Chapter 12

Twelve

Silas

W hen she stood in the doorway, she stole my breath. It had nothing to do with the makeup or fancy updo or even the designer dress. It was her.

I’d hoped she’d wear the red one. It was her. I wanted to make the entire day special so that she felt like a princess. I’d never done anything like this before.

She deserved all of it and more. I didn’t care about designer names, but I knew Gia preferred them. I suspected they were a symbol of her success.

We needed to leave this room before I lost control entirely. I held out my elbow. “Are you ready?”

She took a breath and smiled. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Don’t forget, the room will be full of businesspeople. It might be good networking for you.”

“I hadn’t even thought of that.”

“Someone’s daughter might be getting married and looking for the right planner.”

“You know this is too much.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said as I led the way to the elevator.

“The dress. The bag. The spa day.”

“It wasn’t enough,” I said as the door opened, and we made our way downstairs, through the lobby, and into the ballroom.

Lights flashed as we stopped to take pictures for local media outlets. I was used to the attention, but Gia wasn’t. I was proud to have her on my arm, but I was hyperaware of the tension in her body. If it was too much, I was prepared to whisk her out of the spotlight. Instead, she practically glowed as she glided down the hallway on my arm.

I’d never felt prouder to be with someone. I didn’t like to go to these things alone. The press speculated, mentioning that I was the most eligible bachelor in the area, and I didn’t like the attention.

But now, I was getting attention for a different reason. For the gorgeous woman on my arm. “Everyone is going to know your name by the end of the night.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“They’re going to want to know who you are.”

“I’m nobody,” she whispered.

“I think we both know that’s not true.”

We paused at the entrance to the ballroom so they could introduce us. I’d provided the announcer with Gia’s name earlier in the day. Once our names were read, I led the way to the first group of donors, introducing Gia.

“Gia runs a wedding planning service, Happily Ever Afters in Annapolis. This is Stu Schrader. He owns various marine businesses in the area.”

They shook hands.

“My daughter just got engaged, and she’s looking for a wedding planner. I’ve heard you’re the one to talk to.”

“I’m happy to speak to your daughter and her fiancé about the possibility.”

Stu nodded. “Perfect. I’ll have her do that.”

As we made our way around the room, I introduced Gia as a successful business owner and a sought-after wedding planner. I listened with pride as they inquired about her services and availability. I pressed a glass of champagne into her hand. I wanted her to enjoy this evening, and she might need something to take the edge off.

When it seemed like Gia was tired of socializing, I asked her to dance. She let me lead her to the dance floor.

I drew her into my arms and ducked my head so I could whisper in her ear. “This might be the only time we’ll be alone tonight.”

She smiled at me. “I understand why you wanted to dance, then.”

“Who wouldn’t want to dance with the most beautiful woman in the room?” I said honestly, feeling the truth in my chest.

She tipped her head slightly. “You know that sounds cliché.”

I replayed the words in my head and then said, “It might sound that way, but it’s the truth.”

Gia straightened in my arms. “You’ve been amazing and attentive. This almost feels like a real date and not a favor for an almost-friend.”

“This is a date,” I insisted, a little surprised that she didn’t think that.

She shook her head, a rueful grin on her face. “I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. I feel pampered and beautiful, and at the same time, I’m generating business contacts. It’s surreal. I don’t know how I can ever thank you.”

“That wasn’t why I did it. I just wanted to return the favor and make the evening worthwhile for you.” Her words did something funny to my heart. I felt her appreciation, but I wanted more. I wanted her to like me. But I wasn’t sure if she’d ever let go enough to realize what was right in front of her.

She fell silent, and we resumed our dance.

I pulled her tight against me, ducking my head slightly so that our faces were close to each other.

She looked up at me and licked her lips. “ Cosa mi fai ?”

Everything inside me stilled at the Italian phrase. I’d heard her brothers and parents speak Italian from time to time, but never Gia. It made me feel like the words were just for me. “What did you say?”

She blinked but finally repeated in English, “What are you doing to me?”

I wondered if she’d said the words in Italian as a form of self-protection. If it was a shield for her feelings. “Can you say that in Italian again?”

She met my gaze and held it with a lift of her chin. “Cosa mi fai?”

“I wish I could say it as eloquently as you, but you’re doing the same to me. You drive me crazy.”

Gia stopped dancing, and everything inside me pulled taut. “Will you take me to your penthouse?”

“Are you sure?”

She smiled softly. “I’ve never been surer of anything.”

