I had had many frightening experiences with Alessio before, but the moment I came into the following afternoon definitely took the cake.
The moment I stepped into the kitchen I stepped in powder. Because he was Alessio and he had all of the drugs in the world at his fingertips I wondered for a brief moment if I was standing in flour, or two inches on cocaine.
He was cranking yellow strips of pasta out of a machine. I could tell he hadn't slept, his hair was wrecked, bags were under his eyes, when he angled his body slightly to acknowledge me the white apron he wore had blood all over it.
"Jesus Christ Alessio!" I yelled. Maybe this was cocaine on the floor.
"What?"
"What?!" I gasped in disbelief. "Just look at yourself!"
He glanced down. "Oh."
"OH?!" I threw my hands up in disbelief. "OH he says!" I yelled to no one in particular.
"It's not human blood." He said with an eyeroll and then returned to his pasta making.
I waited patiently for him to explain further but he didn't. "Then whose blood is it?"
"A lamb obviously."
I put a hand to my head. It was literally about to explode. "Obviously." I said sarcastically. How could I have been so stupid? It was obviously lamb blood. "Why are you covered in lamb blood?"
He glanced up again. "We're having lamb tonight."
"You...you went out...and...butchered a lamb...today?"
"I thought we already established that. It's in the oven now."
"Oh Alessio." I groaned. When he walked around the counter eggshells crunched beneath his feet. "God this room is a mess."
"I'll clean it. I just have to finish making this pasta."
"They do make that stuff you know. Prepared, boxed, all you do is boil it?"
He looked disgusted and appalled. "I couldn't feed that horse shit to my mother."
"Funny, you just fed it to me last week." I muttered with an eyeroll. I walked further into the room. "You need to calm down. Step away from the pasta, take the bloody apron off, burn the bloody apron because that is seriously disgusting, and sit down."
"I'm almost done." He muttered.
"Alessio!"
He dropped everything at once, threw the apron off and collapsed into his seat.
"Wow, okay." I said shocked. I hadn't actually expected him to listen. "Now, what you need is a shower and a nap. Your pasta has to dry, your lamb has to bake, and you have to rest."
"But-"
"Breathe."
He sighed heavily. "Thank you."
I smiled. As soon as I got a few moments alone I would definitely have to delete Nash's number from my phone. I approached Alessio, stepping on eggshells, I could feel flour or cocaine or whatever it was between my toes, I was just really grateful I hadn't seen any lamb pieces laying around.
After a quick once over to ensure there was no blood on him I wrapped my arms around Alessio's neck. "You're welcome." I smiled. "Now, go shower. I'll find Pietro and ask him what to do about this mess!"
"Come shower with me." He said still lacking his usual calmness. He seemed to almost be pouting and it was absolutely adorable.
"I already showered." I thought the dripping hair might have been a tip off to that, but apparently I was mistaken.
And now his almost pout turned into a real one. My heart skipped a beat when his bottom lip protruded out.
"Alessio-" I started to object.
He dropped his head and let it rest on my shoulder. "You calm me so." He whispered against my collarbone.
"Well, I'm glad." I giggled.
He stood from his chair and wrapped his arms around my waist. He took a few steps forward forcing me to take awkward steps backwards. "Katherine." He groaned and lifted his head up.
He looked so exhausted. I had to lean on my toes to reach his head, I ran my hand through his hair trying to sort through the messy locks.
"You've been so patient with me." He said taking another step and forcing me another step backwards. "I'm sure you may have noticed, I don't exactly...I'm not a very emotional person Katherine."
"What? You? Never picked up on that."
He smirked. "I don't express myself as well as you may be accustomed to." He continued ignoring my sarcasm. "But you should know. You calm me. You help me."
"Why Alessio, if I didn't know any better I would think you were trying to charm me." I teased.
"I am."
"Oh." I managed and flushed.
He chuckled and then let his eyes travel briefly down to my body before back up to my eyes. When I had gotten out of the shower he had left me a note to check the closet. It was almost sad that walking into a fully stocked walk in closet didn't even surprise me. I'd elected to wear simply sweats for now and to change for his mother's behalf later, but now I was wishing I would have chose something different. "Katherine." He cupped my face in his hands. "Ho un debole pe te" He whined and pulled my face closer. Just when I thought he was going to kiss me he dropped his head into my neck. He kissed my neck and nipped at the skin making me shudder. "Sono pazza di te"
(I am weak for you.)(I am crazy about you)
I bit my lip to stifle a moan as he sucked lightly at a sweet spot on my neck. "Oh, you should get sleep deprived more often." I whispered arching backwards to expose my neck and also to force my body into him.
