Page 111 of Bitter Poetry

He sweeps Helena away, her laughter with it.

I exit the small dance area. Leon is talking to Ettore and his older brother, Edoardo, but his eyes slide briefly to meet mine, and his lips twitch.

I want to strangle Christian with my bare hands for putting temptation in my path yet again.

And Leon, despite the motivational speech about not doing anything stupid, is definitely an enabler.

CARMELA

Today has played out better than I expected, but despite Leon’s reassurances, it’s still a strain, and I need a moment. The quietas I close the bedroom door is profound, and I press my palms to my hot cheeks.

I step away from the door, then spin around as it opens.

I half expect it to be Christian. My eyes widen when it’s Dante.

“Dante? What are you?—”

I don’t get to finish the sentence as his hands cup my face and his lips close over mine. The kiss is like moonshine. A detonation going off inside my head that sets off a womb-deep, near climactic spasm.

“I’m going to lose my fucking mind,” he mutters. “Tell me you want me.”

“I want you.”

“Damn right, you do.” He closes his hands over my ass and lifts me. The dress is fitted, and the seams scream in protest as I wrap my legs around his waist. He stalks for the bed. “Now, I’m going to fuck you in his bed. Every time you get in it, you’ll remember that you belong to me.”

He drops me on it, coming down over me while I’m still trying to catch my breath.

“You look stunning today, Carmela. So poised, like a queen among mortal men. But every time he put his hand on you, I lost another piece of my mind.”

I’m reeling, about to tell him I feel the same, but he’s already shoved his hand under the hem of my dress and pushed it up. A fever sweeps through me. It’s been so long since I felt him inside me. Experiencing it once more is the only thing that matters. “Hurry.”

His fingers push roughly past the seam of my panties and into me. I tip my head back, arch up, and moan.

This is beyond stupid. It’s dangerous. Only, I couldn’t care less about anything but him being inside me.

I fumble for his belt. His fingers leave me, and our hands clash. He nips my throat, and the belt suddenly comes free, the buckle landing against my thigh. I can’t get my legs open properly because of my dress. He seems to realize at the same time, pauses, leans up, and shoves the dress higher out of the way.

Then he stops, heaves a ragged breath, his eyes on my panties. I lost my shoes somewhere between the door and the bed, and there is no hindrance when, with a slow, deliberate movement, he peels my panties down my legs and all the way off.

Any last doubts I had about him wanting me are obliterated as his tongue swipes across his lower lip and his eyes lock on my pussy. His hand slides slowly up from my knee, up my thigh until he reaches my pussy, and two thick fingers sink into me.

The fingertips curve and press against the front wall just as his thumb wipes over my clit.

“Oh God. Please, I need to feel you inside.”

“Not God, Dante.” His cheeks are flushed, and his dark eyes hold me a prisoner. “I’m going to give you my dick just as soon as you come.”

My thoughts go into freefall. This is Dante, my first kiss, the object of my first desire, the man who should have been mine. His skilled hands are on me, touching me intimately, his lips against my throat… My body coils tight and then lets go in a deep, glorious climax that I feel spiral out from my core.

“Dante.” The word leaves me on a moan, and my pussy convulses over his fingers in sweet climactic waves.

DANTE

Today has been rough. Watching Ettore slide an arm around her waist and parade her around was a trial beyond all others. The imagery of his death gained greater depth with every incident. I keep telling myself soon, but it is never soon enough.

I have learned things about myself today, and further, about my feelings toward the woman coming all over my hand. What started as a noble cause has taken a sharp drop off a cliff. I want her under me like this, every night and every day. I want her dependent. Craving me and only me.

My eyes shift from her glistening pussy with my fingers buried inside to her flushed face.