She stretched out her hand, focusing on the diamond glinting in the candlelight. “Thank you for giving it to me.”

I caught her fingers and kissed the ring. “Thank you for wearing it.”

At that moment, the Sommelier arrived with a bottle of Prosecco, pouring us a glass each, then stepping away before I had to tell him to fuck off. All I wanted was my woman with me.

I stared into her eyes.

“Thank God for you, Caro.”

“And you, Sebastian, semper fidelis.”

The food arrived, but I couldn’t tell you what we ate. I knew it was good, because Caro was moaning and groaning and licking her lips in a way that no red-blooded man could be immune to. I spent the whole damn meal uncomfortably hard. I was desperate to rush her back to bed, but I could see that she was enjoying herself. And I think we needed this—a moment of calm in the middle of all the crazy … whatever the next few days and weeks would bring. She said we’d have the rest of our lives. I just hoped that she was right.

When we’d finished eating, we walked back up the grand staircase hand in hand. I’d arranged for two glasses of an Italian liqueur to be left on the balcony along with a candle and a rose—romantic shit that I would only ever do for Caro.

I handed her one glass and took the other for myself.

And then I couldn’t wait any longer.

I could hear the surf breaking on the cliffs below and a low buzz of conversation carrying across the air from the restaurant, but neither of us spoke. I tipped the burning liquor down my throat and replaced the glass on the table, before cupping her face with my hands and kissing her slowly and deeply until the room spun around us.

I turned her gently, unzipping her dress, stroking the bare flesh I found underneath. The dress fell to the ground with a soft rustle and she stepped away from it. She looked amazing, wearing only the silver bra and panties that I’d bought her, the candlelight throwing deep shadows across her breasts and stomach. I reached out to touch her, but she shook her head.

Instead, she slid my jacket off my shoulders, tossing it onto a chair, then loosened my bow tie and undid the top button of my shirt while I watched every move.

I leaned forward to kiss her neck and I felt tremors of desire skitter through her body. I scooped her into my arms and placed her carefully onto the bed.

Her deep brown eyes were molten as she gazed up at me, almost unblinking. Only her parted lips and rapid breathing showed that she was as turned on as I was. I unfastened the cufflinks, pulled open the shirt and shrugged it off. Her eyes fastened on my dog tags and an image leapt to the front of my mind: Caro naked except for my dog tags, on all fours.

Shaking my head, I bent down to untie my shoes and remove my socks. I was about to lose the pants, too, when Caro hooked her finger into the waistband and pulled me toward her.

Moving slowly, she slid the button free and lowered the zipper.

The pants joined my jacket on the back of the chair, and my boxer briefs followed. I stood in front of her as her eyes trailed up my body, and I felt the burn of her eyes on my legs, my dick, my stomach, my chest, until they came to rest on my face.

Her fingers followed her eyes, stroking softly over my skin, and my eyes fluttered closed as she dropped a soft kiss onto the head of my dick.

She reached for a condom, tore the packet open and slowly rolled it down. I sat next to her on the bed and carefully pulled out the hairpins she’d used to pile her long hair onto her head. As each curl of hair fell down, I kissed it, tangling it around my fingers, then gently angling her head back so I could kiss the soft skin of her throat.

This wasn’t like me—or not like the guy I’d been for the last six years. While I wouldn’t say I was ‘wham bam, thank you, ma’am’, when I was on a mission, I liked to go in hard. But now … even though we’d been together for four days, each time felt like new, like I was new. It was fucking terrifying, but amazing, too.

My hands traveled slowly across her body, pausing to unhook her bra, sliding the straps over her shoulders, before leaning down to kiss her full tits, running my tongue around her nipples, teasing them into rigid points.

She stretched out on the bed, her hands above her head, and I raised myself up on my arms so I hovered over her, my dick begging to sink inside that hot, sweet pussy. I moved lower, running my tongue along the edge of her panties, rubbing my chin over her mound.

Then I pulled her panties down quickly and tossed them over my shoulder.

Her knees lifted, bracketing my hips, running her hands over my arms, tracing my tat with one finger.

My dog tags jingled against her chest, and Caro’s eyes locked on mine as I pushed inside her.

She groaned, lifting her hips so I could slide in even deeper.

I started to move, building up a rhythm, focusing on every emotion that passed across her expressive face. I leaned down to kiss her deeply and I felt her clench around me as I rolled my hips, a growl erupting from my throat. She moaned softly, and I felt her pussy shiver, the first warning flares of an orgasm about to hit.

I started to move faster, and when she dug her heels into my ass, the breath hissed out through my teeth. She whimpered, crying out and digging her nails into my shoulders, clamping her thighs around my waist. My spine flexed and I could feel the small electric shocks spark and race up from my balls to my dick. Then she screamed and her pussy contracted around me hard, forcing an intense orgasm that had me riding her wildly, until a hoarse sound left my throat and my body went rigid, briefly crushing her into the bed.

I tried to catch my breath as I rolled off of her and onto my back, resting one hand across her stomach, needing to keep that contact.

No words had been spoken; there was nothing that needed to be said.

For the rest of that night, we slept, woke briefly, made love and slept again, until dawn and first light turned the ocean from black to silver.

“I love you, Sebastian,” she said as the sun began to rise. “Thank you for giving yourself to me. Thank you for trusting me. Just promise me that you’ll come back safely. Promise me!”

I wanted to. I wanted to promise that everything would be fine, that it was just a walk in the park, but the works died in my throat. I couldn’t lie to her.

“I love you more than air, Caro. Always. Sempre. And I’ll do everything I can to come home to you. I promise you that.”

Sighing, she laid her head on my chest and we slept.

It was late when we woke for the last time, so I ordered an enormous brunch, the kind of pig-out that Caro loved but would never admit to wanting. We sat on the balcony in our bathrobes enjoying the food and the view, both of us ignoring the fact that we had less than 24 hours together before I shipped out.

I don’t know how good of a job we were doing, but we were both trying. We stared at the sea and I held her hand, kissing it softly.

She sighed and glanced at her wristwatch.

“As much as I hate to say it, tesoro, I think we should get going. We’ve got a hell of a long drive ahead of us, or rather you have, and you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

I smiled at the memory. “Yeah, but it was worth it. Anyway, don’t worry, Caro, we’re not taking the bike; we’re flying back from Naples. Our flight is at sixteen-hundred; we’ve got plenty of time.”

“Flying? But what about your bike?”

“Sold it, baby. I can’t take it with me, and they won’t send me back to Geneva after this tour.”

She looked surprised. “When did you organize all this?”

“When we were in Salerno; I didn’t think you’d mind.” I was puzzled by her sharp tone.