Matteo

by L. M Anthony

  I leaned in close as one of my hands tangled in her hair, teasing her lips with the lightest touch.

  “You are a marvel,” I replied.

  I kissed her again, my hands brushing down her sides as she writhed over me, gasping and tightening her grasp on me. I felt her hands as they fumbled with the elastic hem of my pants, undoing the ties holding them up. She pulled back suddenly, and I raised my hips as she tugged my pants and boxers down over my legs, freeing my swollen, aching cock from its confines. Then, I fingered the hem of her panties, pulling them down as well.

  For a moment, we just stared at each other, completely naked. My eyes traveled over each curve of her hips, taking note of freckles and scars. I could see her doing the same, but it didn’t feel intrusive.

  Then, before either of us could think anymore, my arms were wrapping around her, and her lips were meeting mine desperately, both of us shuddering as our naked skin met. Laura clung to me like I was some sort of miracle, and I held her shoulders as I guided her backwards so that I was hovering over her. When we parted, I braced my arms on either side of her head, panting from the heat.

  “I want you so badly right now,” I said.

  “I want you, too,” Laura said with burning eyes, wrapping her arms around my neck.

  I settled between her open legs and looked down at her fluttering entrance. I could feel her tensing, likely nervous for the first time doing this, and I circled the area with one finger slowly until she got used to the sensation. Then, before she could think on it any further, I pushed one finger past the tight muscle.

  Laura’s entire body tensed as she gasped. I paused, forcing my burning, aching body to wait as she adjusted, wriggling slightly to get used to the sensation. As she relaxed, I carefully wriggled my finger deeper inside, thrusting lightly until I could slip another finger inside her. She groaned deeply beneath me, and then her body jolted fiercely as I finally found the spot inside her that I was searching for, her mouth falling open. Her eyes rolled back and I removed my fingers, carefully lining my cock at her entrance as she watched me, blinking slowly.

  “I’m going to push inside you, now,” I murmured, wanting her to know what I was doing at all times.

  I saw her swallow, so I held out a hand for her to grip tightly as I slowly slipped inside her, my cock so much bigger than my fingers. She breathed harshly through it, her eyes screwed shut, but there was no stopping now that we’d started.

  “Almost there,” I encouraged

  Then I slipped completely inside her. We paused for a moment as Laura tried to catch her breath, her body alternately tensing at the intrusion and trying to relax. Several long, torturous moments passed, but I forced myself not to move, just waiting.

  Then, finally, she wriggled her hips and gasped.

  “Can I move?” I asked, strained.

  “Yes, please,” she groaned.

  It was the go-ahead that I needed. I pulled out and then carefully thrust back in, setting a gentle, slow pace for her. With all the build-up, we were both very close to the edge, and it would not take long for us both to orgasm.

  Laura fell first as our movements started becoming clumsier, crying out wordlessly as her muscles tightened impossibly around my cock. That pulled my own orgasm from me, and my entire body shuddered as sparks flew across my vision.

  Then, slowly, my heart rate returned to normal. It hadn’t lasted long, but that was okay. I had Laura here, in my arms, something that had seemed impossible just that morning. I pulled out and collapsed beside her, looking at her. She was heaving in deep breaths, her body still trembling slightly from the new sensations.

  “How are you feeling?” I panted.

  She looked at me for a long moment, blinking slowly in thought. Then she smiled.

  “Amazing,” she said.

  I couldn’t help but smile too. I helped her get more comfortable in bed next to me, knowing she must be sore now, and we slid under the covers. Laura automatically curled up beside me, her head on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm securely around her shoulders.

  Then, safe, warm and happy, I fell asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was new to wake up to someone in my bed. The last time that happened was when I was with Martina. Even nicer was the realization that Laura didn’t regret anything that happened last night, as I had half-feared she would in the morning.

  The best part, however…

  “You don’t think I came onto you last night because I found out how rich you are, right?”

