Page 72 of Alessio

“I wondered …”

“Tell me.”

“Does he fuck me the same way he fucks you—will you?” Ginevra dragged in a hard inhale, letting the air ache in her lungs at the thought. “Would either of you ever be able to love me the way you love each other?”

Alessio never blinked.

Didn’t breathe.

“And how do we fuck—and love—each other, Ginny?”

“Savagely,” she whispered.

It was true.

They hurt each other loving. Survived from it, killed with it, or become better for it. Was that not the most primal aspects of being human? Of loving as a human? And so, it seemed appropriate to say at their most base of being, in their moments of rawest need, they savagely loved.

“Savagely,” Alessio echoed.

Ginevra nodded. “And I don’t know if I could ever be the same to—”

“You only have to say yes.”

“What?”

“Say yes.” His hand on her thigh squeezed, making her all too aware of how close his fingers were to the tiny cotton shorts she wore to bed. The matching top rested higher above her navel, and she had on nothing underneath. There was no hiding the way her nipples had pebbled under the thin top, or the way her throat jumped when her gaze darted down to his mouth.

Not that her staring stopped there. She had never gotten the chance to admire Alessio without a shirt. He even worked out with one on, and he didn’t leave a bathroom unless he was fully dressed after a shower, not that it mattered because he had a private bath in his room.

But now …

Now, she admired the strong muscles that made up the man’s chest, and the hard lines that showcased his abs, and the way his pants rested low on his defined hips. He seemed chiseled from stone, a lot like Corrado. She’d watched him and Corrado put the gym to use day after day enough, so she knew whythey looked like they did, too.

She took in his tattoos, the double sleeves, and the start of the chest tattoo that showcased a crowned heart. Corrado hadn’t been lying, either. Straight bars pierced through both his nipples. They were opposites in that way. One showcasing his calm strength in a body that was uninked and unmarked in other ways. And the other taunted the world with his wildness through colorful designs, and piercings.

It wasn’t obvious.

Then again, they’d been subtle from the start.

But she saw it.

She recognized it all.

They were Godly.

Both.

Why her?

What God had she pleased?

“I like your staring,” he said, chuckling, “but I would love an answer more, Ginevra. A yes, or a no.”

Right.

“And if I do? Say yes, I mean.”

“Then you can learn what we both can do,” he replied, his tone husky.