“Confused, but not mad.”

“Sleeping together pushes this into a category that I’m not sure I’m okay with.”

“We’re already there, Alecia.” She begins to stiffen again, but I kiss her forehead and tuck her against me, not willing to allow her to pull away again. “But that doesn’t mean that we won’t go at the pace you’re comfortable with. We have all the time in the world.”

“What if sex is all I can ever give you?”

My heart hurts for her. Who taught her that love means pain? Why is she afraid to see where this leads?

“Then I’ll be a very sexually satisfied man,” I reply, rather than ask my questions. She sighs deeply and relaxes against me again, and I can’t help but smile in satisfaction. “Alecia, as long as I can feel you come apart in my arms, and share moments like this one, and like the one the other night by my fireplace with you, I’m content.”

“For now.”

“Hey.” I lean back so I can look her in the eye. “Right now is all that matters. I’m not asking to put a ring on your finger.”

She bites her lip and looks so uncertain.

“I need to be honest, Dominic.”

“Always,” I agree.

“I don’t think I believe in love. If you think that that’s where you want this to go, you should know that I am not capable of that.”

Bullshit.

Rather than argue, I sigh deeply and rub her upper arm soothingly.

“Understood.”

“Really?”

Fuck no.

“Really.”

She sighs in relief and offers me a sweet smile. “Okay. I’m hungry.”

“Me too.”

“I’m hungry for fruit and tea,” she clarifies with a laugh, and my stomach clenches. I love her laugh and her smile when she’s happy and carefree like this. It happens so seldom.

I want to give her lots of smiles.

“Let’s feed you then, tesoro.”

“What happened to cara?”

I’ve been slowly falling for you for a long time, and I’m afraid I fell the rest of the way in love with you last night, and you’re so much more than my darling. You’re my treasure.

But that would send her screaming back to Tacoma. Instead, I simply laugh and shake my head as I pour her tea. “You’re very authoritative when it comes to terms of endearment.”

She shrugs and sips her tea. “I like the Italian.”

“And you’ll get it, cara. I’m right here.”

She pops a slice of pineapple in her mouth and watches me speculatively. “What did you mean last night when you said I made you forget your English?”

“Just that,” I reply, and spread strawberry jam on a toasted English muffin. “I didn’t even realize I wasn’t speaking English, I was so lost in you.” This thought seems to make her happy. She smiles softly.

“How long have you spoken English?”

“Since I could speak. My mother raised me to be bilingual.”

She takes in this information while she chews her fruit, then takes a bite of my muffin, licks jam off her lip, and then grins at me.

“So, it was good then?”

“Good?” I shake my head. “No.”

“No?”

I shake my head again and set her tea on the tray, moving it out of my way so I can scoop her up and pull her into my lap. She wraps her arms around my shoulders. After I left last night, she must have pulled her tank and fresh panties on. Her hair is loose, falling in waves around her face, washed clean of makeup.

She’s so beautiful she makes my heart stop.

“It was—” I slide my fingertip down her temple, then hook her hair behind her ear. “It was the most amazing,” I kiss her lips, “arousing,” kiss her cheek, “life affirming,” kiss her jaw and down to her neck, “time of my life.”

“You should know that if you kiss my neck, I’m not responsible for my actions.”

I grin against the smooth skin of her neck and slide my hands under her tank.

“Challenge accepted, tesoro.”

Chapter Eight

~Alecia~

God, I love it when he’s shirtless. I plunge my fingers into Dom’s hair and hold on tight as his hands move under my tank, up my sides and around to gently cup my breasts, his thumbs barely brushing over my nipples, already puckered and primed for his attention.

“I love the way you touch me,” I murmur against his lips. It’s the honest truth. His hands do things to me that I didn’t even know were possible.

And I’m no virgin.

“Your skin is so soft,” he whispers, and nibbles his way back down my neck, sending shivers through me.

Sarah Bareilles begins to croon out Gravity through my speakers and I grin softly. “I love this song.”

“It’s appropriate,” he replies before nipping my chin.

“How so?”

He pulls back, cups my ass in his hands, and grinds his hardness against me. “I can’t stay away from you, Alecia. Knowing that you might throw me out of here this morning, I still couldn’t stay away, any more than I can fight gravity.”

And that terrifies me because the feeling is entirely mutual.

Before I can respond, he pushes my tank over my head, tosses it to the floor, and covers my breast with his lips; his hands are roaming my back, his fingertips digging into my flesh deliciously.