  Her worried question rang across my mind as I watched Laura leave the room, full of warm contentment. It hadn’t been something I had even considered; my main concern had been that she was using me to get back at Lorenzo. Knowing that she had been worried about my view of her motives and that she sought to appease me, was amazing.

  I hadn’t thought at all that my wealth was what had attracted Laura to me. Time would only tell whether my trust was misplaced. But… I didn’t think it was. I might not have known Laura for very long, but I knew she was genuine and that she cared deeply. I was happy, for now, to trust a little piece of myself to her as we got to know each other better.

  After my shower, I shrugged on a warm robe and some sleep pants, picking them up from where they had been discarded on the ground, and left my room. I could hear sounds in the house that told me that my staff was already at work. Since everything was calm so far, it meant that no one had seen Laura yet.

  Pietro was in the dining room, scribbling at some papers with a thoughtful frown. I spied one that looked like a shopping list, and smiled; Pietro always looked after me.

  “Sir,” Pietro said with a nod as he saw me approach. “How are you this morning?”

  “Great, thank you,” I said. “I just wanted to let you know that I have a guest. Laura found herself unable to stay at her current lodgings, and I picked her up in the middle of the night to stay here. She may be staying here for awhile.”

  Pietro paused, his eyes widening slightly in his surprise.

  “I see,” he said simply. Another reason I appreciated Pietro; he never made a big deal out of anything. “I’ll look forward to meeting her.” An amused smile flitted across his face. “Chiara will be excited.”

  “Excited about what?” Gabriel asked as he entered the room. He nodded at me. “Good morning, Matteo.”

  “Morning, Gabriel,” I said. “I have a guest; her name is Laura. She’ll be staying here for a while, so please factor that in when you’re cooking.”

  “Laura?” Gabriel asked, interested. “Not the Laura that Chiara was telling us about yesterday?”

  Why was I not surprised that Chiara had been gossiping?

  “That would be her,” I sighed. “I’ll be asking everyone to make her feel welcome. She’s had a hard time recently.”

  “Of course,” Gabriel said seriously.

  I heard footsteps on the stairs, which told me that Laura was coming down. I left the dining room quickly, Pietro and Gabriel on my heels, and Laura paused mid-step on seeing the three of us, self-consciously dragging her robe tighter around herself.

  “Sorry,” she said to me, embarrassed. “I didn’t realize you had company.”

  “Sorry, Laura, I should have told you,” I said. “This is Gabriel and Pietro. They’re part of my staff and work here during the day.”

  “Good morning, madam,” Pietro said with a deep nod.

  “Morning!” Gabriel parroted in heavily accented English. He didn’t know much more than a few simple phrases.

  “Oh… good morning,” Laura said hesitantly.

  It must have been strange for her to see people under my employ working in my home. For her, my life would seem like an entirely different world.

  “Would you like breakfast?” I asked, trying to make her comfortable. “Gabriel has just finished cooking.”

  Laura’s stomach grumbled, and she flushed.

  “Oh, Gabriel’s the cook?” she asked and smiled when I nodded. “Soun
ds good.”

  She followed me into the living room, which was more intimate than the huge dining room. When she sat on the couch, she almost sunk in the thick material, laughing delightedly.

  “How was the shower?” I asked as I sat beside her.

  “Nice,” Laura said. She hesitated. “I also phoned Dina quickly.”

  Right… I still didn’t know where Dina factored in all this. I was surprised to hear that Laura was only just speaking to her friend now. Dina must have been worried sick.

  “Is she alright?” I asked.

  Laura grimaced. “Yeah, she’s fine. I just… saw something last night that upset me.”

  “Like what?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  Laura glanced at me. She looked oddly embarrassed.

  “I… walked in on Dina and Lorenzo,” she said with a cough. “Together. After… after Lorenzo propositioned me.”

  I stared at her. I had half expected that Laura and Lorenzo had tried to sleep together again, and after how upset Laura got last time, that part didn’t surprise me. And it shouldn’t have surprised me that Lorenzo would do something like that to her again. But it did. Hadn’t the man learned his lesson after what happened before?

