by Anya Summers
Deep down, she knew Alex was in a better place and where he needed to be. Yet she had no idea where it left her, or where she belonged.
Her sorrow was haunting. Dante had sensed it the moment he picked Sabrina and her brother up this morning. After meeting Alex, seeing the depths of his disease, and the love Sabrina clearly had for him, he knew it was no wonder she was hurting. As he drove to the penthouse, she sat in stony silence and gazed out the passenger window.
It broke his heart, the devastation rolling off her in waves. It was clear as day how much she loved her brother. She amazed Dante with her loyalty and the wellspring of patience she displayed. How she’d not corrected Alex when he babbled and talked in rhyming sentences that made no logical sense.
Doing that took someone with formidable strength of character and heart. And he was beyond impressed by her fortitude, her intelligence, and even the way she carried her grief. The more he learned about her, this woman who had been in his life for two years, but whom he hadn’t really known until the last few days, the more fascinated he became.
But the woman he had flirted with, whom he had kissed, whom he had seen begin to sensually blossom and unravel against Michael last night, was absent.
When they made it up inside the penthouse, he said, “Are you hungry? I could fix some lunch or order something in. I noticed you didn’t eat much at the center.”
With her arms defensively around her midsection, and her face drawn, she murmured, “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to work on putting my closet in order.”
“I can help you with that.”
She winced and squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her lips together like it was taking everything inside her to hold herself together. “Dante, I know you mean well, but I need a minute alone. Please don’t push,” she pleaded with such sad eyes, he had to fight every urge and instinct to go to her, hold her close and have her lean on him.
“I’ll be out here if you need me,” he conceded. She wasn’t comfortable with him yet, confident in the fact that she could depend on him to hold her while she clearly needed a good cry. So instead of doing what his Dom instincts demanded he do, he let her go, and watched her shuffle away from him.
Dante understood the need to soothe your wounds without prying eyes. He remembered his mom, the way she had needed solitude after his father’s beatings. He also remembered giving her just enough space so that when the time came, she was ready to lean. And he would give Sabrina the afternoon.
Dante spent the time on the phone taking care of business at Bayou Sin. The nightclub he had created worked like a well-oiled machine—in large part because of the people he had hired to help him run it. But he liked to step in and lend a hand when needed. There was a problem with one of their liquor distributors that required his attention. He was also considering adding a few new items to the food menu.
Logged into the computer he kept at the penthouse, he listened out for Sabrina, acutely aware of her presence as he checked on accounts, placed orders, paid bills, and got paychecks ready. All the ins and outs of running his club that demanded his attention, he got out of the way.
Dante sent the package with the paychecks by courier, figuring it was time to start thinking about dinner, and had just thought he would give Sabrina the option to choose whatever she wanted, when he received an incoming text.
Michael: On my way. How did the move go?
Dante: She’s devastated. I’ve left her alone to process this afternoon, but think tonight we should both work on seduction, pull her out of her shell. Perhaps order in some comfort food for her.
Michael: She took it that hard? I figured she would be relieved.
Dante: Yeah, she did. The relief is there, but it’s tangled up with grief and sorrow.
Michael: And the brother?
Dante: Looks like her, in a more manly fashion. I was shocked by how bad his condition appears to be. Don’t really know how she managed all these years. From what I gather, she took care of him on her own at night, and just had a nurse come during the day.
Michael: Damn. I’ll be there in thirty.
Dante: See you soon.
He laid his phone down on the kitchen counter and went in search of their little wounded bird. He located her sitting on the bench in the closet. She’d hung up, stored, and organized all the purchases they had made in the last few days. There was still plenty of room for more. Dante figured that, when she and Michael returned from Los Angeles, he would take her out shopping again—or really, wherever she would like to go.
“Sabrina, why don’t you come into the living room? We can have a cocktail and decide on dinner for this evening.”
She turned her face up toward him, and her grief damn near punched a hole in his chest. There were no tears, just a hollow, pained expression in her eyes.
“Make it go away,” she whispered raggedly.
He lowered himself onto the bench beside her and pulled her onto his lap. She didn’t fight him, acting like she wanted to burrow and never leave, which he was more than fine with. He asked, “Make what go away, love?”
“The pain. I knew it would hurt, abandoning him this way. But the reality far outweighs anything I could have imagined.”
“Look at me,” he commanded, stroking a hand down her back, and waiting for her to comply before he continued. “It’s what is best for him. You told me that. And I looked up his condition; did some research on it last night after I dropped you off. A place like Houmas Assisted Living Facility is what is best for him. I cannot imagine the burden it’s been, carrying the load all by yourself.”
She simply shrugged dejectedly. “He’s my brother, it’s what you do for those you love. I just didn’t think it would be so hard to let him go. For so long, he’s been my purpose, my reason for getting out of bed in the morning, and now I don’t know what my purpose is any longer.”
“What can I do to help you?” Dante asked, searching her face. He would help her find a new purpose. And there was a part of him that wanted to be it, wanted her to turn that care, that concern, that love, his way. A woman like her gave of herself fully, and to be gifted with that, with her, after so many failed attempts that had left him wondering if there would ever be a submissive for him, had hope surging inside him for the first time in years.
