by Serena Light
Recently, he had lightened up a bit and stopped wearing his suits in exchange for a t-shirt and jeans. He looked good in them, especially if the shirt hugged him just right, which his current shirt coincidentally did.
When the weather outside had gotten better, Serafina went and got changed into a black off-shoulder top and high waisted bikini set, stepping downstairs to find Alessio in navy blue swim shorts. She couldn't help herself but stare at his ripped chest and muscular arms, his waist slim and his shoulders broad, noticing how his body had changed in the year she hadn't seen him. Alessio turned around and gave her a smirk when he realized she was checking him out.
"Like what you see?" He teased, gesturing to himself, surprised to find Serafina look at him with a raised eyebrow before stepping closer to him, only an inch's difference between the two. "What are you-"
He inhaled sharply when she placed her warm hand against his stomach, slowly running it down and leaned towards his ear. "I do like what I see, and I hope to see it more often."
Alessio stood stunned and flustered as she sauntered away from him. Looking over his shoulder at her, he could not help but smirk, knowing exactly what she was doing.
"Oh, the game is on,"
Walking after her, he watched her lay out a towel before settling on top. Fixing her sunglasses in place, she took out sunblock, leathering some onto her arm and legs and her neck, before turning to look at Alessio standing a little way behind her, watching her behind his opaque aviators.
"Could you do my back?" She asked innocently, forcing him to swallow thickly at how sexy she looked in her swimsuit.
Stepping towards her, he took the bottle, watching her stretch out on her stomach before putting all her hair over one shoulder, exposing her back. Settling beside her, Alessio leathered the lotion onto his hands before massaging it across her back, Serafina lying before him in silence as he couldn't help but marvel at how gorgeous her body was and how soft her skin felt beneath his calloused hand, intrigued by the fact that her waist was the size of both of his palms.
"Done," He informed her, glad that his voice didn't sound uncharacteristically husky and rested his hands to the side. He watched Serafina turn to be on her back and prop herself up on her elbows, looked at him behind her opaque sunglasses.
"Thank you," She smiled at him, lying down on her mat, deciding to sunbathe for a while.
Getting up from beside her, Alessio went swimming to cool down, enjoying the cold feel of the water against the heat of his body. He spent time swimming and glanced up in search for Serafina, finding her mat vacant. Waddling towards the shore, he stood with his thighs submerged in the water as panic rose in his throat at not being able to see her. He was just about to walk back when he was suddenly tackled from behind. His mind going into fight mode as he grabbed that person, throwing them off his back and into the water, his eyes widened in surprise to see a stunned Serafina sitting before him.
"Oh shit!" He exclaimed, kneeling before her wide-eyed figure. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was yo-"
His words were cut short by Serafina splashing water on his face, his surprised expression having Serafina laugh.
"Oh, it's on." Alessio grinned, throwing water on her as she giggled and stood up, both of them splashing around and laughing, running after one another in the shallow area of the ocean.
Tackling her under the water, Alessio laughed before he was pulled underwater too, both of them playing and hysterical, having to resurface in order to laugh, their laughter growing louder at the sight of another. Their hair flat and matted against their foreheads, their clothes clinging to them with mirth shining in their blue and green eyes.
As the sun began to set, they both stepped out of the water, short of breath, their fingers pruning and their hair an unruly mess of wet tresses. Collapsing onto his back, Alessio tried to regain his breath, Serafina sitting beside him, just as breathless. Looking at one another, they giggled at each other before settling down, the sand digging into their skin.
They watched the sunset beneath the horizon before going to shower. Serafina taking a shower upstairs as Alessio took the guest bathroom downstairs – funny that the house had a fully stocked guest bath, but not a guest bedroom. The two made dinner together, laughing and flirting with one another before they decided to sit outside for some time more.
