23. Luxtyn

23

LUXTYN

T he scheduled drawing of the blackout shades wakes me abruptly when the sunlight filters through the windows. I swear I could sleep all day if it weren't for those shades being on an automatic timer at 8:00 a.m.

I lie in bed to give myself time to wake up. This morning is different, though. It feels as if there's a space heater aimed directly at my back, and as I shift, there's definitely something hindering my ability to get my morning stretch in.

What is that?

I feel around to the weight settled on my side and my hand comes in contact with a hard. . . arm ?

"It's amazing that the sunlight will wake you up immediately, but you can sleep through a person getting into bed with you." Matteo's low voice rings through my ear as he tightens his arm around my waist.

When did this happen?

Shifting my weight, I go to roll over, but Matteo's hold tightens, locking me in place. "Matteo." His name comes out rough on my lips as my voice gets acclimated to waking up. "What are you doing here? When did you get here?"

He chuckles, and the vibration rumbles through his chest straight into me. "Would you rather I be somewhere else?"

"No," I blurt, my tone more desperate than I intended. "I just wasn't expecting to wake up to you this morning."

There's something about being in his arms like this. I feel protected. It's not something I've ever experienced before. When he wraps his arms around me, I want to sink into them, not run away. Keeping people at a distance is what I'm used to, but not with Matteo. He makes me second-guess everything.

"Well, you better get used to it, because you and I will be sharing a bed from here on out."

He pulls me closer to him, and something pokes me in the back. Something hard. Something big .

I freeze and my breath hitches, and Matteo's chest rumbles with a low, dark laugh, clearly catching on to what's caught my attention. "Is that. . .?"

"It's first thing in the morning, and you teased me far too much last night." His dick twitches, and he lets out a low groan as he pulls me into his hips. He's not the only one feeling the effects of those scorching hot kisses from last night. The sexual tension is so high between the two of us you can cut it with a knife. If we don't do something about this soon, I swear I'll explode.

The heat from Matteo's lips as he places a gentle kiss on my neck sends a thrill of anticipation to my core. An involuntary whimper escapes me as I lean back, wanting to feel his body wrapped around mine even more.

Before anything else can happen, a pulsing vibration goes off on the nightstand closest to Matteo. Letting it go to voicemail, he continues to place small pecks along my neck, leaving a path of fire in his wake as he reaches up under my shirt. His fingertips graze my skin, making their way up to the curve of my breast before that humming vibration goes off once more.

"Fuck," Matteo groans out as he releases me and rolls onto his back, taking the heat that encompassed me just moments ago and leaving me to feel like a bucket of ice water has been poured on top of me.

I roll over and face his direction just in time to see him pull himself to a seated position on the side of the bed, grabbing his phone off the nightstand.

"Yeah?" he answers.

I focus on the impressive divots his muscles make across his back. The man is shaped like a damn Greek god. Dropping my gaze, I locate the small darkened wound on the lower left side of his back and frown as I realize it's where I stabbed him. In the moment, I felt justified for what I was doing, but now I feel nothing but guilt.

It's hard to believe this wasn't too long ago. How much anger and worry I felt at being kidnapped by him and Enzo to now be here, kissing the man I claimed to not even like.

"Yeah, okay. I'll be there soon," Matteo grumbles back into the phone before hanging up.

Reaching out, I graze my fingers around the tight skin of the wound that has started healing. "I'm sorry," I whisper, and he turns to his side and reaches around to take my hand into his.

"Don't be sorry. I admire that you stabbed me. It shows that you have some fight in you."

"Does it hurt?" I ask.

With a small chuckle, he says, "No. I actually forgot about it until just now."

Standing, he turns to face me, dropping his gaze to mine, and holy, fuck me sideways. The guilt that I had just moments ago is replaced with red hot desire. I've seen this man with his shirt off before, but with his dark hair a ruffled mess and his hooded eyes watching me, I can't help but feel the somersaults race across my stomach.

My eyes are drawn to his bare olive-toned skin painted with ink across his chest, leaving the ripples of his eight-pack abs unmarked. Nothing but a fine line of hair trails from his belly button down to his. . .

"I have to get to this meeting," Matteo grumbles, which draws my attention back up to his eyes. I was spaced out on the deep V-line narrowing its way down his insanely perfect abdomen, which I'm sure he caught onto, as the corners of his mouth pull into a devilish grin and his eyes gleam.

"I shouldn't be gone more than a couple of hours, and then I'll come pick you up and we'll head over to Fifth Avenue to get you a new wardrobe," he says, thankfully not calling me out on ogling him.

"I really don't need much. I can just keep washing the clothes I have and wait until the rest of my stuff gets here. Wait. How are the rest of my things getting here?"

"I have a few guys going down to Florida in a couple of days to pack up you and your mother's belongings, and then they'll drive it back up here. I figured it would be nice if she has all of her things when we find her."

The fact he thought about my mom makes my heart swell, but I can't stand the fact we haven't found her yet. What if she's hurt? What if I'm wasting time with Matteo when I could be doing more to find her? And then to tell her I'm married and we've moved all of our belongings up to New York City? This is a lot.

Matteo tucks his thumb under my chin, angling me up toward him. "Hey, stay with me." His gaze locks me in place. "Don't spiral. We'll find her."

I only nod because I somehow believe him. Despite the fact he extorted me into marrying him, Matteo's the only one who's been willing to keep me in the loop on things from the beginning. I trust what he's saying.

"I still don't need to go shopping, though."

I don't have much money, and I might not know a lot about New York City, but even I've heard of Fifth Avenue. There's no way I can afford anything there.

"I want to take you shopping, Little Lux. Let me buy you some things. Even if it's just enough until we get your stuff up here." His voice is so soft. So convincing.

"Fine. But I'm going to pay you back once I get a job."

Matteo laughs a deep throaty laugh like I'm the best damn comedian there ever was. "You're not getting a job."

Pulling back, I say, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. My wife is not going to work. And you're sure as hell never going to pay me back for anything." That soft voice has been replaced with one of certainty. The rigidness of his tone has me immediately second-guessing the life I've married into.

I've worked my entire life, since before I was even at a legal age. That's the benefit of living in small towns. You work for small businesses that don't mind throwing some cash under the table to a teen trying to make a couple bucks. There's no way I'll never work again. Who the hell does he think he is?

Rolling my eyes, I get my boxing mitts on, prepared to knock some sense into Matteo. "If you think?—"

But before another word can escape my lips, Matteo slams his mouth to mine, and while I want to fight him and tell him I'm not some housewife who's going to stay at home all day and spend her husband's money, the words seem to dissipate around us.

He stops the kiss just as quickly, pulling away just enough to gaze back and forth between my eyes. "The next time I see you rolling your eyes at me, it'll be because you're about to come the hardest you've ever come in your damn life. On my fingers. On my tongue. On my dick. It'll be your choice, Little Lux. But the next time you roll those pretty brown eyes of yours into the back of your head, it'll be with my name on your lips while you beg me for more."

Matteo drops his gaze back down to my parted lips and presses a soft kiss to them before swinging himself off the bed and exiting my room without another word. Without even a glance back.

I want to argue with him, but I also want him to do exactly what he said and make my eyes roll into the back of my head as I scream his name in complete and utter bliss.

What is this man doing to me?