“Kiss me. Make the pain go away, even for only a little while,” she whispered, pleading, while her hands gripped his shirt.
He flashed her a grin. “That I can do, with pleasure.”
Dante cupped her face in his hands, his prime objective turning the sorrow in her eyes into heat, and seeing her smile again. She had such a stunning, delicately boned face. He didn’t start with her mouth, but instead brushed his lips over her forehead. Skimmed his lips down her cheekbones. Pressed light kisses against her closed lids. Waited to claim her mouth until she sighed against him. Seducing her with his touch.
Only then did he capture her mouth, sucking on her plump bottom lip, and murmuring an approving groan when she slid her hands up and wound her arms around his neck. Her mouth tasted like the sweetest nectar. Dante felt his dick harden. The need to feel her writhe beneath him battered at him. The dominant beast that demanded he claim her, take what no man had before, clawed at his control.
He tried to remember it was too soon to take her, even though his blood raged with unquenched lust to fuck, to feel the hot clasp of her pussy grip him. He still didn’t know if she was on birth control. It had never come up.
And, sadistically, the beast hoped that she wasn’t, that when he finally mated with her, he would tie her to him, plant life inside her, forever connecting them.
Slanting his mouth, he shifted the angle of the kiss and took it deeper, mimicking what he wanted to do with her pussy. His hands delved into her silken hair and held tight as he ate at her mouth, showing her what it would be like between them, the uninhibited pleasure of what could be.
She clung to him, her chest against his, and he craved a taste of the pert bre
asts he had seen last night. But he was quickly passing the point of no return and had to put a stop to the little makeout session, reminding himself that she was a virgin. He tore his mouth away from hers before he let the beast inside him win, laid her down on the bench, and fucked her until his legs buckled.
“No. Please don’t stop!” she cried. Her mouth swollen from his kisses, she leaned up and pressed her lips against his chin when he tried to retreat.
“Love, as much as I want to keep going, I don’t want to move too fast. You’re hurting, and I don’t want you to make a decision that you’ll regret. We can give it a few days.”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to wait anymore. It stops when you kiss me. The pain goes away. Please don’t stop. Take me to bed and make me yours tonight. I need you to… please.”
It was the last broken please that did him in. How could he say no when it was what he wanted to begin with? And he wasn’t going to question the need she engendered in him. Not tonight, at least. It would be up to him to set the pace, to show her just what lovemaking could be, and go slow to make her first time memorable.
He pressed his lips against her forehead. “Just hold on to me.”
Dante rose with Sabrina in his arms and trod the short distance to Michael’s room. If they were going to take her virginity tonight, they would do it the proper way. Her first time should be in a bed. He figured, by the time Michael arrived home, she would be on a glorious edge, ready to receive them.
Chapter 11
Sabrina hung on to Dante as he carried her, much like a princess being carried off, with his arm beneath her knees, acting like she weighed hardly a thing. She wanted him—this. And even though she realized the timing was suspect, when his mouth was on hers the rest of the world slid away, much like water down a drain. Kissing him would take a truly awful day and blot it out, transform it into something beautiful.
Earlier, when they had first arrived at the penthouse, she’d used the excuse of organizing the closet as a place to wallow and digest the enormous change: that while she was and would always be there for Alex, she was no longer his daily caregiver. And while she had hung up blouses and slacks, stored panties and bras, and arranged heels and flats, she had let her mind empty to focus on the task at hand.
At least, until she’d finished.
And then she’d only been able to sit on the bench, with a melancholy that had descended over her, unable to force herself to be happy. So much of what she had done over the years had been survival, putting one foot in front of the other. Having no tasks that must be accomplished, no one to worry about, left her adrift.
Then, like a lifeline, Dante had appeared, larger than life, a buoy in a tumultuous sea, and she had gone into his arms without a second thought.
He strode into Michael’s bedroom and laid her on the huge bed.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, studying her. He stood tall and proud, desire etched on his features, in the hard lines of his body, in the firm ridge of flesh bulging against his trousers.
And she knew in that moment that he would relent. If she chickened out and said no, he would back off. Because Dante was the real thing, a deep in the bone gentleman, with a kinky side and a heart made of pure spun gold. Sabrina wondered if other women were as lucky to have someone like him to lose their virginity to.
She rose onto her knees on the mattress and, with her eyes trained on his, began drawing the skirt of her sundress up. “I’m sure.”
Dante’s gaze positively simmered. She was surprised her dress didn’t burst into flames. He laid his hand over hers. “Let me, love, this first time.”
Sabrina let her hands fall to her sides as he took over the task. He lifted the material, drew it up her body, and off over her head until she was kneeling before him on the bed in nothing but her bra and panties. Dante lowered his gaze, and his fingers traced the delicate lace material of her powder blue bra, above the globes and under, teasing her flesh, tracing the calloused tips around to her back. Her nerve endings tingled everywhere he caressed. Every spot he touched, he seduced, treating her body—treating her—as if she were precious.
