* * *
Our heights now equal, I studied him. “How long do most of them last?”
* * *
He reached for my hand, pulled it into his lap, and traced his fingers over the back of it. “I don’t want to talk about other women. I want to talk about us.” He looked at me and frustration tightened his features. “What don’t you like about the suite?”
* * *
I curled my fingers around his. “The suite is fine. The offer isn’t. I’m not interested in being taken care of by you.”
* * *
He pulled on my hand and patted his lap. “Come here.”
* * *
Here was a word with limited possibilities. I considered them, examined the ridiculousness of sitting on his lap, then obeyed. I crawled across the chaise and moved onto his lap, straddling him.
* * *
He tugged on my T-shirt. “I am a businessman, Bell. I’m open to negotiations.”
* * *
He didn’t understand. All his money, all his power, and he didn’t understand the simplest thing about a woman’s heart. It wasn’t up for negotiation, and my biggest struggle wasn’t in where I would live, but if I could protect that heart from him. I shook my head and tried to find my way back to a safe place of reason. “I told you not to contact me again.”
* * *
He sighed, his eyes studying mine, and when his hands slid upward, underneath my baggy tee and up to the curve of my small breasts, he saw the change in my eyes, the weakness of my composure, the depth of my need. “I tried, Bell. I tried to leave you alone.”
* * *
I hated him. I hated that with such simple words, with such a small touch, I was sucked into his orbit. Every rational thought said to back away. Every rational objection demanded I climb off his lap. Instead, I leaned into his touch.
* * *
His hands tightened and his mouth crushed against mine, soft velvet that took as much as it begged. My body reacted and I reached for him just to stop from falling.
* * *
I’ve kissed a lot of men in my life. Our first kiss in The Gold Room seduced my mind. This one broke the first chain around my heart.
DARIO
* * *
Their kiss escalated and her legs slid around him, wrapping tightly. When he stood, she didn’t let go, her mouth hot and needy against his.
* * *
“Take me to the bedroom,” she demanded, diving back onto his mouth, her hands fisting in his hair.
* * *
He stepped into the suite and her legs found their ground. She stepped away and through the bedroom door, a devilish gleam in her eye. He watched her disappear into the dark room and his cock twitched.
* * *
With her, everything was different. She hadn’t asked him to get rid of Meghan or Laney, yet he had. He’d booked this suite out for a year, and she had turned her nose up at it. He was three steps behind, chasing her for attention, yet terrified of her at each step. Vulnerability was a luxury he couldn’t afford, and each interaction with her brought it in spades.
* * *
He stepped into the room and shut the door, watching her turn, her eyes alive with desire.
* * *
He needed to get the upper hand, or he needed to let her go. It was that simple. But just as equally, it wasn’t simple at all.
* * *
He toed off his dress shoes, then reached for his belt and undid the clasp.
Fourteen
BELL
* * *
There were few things hotter in this world than watching Dario Capece unzip his pants. He let them fall to the floor, and I watched him step out of them with the feral ease of a lion.
* * *
“Get on the bed.”
* * *
I backed up until I bumped against the king-sized bed, my hands fumbling as I slid onto it. He undid his second and third button, then gripped the collar of the white dress shirt and pulled it over his head.
* * *
He was all muscle and black boxer briefs. The briefs were thin and silk, clinging to him enough that I could see the stiff outline of his cock. I wanted to turn on all the lights, to illuminate him further, but the dim light from the bathroom was enough to tell me everything I already knew. He was beautiful.
* * *
He stalked forward and the details came into view. The scars that dotted his landscape, short and long slashes of a history I didn’t know. The thin dark hair, clipped short, on his chest. Thick abs. Strong shoulders. He reached forward and an impressive bicep flexed.
* * *
“Wow.” The word fell out, and I covered the slip with an embarrassed grin.
* * *
He cocked a brow but said nothing. He tucked a tendril of my hair behind my ear and leaned forward, placing his hands on the bed beside me and lowering his mouth to mine. He paused, and I pushed forward, my lips against his, my tongue greedy when he finally opened his mouth.
* * *
“Dario…” His name was a plea uttered in between kisses, my hands moving up his chest, squeezing and testing the muscles, sliding over his shoulders and stealing into his hair, pulling on the dark strands. My bare feet reached forward, my sole bumping over those muscular thighs and found his cock, my soles coming together, and I used the thin gap between them to grip his length, his underwear lubricating the movement.
