Principessa: Decode

She was aware she had been chewing his ear off with mindless chatter about a number of things from articles she had read about Tuscany and the surrounding towns and the things she was looking forward to seeing, tasting and most for being herself and not a Princess. She'd noticed Ben had grown quiet beside her and from the corner of her eye, she could see him looking at her, looking at her in a different way... not the way, a passerby would stare at a traffic accident. She stopped abruptly in her tracks and turned towards him, the light Summer breeze dancing with the loose strands of her hair, flicking them out of the way, she looked at him,

"Why are you staring at me like that?" it came so suddenly, she didn't have time to take them back.

He carried on looking at her, which made her feel a little uneasy... he had mentioned earlier in the day, that she was beautiful and that had made her blush but everyone said stuff like that, it probably didn't mean anything. Suddenly, she could feel his fingers tilting her chin towards him and his lips coming on hers. She closed her eyes, lost in the frisson of passion, of love... no, she shan't even cross that line. Those two things were completely separate. She mustn't by all means, get her knickers in a twist and think that there really could be a chance for love, but then, why would her grandfather send her away with him for a couple of days, did he have some sort of master plan up his sleeves? She had found out that Benito had been there all along, whilst she'd been in London. She had always felt that someone was watching her, but never even felt it threatening. No, she simply shouldn't think that he even wants her here... this was strictly his duty... and this... what was it?

Ben's hands were in her hair, drawing the kiss deeper in the depths of passion and she felt exhilarated, the kiss was gentle to begin with but settled on such urgency, she couldn't help but pull him into her. Oh god, let there be more she said to herself. No... she pulled away... she could see the glassy expression of surprise written in his eyes,

"What do you want from me?" she heard herself ask, touching her swollen lips, "What is it, that you think I can give you?"

"All I want is you... I want to make love to you, with you... in my bed Lenny," he replied back.

What could she say? This man standing in front of her with his dog running circles around them. What could she say... should she even go there? But they had been there, back at the palace but somehow, this felt much different, as if they were threading on very thin ice. Somehow, she didn't even hear it at first... or maybe she refused to hear it, but she must have said yes, because he was kissing her again, as if his life depended on it.

***

He led her back to the Villa, the glow of sunshine washing over the glass giving it a crystal glimmer. Lenny was amazed at how beautiful the effect of the simplicity of the sun made everything in Tuscany look so dazzling. The sun in London never had that effect, of course, she was always happy to see the sunshine in London, because they hardly ever got sunshine but even when it was there... it definitely made everyone a little bit more optimistic, here in beautiful Tuscany, it made everything glow including the people standing in it. She could feel her heart beating strongly and as she sighed quietly, she could feel Benito's hand in hers, his hold on her strong and masculine. He led her up the stairs and towards a bedroom.

She watched Benito open the veneer exterior door to the bedroom where a four poster king sized bed stood proudly against one of the walls and a marble fire place stood opposite it. There was an en suite bathroom adjoining the master bedroom and a walk in closet behind the door. This place was definitely something. Her eyes locked on a guitar near the window.

"You play the guitar?" she asked without thinking.

"Yes sometimes," he smiled.

"Will you play me something?" she asked.

"What would you like me to play?" he said, letting go of her hand and turning towards her.

"I don't know, anything,"

"Take a seat," he said softly, retrieving his guitar from the window. He watched her take a seat on the edge of his bed and watched patiently, as he sat on the other side of the bed and began strumming a melody.

She watched him zone out, he started strumming the strings and humming lightly to an unfamiliar melody... it sounded beautiful and strangely erotic. It gave her goosebumps, made her throat dry, wow, he was so talented. She was immersed in his musical ability, the strings, the sound... everything was so full of passion, she couldn't see life without it. Could she see life without him? She didn't want to start thinking like that again, overly thinking just brought you to a place of now and no where and she wasn't prepared to even go there. She hadn't realised he had stopped playing and was staring intently at her.

"Are you okay Lenny?"

She had been focusing on the corner of the room for quite some time, before she came back to reality and to his question, "Yeah, fine... you? You play the guitar so well."

He looked at her curiously, "Is something troubling you?"

"No, your music was just wonderful... I was just kinda thinking... how you know... how long you've been playing that's all,"

"I've been playing on and off for a few years,"

"A few years? But you play like you've been playing forever," she commented.

"You are very observant Lenny... well, I got into the guitar because living in Tuscany, we don't really have much to offer in terms of entertainment. See, everything is found in the cities of Rome and Naples but here, in the hills... we had to find something to amuse ourselves. Music was the only outlet, a place where I could grow and consistently continue to... you are staring at me now," Benito laughed, "I wonder why?"

"I'm just... constantly surprised, that's all... your talent is endless..."

"I'm nothing special Lenny, I am just a normal Italian man..."

"But you see, you're not... you're so much more... you're special... "

"Special... in your eyes... but I'm not, I'm merely average..."

"Average? No... I won't allow you to think that... not on my guard," the passion was written all over her words, she crawled on all fours and rushed to him, grabbing him and kissing him, until he couldn't breathe anymore. He kissed her back... and rolled her gently on the bed... he was definitely going to show her, how beautiful she was... and how she made him feel.