Serafina sat on the golden sand, her toes getting wet by the waves as she enjoyed the cool ocean breeze blowing against her face, a chill going down her back and forcing herself to wrap her arms around herself for warmth. A soft material was placed across her shoulders and looked up at Alessio, giving him a smile as he had wrapped a shawl around her before coming to sit beside her in his white t-shirt and sky blue shorts. Leaning back on his hands, he watched the night over the ocean, inhaling the salty fragrance as he allowed the breeze to blow back his dirty blonde tresses.
"We've been here almost a month," Serafina sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest and looking up at the noir black sky, dotted with vibrant stars.
"Yeah," Alessio nodded. "And we've come a long way from when we began,"
She nodded silently in agreement, all the things Alessio had done for her returning to her.
He made meals for her three times a day, every day, without fail. He did his level best to be patient with her and get her to eat, but when all else failed, he resorted to showing her what she was doing to him. Alessio helped her recover, he helped her get all the fact together, all the events, and he allowed her to get the catharsis she was so desperately in need of. But most of all, he protected her from herself, staying with her night after night until he was certain that she had stopped getting the nightmares. He got her smiling and laughing again, he got her talking again, he was the main reason for her recovery, and there was nothing she could say or do to make it up to him.
"You're my favorite," Serafina found herself admitting with the cool breeze gently caressing their faces, tucking her hair behind her shoulder.
"'Favourite' what?" He asked in confusion, tilting his head to look at her beside him.
"Oh well..." She stammered. "Well, just that. My favorite pair of eyes to look into. My favorite name to see on my phone. My favorite way to spend the afternoon. Fill in the blanks, Cupcake... I left it at "favorite" for a reason." Serafina teased with a grin, watching his expression turn thoughtful.
She watched him pull his knees up, wrapping his arms around them and looked out at the ocean waves lapping at the shore
"You're my favorite, too." He admitted softly, his words almost drowned out by the wind. His admission having Serafina hold her breath and stare at him with wide eyes as her cheeks flushed in the dark. The sudden embarrassment having her hide half her face into her knees as Alessio noticed the act, holding back a groan at how cute she looked when she became flustered.
Later that night, they both went off to sleep, Serafina in her bedroom as Alessio decided to sleep with the open sky above him and settled on the hammock, gently swaying himself as the sound of the ocean lulled him to sleep.
Serafina lay awake, staring up at the ceiling as she recalled all the things the man downstairs had done for her.
Not only in the past month but the last three years even. She was 20-year-old when he was first assigned to her, and if she remembers correctly, he was 26. Serafina can still remember the way he laughed at her when she discovered that he was Salvatore Romano's younger son. She couldn't bring herself to talk to him after that, too guilty and embarrassed because his father died protecting her's.
"Dad was just doing his job," She remembered Alessio explaining to her when he discovered that she felt guilty for his father's loss. "Besides, he left behind no regrets; he loved your father like a brother. No matter what you would have done or said, he would have protected him. Padre died honorably: with a smile on his face"
This man and his family had suffered so much for her family that she couldn't even bring to understand why they still chose to gravitate back to them. Both Niccolo and Alessio h
ad been working with her father for three years before Salvatore got instated at the age of 23 – who then assigned Alessio to Serafina and gave Niccolo a high ranked position to be working beside him as his Head of Staff. She loved the fact that she had Alessio even after her father had resigned because she began to enjoy the man's company, noticed that he didn't judge her and accepted her, and soon Serafina began to consider him her best friend – she did not know if he considered her the same, but she considered him to be her best friend.
Biting her lip, the sudden image of him shirtless appeared in Serafina's mind as she closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the image.
Serafina knew that the two were a lot closer than a bodyguard and his client should be. She had flirted with him, teased him, even took him lingerie shopping and showed it off to him, but then he hadn't been very profession either. If Serafina flirted, teased, and dressed up, he would flirt, whisper things in her ear, and smirk at her. He once even deliberately walked around in nothing but his boxers just to give her a show and tease her the way she teased him. Obviously, neither Salvatore nor Paolo knew of this, but Serafina has a feeling that Paolo found out and felt threatened.
