Runaway Wolfes of Manhattan Three - Helen Hardt Page 0,32

obey, and I looked at him. Truly saw him. Indeed, truly saw any man for the first time.

His beauty astounded me. A god from Mt. Olympus couldn’t look better than Matteo Rossi. He took my hand, then, and led it to his cock. “Feel this. Feel me. Feel what you do to me.”

I gripped him, as if shaking his hand. He was warm and hard, yet his skin was like silk under my touch.

He closed his eyes and let out a low growl. “God, what you do to me. One touch from you is better than a homerun with anyone else. I swear to God.”

I dropped his cock.

He opened his eyes and tilted his head.

He was questioning something, and I knew exactly what it was.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Sorry for what? What’s going on, Riley?”

“I’m…frightened.” True words. The last time I had sex was with…

God, I couldn’t go there right now. I just couldn’t.

Matt reached toward me. “Baby?”

I forced myself not to cower backward.

He had hated it when I cowered. In his mind, I was supposed to want him as much as he wanted me. He never understood the two-way street of sex.

Fuck. What we had wasn’t sex. It was abuse. Molestation. Fucking incest.

I was forever tainted by Derek Wolfe.

He wasn’t the only one. Some of his friends fucked their daughters and sons. Sometimes he made me watch.

I supposed he deserved a little credit. He never let any of them touch me. Some of them passed their children around like the newest toy.

“Baby,” Matt said again.

I wanted to answer him. Truly, I did. But my mind was now polluted with images and memories that I could never erase, no matter how hard I tried.

I wanted so much to be with this man. This beautiful man.

I was leaving tomorrow, and I’d never see him again.

Can’t I have just one night? One beautiful night that isn’t marred by my father?

I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Okay,” Matt said. “I get it.”

Clothes rustled.

He was getting dressed.

My eyes pop open. “Matt…”

“It’s okay. We have the rest of the week. I won’t rush you.”

Except we didn’t have the rest of the week. If I wanted this—and I did—I had to act now.

I forced the unwanted garbage from my mind, advanced toward him, grabbed both his cheeks, and pulled him toward me.

I kissed him.

I melded our mouths together and kissed him—all tongue, teeth, and lips.

A glorious kiss.

A kiss not just of passion but of need. Of my need for redemption.

For that was what I truly wanted—to be redeemed for my part in my father’s madness. Once I turned eighteen, I could have stopped it all. I could have run.

But I didn’t, and by everything I believed in, I had no idea why I hadn’t.

Perhaps I couldn’t have controlled what he did to me when I was young and weak. My brother had tried to stop him and had been sent away, never to return.

At the time, I didn’t even know what was happening to me. I knew only that my father was hurting me, but he was still my daddy, and Rock was trying to hurt him.

If only I could turn time backward and relive those precious moments. Somehow get away and help Rock complete his task.

I could have saved myself the next two decades of horror. I could have saved my brother.

You were six, Riley. Six. A child. A child doesn’t need redemption.

But an adult did.

Could Matteo Rossi offer me redemption? No. But he could make me forget for a few precious hours.

Except he couldn’t.

Even as I kissed him, these thoughts pervaded my psyche.

I pulled away.

20

Matteo

“Riley?”

“I’m sorry, Matt. I’m just…”

“Just what, baby?” I cupped her cheek, her skin so smooth beneath my rough fingers.

“I want this,” she said.

“God, so do I. So what’s the matter?”

She stepped backward, away from me, averting her gaze. Her cheeks reddened.

“Riley, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I told you. I’m…frightened.”

“Of what? Me?”

“No. Not you. I trust you, Matt.”

“I’m glad. I promise not to harm you.”

“I know you won’t. It’s just… It’s been a long time.”

A long time? She must have been kidding. This woman was the most gorgeous creature I’d ever laid eyes on. Surely men crawled out of the woodwork to bed her.

“We’ll go slow, then,” I said. “Let’s just go out to the hot tub. That’s all we have to do for now.”

She met my gaze and nodded.

“Tell me how to put that beautiful smile back on your face, Riley.”

She closed the distance between us and melted into my arms. “Hold me.