Page 12 of Sev’s Blackmailed Bride (The Dante Dynasty #1)
Two nights ago, he’d seen her by moonlight and thought it impossible for her to look any more stunning than adorned in shades of silver and alabaster.
But now, with her hair and skin gilded in sunlit gold, she robbed sense and sensibility with her beauty.
Inch by inch, he lowered himself onto her.
And inch by inch, the heat they generated soared, an inferno in the making.
Given the number of promises he’d made and broken, he half expected her to push him away.
Instead, she basked in that heat and wrapped him up in an ardent embrace.
It was as though they’d never left off from the night before last. He reacquainted himself with her mouth, plundering inward.
She moaned in welcome and met him with a feminine aggression that sent him straight over the edge.
There were too many clothes between them.
He yanked at his tie and the first few buttons of his shirt, but somehow he’d lost the ability to work past the knot imprisoning him.
Instead, he turned his attention to her and unhooked the front clasp of her bra.
He filled his hands with her bountiful breasts and her breath escaped in a feveredrush.
“We were supposed to have worked this out of our systems by now,” she gasped.
“We will.” Maybe in a decade or two. “But until then I need your hands on me. Ineed to be inside you again.”
He shifted a knee between her legs and slid the hem of her skirt upward, uncovering acres of smooth, creamy thigh and a tantalizing glimpse of butter-yellow panties.
He itched to explore all that lay beneath that scrap of silk.
To see those soft curls gilded with sunlight, as well.
He ran a finger along the scalloped edging, stroking inward toward dewy warmth until he found the sweet heart ofher.
Francesca groaned in response, arich, feminine, keening sound that called to him on every level and drove him ever closer to the edge.
He knew that sound, had heard her make it countless times during the night they’d spent together.
But there was another sound he wanted to hear.
Needed to hear. The sound she made when she climaxed in hisarms.
She shuddered against his stroking touch and he couldn’t stand it another minute.
He needed her. Now. In a single swift move, he skimmed her panties down her thighs and tossed them aside.
Next, he ripped his belt free and unfastened his trousers, pausing only long enough to remove the protection he’d had the foresight to stick in his pocket before their meeting.
Her hands joined his, helping to free him from the restriction of his clothing.
And then she cupped him, her touch cool against the burning length of him.
Instead of easing the raging fire, it only served to intensifyit.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so desperate to have a woman that he’d been unable to make it to the comfort of his bedroom. With Francesca, nothing mattered except to have her, right here and now. He lifted her and slid deep inside. Her legs closed around him as she welcomed himhome.
His groan of pleasure mingled with hers, the heavy pounding of his heart in perfect tempo with hers.
The breath exploded from her and then he heard her siren’s song, signaling her scramble toward the highest of peaks.
He joined her there, calling to her, mating with her, locking them together until he could no longer tell where her body ended and his began.
They moved in perfect harmony, continuing a dance that had begun their first night together.
The tempo this time around quickened, turning fast and hard and greedy.
He couldn’t get enough of her, not how tightly she clenched around him or how she cushioned him against the softness of her woman’s body or how she met each thrust with joyous abandon.
Long before he was ready for the encounter to end, she spasmed beneath him, and he found he couldn’t hold back, couldn’t resist going up and over the peak with her before crashing down the other side, holding her tight within hisarms.
Long minutes passed without either of them moving, maybe because movement proved a physical impossibility. Finally, the breath heaving from his lungs, Sev levered himself onto his elbows and gazed down at Francesca.
Heaven help him, but she was beautiful, her face delicately flushed with the ripeness of passion, her mouth moist and swollen from his kisses, her eyes heavy-lidded and slumberous.
In that moment, his world rested within the warmth of her grasp.
How had she come to mean so much to him in so short atime?
“I can’t walk away from you, Francesca.” Pure steel swept through the words. “And I won’t.”
She closed her eyes with a groan. “I shouldn’t have agreed to have lunch with you. Ishould have known we’d end up like this again.”
He caught the hint of regret and deliberately kissed it away, plying her with soft caresses and long, slow strokes until she trembled in his arms. “Something tells me we’ll always end up like this.”
Her eyes flew open, the sultry darkness lit with a want so deep and strong, she couldn’t disguise it as anything else.
“We can’t. We can’t do this again,” she whispered through lips still red and swollen from his kisses.
The scent of their passion enclosed them, belying her statement and he could feel the tension within her battling against the soft, hungry give of herbody.
Sev wanted her again. Again and again and again. For the moment, he’d allow her to escape. But only for the moment. He eased himself up and off her. Holding out his hand, he assisted her from the couch and helped return a semblance of order to her clothing.
“I didn’t give you a choice about lunch,” he informed her. “And just so you know, Idon’t plan to give you a choice in the future, either.”
She eyed him in open alarm, but didn’t ask the question he suspected hovered on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she murmured, “Where’s the bathroom?”
