STEVIE
I wake up to the unsettling realization that I’m being watched, which should trigger my flight response. Except it’s Dario, so instead I get a full-body flush and the urge to climb him like a jungle gym. He’s propped up on his elbow, hair a mess, jaw shadowed, eyes locked on my face like I’m the sunrise and he’s pissed he missed the first five minutes.
“How long have you been awake?”
“A while.”
“Just… staring at me? That’s serial killer territory. Or that’s romantic psycho.” I try to glare, but it’s useless.
“Memorizing you.” He traces a finger down my cheek. Along my jaw. “I have a lot of lost time to make up for.”
My stomach does acrobatics. “That’s a little intense for, like…” I squint at the clock. “Seven-fucking-a.m., Dario.”
He just shrugs, that soft, menacing smile. “I’m an intense man.”
“I’m noticing.”
I want to sass him, but then he leans down and kisses me. Not a morning-after, “Hey, good to see you,” kiss. A “shut up and let me worship you” kind of kiss.
Soft at first, deceptive. Warmth, want, a promise.
Then he slides his hand into my hair, tugs my head back, and suddenly it’s not soft at all. It’s the kind of kiss that makes me open my legs and arch into him, robe forgotten, nerves on fire.
He breaks the kiss just enough to look at me. Full eye contact. “You remember what I promised last night?”
“Which part?” My voice cracks. “You promised a lot.”
He just grins. “I meant all of it.”
And then he’s kissing me again, mouth hot and hungry, mapping every curve of my lips, every shaky breath I let slip.
I try to speed things up, pull him closer, sink my nails into his back, grind against his thigh. He catches both my wrists and pins them above my head, his grip solid, his gaze never breaking from mine.
“Not yet.”
God, that voice. I want to snap, want to brat my way into a faster pace, but his grip, his calm, his absolute focus. It roots me to the spot.
“You keep saying that.”
He presses his mouth to the corner of mine, then my jaw, then the spot below my ear that’s hardwired to my sex drive. “You keep trying to rush. I told you. Today, I’m going to take my time.”
I arch, helpless, half-crazy already. “What if I don’t want you to take your time?”
His mouth finds my throat. “Then you’ll learn patience.”
Oh. Fuck. That’s… That’s new.
Dario holding my wrists, looking at me like I’m something precious he’s going to take apart piece by piece is something else entirely.
There’s heat in his eyes, yes, but more than that, there’s command. He’s not asking for control. He’s taking it. And I want to be good. I want to be ruined.
“Okay,” I whisper, breathless.
His eyes spark. “Yeah?”
I nod, shameless, wild. “Yeah. Take your time.”
His smile goes sharp as broken glass. “Good girl.”
