Alia flushed at his words. The bed was tiny compared to the bed in their resort. If Matteo wanted to cuddle her, they would be pressed chest to chest, hip to hip, with no breathing room. But she couldn’t deny that that thought appealed to her.
She had nearly stepped through the gates of hell; surely cuddling with her fiancé wouldn’t be too outrageous, especially when he was single-handedly responsible for saving her life.
Co to think of it, she didn’t know how she inspired such love and loyalty in him.
Suddenly, her head hurt, and she let out a hiss of pain. Her fingers went to her temples. A series of mories floated in her head. There was white everywhere. Snow. She was so cold. When her eyes opened into the barest of slits, she saw Matteo’s panicked face looming above her, his mouth moving soundlessly. The desperation in his eyes was evident.
And then the mory faded, leaving darkness behind. Alia’s head pounded painfully.
What did he say to her?
A loud beeping distracted her. Matteo’s hand had slamd on the button to summon dical attention, a look of panic in his eyes. "Alia, hang in there. The doctor will be coming down soon to take a look at you!"
"No, no. I’m fine..." Alia rubbed at her temples. The ache was slowly receding, even as the mory flickered in her mind. Since Matteo was already here, she might as well ask him about it.
"Matteo, did you carry down the mountain, bridal style?"
That was the one thing that stood out to her in the mory. From the angle in which she was carried, there was no way he piggy-backed her down.
Or maybe he did, and her delusional mind conjured up a hallucination of Matteo carrying her in his arms while she was dying of the cold.
"Yes." Matteo nodded jerkily, almost without pause. "Do you rember now? I... I also said a lot of things to you, partly to keep you conscious."
"You did?" Alia raised an eyebrow, before shaking her head. "I must have been a terrible listener then, because I do not rember anything you told . I only rember your face... and how terrified you looked," she confessed.
"Oh," Matteo said, his breath coming out in a quick exhale. Since Alia had her eyes on him, she caught the minuscule movent of his shoulders. They slumped ever so slightly, and there was a briefest downturn of his lips.
He was disappointed she didn’t rember his words.
Well, that was sothing she could rectify later. But first things first, she hastily scooted over, wincing as her back muscles protested at the sudden movent. Matteo imdiately cradled her back, rubbing soothing circles into the tender points, causing her to sigh in relief.
"Sorry," Matteo said, sounding contrite. "You shouldn’t be moving. It was thoughtless of to make such a suggestion."
Alia waved off his apology. "It’s nothing I can’t handle. But If you feel sorry, co here and cuddle then." She gestured for him to lie down in the tiny space she managed to eke out for him. "And you can tell everything you said before. This ti, my ears are wide open for you."
A slow, sincere smile blood on Matteo’s face.
"Are you sure? You might not want to leave afterward."
Alia pretended to give a haughty sniff. "You certainly think awfully highly of yourself, but here you are, still not moving into bed― hey!"
Without warning, Matteo easily slid under the covers beside her, propping his head up on his hand. "And you were saying?"
Alia spluttered. Now that they were once again nose to nose, she was reminded how effortlessly handso Matteo was. With a tiny squeak, she hastily scooted further away, nearly falling off the other side of the tiny bed.
Matteo’s other arm shot out and held her before that could happen, pulling her into his arms.
"Careful. I didn’t save you from freezing to death just so you could scramble your brains falling from the bed," he said dryly, but his hands were gentle as he smoothed the ss that was her mussed hair.
Alia’s cheeks heated up. This close, she could feel the steady beat of his heart.
"Thank you. So... what did you say to when you were carrying down?" she asked, nestling into his arms. "It must have been important since you seem disappointed I rember nothing from that ti."
"That’s not the only thing you forgot," Matteo muttered under his breath, and Alia frowned in confusion. Matteo sighed and continued to speak.
"I promised to tell you about... everything if you made it out alive," Matteo said, his hand cupping her own. "Alia, I love you."
"I know," Alia said, feeling touched, yet slightly bemused. "No one who didn’t love would bother storming into a snowstorm to save ."
"No, you don’t understand," Matteo said, his tone beginning to take on a frenzied tone. "I love you. I have loved you for so long. If you were not married to Caleb Walton first, I would have married you first, once I had found you."
"Found ?" Alia repeated, confused at his words. She poked his cheek playfully. "Well, you have now. I guess things worked out in the end. But why do you say you’ve loved for so long? You’ve only known for... a few months."
"We’ve t before," Matteo said simply. "A long ti ago."
"What? That’s impossible," Alia said, with a quiet laugh. "I would definitely rember eting soone like you."
"I thought so too. I thought you were shy, reluctant to let know about our shared past. But I soon realized that you simply didn’t rember ."
"What shared past?" Alia asked, holding out a hand to Matteo’s forehead to check for her temperature. "Do you have a fever?" He did feel warr than usual.
Matteo’s mouth opened, but before he could speak, Aiden had burst into the room. Matteo’s lovestruck look imdiately turned into anger, and he barked at his half-brother.
"What? Can’t you see that we’re busy?"
"Like I want to interrupt the both of you!" Aiden yelled. "I just received the news that Horace Hawthorne is hospitalized!"
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