"Ho bisogno di te." He breathed against my skin and I shuddered. He trailed kisses up my neck and to a spot right up my ear that practically made me melt and then he pulled away abruptly. He held my face in his hands and stared at me with intense eyes. I couldn't speak or breathe, not with the way he was looking at me now.
(I need you)
It was so much, the way he was looking at me now. I could hear my heart beating in my ears. I tried to cement my footing at the same moment he finally broke the intense silence, I took a step backwards.
"Credo che mi sto innamorando di te." He said barely above a whisper.
(I think I am falling in love with you)
And suddenly he was leaning into me, just as my foot found a rolling pin beneath it. I tried to steady myself but made the situation only get worse. The moment his lips found mine I lost my balance completely and we both came crumbling down.
A puff of flour flew into the air as we landed. I could tell from the smell now all over us that it was flour for sure. I should at least be grateful for that. But that fall? It hurt too. I couldn't try to catch myself when Alessio had a hold of me and because he had a hold of me I brought him with me and he landed on top of me.
He muttered another string of Italian curses and sat up immediately to straddle me rather than sit on me completely. "Are you okay?" He had already been covered in flour so it made little difference to him but because my hair was wet every bit of flour clung to it.
I groaned loudly in response.
He leaned down and kissed several spots around my face and forehead and then gently brushed flour off of my cheeks with the back of his hand. "When I said I would knock you off your feet when we kissed I really didn't mean it to be literal."
I touched my lip immediately. Kiss? Was that what had happened? It had been there, it had happened, there was no denying that. His lips on top of mine, but it was gone before I had even had a chance to feel it.
It wasn't like I could fall any further now.
I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into me hard. Kissing him for real this time. It was almost too much. The moment our lips met my head was swimming, to say that I had butterflies would be a immense understatement. The force in my stomach, fluttering, somersaulting, it was more than I could possibly describe. I groaned in approval of nothing more than the actual contact. It was happening. He seemed a little surprised at first, the mood obviously had been ruined when we fell, but he caught up quickly.
He put one hand on my hip and the other tangled into my absolutely disastrous hair. His lips were softer than I would have imagined but the kiss turned rough quickly. His lips move flawlessly over mine claiming ever millimeter as his own. I try to pull him closer still, his lips against mine, his body fully over me, it's still not enough. I need all of him.
I bit his lip and he groaned, his hand immediately moved from my hip to under my shirt and up to my waist. His tongue brushed against my lips and I granted him access without hesitation. God yes.
He can taste a hint of tobacco and scotch and I know he's been drinking and covering it with peppermints. I have never liked peppermints more than in the exact moment and again I groan with appreciation into the kiss.
Over two years of desire and want had been pent up, shoved into a much too small box and forced deep beyond reach and all at once it comes flooding out. I'm drowning in this, this passion, this lust, this whatever it is. I'm literally drowning, I can't breathe and God I don't even want to, not if that means we have to break apart.
But we do.
All at once Alessio pulls back. We're both panting. He no longer looks exhausted, he looks animalistic now. He keeps changing focus between staring at my eyes and my lips and I'm so very hopeful that he's going to kiss me again and pull me back under into a sea neither can see land from.
He sits upright on top of me again. He scans my body over from above me and I can see the wheels turning. I want to scream at him, just do it but I can't seem to find a single syllable in my vocabulary.
"Come on." He says taking my hand and climbing to his feet. My knees wobbled and once we actually stood up I realized my head hurt too. He twirled a flour coated strand of hair in his finger. I was just grateful to be able to tell it was actually flour. "So, how's about that shower?"
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Hey guys!!!
I am updating again partly because I want to, partly because the last chapter was also under the agreed 1500 word agreement we made and partly just to advertise. I have officially created book two. Obviously I haven't started updating actual chapters and such yet, that won't come until this one is finished. But there IS a pretty cover AND a preview!
I plucked a scene from the book out and put it up for your reading pleasure. Book two is called "Chasing Stars" Hopefully the anticipation of getting to book two and that part is just killing you! So check out the little snippet there, vote and comment, spread the word. Etc.
So....can you guys FINALLY be happy because they FINALLY kissed. I hope it was well worth the wait. This next chapter, I'm not even going to lie, is one of my favorites. So stick around on MONDAY for your next update, check out the preview for Book two "Chasing Stars" and VOTE and COMMENT on both!
This chapter is dedicated to @OPTIMISTIC_TEARS for taking the time to make a cover for WTSGD featured at the top of this chapter! Thank you!