* * *
He groaned and straightened, pulling at my shirt. He was hidden from sight, and I yanked at the cotton, clearing it from my head and clawing for him. He stepped back and I followed, almost falling off the end of the bed and onto my knees, the fur rug cushioning the impact. I tucked my feet beneath me and my new position put his crotch front and center before me. Beneath the black fabric, his cock twitched.
* * *
I reached for it and he gently pushed my hands away. He looped his fingers underneath the waist of the underwear and pulled down, the material silently dropping to the floor.
* * *
I stared and forgot, for a single moment, how to breathe.
DARIO
* * *
His attempt to gain the upper hand was going haywire. She was on her knees, in the most subservient position he could envision, and still held all the power. The way she looked at his cock … he groaned and stepped closer, his hand settling on the back of her head and pulling it forward till it met his shaft.
* * *
“Just kiss it.”
* * *
She obeyed, her eyes meeting his as she planted a line of soft kisses along its length. She opened her mouth and he almost broke in the moment her tongue darted out and flicked against the underside of his shaft.
* * *
“How many men have you done this with?”
* * *
She only shook her head in response, refusing to answer the question. It didn’t matter. From this point forward, her mouth was only his. That’s what mattered. His to kiss, his to enjoy, his to experience. He couldn’t bear the thought of her on her knees before another man, couldn’t bear the thought of another man witnessing this sight, experiencing the tentative touch of her wet tongue sliding along his length. He threaded his hands through her hair and gripped it, tilting her head back, her mouth open as if waiting for more.
* * *
“God, you’re beautiful.”
* * *
She was. Too beautiful for a scarred-up thug like him. Too pure for his violence. Too naive for his deception.
* * *
She paused at the head of his cock, and he reached down, gripping the base of it and gently running the crown of it over her open lips. She flicked her tongue out, and he grinned. “Tease.”
* * *
“You’re the one who’s too bossy to let me do a proper job.”
* * *
It wasn’t fair, the combination of assets that this woman possessed. The fearlessness. Sexuality. Wit. She was the most tempting woman h
e’d ever experienced, and that was dangerous. She closed her eyes and took him down her throat, a wet flex of sensation that had his balls clenching, the pleasure so great that he took a long moment of selfish enjoyment. She bobbed her head, taking him as far as she could, and it was one of the hottest feelings he’d ever had.
* * *
The sensation, paired with his long abstinence … he stepped away from that mouth before he got distracted from his purpose—bringing her pleasure. He nodded at her to stand up. “Take off your pants.”
* * *
Meeting her eyes, he prayed for forgiveness over the shit-storm he was about to start.
“Please…”
* * *
I clawed at the sheets and begged, for the third time, for him. I turned my head and bared my teeth, biting at his bicep muscle. He growled and pulled my hair, removing my teeth from his skin. He was above me, his forearm alongside my head and holding his weight, his body light atop mine. Too light. He pressed forward with his hips and his bare erection slid over my mound. I was so wet the motion was audible, the slick meeting of our bodies perfect, had his cock been just an inch lower.
* * *
“I need it.” I panted the words, my hands gripping his hips, trying to pull him tighter to me. He shut me up with his mouth, his touch moving from my breast and sliding down to the place where our bodies met. I tightened, already aware, from earlier orgasms, of what his fingers could do. I clawed at his back and yelped when he pushed two digits inside of me.
* * *
“One more and I’ll stop,” he promised.
* * *
I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted hours of this, assuming this included penetration of more than his fingers and his tongue. Not that I was complaining. God knew that foreplay was a lost art, one this man had mastered. But it wasn’t fair to have such a beautiful dick and torture someone by withholding it.
* * *
“Fuck me.” I gritted out the command, lifting my hips off the bed as his fingers hit my g-spot.
* * *
“I don’t have a condom.”
* * *
Ugh. A piece of sense in this torturous session. I tightened my grip on his back and gasped as another orgasm built—the third so far tonight.
* * *
“I—” I stopped as my legs tensed, my back arched, the orgasm swelled. Bold and glorious, it ripped a soundless scream from my throat as he furiously worked his fingers, his eyes tight on mine. Chords of intense pleasure rippled across me and I bucked against his hold, riding out the sensation, then curled in, everything fading into a mess of languid aftershocks. His hand softened and retreated as he lifted off me. I saw, in the haze of pleasure, his large frame settling back on his knees as he jacked off quickly, his fist a blur of rough motion. He held me down with his other hand, keeping me in place.
