moaned his name, he plunged inside of her, filling her all the way.
She sucked in air, and held it bottled in her lungs as her heart seemed to burst open inside of her.
She loved him.
She did.
He and Joe were everything. Life, breath, hope. She circled his neck with her arms, pressed her lips to his. “I need you forever,” she whispered.
“You have me forever,” he answered.
Tears burned her eyes. “Promise.”
“I promise.”
“No matter what?”
“No matter what.” He lifted her against the wall, hooking her leg over his arm to thrust into her even deeper, stretching her, filling her, making her one with him.
She gasped at the fullness of them together, overwhelmed by the warmth and the dizzying emotions and intense sensation. He thrust into her again and again, and with each thrust she knew he was making her his.
But then he’d known from the very beginning that she needed this hard, physical coupling to feel loved.
Making love with Vittorio always made her feel loved, but she needed it now more than ever when everything felt so unpredictable, when their connection felt so fragile.
She buried her fingers in his cool, crisp hair, pressed her face to his neck, her lips to his warm fragrant skin, aware of each long, measured stroke of him taking her, filling her. With each thrust he edged her closer and closer to that point of no return, pushing her past reason and control until she shattered in a thousand pieces. He climaxed as she came, and dipping his head he covered her mouth with his, swallowing her scream in a kiss.
CHAPTER TEN
WITH one arm still braced against the wall, Vittorio slowly withdrew, and struggled to catch his breath as Jill slid down the door to sit in a boneless heap on the floor.
Tucking himself back into his trousers, he drew up the zipper knowing his body had found release but his emotions were tangled, pleasure diminished by sorrow.
She’d been through so much. She’d lived through chaos and betrayal, grief and pain.
Her pain hurt him. He should have comforted her, not taken her savagely against the wall.
He understood why she used sex as a paste or plaster to smooth problems over, but why did he? He knew sex solved nothing. Sex just masked problems until they revealed themselves again.
Dark, wrenching emotion filled him as he glanced down at her. She sat on the floor and leaned against the dark paneled door. Her thick blond hair tumbled over her shoulders in disheveled curls, her white linen dress was creased around her slim hips, and her long bare legs stretched before her making her look fragile and so very vulnerable.
Because she was vulnerable. Heartbreakingly vulnerable. And now that he understood her secrets and pain, he wondered how she’d endured it. How she could lose so much—family, friends, home—and yet be so strong. So determined to make a good life for their son.
His lingering frustration morphed into admiration. She was such a fighter. Such a complex woman. Intelligent, sensual, mysterious, stubborn. Very, very stubborn.
His chest tightened as his gaze met hers. She looked up at him with enormous eyes. Whether she had brown eyes, or blue eyes, pink or purple, it didn’t matter. They were beautiful. She was beautiful. And he had never wanted her more.
Or needed to protect her more.
She did need him, too. He understood that now. She needed him not just for protection, but love, and patience and compassion. Jill was battered and bruised from fourteen years of fear and intimidation. It would take time for her to learn to trust people again. Hopefully she could trust him.
Hopefully she understood that she was safe with him. Hopefully she understood that here in Paterno she was finally safe. Home.
Crouching next to her, he buried his hand in her tangled curls and gently lifted her face to his. Her eyes shone, glimmering with tears.
“Don’t cry, cara. No one will hurt you ever again. I promise you that,” he said huskily, angered that her father had failed to protect his daughters, angered that the government had failed to protect her sister. “I will protect you. I will always protect you.”
Emotion darkened her eyes. “But you don’t even know who I am.”
He stared deep into her eyes, looking so intently that he felt as if he could see the shy little girl inside the woman. “You are Jillian d’Severano. Joe’s mother and my wife.”
Her eyes turned liquid and she blinked hard. “Would you feel the same way if you knew my father