No one had ever done that before, not like this, and his touch was hypnotic. She thought nothing of it when his hands undid the clasp of her bra and drew it down her arms. Or when he laid her back and spread her hair out on the pillow beneath her head. His eyes caressed her form as he hooked his fingers into the lace straps of her panties and drew them down her legs until she was bare before him. And now, he was the first man to ever see her nude.
“You’re lovely, Sabrina,” he murmured as he undressed down to his black boxer briefs.
He was gorgeous, was all she could think. Golden skin contoured over rippling muscles. His firm, broad chest tapered to a narrow waist, and powerfully built thighs. He was like a big jungle cat, sleek and muscular. He left his briefs on, though, as he positioned his big body between her thighs.
Disappointment filled her. “You’re still dressed.”
He smiled sexily. “Not to worry, we’ll get there, but it’s for your benefit. I will go as slowly as I can. If at any time you feel scared or want to stop, I want you to use the word red as your safeword. Can you remember that?”
She nodded. “Yes, but I don’t want you to stop.”
“I just want you to let me love you. Don’t worry about anything else,” Dante murmured, then leaned forward and pressed the full length of his body over hers. Her breath hitched at the sensation of his rock hard chest flush against hers, the hair over his pectorals teasing her nipples. And, good god, the firm ridge of his erection. He was huge, and she felt the first inkling of fear that she would never be able to fit all that inside and would end up being a huge disappointment to him.
Dante gently cupped her face in his hands, his gaze dark with lust, and lowered his mouth. An inch away, he waited; she wasn’t sure what for, and was about to say something, when his mouth claimed hers with the same tender, featherlight kisses as before that left her sighing into his embrace.
Dante kissed her and her world winnowed down to him. His kisses made her feel beautiful and desired. Passion built inside her body, and turned her limbs into lead weights. His captivating lips seduced her and, combined with the sensation of his big body between her legs, stretching her thighs apart, pressing her body down into the mattress, with his hard cock fit snugly against her sex, only served to increase her ardor.
She floated in a sea of heady anticipation. Her hands slid around his back, gripping him tight. She never wanted the magic to end, and thrilled at his muscles shifting beneath her hands.
Had anything ever felt this glorious in her life?
Desire that she had held in check, that she’d thought she would never experience, surfaced in towering waves as his tongue plunged inside her mouth, hot and heavy, to drive her body into a delirious state of existence. How had she gone so long without feeling this? Without knowing what it was to be with a man?
And then his kiss turned downright carnal. He ravaged her mouth. And she could only think: goody, and thank god.
One kiss bled into two… until she lost count. Her body went fluid beneath his. Her hands clutched his back. She didn’t want him to stop or leave her, ever.
Need swirled and pooled in her loins to the point where her sex throbbed. She ached to be filled by him, and unconsciously rocked her hips as desire won out. She was taken aback by the flood of pleasure the movement caused.
She moaned deep in the back of her throat.
And then his mouth left hers, skimming along her jaw and down her neck, his shadow beard scraping against her sensitive skin and adding to the eroticism. There was one spot he located beneath her ear that left her sighing. His hands cupped her bare breasts. His thumbs grazed her nipples, circling them. An electric current of pleasure zapped from her cleavage all the way to her sex, and pulsed.
His dark gaze watched her face as he kneaded the firm globes. Her nipples tightened into hard peaks.
Then he lowered his lips and sucked one of the pert buds into his mouth. This was only the second time she had ever felt this wonderful sensation. And Dante’s mouth moved against the mound differently than Michael’s, but it was no less amazing.
She arched her back, feeding him the mound. He sucked and nipped at both buds until they were swollen and jutted toward the ceiling. Her breasts felt heavy. Dante blazed a path of kisses down her torso, dipped his tongue in her belly button and had her giggling. He shot her a sexy wink before he continued south.
He spread her thighs further apart to accommodate his wide shoulders. He parted her sex with his thumbs and said, “You’ve got a gorgeous pussy, love. Ever touch yourself here?”
She blushed. “Um, yes.”
“There’s no shame in pleasure. I’m going to make you climax and prep your channel to accommodate my cock. I want you to be vocal, tell me what you like or don’t.”
Before she could respond, he circled her tiny pearl with his thumb, and she gasped at the magnitude of pleasure arcing through her body.
“Like this, how does it make you feel?” His fingers stroked her, teasing her with his caress.
“Good,” she said with a breathy moan, but the word didn’t describe what it was making her feel. Heat expanded exponentially through her body with every graze of his fingers against her clit.
He teased her flesh with his hands, exploring her pussy slowly with light touches, his gaze never wavering from her face. He stroked the nub, flicked and rubbed it, sending whirls of pleasure straight to her center, where they continued to build in size in scope. But then he lowered his face and licked the length of her crease.
Sabrina’s eyes crossed. Pleasure unlike anything she had ever felt before flooded her system. Dante laved her clit, flicking his tongue back and forth. And she let go; let him do whatever he wanted, and rode the blissful waves as they battered her. Her body seemed to gather in on itself as he ate at her pussy. When he plunged his talented tongue inside her channel, her hips jerked, her body arched, and she almost levitated off the bed in ecstasy.