourteen

An arm snaked around me as a dull morning light seeped into the plush bedroom, rousing me from a restful slumber. I let out a contented sigh. “I was worried it was a dream,” I admitted, my voice raspy from sleep.

Dante kissed my shoulder blades, his hand firmly placed against my stomach, his embrace swallowing me. “It’s not,” he assured me, his lips grazing my skin, causing a shiver to run through me.

“Do you have any idea how many times I dreamed that you found me, only to wake up and learn it wasn’t real?”

“It’s real, mia cara. I’m here. And I’m not leaving your side.” He pushed me onto my back and I opened my eyes, meeting his gaze. “You’re going to get so sick of me you’ll wish I was still halfway around the world.”

I laughed, running my fingers through his hair, lifting my mouth to meet his. “Impossible. I’m never letting you go again.”

His lips gently brushed against mine, his motions sweet and almost reserved as his hands ran along the contours of my body, a complete one-eighty from the carnal, dominating lover he was last night. I ran my fingers down his sculpted back, wrapping my legs around his waist. I couldn’t get enough of him. I never wanted to leave this bed, never wanted to be apart from this man, never wanted to stop feeling his skin on mine.

He dragged his tongue along my jawbone, nipping on my neck before slithering down the length of my body, not leaving an inch of me undiscovered. Every dip. Every curve. Every valley. He treasured and explored each of them, loving each imperfection in a way that made me fall for him even more.

“Your skin is so soft, Eleanor,” he crooned. His rough hands ran across my hipbone, his lips following the path his fingers set. “So silky. So perfect.”

He propped himself on his knees, my legs falling on either side of him. Gripping my hips, he pulled me toward him and positioned himself between my thighs. He took his time, slowly entering me, then withdrawing before pushing into me again. His motions were so languid, so gentle, so delicate…so perfect. No other word could describe the way he moved inside me, giving me everything he had, filling me to the hilt, then lovingly retreating before repeating the same sensual motion.

“Dante,” I moaned, moving with his rhythm. “God, I love you. I love this. I just…” Opening my eyes, I grabbed his face in my hands, peering into his dark pools that were filled with a thousand emotions — reverence, hunger, unabashed adoration. “I love you so much it hurts,” I said with a quiver. “Without you…”

He blew out a breath, resting his forehead on mine, maintaining his delicate rhythm. “I know, amore mio. I know. But I’m here. I’m all yours. We’ll never have to experience that emptiness again.”

“Promise?” I asked, wrapping my arms tighter around him, even a breath between us too much distance. “I can’t lose you again.”

“Never again. Promise.” He hooked his arm around my waist, rolling onto his back and bringing me on top of him.

I took a moment to acclimate myself, then moved against him, shading his face with my hair. He reached up, running his hands through it, our eyes glued to each other. The intensity, the connection, the passion was immeasurable as we savored in this love we shared. This love most people searched their entire life for. This love I would never again take for granted.

“Come on, baby.” He brought my lips to his. “I want to see you come,” he murmured against my mouth, his grip on my hips tightening as he increased his motions, lifting me off him, then slamming me back down.

I gasped, my breathing increasing with each thrust.

“You like that?”

I leaned back, every muscle in my body clenching as he lifted me again, then forced me back onto him, harder, more punishing.

“Dante,” I moaned, closing my eyes, a slave to the sensation. His finger found my clit and I cried out again, falling on top of him, a wave of unmatched euphoria washing over me as I came undone. He continued thrusting into me, then let out a strangled groan when he found his own release.

“God, I love being inside you,” he murmured, his voice husky with need. “There is nothing like it in the world.” He crushed his mouth against mine, our kiss greedy as we struggled to catch our breath. “And I’ve been to some remarkable places,” he finished with a smile.

“I quite like when you’re inside me, too.” I slowly circled my hips against him, making him groan.

“You’re a tiger.”

I giggled, rolling off him, about to get out of the bed. “Just trying to make up for lost time.”

He pulled me back against him. “Don’t go clean up yet,” he begged. “We’ll shower together in a minute. I just want to feel you in my arms right now.”

Sighing, I snuggled my head against his chest. How could I deny him when he said such sweet things? I rested my arm across his torso and listened to his heartbeat, wanting to thank God, fate, destiny, whoever for finally reuniting us.

“How did you find me last night?” I asked, breaking through the silence as I toyed with the few tuffs of hair on his chest. “I knew where you would be, but despite all my efforts in getting to you, fate pushed back.”

He looked down at me. “So you said. What happened?”

“Traffic.”

“That’s not unusual.”

“No. But it was certainly worse than normal, even for a Friday night. I’d finally had it and was close enough that I decided to get off by the Staples Center. When I was five blocks away, there was a street barricaded because of filming or something. Then, of course, there was a ton of heavy traffic because of the road closures. When I finally got close, I knew there wouldn’t be any parking, so I left my car in a tow zone. I started running toward campus, but my heel got caught and I twisted my ankle. Still, it was all for nothing. By the time I made it to the theater, you were gone…or so I thought.”

He grabbed my chin and forced my gaze to his. “Maybe it was all fate’s plan. Maybe she just wanted to know that you would fight for us, despite any obstacle we faced.”

