𝐎𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞

Chapter Twenty -Seven

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There are so many good things about being in love, Imani thought while her head rested on Matthew's chest. She could feel his heart beating—a calming thump to her ears, one of his hands caressing her hair. She felt peaceful, and content. She could go anywhere with this man and know she would be safe, so going to Italy with him hadn't worried her.

"I can hear your heart beating," She told him. Matthew gently pulled up her face to look into her eyes, the corner of his mouth stretching into what appeared to be a smile but wasn't, "I can hear it too." Imani did not say anything; nothing came to mind because the intense look in his eyes had trapped her. She was enthralled by a look that seemed to tell her more than any of his words ever had. She saw tenderness, fear, passion, and something akin to love. Imani's breath hitched, and her eyes turned to almost dark brown as she stared into his.

He wondered whether she knew she loved him. It was written all over her face, the eyes that turned dreamy and sultry when she looked at him. He thought he would be forgiven if he got lost in them.

He had known for weeks now that he was in love with her. He remembered the day and the time he knew.

How could he not love her? She was smart, hard-working, responsible, loving, and most of all, she knew who she was. Imani would never allow society to define her or put her in a box. She was her own person. She made her rules, and damn anyone who didn't like them.

Matthew wanted her to love him openly. To crave him as much as he desired her. The longing he felt for her was becoming a weakness as much as it was a strength. Her slightest touch threw him to a yearning that was almost embarrassing.

He dreamed of her at night and day—her smile was etched in his mind as if she was in front of him at all times, the feel of her hair on his fingers felt velvety. When she kissed him, it was as if he had never kissed anyone else. Bringing her to Italy was like a homecoming to Matthew, and although he felt it, he knew for certain the moment she met father Josè. She charmed him, listened to him, indulged his excitement and curiosity.

When the priest asked whether she wanted the job Matthew was offering, she'd smiled subconsciously, forced her eyes to him, and nodded. Father Josè had touched her shoulder, then held her hand before pulling her with him to the dining room. He liked her; Matthew could tell—not the usual way men of God tended to like people, but genuinely, like someone he expected to stay in his life. He had accepted both her and Jamie into his fold.

Matthew wished he could tell the priest to talk her into staying with him, but he didn't want to talk about their four-month agreement to anyone—not even to God—It was a secret he wanted to keep; take it to the grave if he must.

While Imani and Jamie explored the grounds of the church, Matthew was seated with father Josè, talking about the restoration of the hospital he had been admitted. Matthew and the guys had decided to rebuild it. If it were the priest's hospital of choice, they would make it worthy of him.

"You love her?" he asked. Matthew bit his upper lip as if contemplating the correct way to admit he did. But, he found love to be too basic to encompass everything he felt about Imani. She was his heart. He wanted her in a way that could scare her if she knew. His hunger for her could never be satisfied even if he was to live a thousand years.

She was it for him.

His other half.

The reason he had begun thinking of children —his and hers. A marriage that would create generations of Oceans, a legacy that could only be possible if she accepted him. She was his present and future. It was ironic, really, that Matthew Ocean would meet the girl of his dreams in a stripping club.

That she would be the sole determinant on whether he gets to marry, because if it wasn't her, then no one else would do. He had not intended to marry either, so what would he lose?

Her. He would lose her.

Looking at her entering the room with Jamie's hand in hers, Matthew's heart raced as if he'd been doing physical work and not seated on a couch enjoying father Josè's company. She was beautiful; the way her pulled-back hair left tendrils clustered at her temple, the small gesture of respect she accorded the priest; even her nervous habit of touching her dress were endearing.

When she had come down to the living room that afternoon after dressing, unsure whether what she was wearing was respectable, Matthew had given her a bewildered look. How could she not see it?

"You are a knockout!" he'd announced, standing up to walk to her with Jamie beside him. She had done a little shy twirl that made him laugh—a throaty laugh that made Imani want to run into his arms and kiss him to oblivion.

He couldn't wait until they were alone to make love to her. He imagined kissing her first, running his tongue on every part of her soft skin before joining their bodies together.

"If we were alone," he whispered, his hands buried in his pocket as if he was afraid he might pull her to him, "I would carry you to that table," he motioned with his mouth. Still, Imani stood motionless fearful of breathing, yet her heart pounded on her chest like it wanted out. "hoist you on top with me standing between your legs, slowly pull up your dress, my fingers circling your up...."

"Please stop," Imani begged, fighting the urge to moan.

"Stop what, sweetheart?" She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of that endearment.

Oh, to be wanted! She thought, wanting to seal that moment with a kiss. Matthew felt it when she placed her hand directly to his heart. It beat loudly for her.

Only for her.

"Imani, " he breathed, his hand on her waist as if he wanted to pull her to him.

"Would you let me?"

"Would you let me thrust into you?"

Imani stopped breathing for a second before turning and running back into the bathroom.

She wanted five minutes to compose herself. To bring her breathing to normal, to moan just once, but mostly, to change her panties. They were wet.

God! She thought as she started at her face on the mirror. Her eyes looked large and unfocused; her hands shook as she tried to tuck her hair behind her ears, but she couldn't manage and placed both on her chest to calm her heart.

*xoxo*