Fragile Longing

I closed the door again and headed back out because I’d promised to return.

When I stepped out onto the patio, my body tensed at the sound of steps but relaxed when Sofia appeared before me. She had her towel wrapped around her shoulders, for which I was grateful.

“Are you heading to bed?”

She shook her head. “Actually, I was looking for you.”

My eyebrows shot up. The way she said it raised my hackles. It was difficult to make out her face in the dim light, but I had a feeling she was flirting with me.

“Maybe we can take a walk?”

“Okay,” I said slowly, not wanting to deny her even if I didn’t think being away from the others was a good idea. To my brain’s displeasure and my body’s delight, Sofia dropped her towel on the chair then headed down the path that meandered around the house. I followed her, trying not to pay too close attention to her peach-formed ass in her tiny bikini bottoms. “Is there something specific you want to discuss with me?”

Sofia stopped and looked up at me. She appeared nervous. “I just wanted to be alone with you. We’re engaged and are soon going to be married, but we’ve never been alone. We never really got the chance to get to know each other better.”

Sofia probably meant it in a very innocent way, but I couldn’t help but imagine all the ways I wanted to get to know her, especially when my gaze dipped to her erect nipples straining against the wet fabric of her bikini top. “We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other once we’re married. Being alone with you like this is against our rules.”

Sofia shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did. We didn’t need another scandal on our hands. The Serafina debacle had caused enough uproar.

Sofia glanced around, and then without a warning, she tugged her skimpy bikini top off, standing before me with her perky breasts and puckering nipples.

Blood roared in my ears. “What are you doing?” I growled, grabbing her arm. The motion caused her nipple to graze my skin. I released her and picked up her top, then held it out for her. “Put that back on.”

She stared at me. “I’m not a child.”

“Put your top back on,” I gritted out, keeping my eyes on her face. She’d be eighteen in a few months, and I wouldn’t fucking touch her until then. Eight long months to go.

She snatched the bikini top out of my hand and finally covered herself with it. “I bet you wouldn’t have made Serafina put it back on.”

She’d mumbled the words under her breath, so I almost missed them, but I got the gist of it. As usual, the mention of her sister made my blood boil, but I held onto my control.

I chose to ignore her comment, saying instead, “I swore to your parents not to touch you before our wedding, and I’m a man who keeps his oath.”

“But you don’t want to keep your oath?” she teased, trying to sound all flirty, but there was a darker undertone to her voice that hadn’t been there before.

What a question.

Of course, I wanted her body, but not before we’d said our vows. If things went downhill for whatever reason before our wedding day—if I got killed—Sofia would still be able to marry someone else.

I looked back toward the house, avoiding her question. On the outside, I was the epitome of control, but inside a storm was raging. In my darker hours, I’d have gladly taken Sofia up on her offer, to make her mine before someone else could take that from me. Like Remo had taken Serafina from me. Women often connected sex to emotions, especially if it was their first time. That’s why Remo had had it easy winning Serafina’s heart after he’d fucked her. I wasn’t sure if he’d raped her or if it had been consensual like she claimed—if there’s even such a thing as consensual in a captive situation—but whatever had happened, it had made Serafina fall for him.

Sofia stepped closer and touched my arm lightly. The feel of her soft fingers against my skin felt good, but I pulled back. “Sofia,” I scolded her, trying to make her feel like a child so I could keep thinking of her as one, even if she wasn’t anymore. “You should go back to the lake.”

“Yeah, I should,” she whispered. It wasn’t what she wanted, and I could tell that she took my rebuke to heart. What had she hoped for? That I’d whisk her away to a secluded corner of the forest and kiss her, maybe even more? Though in her innocent fantasies, she probably would have stopped at kissing, making our encounter into some kind of romantic fairytale. Problem was, I didn’t want to stop there. I wanted to make her mine as soon as possible, wanted to stake my claim. But unlike Remo Falcone, I had honor and a sliver of a conscience. I’d wait until our wedding night and give Sofia the chance to make people forget the shame Serafina had brought over her family.