Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

“So an adrenaline rush and hot sex for days after.” She turned her head straight so she was back looking at the ceiling.

“Talk, bella. You need to voice your concerns. We promised each other.”

“I’ve seen the things you do. Skydiving. Driving race cars. Flying planes. Climbing mountains. Sailing. It’s all there to read about over and over in the tabloids and magazines. I’ve read them all, every story about you, and I looked at the pictures. The proof those articles weren’t made up. You really do all those adrenaline-junkie sports.”

“I do.”

“I don’t.”

“You didn’t,” he corrected. “You will.”

“I wouldn’t know how. I’d be terrified. I’m a boring person, Vittorio, and within a month, you’ll be bored out of your mind.”

“That’s been your hesitation all along, hasn’t it?” He rubbed her belly, those muscles flowing like silk under her skin.

“You have to admit, it’s a genuine reason to be concerned.”

“You already agreed to try the things I want in the bedroom. Some of those things are bound to scare you, but you’ll trust me to make things good for you, right?”

“That’s different.”

“Trust is trust, Grace. If you trust me to take care of your body when we have sex, it isn’t a leap that you’ll trust me to take care of you inside the house, right? You’re already doing it.”

She nodded warily, sensing a trap.

“Then it won’t be a huge leap if you trust me to take care of you outside the house. I want you to learn to fly a plane. To climb a mountain. To scuba dive. I want to share my world with you, all of it. You have to trust that I’m going to go slow and careful with you, introduce you to things I know you’ll love.”

Vittorio rolled over top of her to blanket her body. He framed her face with both hands, so he could look into her eyes. “You’re my world. You. You’re my life. Do you really believe for one minute that I would put you into a dangerous situation I couldn’t control? You would be trained properly before you were ever allowed to try anything. I would always be with you. I wouldn’t chance losing you. I want us to share adventures together. You learn to trust me all the way, Grace, so you know you’re always going to be safe with me. Can you do that for me?”

Her eyes moved over his face. She swallowed. Hard. His heart clenched in reaction. His woman. She was going to give him this. To please him. Because he was hers to take care of and she knew he needed her trust more than anything. Trust was intertwined with love. The more he felt her faith and belief in him, the more he knew she loved him.

She nodded very slowly. “I’ll try whatever you want me to, because I know it will please you and that’s important to me.”

He kissed her gently. “Thank you, Grace,” he murmured when he finally lifted his head. She’d kissed him back without hesitation, although she breathed shallowly and he knew he had to shift his weight off of her.

“I’m very tired, Vittorio. I need to go to bed. I have the feeling I’m going to need a lot of sleep to keep up with you.”

He felt the rush of happiness and let himself feel it. Happiness hadn’t been in his life. He enjoyed his family, but he hadn’t felt complete. Whole. And he hadn’t been happy.

“I’ll get you cleaned up, gattina, and then carry you to bed.” He loved performing that little ritual after sex for her and he knew the more he did it, the more it would become normal for her. He kissed her again and got to his feet.CHAPTER SEVENTEENVittorio got the alert from Stefano as he came out of the physical therapy room, Grace tight against his body. They’d planned to go swimming together, something the doctor said would be very good for her shoulder and she was already addicted to doing. Midnight Madness was coming up fast and she was pushing herself in order to be in the best shape she could in order to pull off the event successfully.

“What is it?” Grace asked, looking up at him from under her veil of long lashes.

He tightened his arm around her, locking her to him. “My brother. The family is on their way for another quick meeting.” That was the truth, but not all of it. He wasn’t certain how much he should tell her. She’d accepted what his family did, she’d even accepted that he was a shadow rider, but talking about being an assassin—whether it was for justice or not—and actually carrying out the order were two very different things.

She continued to look up at him as they walked down the hall toward her room. “This is about Haydon, isn’t it?”