Across the table, Sophia blinked hard, and sucked in her bottom lip, something she did when we were young to stop herself from crying. I had not seen her this vulnerable for years.
“For the first time in a long time,” Paige continued, “I know that we have more than each other to count on. And I just want to say that knowing … having that feeling of home and family. It means a lot to both of us.” Her face was heavy with emotion as she looked down at the table. “So, thank you for having us.”
“Cheers to that!” Sophia shouted, standing up and raising her glass.
Everyone else added their cheers. Paige took her seat and I kissed her, though it was a pathetic attempt since I couldn’t wipe the grin from my lips.
“I love you,” I whispered against her mouth.
She sighed in pleasure.
She didn’t have to say a word. I already knew, without a doubt, that she felt just like I did.
Another set of words itched on my lips.
Now would be the perfect time to say them.
But no. I would wait. I wouldn’t spoil Paige’s toast by following it up with my own.
The things I had to say were important, but their time would come.
Soon.
Chapter Thirty - Paige
I couldn’t believe it myself. First, I confronted Lia head on, and won her friendship, so big bonus there. After that, I gave a toast in front of Angelo’s family, plus Tre.
Who was this new girl?
As soon as breakfast ended I snuck away, needing some quiet space in which to breath and think.
I found it upstairs in Angelo's old bedroom. Falling backwards into the mattress, I let go.
Soon the trip would be over. Sophia, Angelo, and I would be back on the jet tomorrow, headed for New York and, soon, the new year.
And, for me, therapy.
I gnawed on my lip to think of it, but at least now I knew the sick feeling in my stomach came from fear.
Fear was manageable. I could handle fear. Once you could name a thing, managing it got easier.
Someone knocked on the door, and opened it without waiting for an answer. I bolted up.
“Hi,” Angelo smiled. “Sorry. Were you sleeping?”
“No, I was just laying here looking at the ceiling.”
He came in the rest of the way, closing the door behind him.
I patted the seat next to me. Angelo settled down and put his arm around me. I sighed and dropped my head into the crook of his arm, riding high on his scent.
“That was a sweet thing you said at breakfast.”
“It’s true,” I whispered.
He ran his hand up and down my thigh. “I think they feel the same about you… even Lia.”
I laughed. “What? That quickly?”
“Lia functions in extremes. I don’t think she knows how to exist any other way. You broke the ice with her… so now she probably loves you.”
“Mm. Well that’ll be nice, supposing it’s true.”
“Hey.” He hooked my chin with his thumb and turned my face up towards him. “You’re amazing. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You know that, right?”
“I know,” I breathed.
He opened his mouth slightly, but he didn’t speak right away. In fact, he didn’t speak at all. Instead of talking, he kissed me.
Ripples of heated pleasure went from my lips down to my core.
Slowly, Angelo began to undress me, pulling my shirt over my head and unhooking my bra. Not wanting to be outdone, I pulled his own shirt off and ran my hands over the hard ridges of his chest.
Gently but assertively, he guided me to lay down on the bed, and pulled my pants and underwear off in one quick motion. I stretched out, naked and slightly shivering.
I jerked my chin at his own pants. He smirked and dropped them. A rapidly growing tent in the boxers pointed my way.
I smiled and waited for more. Angelo shucked the boxers, leaving them on the floor and joining me naked in the bed.
Coming to put his weight on top of me, he kissed me deep, taking each press of his lips lower. Down my neck and across my breasts he went.
I closed my eyes when he got to my nipples. He sucked one between his teeth while rolling the other one in a hand.
I sighed in pleasure, reflexively opening my legs to rest them against his outer thighs. He held onto my hips while he kissed down my stomach.
His lips grazed like velvet against my swollen nub. Taking his time, he ran his tongue down my folds, and up, tormenting me as he alternated flicking my clit and licking my folds, mowing around in little circles.
A spark of pleasure hit and I cried out from the intensity of it all. Angelo slowed down, making his touch even lighter.
My body hummed in the intervals between every jolt of sensation, each new one coming on quicker than the last. They all piled onto each other until I exploded, with fingers digging into Angelo's hair and lips calling out his name.
Angelo crawled up towards me, that heated look I loved so much in his eyes. He kissed me deep, his tongue flicking gently against my own.
With one arm slinking under my neck, his hard tip brushed against my folds. Ever so slightly he pushed inside, making each inch gained a drawn-out affair.
My belly pounded and I pressed my hands hard into his back, eager to have his full length.
Reading me well, he thrust deep, entering me all the way. The pleasure rolled on in waves, a perfect match to our ragged breathing.
Angelo brought his hands down and under my hips, pushing my lower back up. His dick hit a new spot, the perfect spot. The room began to spin. I closed my eyes and embraced the earth-shattering ecstasy wrecking me.
Angelo huffed into my neck, his thick corded muscles flexing under my hands. He held me tighter, pushing all of his weight down onto me.
With a sexy rumble, he pressed his lips back against mine. Our tongues danced together as he shuddered in my arms.
Breaking the kiss, I turned my face to the side to get some air. Angelo nuzzled his face against my chest.
“Was that my big present?” I asked. “...Angelo?”
I turned back to see him looking at me with an intense gaze. My heart did a little kick jump.