I peered into his eyes, responding with the only thing I could. “I’ll always fight for you. Now that I know how miserable my life is without you in it, I’ll gladly suffer through a towed car, twisted ankle, and anything else to be with you.”

A breathtaking smile crossed his face. “That makes me very happy to hear.” He placed a gentle kiss on my lips, then pulled back.

It was silent for a moment, then I asked, “How did you know I’d be at the Rose Garden?”

“I didn’t.” He ran his hand up and down my back, tracing different patterns on my skin. “We got caught in that same street blockade as you. My driver decided to backtrack and get on the freeway by the Colosseum. You can imagine my surprise when I saw someone who looked like you duck into the Rose Garden. I almost didn’t tell him to stop. I figured my brain was just playing tricks on me, like it had been the past several months.” He cupped my cheeks, his eyes growing intense.

“I saw you everywhere, too, Eleanor. You were the waitress at every restaurant. You were the flight attendant mixing my drinks on the plane. You were the woman at the airport rushing to hug the lucky bastard behind me who’d just gotten back home.” He shook his head, exhaling a small breath. “But something about last night, about this feeling inside me, made me tell my driver to let me out and go on without me so I could see for myself.” He lowered his mouth to mine. “And I’m so glad I did.”

I sighed, melting further into him, throwing my leg over his waist. I could stay in this spot all day.

“Do you have any big plans this weekend?” he asked after a few moments, still playing with my hair.

“Not really.” I stared at the disheveled sheets and the trail of clothes leading from the bedroom into the living room, all a happy reminder of last night…and this morning. “Other than the typical Sunday brunch at Mila’s.” I lifted my head, peering into his eyes. “It’s always been a tradition with us, even when I was with Brock.” My expression fell briefly before I recovered. “But today, I’m all yours.”

“I want you to be all mine tomorrow, too.”

I hesitated, pulling my lip between my teeth. “I guess I can tell Mila I can’t make it.”

“I’d never ask to come between you and your friend. I want to go with you.”

I furrowed my brow. “You do?”

“Like I told you in Italy, Eleanor, I want to be a part of your life, and I want you to be a part of mine. So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to meet Mila.”

“She has two kids,” I said in warning. “It’s not anything fancy. It’s just our excuse to drink before noon on a Sunday.”

“I don’t need anything extravagant. As long as I’m with you, that’s all that matters.”

I studied him for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay then. It’s a date, I guess.”

“Speaking of dates…” He placed a kiss on my nose, then freed himself from my arms, rising from the bed. I sat up, admiring his backside as he strode across the room and took out a pair of boxer briefs from the dresser, pulling them on. “There’s a little award show I’m scheduled to attend here in Los Angeles tomorrow evening. I’d be honored if you’d accompany me.”

My eyes widened. “Dante, I…” I shook my head. “I’d love to, but I don’t have a dress appropriate to wear to any red-carpet event. Or the money to buy a new one. I’ve only been at my new job a month, and it doesn’t pay nearly close to what my last one did. I’m still paying off my credit card, and after bills and all that… Not to mention it would be next to impossible to—”

“It’s a good thing I planned ahead then, isn’t it?” he interrupted, a devilish grin on his face.

He opened the closet, revealing the dress I wore to the gala at the art exhibit back in June, cleaned, pressed, and ready to be worn. My jaw dropped, confusion crossing my brow as my gaze floated between Dante and the dress. He walked to me, pressing a soft kiss on my nose.

“I had no intention of leaving the city without you promising to be mine, Eleanor,” he explained, answering the question that was readily apparent on my face.

“God, I love you.” I pulled him on top of me, kissing him deeply. The fact he was willing to fight just as hard for me endeared another piece of my heart to him.

“I’ll never tire of hearing you tell me that.”

I hooked my fingers in his boxer briefs and pushed them down his legs, a sigh of appreciation escaping my throat when he slid into me again. He flexed his hips toward me, then withdrew slowly, letting me feel every inch of him.

I lost myself in him once more, forgetting about reality for one more day, one more hour, one more minute, thinking about nothing but the happiness I felt in our bubble. Dante and I met in the clouds, we fell in love in the clouds. Would our love be strong enough to survive the return to earth? I had to believe it would. I had to believe fate wouldn’t give me a taste, give us a taste, just to rip it all away again.

As we lay on the bed in the aftermath of our lovemaking, our appendages a tangle of arms and legs, moments away from sleep, a loud clap of thunder rang through the room and I startled.

Dante pulled me closer, kissing the top of my head, soothing me as I looked out the window at the heavy clouds rolling over the city. “Shh,” he mumbled drowsily. “No one will take you away.”

I snapped my eyes back to his, wondering what he meant by that. Hearing his even breathing, I figured he was just dreaming. But that didn’t stop a chill from washing over me as I turned to stare at the darkening sky, his words repeating in my head. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, my memories, I knew he meant them, that he wasn’t just talking in his sleep, that there was a reason he uttered them.

A streak of lightning flashed in the early morning light, unsettling me, the weather uncharacteristic for this time of year. My stomach rolled, my body shivering despite the warmth coming off Dante.

A storm was coming…

To Be Continued…