body is convulsing, shaking with ferocity. I am utterly boneless, my senses blown apart, and I see galaxies behind my eyes. If you were to see me right now, there wouldn’t be just one Grace Harper, but many of her, all of them scattered like blissed-out confetti.
“Oh god,” Claudio says through a quiet grunt, and then I’m squeezing him, trying to wring every last bit of energy from him. I feel his body still and tense up, and then with a low groan, he almost collapses on top of me, his breath loud and rough in the room.
We don’t say anything for a few moments. He pulls out and lies down beside me, both of us trying to get back into our minds and bodies again.
Then he reaches over and removes the blindfold.
The dim light of the room feels like being on the sun.
I turn my head to see his dark eyes raking over me, then he leans over and unties my wrists.
I pull them down toward me, shaking them out. My arms had fallen asleep and I hadn’t even noticed. I was numb to everything else but him.
I guess that was the point.
“Wow,” I finally say, letting out a deep breath.
His smile is so sweet, like he’s proud of himself. I suppose he should be. The man made me see stars.
“You were wow,” he says, his finger drifting from the top of my head, down over my nose, over my lips, to my chin, his gaze following. His eyes are the most beautiful after sex, so lazy and heavy-lidded, filled with peace and something so, so tender that it often takes my breath away.
Like right now. I could die in his tenderness.
We stare at each other like this for a few minutes, just so incredibly happy in what we’ve created for each other. Then he sits up, swinging his legs over the bed.
“In a couple days, we are going to Elba,” he says simply, eyeing me over his shoulder. “Try to get as much writing done as you can before then.”
I stare blankly at him. “Elba? The island?”
He gets up and walks around the bed to pick up his briefs, slipping them on while I wait for an answer.
“Yes,” he finally says, snapping his waistband against his sleek stomach. “To visit my parents. You and me and Vanni. You will enjoy it. It’s good for you to get out of this house.”
My chest warms at the idea of going on a trip with him, even if it is to see his parents.
That part scares me.
“Are you sure you want me to go?” I ask. “It sounds like I would be ruining a family trip.”
And parents are serious business and are we even serious?
“You ruin nothing. Don’t you see, Grace? You are everything to me. And I have a possessive heart. It wants only you.”
It’s hard to argue with that. Sometimes Claudio’s emotions and feelings feel too big for me to handle, too much for my heart to take. But then, if I just let myself sink into them, revel in them, I can’t get enough.
And I truly can’t get enough of him, or his possessive heart.
“Okay. Yes. I would love to go,” I tell him, breaking into a grin.
Oh, Grace. You are so screwed.
Sixteen
Claudio
“Are you ready?”
I pause at the top of the stairs, listening for Grace’s response.
Silence.
“Grace? It’s only for three nights. You need as few clothes as possible.” I pause. “In fact, the fewer the clothes, the better.”
I wait a few moments, then hear her door slam. “I’m ready!”
I glance at my watch while I hear her thunder down the stairs, dragging her carry-on behind her. We’re cutting it close to making the ferry, but I don’t need to remind her of that again.
I lock up the house and stow the bags in the luggage shelf behind the seats of the Ferrari, securing them with the car’s original leather straps. Then we’re buckling up and zooming out of the driveway.
Things moved fast when Grace agreed to go to Elba with me. I called up my parents to let them know I wanted to come by with Vanni and that I was bringing a friend of mine. I never mentioned what type of friend, and I sure as hell didn’t tell them that she is Jana’s client. They, like my sisters, are not a fan of her whatsoever.
But when I broke the news to Vanni, he visibly shuddered. I guess spending a few days with us at his grandparents’