  And Dina? It honestly shocked me to know that she would do something like this to Laura. Wasn’t it only yesterday that I was thinking how fiercely protective of Laura she seemed?

  “It’s not… it shouldn’t be a big deal,” Laura said, hunching her shoulders. Pietro entered the room, and on seeing the serious expressions on our faces, set down a tray with coffee and fruit before leaving. “I mean, Dina told me she didn’t think Lorenzo was right for me, and she apologized for trying to push him on me. She… she was really encouraging me to look at you, even. And I don’t have any stake in Lorenzo. I wasn’t his girlfriend, I was just… physically attracted to him, that’s all. So I shouldn’t be this upset, or feel so betrayed.”

  “But…?” I prompted.

  “I can’t help but wonder if Dina was only pushing me to you so she could have fun with Lorenzo without guilt,” Laura admitted with a sigh.

  “Didn’t you say they were related?” I asked with a frown, vaguely remembering something Laura had told me the other day.

  “Very distantly,” Laura assured me. “They’ve barely seen each other for years.”

  “Right,” I said. “Look, just think it through, alright?”

  Personally, I hoped that things would be fine between the two women eventually. I liked Dina, and I knew she was looking out for Laura. I also couldn’t feel too mad; Dina’s actions were what drove Laura to me, after all.

  “Sorry, this must seem petty,” Laura sighed as she picked up a cup of coffee.

  “It’s fine,” I said to her. “I’m happy to listen whenever you have a problem.”

  Laura gave me a tiny smile.

  “You’re almost too perfect to be real,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it took me so long to figure out how amazing you are.”

  “To be fair, we’ve only known each other a few days,” I said, unable to help feeling pleased. “You’re pretty perfect, too.”

  Laura flushed and opened her mouth to respond. Before she could, however, the door burst open and Chiara burst in, eyes wide with excitement. Andrea and Giulia trailed behind her, exasperated.

  “Sorry,” Andrea said to me in Italian. “Once Gabriel told Chiara that Laura was here, we couldn’t stop her.”

  “It’s fine,” I said to him. “Do you know any English? Laura doesn’t speak Italian, I’m afraid.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t,” Andrea said with a grimace.

  “I do,” Giulia said. “I can translate for these two.”

  “Thank you!” Chiara said enthusiastically. “Tell Laura I’m really glad to meet her.”

  “These three are my cleaning staff,” I explained to Laura in English, and she nodded. “Chiara is the youngest, and that is Andrea, and the older woman is Giulia.”

  “Who are you calling old?” Giulia asked in mock offense, making Laura giggle. “Chiara would like me to tell you that she’s very excited to meet you, Laura.”

  “Thank you,” Laura said with a warm smile. “I look forward to getting to know everyone, too.”

  “How long will you stay here?’ Giulia asked.

  Shutters dropped behind Laura’s eyes, and she looked away.

  “I’m not sure yet,” she murmured. “There was a… situation at my other place, and I couldn’t stay there.”

  I gave Giulia a hard look, warning her not to push it despite the rapid questions Chiara was throwing at her. Giulia nodded seriously.

  “Please stay as long as you would like,” she said to Laura. “You’re most welcome.”

  Laura’s expression cleared.

  “Thank you,” she said gratefully.

  Andrea and Giulia left then, but Chiara hung back.

  “I wish I could speak English,” she said longingly. “Matteo, do you think Laura would be willing to teach me?”

  Laura looked up at the sound of her name. I looked between the two women. Chiara was close to Laura’s age, and it would probably be nice for Laura to have someone to connect with.

  “Chiara is wondering if you would be interested in teaching her English,” I explained.

  “Tell her I’ll teach her some Italian!” Chiara added eagerly.

  “She’s offering Italian lessons in return,” I said with a laugh.

  Laura perked up, interested.

  “Yeah?” she said. She glanced at Chiara. “Sure, why not? It could be fun.”