He directed her, then excused himself long enough to freshen up, as well. He returned to find her fully tucked and buttoned and preparing to leave. “There’s something I want to ask you,” he told her. “Actually, it’s the reason I invited you to lunch. ”
A smile flirted with her mouth, agenuine one that filled him with fierce pleasure. “You mean, you didn’t invite me so we could indulge in a wrestling match on your couch?”
He regarded her with a hint of laughter.
“As delightful as that was, no.” He crossed to her side.
Unable to resist, he slipped a hand into her hair.
Cupping the back of her head, he took her mouth in a swift, hungry kiss, akiss she returned without hesitation.
“Come work for me,” he offered when they broke apart.
Her eyes were alight with a slumberous passion and he suspected she didn’t assimilate his offer immediately. He saw the instant words connected with comprehension. The passion eked away, replaced by astonishment. “Work for you?” she repeated.
“I can offer you a far better salary than you receive at Timeless, excellent benefits, your own studio. You’ll have the Dante name behind your designs.
” He pressed, determined she see how much more he could do for her than the Fontaines.
“I can assist you become one of the most sought-after designers in the world. Best of all, we won’t have to sneak around hiding our relationship from your employers. ”
She took a hasty step away from him, pulling free of his hold, if not the connection burning between them. It refused to release either one of them. “Let me get this straight. You’re offering me a job so we can continue our affair?”
“Of course not.” Honesty compelled him to admit, “Okay, fine. In part. But mostly because you’re a damn good designer. Dantes would be lucky to have you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And what happens when we’re no longer Infernoed?”
The word provoked a swift smile. “Infernoed?”
“Right now, the hot, southern climes of your anatomy are doing your thinking. Once that brilliant mind of yours kicks in, you’ll regret any decisions you make while in the throes of this thing.
And I’ll have thrown away a job I love for a position at Dantes as the ex-mistress of the owner. How long do you think that’ll work?”
He struggled not to take offense. Until two nights ago his southern climes had never before overruled the cooler, dispassionate northern half of his body.
Yet, he suspected Francesca assumed it happened on a regular basis.
It was part of the price he paid for having a Latin name.
Emotion over intellect. Total nonsense, of course.
“I won’t compromise the family business for anyone or anything,” he stated. “My offer is genuine, Inferno or no Inferno. When our affair ends, you’ll still have your job, and it’ll be a hell of a lot more secure than your future at Timeless.”
He could tell she didn’t believe him. “Thank you, but I’m happy with the Fontaines.”
“Would you at least allow me to make an official offer?”
She dismissed the idea with a swift shake of her head.
“I have my reasons for staying at Timeless Heirlooms, and money isn’t really one of them.
I’m up for a permanent position there. In fact, Iwould have it already if I hadn’t ruined my reputation by spending the night with you.
The only saving grace is they don’t know it’s you. ”
He thought fast. “We can be discreet. They don’t have to know.”
She cut him off with a swift shake of her head.
“Forget it. Iwon’t make that sort of foolish mistake again or do anything to jeopardize my standing with the Fontaines.
And just so we’re clear? Being with you could get me fired and my job’s more important than anything else.
” She spared a swift glance toward the couch where the cushions still showed the imprint of their entwined bodies.
Still held the heat of their passion. “Even that.”
“Francesca—”
She waved him silent. “Forget it, Sev. Iagreed to meet with you this one last time. Ithink you’ll agree it was a lovely way to conclude our affair.
And that’s all this is. Abrief affair, now concluded.
Now, Ireally need to go.” She picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder.
“If I don’t come back from lunch in a reasonable length of time, they’ll start asking questions I can’t answer. ”
It would be pointless to argue, he could tell.
Better to find out what Nicolò and Lazz had dug up regarding the gorgeous Ms. Sommers.
That way he’d be in a stronger position to formulate a new plan, one with a better chance of success.
And it had to be quick, before his North surrendered to his South.
“I’ll arrange for a cab,” he limited himself to saying. “And I’ll give you a call later this week.”
She gave him a remote smile. “There’s no need... on either count.”
He watched the delicious sway of her hips as she exited the room, the view threatening to bring him to his knees. “Damn, woman,” he muttered. “There’s every need. And I plan to prove it to you.”
But he’d better figure out how, and fast. Because if he’d learned nothing else as a result of the past few hours, he’d discovered how wrong he’d been about The Inferno and all matters related toit .
He’d been determined to woo Francesca away from the Fontaines and have her work for Dantes.
To tempt her—not with sex—but with the financial advantages of working for Dantes.
Or that had been his intention until he’d come face-to-face with one incontrovertible fact.
Afact that sent his carefully laid plans crumbling to dust. There was no way in hell he could keep his hands off her now, or anytime in the near future. As of this minute, the plan changed.
Not only did he want to uproot her from Timeless Heirlooms so the company would be more vulnerable to a Dantes’ takeover, but he also wanted to transplant Francesca into his bed and keep her there.
At least until The Inferno burned itselfout.