Page 20

Rachel

I lay beneath Dante, feeling my soul leave my body. I had never, ever been fucked like that in my entire life, and I honestly wasn’t sure if my soul would ever return.

I was a mess. My body was covered in sweat, my legs were still shaking, and I was barely able to breathe, let alone talk.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I fought for control, not quite knowing how to handle the emotions running through me.

“Shh,” Dante breathed, folding his body on top of mine.

He gently pulled me until we were both laying on our sides, and he pushed the wet hair off my face and lifted it off my neck, cooling me down.

His fingers stroked up and down my arm as he waited for me to come back down to earth.

He murmured soft words down my ear – at least, I think they were words.

They could have been soothing noises for all I knew.

All I heard was his voice, his noise, grounding me as I tried to float away.

He held me close against him, reassuring me that he was still here, that everything was okay. He asked no questions, just simply stroked my body in comforting motions until the last tremor left my body and my breathing calmed down.

“Are you okay?” He whispered down my ear. I nodded my response.

“Am I okay to leave you for a second?”

I nodded again, and then immediately regretted it when the warmth of his body left mine. I heard him go to the bathroom and run something under the tap. He came back with a wet cloth and a towel and helped me clean up before he wrapped his body around mine again and pulled me close.

“What the fuck was that?” I asked with a small laugh, shaking my head.

“That,” he said, kissing my shoulder. “Was fucking amazing. ”

“Yes, it was.” I twisted my head to look back at him, and he grasped my jaw in his hand, giving me the most intense kiss I’ve ever experienced. His tongue danced with mine, his fingers sliding into my hair. He nibbled on my lower lip before he pulled back and rested his forehead against my own.

“Rachel I—”

The door slammed open, interrupting him.

We both snapped to look at the interruption, and Dante pulled the blankets up to cover us both up.

“Vienna, what the fuck?” I snapped when I noticed who it was.

He didn’t reply.

He casually walked around the edge of the room, running his index finger over the tip of the drawers.

He came to a stack of papers, swiped them off, pushed the lamp off, and then grabbed the apple Doc had left earlier.

He bit into it and then slammed it back on the table before knocking it to the floor as well.

He walked backwards out the door, sticking his two middle fingers up as he did so. “Nice to see you back, brother. Rachel,” he nodded at me. “A pleasure, as always.” And that was it. He left the room and closed the door behind him.

The pair of us were in stunned silence until we both burst out laughing, looking at the mess he had left behind.

“What the fuck was that about?” I asked.

“It’s Vienna,” Dante replied, shaking his head. “There’s no point even questioning him anymore. The man needs sectioning.”

“I think he missed you,” I snuggled closer to him, feeling my eyes growing heavy.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered against my skin, and I needed no further encouragement.