* * *
“Stay still.”
* * *
“Just like that.”
* * *
“God….”
* * *
He tensed, his face tightening, and came on my stomach, some shots hitting my breasts, and he held my gaze the entire time—an intense connection I couldn’t look away from.
* * *
We hadn’t even had sex. Just bodies, mouths, fingers. Friction, teases, touching. Whispers, pants, and begs. I’d gone further in the backseat of a car with my second boyfriend.
* * *
It should have felt minor. Instead, it felt like the biggest thing I’d ever done.
I cinched the belt of the thick and fluffy hotel robe and stepped into the bedroom, my feet leaving wet footprints on the floor. Through the open door, I spotted Dario in the kitchen and headed that way. He sat on a kitchen barstool, his phone in hand, head down. At my approach, he turned. “Enjoy the shower?”
* * *
I smiled. “It was heavenly.”
* * *
He reached out, pulling me against his thigh and planting a soft kiss on my temple. I looked over the plates of food spread out on the counter. “You ordered food?”
* * *
“Just some snacks.” He pulled a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries closer to me. “You want something to drink?”
* * *
“Water, please.” I bit into a strawberry, cupping my other hand underneath it to catch the bits of chocolate as they fell off it. “Oh my God, this is good.”
* * *
His hand tightened around my waist, a soft squeeze of affection, and then he reached around me for a water bottle. I went to stand, to move to the empty stool next to his, and he held me in place, twisting off the cap and passing the water bottle to me. He glanced down at my robe and I caught a whiff of fir trees from his freshly-shampooed head. “The shops are closed until the morning. I can have Vince bring me a change of clothes, but you’re going to be stuck in that robe, or naked, until morning.” The corner of his mouth lifted, and I loved the way it warmed his eyes.
* * *
“Hmmm….” I sucked a bit of strawberry juice off my fingertips. “Robe it is.”
* * *
He scowled and I laughed. I stood, moving down the plates of food and eyeing their contents.
* * *
“So, tell me, Bell Hartley…” He rested his forearms on the counter and studied me. “What would it take to get you to move in here?”
* * *
I coughed a little at the abrupt change of subject. “What’s your reason for wanting me to be here, specifically?”
* * *
He reached out and grabbed a piece of sushi with his fingers, dipping it into the soy sauce before bringing it to his mouth. As he chewed it, I followed suit, snagging a crab-topped piece, my own attempt a little messier than his had been. His vulnerability faded, and I watched as he shuttered back into dominance. “It’s easier for me if you’re here. I could meet you during the day or at night. Discreetly.”
* * *
I made a face at that statement, my stomach still unsettled with the entire situation.
* * *
He watched the expression and patted the closest stool, spinning to face it. “You don’t like me being married. So, let’s talk about that.”
* * *
I perched on the stool, taking a sip of water as he scratched the back of his head.
* * *
“I told you that Gwen and I … we aren’t monogamous. We also aren’t physically involved with each other.”
* * *
I held up a hand and stopped him. “At the Gold Room, you said that it wasn’t my business why your marriage is the way it is. I’m not sure it’s my business, now. But while your marriage freaks me out, it’s not the only issue I have.”
* * *
I took a breath, trying to decide how much of my soul I wanted to bare. “I’ve never been interested in being someone’s girlfriend before. Emotional feelings … my heart doesn’t seem to work that way. Which is a good thing, I think. At least, I’ve always seen it as a good thing.”
* * *
I looked at him, my confidence faltering. “But with you, I am worried that I will become emotionally attached. And I want, the first time I fall for someone, for it to be a winnable situation. You…your marriage…”
* * *
“It’s a losing situation,” he finished flatly. “Is that why you told me not to contact you?”
* * *
I nodded. “Plus, there’s your father-in-law. I’ve heard that he … well, he scares me. What I’ve heard of him scares me.”
* * *
He smiled sadly. “I’m sure that what you’d heard of me scared you as well.”
* * *
I said nothing, busying myself with a crunchy stick that tasted like apples and cinnamon.
* * *
Silence fell and when he finally spoke, the broken edges of his voice caused me to look up and into his eyes. “Gwen and I… we’re both broken. We fit well together because of that. We’ve su
rvived things together that have made us stronger. And we sometimes forget how difficult our world might seem to someone from the outside, looking in.”
Even Money Page 11