I curled my hand around hers and led the way through the partygoers into the hallway.

Gia placed her hand on my bicep. “Do we need to stay?”

“The evening is winding down,” I said, not really caring about the party anymore.

In the elevator, I swiped my keycard to gain access to the penthouse.

“I don’t want to interrupt anything for you.”

My jaw tightened. “We mingled. We talked. We’re done.”

On my floor, it opened directly to my suite, and my heart was beating hard in my chest. I paused in the foyer. “I said when you were here next, you’d make the first move.”

Gia moved closer and curled a hand around the back of my neck, tangling her fingers in the hair there. “Ti voglio.”

I needed more than just the words. I’d asked her to make the next move, to take control and kiss me.

Gia lifted on her toes as I lowered my head. Her lips were tentative at first, as if she was testing me out or tasting the champagne that lingered on my lips.

Remembering the Italian words she’d said, I asked, “What did you say just now?”

“I want you,” Gia repeated in English.

My jaw tight, I said, “I want more than one night.”

Gia blinked as if she hadn’t anticipated me making demands. “What do you want from me?”

“I want everything.” Then I kissed her, stealing the breath from her lungs as my tongue plunged inside her mouth, taking and claiming her as mine.

I should have been worried about her intentions, but I was lost in her. Her scent, her passion, and her obvious desire for me.

I’d tried to show her she wasn’t just another woman on my arm who I used for photographs or a public image. I’d attempted to make her feel special, creating a relaxing day and an extravagant evening. Gia wasn’t attracted to my money, but she appreciated expensive things.

I wanted her to feel just as much as I was. I wanted her to lose herself in me. “I want to take this dress off.” Yet at the same time, I never wanted to see her out of it.

“Please don’t rip it.” Her voice trembled.

I ran my hands over her shoulders and spun her around so I could ease her zipper down. Inch after inch of skin was bared to me. I ran a hand over her spine—no bra—and down to the lace of her thong, the same color as the dress.

“You are gorgeous.”

She drew in a shaky breath as I pushed the dress down. When she stepped out of it, I draped it over a nearby chair. I didn’t care if it was ruined, but I hoped she saw it as a gift from me and wanted to wear it again.

She stood in silver heels and that red lace thong that barely covered her pussy. “I know I keep saying it, but I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than you. I want to take a mental snapshot of this moment and keep it forever.”

“You certainly know all the right words today.”

I gave her a sharp look. “Make no mistake, when I say something, I mean it. I’m not saying some line to get you to sleep with me.”

“I’m sorry, Silas. I’m not used to this.”

I was still fully dressed, and she only wore a scrap of lace, but I didn’t think that was what she was talking about. “You can let go with me. I’ll catch you.”

That seemed to assuage a place deep inside her, and she stepped closer, her body pressed against mine. I could imagine how the stiff material of my jacket felt against her hard nipples. I cupped her jaw and tipped her chin up so I could kiss her, softly at first and then exploring. I’d never get enough of this. Of her.

She encircled my wrists. “ Ho bisogno di te . I need you.”

“I want to do crazy things to you. I want to throw you down on my bed, spread your legs, and feast on you for hours. I want to bend you over my bed and pound into you. I can’t go slow.”

“ Voglio farti le pazzie . That means I want to do crazy things to you.”

I repeated the phrase as best I could, voglio farti le pazzie , and a shiver ran through her body. “Take me to your bedroom.”

I lifted her, her legs wrapping naturally around my waist. I knew how big that was for her to say. Last time, we’d fucked everywhere but my bedroom. I’d only cuddled with her there, admiring her in the moonlight before she ran. But tonight, I’d savor her.

She kissed me as I moved, and when we got to my room, I carefully lowered her to the bed, hovering over her.

“What I want to do to you sounds so much better in Italian. I want to wreck you.”

She widened her legs underneath me. “That sounded pretty good in English.”

I knew how hard it was for her to be here, to trust me to take care of her, and I didn’t take that lightly. I’d said I wouldn’t be able to control myself, but I would. I wanted to make this perfect for her. But first, I needed her bare. I moved, kissing her chest, then sucking on her nipples, before I moved lower, hooking my fingers in the band of her panties and pulling them over her hips and down. I flung them somewhere over my shoulder, hoping she couldn’t find them in the morning.

I wasn’t one to hold on to a woman’s panties as a keepsake, but I liked having her colorful thongs in my drawer when I opened it in the mornings. It was too much to hope she’d ever leave anything here on purpose.

