Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 482(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
There were Italian words around the corner that I didn’t concern myself with. The man in front of me was a threatening presence, sure, but he was also a man with a hard body and shocking face that I was drawn to.
Because I liked flirting with danger, and maybe because I liked seeing him off-balance, I put a hand on his warm chest and felt his steady heartbeat through the thin fabric of his shirt. No reaction.
The idea of keeping my personal life separate from business died, burned up in the fire of my lust. I gripped his chin, pulling his face to me, rose onto my toes, and claimed his mouth with mine.
He did nothing.
He didn’t turn his head away to stop my kiss, but his focus was only on the men around the corner.
It made me more aggressive. I slid a hand up to curl around his neck and bend his head down to deepen our kiss, which he allowed but didn’t respond to. My mouth drifted to his neck, tracing a line across the stubble of his jaw. Every second I continued to kiss him, and he ignored me, made me angrier. When I cupped his face with both hands, he caught me by the wrists and forced me to stop.
His whisper was frustrated. “I’ll give you what you want, just wait a second.”
Footsteps gradually grew quiet around the corner, signaling the men were gone.
“What I want?”
His focused gaze returned to me. “My attention.”
Even in the darkness, I could see everything. What I’d done was play with fire, and now he was going to burn me into ash.
4
OLIVIA
Nathan’s kiss was worse than what I’d expected. It was made of brutal, all-consuming fire. It made it difficult to focus.
Or breathe.
I’d started this because I was curious. Now I was tumbling out of control.
He kissed me as if he was angry with me, yet desperate for more. His tongue parted my lips and advanced, tasting me boldly, not asking for permission. It sent a shockwave of heat through me, down to where it settled between my legs.
The angle of the kiss was adjusted by him, like he wanted to be in charge. If that wasn’t enough, he put his large hands on my hips and trapped me there. As if I would run now. Not in a million years, not even if a leopard ambushed us . . .
“This is dangerous,” I said in between kisses.
“I agree, but you started it.”
“I meant being outside.”
His hands roamed over my body, avoiding the areas I most wanted them to go, teasing me. I sighed against his mouth, tunneling my fingers in his soft, thick hair. I needed him to touch me.
Frustrating anticipation built until I was almost in a frenzy and ready to beg for it.
His fingers closed around the zipper of the fleece and eased it down, inch by slow inch, and I could faintly hear the jacket’s zipper teeth over my ragged breathing.
Too slow.
I shoved his hand aside and yanked the zipper the rest of the way. Our lips left each other for a moment so I could fling it open, then he returned to me, setting his mouth over mine and his hand on my collarbone.
The warmth of his palm was flat against my chest and began to creep lower. His unapologetic kiss stifled my moan when his hand reached its target and closed over my breast. My body responded, pebbling under his touch.
The wall against my back was cold, whereas the man over me was hot and firm, making need ramp up inside me. It had been so long. I felt weak and lightheaded, but desperate for more. My breath came and went rapidly, and it was then I noticed how fast his had become too. I sucked on his neck and felt his pulse racing.
A reaction after all.
The idea that I held this kind of power over him was intoxicating.
“Olivia.” Nathan abruptly went rigid. “Let’s slow this down.”
Had he lost his mind? “Why?”
He turned his head, looking somewhat dazed. “Because Giovanni won’t like it if I sleep with you.”
“Awfully presumptuous,” I said. “But I thought you liked pissing him off.”
“He won’t be angry with me.” When I shrugged, his face turned dark. “Upsetting him is not something you want to do.”
“I can handle Giovanni Abramo. I thought you were supposed to be more dangerous than him.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an evil son-of-a-bitch.”
I didn’t want to talk about Giovanni right now. In fact, I didn’t want to do any talking at all. I used my most seductive voice. “It’s warmer in my room and probably more comfortable.”
He looked surprisingly tortured, like he was facing an impossible decision. Here I was, throwing myself shamelessly at him, and he acted unsure of which choice to make. It caused me to second-guess myself. Perhaps he was right—