  Chiara cheered when I repeated the confirmation, and she reached out to enthusiastically shake the bemused Laura’s hands.

  “Thank you!” she said. “We’ll organize something later!”

  Then she was gone, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared. Laura and I stared at each other, stunned by the abruptness of it all. Then Laura burst out laughing.

  “It’s going to be fun staying here,” she giggled.

  I was glad that Laura thought so. This was my home, and I didn’t want her to feel like a stranger here.

  “It will be,” I agreed. “Though, I hope you don’t mind; I have some work to do today. I’m happy for you to stay in the study with me, or for you to find something else to do.”

  “I have some books if you don’t mind me staying with you,” she said warmly.

  No, I didn’t mind at all. I would spend every minute of the day with her if I could. Slowly, Laura’s free hand reached out, and she twined her fingers with mine, her palm warm against my skin. I gripped her hand back.

  Somehow, I knew then that things would eventually work out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Remembering Laura’s love of history, I did as much work as I could so that, the next day, I could wake her up and inform her that I was taking her to the Museo Faggiano. She looked at me blearily for a few moments, not awake enough to appreciate what I was doing in her room (we had decided the night before to sleep in separate rooms to resist temptation while Laura was still very sore from our lovemaking).

  Then she sat bolt upright, almost hitting her head on mine, eyes wide.

  “The Museo Faggiano!” she gasped. “The museum with the fifth-century Messapii artifacts, the Roman crypts, and the Knights of Templar insignias on the roof?”

  I chuckled. I didn’t surprise me to know that she’d researched the local museums.

  “That’s the one,” I said. “The quicker you get up, the sooner we can go.”

  I was barely out of the door when I heard her scrambling for clothes in her suitcase. Laughing again, I headed downstairs.

  “You’ll be out again for the day?” Pietro asked as he saw me take a set of keys from the rack.

  “Yeah,” I said, smiling at the butler. “I’m taking Laura to the Museo Faggiano; she’s a bit of a history buff.”

  “She’ll enjoy it, then,” Pietro said. “I’ve been there a few times, myself.” He ga
ve me an amused smile. “Please tell her that Chiara is very excited to learn English from her.”

  “I’ll let her know.”

  I heard rushing steps and then Laura burst into view, carrying her shoes, bag, hairbrush and jacket, her hair still mussed from sleep.

  “Let’s go!” she said enthusiastically. “Morning, Pietro!”

  “Good morning,” Pietro said, and I could hear the tightly controlled amusement in his voice. “I hope you both have a very good day.”

  “I’m sure we will,” I replied.

  Laura rushed ahead of me into the garage, eyes scanning the cars until I clicked the button and the unlock lights flashed on the sleek Lamborghini. She grinned at me as she hopped in the passenger seat eagerly.

  “Looking forward to the trip?” I asked teasingly.

  “This was the first place I wanted to go when we got to Lecce!” Laura said. “Dina said…” Her smile fell briefly and then she hitched it back onto her face. “Well, it sounds like an amazing place!”

  I glanced at her. Part of me wanted to speak to her about Dina. I felt that if Laura was able to vent her feelings, things would be better between her and her friend. But I was still very new in Laura’s life, and I didn’t feel like it would be a good idea to get in the middle of her argument with someone else right now. Maybe, in a few days, when we knew each other better, I could speak to her about it.

  The drive to the Museo Faggiano didn’t take long. Laura almost jumped out of the car when we arrived, staring in awe at the museum. On the outside, it looked like one of the houses on the street. On the inside, however, were excavations that had unearthed many centuries of history below it.

  It was a dream for any aspiring historian.

  I looked over at Laura, leaning on the side of the car. Her eyes were gleaming, and she was leaning forward, fully prepared to dash into the building. I had never seen this side of her. It was gorgeous. Her excitement was contagious, as well, pulling me in and making me want to see the museum, somewhere I had visited on many occasions, through her eyes.

  The longer I stayed with Laura, would I get to see more amazing sides of her? I hoped so.