Due to that very reason, she had to spend the last year with a very stiff and grim bodyguard – that is until her wedding day when Salvatore had reassigned Alessio to her. She had no idea what he did in that one year, but she couldn't care less as long as he was back to her.
Inhaling deeply, Serafina pulled on an oversized t-shirt before getting out of bed, surprised to see thunder rumbling outside as rain pelting against her windows. Seeing the rain, it suddenly hit her that Alessio was sleeping out on the patio and would get wet, or worse, he could fall sick. Biting her lip, she slowly made her way down the stairs and onto the patio, seeing Alessio sleeping with an arm over his eyes, the hammock gently swaying as the blanket was pulled till his chest.
"Alessio?" Serafina called out gently, running a hand through his hair as he removed the arm, blearily blinking up at her, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"Is everything alright?" He blinked the sleep away as he looked towards her.
"It's raining out and I didn't want you falling sick," She explained, taking a step back to allow him to stand on the ground in a ruffled t-shirt and shorts.
"That's sweet of you, baby girl," Alessio chuckled, his accent thick and husky as it didn't sound purely Italian, it had the hint of some other language in it.
But hearing him call her baby girl had Serafina's heart beating in overdrive, her cheeks flushing as she had to bite her lip at her thoughts. She watched him walk inside and head toward the sofa but halted when she grabbed the back of his shirt.
"What's the matter?" He turned around to face her.
"Come on upstairs, the sofa is horribly uncomfortable to sleep on."
"No, it's alright-"
"-Hush," Serafina silenced him, grabbing hold of his hand before pulling him up the stairs after her.
"Serafina-" He tried to interject again, but she wouldn't listen to him. "I don't think we should-"
"-Sleep on the same bed?" She asked tauntingly. "As if we haven't done that before,"
"Yes, but those cases were different," He squirmed a little when she pushed open the door and stepped in. "I had a reason then-"
"-And you have a reason now too,"
"Really?" Alessio laughed in disbelief. "And what is that? It was raining out?"
"I don't want to be alone," She informed softly, letting go of his hand as she turned her gaze away from him and held her arm. "Sorry, you can leave if you want to,"
He swallowed thickly at seeing her so vulnerable and alone. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he watched her standing with her back to him. Sighing, Alessio placed a kiss on the top of her head before heading over to the other side of the bed and getting under the covers
Heaving a heavy breath, she got on her side with both of them laying silently, both of them awake and blankly staring into space: Alessio looking out the window as Serafina stared up at the ceiling.
"Alessio?" She turned to be facing him as he hummed in question. "Do you like me?"
A chuckle escaped him as he turned to look at her, a hand rested on his stomach with a smile on his face.
"Yes, I like you,"
"No," Serafina shook her head, knowing that he didn't understand what she was asking.
Shifting, she straddled his waist as Alessio stared at her with wide eyes, never having expected her to do something like that.
"Do you like me?"
"I do, but Serafina what are you-" He tried to question, but halted when she shook her head in frustration and pulled off the shirt she had on, exposing the purple lace bra and panties she had on below. "Fuck,"
"Alessio, my question is: do you like me?" Serafina whispered lowly, leaning down so that he was caged beneath her, her nose almost touching his as he couldn't bring himself to speak, arousal washing over him like a tidal wave.
"Serafina," He choked out, his voice thick as he cleared his throat before resuming. "My answer still remains the same, but we...we can't do this-ah," He gasped when she placed a kiss on his neck, sending jolts of electricity through him as he grabbed hold of her, his fingers digging into her side as she groaned above him, the sound having Alessio freeze, and close his eyes to try and regain control over himself.
"Serafina...we can't, we shouldn't...your brother-" Alessio tried to reason, his words muddled as her lips drew nearer to his.
"My brother isn't here, no one is," Serafina whispered, her lips hovering over his. "And I know you want this just as much as me."
