Collarbone. Shoulder. Elbow, and fingertips. Hip, thigh, and her pretty little kneecap. When I get to her foot, I lift it and kiss the arch until she squirms and giggles. I place her foot back down and kiss my way back up the other side.
By now, I can smell the sweet, seductive scent of her arousal. I can feel her trembling when I get closer to the most sensitive parts of her—the damp skin between her legs, her breast, her collarbone.
But I don’t touch her pussy. I don’t kiss her nipples. I touch nothing but her perfect, creamy, olive-toned flesh.
“Santo, I—”
My phone buzzes. Tavi.
“That’ll be Tavi, baby,” I whisper. “I gotta go.”
I look at the screen.
Tavi: Montavios here. All report to the Great Hall.
Her eyelids flutter closed, but when she opens them, she only nods.
“I’ll be back. I’ll tell them I’m tired. I’ll tell them you’re asleep and I want to stand guard.”
She nods, trembling. I bend and brush my lips across hers, relishing the way her back arches into me, then whisper in her ear, “When I come back, I’ll do more than kiss you, baby. I promise. But keep your hands to yourself until I do, and don’t fucking push me, Rosa.”
I give her a warning look.
I love the way she captures her lip like a coy little girl. “Or what?” she whispers.
I cup her pussy suddenly, and her back arches. She gasps and squirms, pressing against me for pressure, but I don’t give it to her. Not yet.
“This pussy’s mine,” I whisper in her ear. “While I’m with you, all of you belongs to me. That means your orgasms, too. If you touch yourself before I come back, I’ll know. And the punishment will be severe.”
My dick throbs at the thought of her earning a punishment.
“Severe,” she whispers, squirming. As if she’s thinking it over.
“Severe,” I promise.
I stand and adjust myself to fix my hard-on and groan when a knock sounds at the door.
Rosa gasps and reaches for her towel.
“Relax,” I whisper. “Don’t look so fucking guilty.”
“Can’t help it,” she whispers.
“Santo?” Mario.
“On my way,” I shout to him. In her doorway, I wave a warning finger in her direction, which only earns me a wicked grin. I shake my head and shut the door gently before I meet Mario.
CHAPTER TEN
Rosa
While I’m here.
You’re mine.
While I’m with you.
I can’t worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow, we could be gone. It’s true that all we have is today.
But that’s a shitty reason to do anything that could jeopardize any of our safety.
Especially Santo.
I hate the thought of him getting in trouble with Romeo. I hate the thought of my own exile, which would almost certainly be in the form of a swift marriage I have no control over.
My brothers love me, and I don’t doubt that. But they’re loyal to The Family and always have been.
Likely always will be.
My mind comes to a stuttering halt when he touches me. When he gives me that dark look that promises even darker actions, when I imagine he’s thinking about every wicked thing he could do to me.
The first touch of his finger on my skin felt like fire, and my pulse skittered harder and faster. When he didn’t stop, my pulse ratcheted so quickly I got dizzy. Flames licked my core, and heat pooled in my belly. I wanted him to touch me, and not the chaste, explorative touches of before.
I wanted him to bite me, to lick me, to suckle and tease. I wanted him to pull my hair and spank me. I wanted him to overpower and dominate me, like only Santo could.
He wasn’t wrong when he remembered how I responded once. And a woman’s craving for the taste of dominance doesn’t fade like some thinks it does. Maybe it can become muted when she’s with the wrong guy or worse, an asshole, that’s true… but my body knows Santo means business, and there’s no logical explanation for telling me to get my shit together.
Beyond my doorway, I hear the door to the hall click. Voices rise, then fall.
No one will be looking for me this late. They’ll know I’m asleep, especially as Natalia’s having a sleepover with Marialena and Vittoria.
And God, I hope no one would suspect that Santo was… doing what he did just now. I shudder at the thought of what anyone would do. Even happy-go-lucky Marialena would lose her mind if she knew I fucked around with the iron-clad family rules.
I don’t want Santo to be punished.
But he seemed so certain we won’t be caught.
I’ve been turned on since he walked in on me in the shower.
Santo’s a twisted man. His taste for the dark side infiltrates every part of who he is.
And yet… I’m drawn to him, irrevocably, like he’s got a string tied around me I can’t pull away from. One little tug, and I follow.