Her dress is a river of dark silk, clinging to her curves in a way that makes my mouth water and my cock hard. Her dark hair is pulled back, showing the delicate curve of her neck, andit’s taken everything in me not to take her in my arms and kiss her senseless. But tonight is her night, and I’m determined to behave. That control is wearing thin as the evening draws to an end.
Christ, I want her.
I’m tempted to walk over to her and pull her away from the suit she’s talking to. We met several of those already, all interested in hosting Gabriella’s next art exhibition, should she choose to have one. It would be her first after graduating from college, and I can tell many of these people are hoping to have the pleasure of hosting her.
I watch her smile kindly at the suit, sliding his business card into her bag, along with the others she’s collected. When the man is pulled away, I walk over and wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her flush against me and smiling when she leans into my touch.
“Tired?” I ask, brushing my lips over her temple.
“A little,” she says, leaning in and shamelessly nuzzling my throat. “I’m overwhelmed, too. That was Jonathan Schmidt I was just talking to—can you believe it? He’s an art dealer with galleries all over the world, and he offered me his card if I ever want to hold an exhibition at one of his galleries.”
“That’s amazing, baby, I’m so proud of you.”
She wraps an arm around my midsection, leaning deeper into the embrace. “I can’t believe the people in this room. I thought it was going to be a small showing, but there are some big names here.” My eyes sweep around the room, but I don’t recognize anyone—just a crowd of well-dressed people fawning over paintings on the walls, but it’s clear these are people Gabriella respects. “I know he did a bad thing but part of me is grateful that Dr. Arturo encouraged me to enter the contest.”
My body goes taut at the name of that fucking professor. I had sensed something off in him when I met him but brushed it off. I could see his attraction to Gabriella but figured he was too much of a pussy to do anything in my presence. I was wrong. It’s why I’ve made it obvious to everyone in this room that my eyes are on Gabriella—and that any move toward her would be met with a broken hand and a dislocated jaw. Thankfully, everyone who approached her seemed to only want to talk about art.
“I don’t want to hear his name.” Hell, the guilt of leaving Gabriella alone and vulnerable in that hotel room hasn’t gone. Who knows what that asshole would have done if Bruno hadn’t gotten to him in time? “He’s lucky the MC took him.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if he’d view it as luck. That Pope guy doesn’t look like the kind to take it easy on anyone.”
Our conversation is cut short when someone else approaches Gabriella to talk about her art, and it’s then that I notice the exhaustion in her eyes and the strain in her voice as she tries to keep a happy front for the stranger. I let the conversation wind before taking Gabriella’s hand and taking her with me. “Okay, we’re done for the night?”
“What—the exhibition doesn’t end until eleven?”
“We’re leaving, Gabby.”
“Leaving?”
Something about her voice stops me cold. When I turn to her, I find panic on her face, tears swimming in her eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she says, tilting her head back and blinking hard. “Sorry. I just…I don’t like that word. You said we were leaving, and…it’s nothing. Never mind me.”
I watch her for a moment before pulling her out of the hall, past the chaos of the casino floor, and to the bank of elevators. My hand stays firmly on her back on the ride up, and it’s not until we’re in the privacy of our new room that I spin her around, her back to the wall. I cup her cheek so those beautiful eyes are on me, glistening with tears.
“That word shouldn’t make you cry, baby,” I rasp, brushing my thumb over her cheek. “Do you think anything will change between us when we leave Vegas? Do you really believe that once we get out of here, I will keep my distance and watch you move on with some faceless man?”
“But…Matteo—”
“Will have a fucking hard time finding someone who can take care of you better than I can, baby. I don’t care whether our families have an issue with us. You’re mine here, and that will remain true when we leave Vegas.” I press my forehead to hers. “I won’t hide you,princepessa. I refuse to hide what we’ve found on this trip—not from your family or mine, and not from the world.” I pull back to look at her. “Can’t you see what you do to me, Gabriella. How helpless I am before you. You’ve shattered my walls and made me yours. I love you, princess. I can’t do anything but.”
Gabriella flings her arms around me, burying her face in my neck. “I was so scared,” she whispers into my skin, and when I feel the tears, my chest cracks. “I thought this would be over once we left. I love you so much, Nico.”
I feel it fill the hole I’ve carried in my chest for months, deepening every day I couldn’t reach my brother, every day I saw heartbreak on my mother’s face, and every time I looked at Gabriella and convinced myself I couldn’t have her. I hadn’t realized how hollow it was until this moment.
“I love you,” I rasp, emotions thick in my throat as I kiss her forehead and cheeks before finally taking her mouth with mine. The kiss is meant to be soft, soothing, binding, but the second I taste her lips, I’m a goner. Gabriella whimpers against me when the kiss turns rough. Hot.
Impatient hands tug at the clothes between us, desperate to be skin to skin. My breath shudders, and I pull back to look at her—flushed face and half-hooded, gorgeous eyes. “Christ, you’re so beautiful. You have no idea how many times I had to talk myself out of stealing you from your fans to fuck you against some hidden corner at the gallery.”
“You did?”
“I don’t have to hold back now.” I tug the dress off her shoulders, watching her eyes roll back when I find a taut nipple and pinch it between my fingers, drawing a soft gasp from her lips. “Let me take care of that for you,” I say hoarsely, dipping my head and running my tongue over the peak to ease the sting. I watch her face as I roll my tongue over the velvet smoothness of her nipples, sliding a hand underneath her dress to caress her thigh.
“Nico.” My name on her lips is a heaved sigh, one that turns into a moan when my mouth closes hotly around her left nipple, suckling gently at first then harder, watching her lips part when I pull hard at the soft bead. “Oh God, Nico…”
I release her nipple with a soft pop before rising to kiss her. She reaches between us to touch me, but I catch her wrists and hold her hands above her head, even as my free hand skims up her thighs, trailing my fingers closer to her pussy. She bucks against me, whimpering into the kiss when I press my thumb over her panties, groaning when I find her soaked. “Fuck, you’re wet,” I growl, pulling back to look into her eyes. “How long?”
“All night,” she whispers, gasping when I slide a finger under her panties and ease inside her. I groan when her pussy clenches hard around my finger, pulsing with heat. And God, it takes everything to not to free myself and sink balls-deep into her right now.