“Cold fish, hmm? That’s what people call me?”
“They call you many things, but that’s the most accurate description of your character I’ve come across so far.”
“So are you interested in Matteo?”
“Excuse me?” The sudden question threw me off.
“You danced with him at our wedding, and you seemed to enjoy yourself more than usual.”
“Are you jealous of Matteo?”
“I’m not jealous, no. I’m merely trying to protect what’s mine.”
That sounded an awful lot like jealousy to me. “I don’t know why you even care. You don’t seem to be interested in me outside of the bedroom, and even that was initiated by me, as you pointed out so helpfully. Right now, I think if you ever caught me in bed with Matteo, you’d probably give me one of your cold looks and then go back to work.” I wasn’t sure why Matteo was even a topic. I’d never been interested in him. He’d always been too unpredictable for my taste.
“I’d go back to work, yes,” he said with a predatory smile. “After gutting Matteo and watching him bleed to death.” He took a sip of his white wine.
I gave up. It was obviously not possible to talk to Dante like husband and wife. We ate the rest of our dinner in silence, only broken by the scratching of our knives on the plates and the occasional thud when we set out glasses down on the table.
* * *
I was half-asleep when Dante came into bed. The mattress dipped and then his warm body pressed up against me. I didn’t stir. Dante brushed my hair off my back and pressed a hot kiss against my neck, then followed it with a gentle bite. I was glad I lay on my stomach and could stifle my gasp in the pillow. I didn’t want him to know how much his touch affected me, how much my body craved his ministrations. I was still mad at him for his words during dinner, but my body had a mind of its own.
Dante didn’t seem too put off by my unresponsiveness. He trailed his tongue over my shoulder blade, then along the bumps of my spine until the nightgown was in his way. He made his way back up and sucked the skin over my pulse point into his mouth, then left soft kisses up to my ear. He moved even closer, so I could feel his erection through the fabric of his pajama pants. It took all my self-control not to reach out and curl my fingers around his hard-on. His breathing was hot against my ear as he licked my earlobe, making me shiver with desire.
He brushed my neck with his knuckles, then moved lower until he reached the dip above my butt. My breathing was coming faster and I could feel my panties sticking to my center from arousal, but I still didn’t move. This time I wouldn’t be the one initiating anything.
Dante slid his hand over my ass before dipping between my legs. He groaned when his fingers brushed my panties. It took all my willpower not to press myself against his hand for some friction. His mouth found my ear. “I know you’re ignoring me, but you should learn to control your body if you want to succeed in doing so.”
That infuriating bastard.
Dante sat up and pushed my nightgown up before hooking his fingers under the waistband of my panties and sliding them down my legs. I lifted my face from the pillow and glimpsed over my shoulder. It was too dark in the room to make out much. The silvery moonlight streaming through the windows cast Dante into shadows, but I was certain he was watching me. Then his hands were back on me. He massaged my calves, slowly working his way up higher. His breathing was deep and calm in the dark. He slipped his hand between my legs and pushed them apart. I buried my face back in the pillow when his fingers found my folds and started stroking my clit. He shifted, and then his lips were on my butt. He bit my cheek lightly, then soothed the spot with his tongue and lips. I almost came right then. Instead I sank my teeth into my lower lip to hold on longer. This was too good to be over so soon. Dante repeated the motions until he’d worked his way back up to my throat and I was a boneless heap of desire.
I parted my legs even further for him, not caring that only hours ago I’d sworn to ignore him until he stopped treating me with cold detachment outside of the bedroom. As he rubbed my clit, need overtook my reasoning. He spread my wetness, then slid two fingers into me. I arched my backside up to give him better access to my opening. He started moving his fingers in and out slowly while his lips kept up their ministrations on my throat and shoulder, always alternating between nibbling, licking and kissing. He was panting too. This was affecting him. I moved my hand to the bulge in his pants and started rubbing it through the fabric. He released a harsh breath into my ear. “Every moment of the day I think of the things I want to do with you, catch myself remembering your taste, your smell. Sometimes I think I’ll go insane if I don’t bury myself in you.”
I whimpered. Why couldn’t he show me that during the day? Why did he have to act like I was nothing but a needy wife? He thrust his fingers faster into me and I moved my hips against them, wanting him deeper. He hit a sweet spot deep inside me; fire licked my belly and core, making me cry out as pleasure rippled through me. Dante kept pumping into me as I bucked my hips desperately, riding the