Ever so slowly, he ran his finger down the length of my nose. I swallowed hard, sure something big was about to happen but at a loss as to what it would be.
“There are no words,” he slowly said. “For what you are to me.”
My lips stretched wide. “If you can’t say how I make you feel, how about you show me?”
“That I can do.”
With a growl, he grabbed my hands and hoisted them above my head.
Chapter Thirty-One - Angelo
Bass pounded through the open industrial space, multi-colored lights shooting across the floor.
One hand against an ear, I turned to Paige. “I feel like I’m in a rave.”
“What?” she shouted back.
Or maybe it was something else she said. I couldn’t really hear her over the music.
She took a sip from her beer bottle and smoothed her hair. On the other side of the bar a blonde guy eyed her. I shot the guy a look and he quickly turned away.
I put my mouth close to Paige’s ear. “You look great!”
She smiled and nodded, though maybe still had no clue what I was saying.
Indeed, she looked amazing. Delicious, really, what with her tight, thigh length dress and black high heels. I appreciated dressed down Paige as much as any other Paige… but damn it if the tight dresses and red lips didn’t do something to me.
“Come on!” Nodding my head at the other end of the party, I took her hand and led her through the crowd. We wound around a group of Franko and Tre’s buddies, some girls dancing, and over to the far corner.
Sophia and Lia sat perched in a windowsill. They’d cracked the window to get a bit of fresh air.
“What’s up?” Lia asked, taking a drink from a red plastic cup.
“
This is quite the party,” was all I could say.
She just laughed. Really, what more were we to expect when our little brother announced he was throwing a New Year’s Eve party? Franko loved coming to New York to party. Give the kid a holiday and some cash to blow and he was bound to go crazy.
Sophia adjusted her miniskirt and crossed her legs. “Just wait till the strippers get here.”
Paige’s eyes went wide.
“She’s joking,” I explained, looking over at the two other women. “Right?”
Sophia shrugged.
“With Franko?” Lia asked. “Who knows?”
“Who are you guys kissing at midnight?” Paige asked.
Lia rolled her eyes. “No one in here. The guy selling pretzels down on the corner looks more appealing than any of the frat boys here.”
Sophia shook her beer bottle. “Probably my drink.”
I tightened my hand around Paige’s. There was something I’d been looking forward to doing all night… Well, all week, actually. I’d been waiting for the perfect moment. At the moment, I was beginning to feel that maybe there was no such timing.
I turned to her. “Hey. Let’s go up on the roof. I want to show you the view from here.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Now? It’s almost midnight.”
“We’ll come back down in time if you want to.”
She glanced at the other two and shrugged. Sophia wagged her eyebrows at me as we walked away. I ignored her.
The rooftop was only a couple floors away, making it a swift elevator ride. The second the door opened a harsh wind swept across the rooftop.
“Yikes!” Paige cried, pulling her coat tighter around herself.
I opened my coat and pulled her into it. “Sorry. I forgot about the wind.”
“It’s all right,” she said, her teeth already chattering.
Wrapped together in my coat, we shuffled behind the small, elevated roof. The tiny structure blocked the wind, giving us a bit of a reprieve.
“Wow,” Paige said.
I followed her gaze to the view of lit up Manhattan. Green and purple, the color choices of the Empire State building for the night, added a special touch to the picture.
“It’s beautiful,” she sighed. “I missed it, you know. Even just for a few days. As great as Christmas was, I’m still happy to be home.”
I tightened my arms around her stomach and pressed my face into the top of her head. “I know the feeling.”
Shouting came from down on the street below.
“Hey!” Paige said, breaking free of my embrace to spin around and face me. “I almost forgot. We should go back down for Midnight.”
“Unless you want your kiss up here.”
She eyed me, her pupils just visible in the dim light. “Maybe. It depends. What else is in it for me? Just a kiss?”
I shoved my hand into my pocket and felt for the little box there. Keeping my eyes on Paige’s face so I wouldn’t miss a second of her reaction, I pulled the box out and opened it.
The whites of her eyes popped in the gray light. “That’s not what I was thinking,” she breathed, sounding like she was in shock.
A little bit of panic got to me. “It’s not?”
“No, I was thinking second base or something.”
I laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but that was all nerves. It came out sounding dry. It turned out the moment of proposing to someone was more nerve wracking than I would have thought.
“Will it do?”
If she’d just give me an answer, I could breathe a little easier.
Someone began shouting out an open window across the street. “Ten!” came their cry into the night.
The person’s friends joined in. “Nine!” the group yelled altogether.
Paige licked her lips. “I… I.”
“Eight! … Seven! … Six!”
“Paige?” I asked. The way she had frozen made me nervous a panic attack might be on the horizon.
“Five! … Four!”
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!” Paige shrieked. “What, are you kidding me?”
“Three! … Two!”
She flew into my arms. The joy that filled me up couldn’t be contained. I lifted her off her feet and spun her around.
“One! Happy New Year!”
The block erupted in shrieks, hoots, and whistles. The noise went on and on, a never-ending stream of jubilation.
I pressed my lips against Paige’s and kissed her with everything I had.
And I never stopped.
THE END
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Angelo: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 17