“Instead of continuing to study prelaw, I joined the police force to bring home as many people as I could. I also wanted a look at Maya’s files; eventually, I got it. I was hoping to discover some magic, hidden secret in their pages that everyone else overlooked, but I didn’t discover anything.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I haven’t given up looking for her, and I never will.”
She did not doubt that. “You wanted to be a lawyer?”
His gaze came back to her; the small smile he gave her didn’t ease the sorrow from his eyes. “Maya and I both did. Our parents were lawyers. They practiced family law and did a lot of pro bono cases for abused women trying to escape their husbands. Maya and I planned to work with them and one day take over the family business.”
“What an amazing dream,” she murmured. And how sad the beautiful family in that picture never got the chance to live it.
“It was, but not all dreams come true, and when they don’t, you have to readjust and find a new dream or the loss of the old one will eat you alive. Becoming a bitter man was not how I intended to live my life. I loved being on the force, and I did a lot of good. And I continue to do a lot of good.”
“Yes, you do,” Cassidy agreed.
Dante found himself lost in the beauty of her midnight eyes as they scanned his face. He didn’t want to think about Maya or Julie or the many lost souls out there. He didn’t want to think at all.
Closing the distance between them, he took the book from her hands and set it on the shelf. When he stepped closer to Cassidy, he was afraid she’d move away from him. Instead, she tilted her head back to gaze at him.
“You are so beautiful,” he said as he clasped her cheek with his palms and bent to kiss her.
Chapter Seventeen
The second his lips touched hers, she felt like she was falling apart and coming together all at the same time. His kiss broke her down to the smallest, most minuscule pieces of herself and rearranged them into someone completely different. Someone who was coming alive in ways she never dreamed possible.
Her senses, always honed, felt sharper and more acute as his scent flooded her. The taste of him was unlike anything she ever experienced before. He was sweet and so addictive she didn’t think she’d ever get enough of him.
Her fingers encircled his wrist as she clung to him, and the feel of his flesh seared itself onto all her cells. He was breaking her, reshaping her, making her better, and making her his.
As she leaned into his kiss, her knees almost gave out when his tongue swept in to claim hers. She’d been kissed before, but never with this level of passion. It was as if he were memorizing every part of her as he tasted her in long, slow thrusts.
Dante couldn’t get enough of her; she was as sweet as the cherry aroma she emanated. He’d never kissed anyone like her before; she was like liquid fire and heavenly nectar all rolled into one.
His heart raced so fast he was sure she could hear it, and he didn’t care. He wanted her to hear it and know how much she affected him. Never in his life had he wanted someone this badly. He was so hard it hurt, and only she could ease him.
He slid one arm around her waist as his hand clasped her hair. Her hands wrapped around him, and her fingers dug into his back. Edging her back to the bed, he felt when her knees came up against the mattress before she sank onto it.
Dante followed her onto the bed as she scooted back without breaking the kiss. With his thighs straddling hers, he knelt over her as his fingers found the bottom edge of her shirt, and he nudged it up. When his hands flattened against her flesh, he almost groaned at the exquisite sensation of her supple skin.
Cassidy shivered as Dante’s large, strong hands ran up from her hips to trace her rib cage. Her breasts ached to feel his hands on them, and her nipples pressed against the thin cotton of her bra.
She wished she bought something sexier than the plain white bra and underwear, but with the way he was touching and tasting her, she didn’t think he’d care about her clothes. No, she was certain he’d far prefer seeing her in nothing.
Dante broke the kiss and leaned back to slide her shirt up her belly and over her rib cage until he exposed her simple white bra and round, tempting breasts. His mouth watered as he pulled her shirt over her head and took a minute to savor her beauty. Long and lean, she had curves in all the right places.
Her mouth was swollen from his kiss, and her heavy-lidded eyes smoldered with desire. Her inhalations caused her breasts to rise enticingly toward him. Unable to resist, he cupped one and ran his thumb over her nipple.
When she pressed them more firmly into his palm, his dick jumped in response. He slipped a finger inside her bra and pulled it down to expose her breast. His fangs tingled and slid free as he bent to flick his tongue across her nipple.
Cassidy gasped as fire seared her veins, and she arched off the bed. Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she pulled him closer when his fangs scraped her flesh. His enticing scent of leather and man increased as she enclosed her legs around him, drawing him closer.
The rigid evidence of his arousal prodded between her thighs, and she rocked against him. The delicious sensation caused her fangs to lengthen while