I wouldn’t get ahead of myself. I’d enjoy where we were, and right now, I had a naked woman under me, waiting for my mouth. I didn’t want to disappoint her. I wanted to blow her mind.

I shucked off my suit jacket and unbuttoned the sleeves of my shirt, rolling them up before palming her ass and lifting her to my mouth.

“Silas,” she breathed.

I blew over her pussy. “What? No pretty Italian words?”

She moved onto her elbows, looking down her body at me. “Ti voglio.”

“I’m starting to recognize that one. Keep saying that, baby.”

Then I licked her, and her head fell back. I wanted to see every reaction to my touch. I circled her clit, not touching the bundle of nerves, and she fell back onto the bed. “I’m going to make you feel so good.”

She fisted the comforter as I used a finger to ease inside her. “You already are.”

That statement went to my head, and I used a second finger, mimicking my cock fucking her. “I want to see you come on my mouth and then my cock.”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“You’re so fucking sexy laid out on my bed for me. You’re so wet for me.”

Her thighs trembled as I kissed them. Her skin was impossibly soft. I reached up and palmed her breasts as I sucked on her clit, moving my fingers inside her, curling when I found that spot. The one that would send her over the edge.

Her breathing grew ragged, and her muscles tightened.

“Let go for me, baby.” I sucked hard on her clit and used a third finger before she finally jerked, her hips arching off the bed, her pussy tight against my mouth. I eased her through the aftershocks before wiping my mouth and quickly removing my clothes. I caught her gazing appreciatively at my body, and I kissed my way up her body, loving how soft she was now.

She bit her lip. “I need you inside me.”

I loved the raw honesty in her words. I’d been with women I suspected were putting on an act, pretending they wanted me, when what they really wanted was my lifestyle. But this thing with Gia was real. She did her best to resist me, and the fact she couldn’t only made me want her more.

“I’ll take care of you,” I said, sensing she needed to hear that from me. It was past time for her to allow someone to care for her, and I’d be honored to be the man she chose.

I lined up at her entrance and then paused. “Do you want me bare?”

She hesitated and then nodded.

“I don’t mind wearing a condom if it makes you feel more comfortable.”

“No. I like feeling you inside me. It feels so much better, more intense somehow.”

I suspected a big part of that was that we were connected on a level we hadn’t been with anyone else. But I wasn’t going to mention that to her. She wasn’t ready for the emotional side of things. Or at least, she wasn’t ready to acknowledge what we meant to each other. I could only hope she would, eventually.

She gripped my forearms as I slid the tip inside her. It felt so good I groaned. “Nothing feels as good as you.” I’d give up everything to be with her like this forever.

I needed to be closer to her, though. I slid an arm under her and lifted her so that she straddled my thighs, and I rested on my heels. “Lower yourself onto me.”

I held the base of my cock and helped her sink down over me. Her walls closed around me, hot and wet and amazing. “I need you to move.”

Every muscle in my body was pulled taut as I waited for her to adjust and start a rocking motion. I let her set the pace, and I sucked on her nipples. It was the perfect position for me to touch her and see all of her. She couldn’t hide from me, and I loved that.

This was so much more than what we’d shared last time. If she tried to run this time, I’d chase her. I’d follow her anywhere. She was it for me. And the realization didn’t scare me; it only made me want to hold on to her tighter.

She bit her lip as she gazed down at me, her hips rolling, whimpering as her clit brushed against the base of my cock on her descent.

“You’re so sexy. I can’t get enough of you.” I hope she realized my words were genuine and my feelings were real.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she said as an orgasm seemingly took her by surprise, and she shook around my cock. I took over, tightening my grip on her neck and back as I drove into her from below. I couldn’t hold back any longer, and I didn’t need to. I groaned, sinking my teeth into her skin.

She shivered from the bite.

I soothed the sting with a kiss and held her tight to me. I wouldn’t let her go, no matter how far she ran or how deep she hid her emotions from me.

I eased her off my cock and laid her down on the bed. I went to the bathroom to clean up and threw cold water on my face.

When I returned, I asked, “Do you want to take a shower?”

But her eyes had already drifted shut, and she rolled onto her side. “Voglio il tuo profumo.”

I drew her into my side and held her, not needing to ask what she’d meant because I could loosely translate profumo to scent. I figured she wanted to keep my essence on her skin for a little while longer, and I was all for that.

Her fingers curled over my forearm that was wrapped around her middle, and I realized I’d never felt more content or happier.