He’d shave it all away in the morning. She thought about those few days he’d let it grow before he’d had to shave it off because it itched him so much. “You know my home is you, remember?”
“I do, I meant it too. But you’ve been a prisoner your whole life, Marie. First your mother’s, then mine when this contract was made. I’ve done it to keep you safe, but it’s not much different is it?” His eyes searched hers, begged her to tell him he was wrong, and she could only smile.
“At first, I felt the same, I have to admit. I wanted to escape the seclusion, the inability to breathe fresh air. I knew why it had to be like that, Matteo. I knew this was my life that was in danger. You didn’t keep me at the house to be your maid, to throw things at me, to make me wipe your ass, or change sheets you’d pissed in, on purpose I might add. She did that so many fucking times.”
Marie started to swear as she spoke more about her mother. She didn’t always swear, but when she did, it was usually because she was talking about her mom, or very upset about something. Some emotion prodded her into it, and she knew there must be anger showing through on her face. She tried to calm herself down, to relax as he waited for her to continue.
He needed to be reassured that she didn’t hate him, and she didn’t. She cupped his cheek in her palm, slid a finger over his lips, and looked straight into those gray eyes that made her melt now, as they always did.
“You didn’t keep me there to degrade me, Matteo. You kept me there, you brought me here, to keep me safe. It’s totally different.” A tear slid from her eye, but she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the sensation of loving him that made the tears come to her eyes, she wasn’t sure, because she wasn’t sad, just… in love. “You have been nothing but wonderful to me.”
“But I’ve brought my world to you. I’ve brought the shit that comes with it. With me. If it wasn’t for me, you’d be safe right now.”
“Would I? Or would I be homeless, wondering when I would be able to eat next, where I’d sleep?” She smiled, a sad smile, but one that changed as she looked at him. Hope took the place of sadness. “You saved me, Matteo, and you gave me the world.”
“Maybe I should take you away from all of that forever,” he mused as he rolled to his back.
“What? And give up your life there? What you’ve become after all those years of hard work?”
“For you? I just might, Marie. I’ve been thinking about it. I’m independently wealthy. My money doesn’t come from family money. I learned a long time ago that Celeste was looking out for herself, even if she tried to give the illusion that it was all for the family.” His fingers ran over the tattoo on his right arm, the one that ran up from his wrist, up to the point where it became a crown on that side of his chest. “I keep my family in money, but any of them could do that, Trina could.”
He paused, brought his fingers to her face to tilt it back up to him. “I would give it all up for you, Marie. Every bit of it, even my own wealth. We could go buy a farm in Nebraska, or here if you want to. Have babies and cows while we grow wheat or whatever they grow out here. We could disappear, be whoever we wanted to be.”
She smiled, the idea exciting, but the smile faded. “I think we should go back. Let me go to the doctor, find out if this tremor is just PTSD or some trapped nerve, or whatever before we make any radical decisions.”
“Ah, right, yeah. You’re right.” He took a deep breath through his nose and smiled. “Anyway, shall I turn this movie off and convince you why I’m the only man you’ll ever need?”
“Oh, I think you’ve proven that already, Matteo, time and time again. But I could take a little more convincing.” She grinned and took his face in her hands as she crawled over him. “I’ll never get enough of your convincing.”
“That’s why you’re my woman, Marie. Always so eager for my touch.” He breathed the words up at her, intense and growly. “Always so ready for me and only me.”
“And here I thought it was just my looks.” She brought his hands up to her breasts as she sat up. “And these.”
“Oh, definitely those too.” He grinned as he squeezed her nipples in just the right way, through her pajamas. “So many reasons, really. All of them make you mine.”
He growled it out, and she felt something go quivery and tight deep inside. Fuck, he made her hot with just his words, she thought. With another growl, he pulled her back to his face and silenced them both with a kiss that she was certain melted her forever.
She was up again hours later, her legs once again telling her that she needed to walk, walk, walk, but she was too tired to walk. Another cup of chamomile tea and she went back to the window in the living room. Great, more snow. She blew air out of her nose and walked to the couch.
Something, some noise, made her head whip back to the window. What was that?
She opened the curtains a notch and looked out. There was movement over by the trees again, but then it stopped. She heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Anton coming down.
“I’ll go check, see what it was. You stay in here.”
“Should I wake Matteo?” she asked him when she saw the worry on his face.
“No, it’s probably just raccoons at the trash bin. I forgot to take it down when I went into town earlier. I’ll be back in a few.” He gave her a nod and then went to the door.
She went back to watching out of the window. She saw the big man walk over to the place where they stored the household garbage, and then walk away. The snow was falling really hard now, but he seemed to be fine out there. He walked over to the trees and looked around some more. Before long, he walked back to the house and came in.
“I’ll put some hot water on, or do you want coffee? You must be cold.” He hadn’t even put a coat on before he’d walked outside.
“Hot chocolate sounds good.” He nodded, his typical response, and turned away towards the woodstove, but she’d seen the red in his cheeks.
She made the drink and brought it over to him.
“Did you see anything?”
“That snow is falling hard, so I didn’t see any tracks, but the lid to the bin was off. I’m guessing the noise scared whatever it was off. Raccoons, probably.”
“Probably. I didn’t see anything that looked like a man.” She walked back to the table where she’d put down her chamomile tea.
“You saw it?” He looked surprised.
“Well, I heard something, then went back to the window. I didn’t see anything clearly, but I saw something scurrying away. It could have been anything, I guess.” She shrugged and looked back at him. “Probably raccoons, like you said.”
“I think it probably was.” He took a drink from his mug and turned to face the stove. “You alright down here? I can stay with you. Ahem, if you want.”
He sounded so nervous, so very shy, that she wanted to laugh because it was so cute, but she held it back. She’d never met a man like Anton. She’d seen him talk to other women just fine, but she made him nervous. He was like a teenaged boy that had never spoken to his boss’s wife before, even after all this time. That was probably because Matteo was asleep, she thought, and sat down.