"It's...fuck, Serafina, it's wrong, I'm your bodyguard and you're-"
"-Call me 'baby girl' again," She demanded, her lips brushing over his with every word.
Alessio lay beneath her, his heart hammering in his chest as arousal flowed through him like the blood in his veins. His eyes dilated and his breath came out ragged. She was right, he wanted this just as much as she did – hell he's wanted this for the past two years and now he was finally getting the chance.
"Your brother-" he tried to talk her out of it, regain some sense, but he was only greeted by her lips on his.
Alessio couldn't help but groan at the feel of her lips against his, they were softer than he had imagined, a little chapped, but oh so delicious. He felt the way she moved against him and the way she seemed to just melt into him as if though she were the puzzle piece he had been searching for, alas he did not notice all that until much later, but for now, all he did was growl as he threaded his fingers through her hair, tugging just enough to have her gasp at the sensation before he turned them over, sending her sprawling beneath him, caged.
Pulling off his shirt, Alessio was quick to return his lips to her's as she clung onto him in desperation, the sound of the rain outside clashing with their moans and the subtle sound of skin against skin. Neither one of them being able to get enough as Serafina left scratches down his back and he left marks across her neck and chest, her moans ringing in his head and the look of pure unadulterated ecstasy across his face seared behind her eyelids as they both came undone with her arching into him, their groans and mewls of pleasure mingling against the sound of thunder outside.
Chapter XVI: Starting Anew
"That's everything," Serafina sighed zipping up her bag and stood from her place. "Are you done with your packing?"
"Yup," Alessio nodded, sitting cross-legged on the bed as he watched her move around the room in a silk nightgown before she lay down on her stomach beside him.
The two had been in Brazil for 2 months, and halfway through their trip, they had started a little affair which had been going on for almost a month now. However, they were expected to go back now, given that she was well enough to return and also because Alessio's boss said so.
"I liked our time here," Serafina heaved a breath, sliding back to sit up as Alessio nodded. "We're going back now."
"Yeah,"
Smiling at him, she m
oved closer to him, cupping his face in her hands before placing a tender kiss on his lips followed by another and another, until she pulled away at his lack of response, looking at him in confusion.
"What's wrong?" She gently rubbed her thumb over his prickly beard.
"Nothing,"
"I've known you for three years. Tell me, what's wrong?"
"We're going back." He wrapped an arm around her waist having her straddle his lap. "We can't resume this once we're back."
Serafina massaged the back of his scalp and hummed.
"You're right, we shouldn't."
That was a lie.
Both Serafina and Alessio knew that. Despite having discussed that they can't resume this when they return home, given that it would be too dangerous of an ordeal if her brother were to find out, they both knew that now that they had started this, it wasn't going to end anytime soon. He was still her bodyguard and had the day duty with her back in Tuscany, leaving him to be a simple man during the night time – who coincidentally knew exactly how to dodge the radar of the men who were assigned to her at night.
"You're right," Serafina shrugged, moving back to her side and lying down on her stomach. "We shouldn't resume this once we're back in Italy."
Alessio bit his lip, eyeing her lying figure as he knew she was baiting him, and he'd be damned if he didn't give in.
"That's Italy." He relented with a groan, leaning over her and pushed her hair to the side, forcing a smirk on her face at the success of her plan. "We still have one more night in Brazil." Alessio placed a kiss on her neck.
"Oh there is so much we could do in one night," Serafina chuckled, turning around and connecting her lips to his, Alessio's hands instantly roaming as she gasped into his mouth.
"The night is still young," He murmured against her lips, hitching her leg to be wrapped around his hips.
In the morning, Alessio reverted back to his bodyguard self, dressed in a suit with his hair gelled back and opaque sunglasses on his eyes as he stood in the foyer, waiting for Serafina who stepped down the stairs in white ripped skinny jeans with an off-shoulder navy blue blouse.