The Mr. Wrong Series

by Madden, A. M.

  Jude cleared his throat. “Thank you for the compliment, but we’re going out for an early dinner.”

  “Dinner? It’s closer to lunch,” Dante quipped.

  “It was all I was able to get. Our reservations are in forty-five minutes. Our ride will be here in twenty.”

  Was he kidding? It would probably take me an hour just to get all the sand off of me and out of my hair. Meanwhile, Dante casually sat down and popped open a beer like he didn’t have a care in the world. “I hate to be a wet blanket, but I can’t be ready in twenty minutes.”

  “You have to come, Cass! We’re all heading back to the city tomorrow.” Brae gripped her husband’s arm and pouted. “Can you call to see if they’ll move it?”

  “Babe, I practically had to sign over our firstborn to get in.” He turned his focus back to me. “How quick can you be ready?”

  “An hour?” Deep down, I knew that would be tight.

  “We’ll go on ahead… Dante, you hang back and drive Cassie over when she’s done. The keys are in the kitchen drawer. Take whichever car you want.”

  Dante was quick to agree while giving me one of his salacious smirks, one that held and held. After what transpired on that beach a few minutes ago, I knew that look. I knew he knew we’d be alone in twenty minutes. I knew he knew what we had just done was vivid in my thoughts.

  I didn’t think I had it in me to push him away, as I was still pulsing with lust even after being tossed around like a piece of driftwood. Screwing in his apartment with no one the wiser was one thing, but I didn’t think I could pretend nothing happened with Vanessa the bloodhound lurking about.

  Deciding to take matters into my own hands, and avoiding a possible encounter on his terms, I snatched my wet cover-up and said, “I’m going to go get ready. It’ll take most of the hour to get the sand out of my hair. Dante, I’ll meet you in the kitchen when I’m done.” Not waiting for a response, I grabbed the rest of my stuff and hightailed it off the deck like my ass was on fire.

  Chapter 15

  Dante

  The way she tried to act cool was adorable. Did she truly think she was that great of an actress? Besides the constant blushing, fidgeting, and shifty eyes, didn’t she realize the way we kept staring at each other was a big-ass red flag?

  No doubt our friends, and my brother, were on to us, so pretending seemed ridiculous. Even still, I happened to enjoy watching her fumble awkwardly. It was what drew me to Cassie to begin with on the night she hit my ride. The way she stood with hands on hips, trying to come off prim and proper in that ridiculous dress with pencils all over it, made me hard as stone. It was the two sides of her, equal parts geek and vixen, that I found hard to resist.

  After Cassie sprinted off the deck, I waited a few minutes before excusing myself. Brae explained where I could find what I needed to shower, and I nodded with a polite smile, knowing damn well what I needed wasn’t in the bedroom I had slept in last night.

  Not having a clue which of the four guest rooms Cassie stayed in, I opened two doors before hearing the sound of water running. With a quick glance behind me, I slipped in and turned the lock. Noticing she had left the bathroom door slightly ajar, my suit was on the floor even before I stepped into the steamy room.

  The sight of her naked silhouette behind the frosted glass stopped me in my tracks. How she stood with her back to me, revealing the contour of her perfect ass, was a thing of beauty. The way she lifted up on her toes every so often, causing the lines of her legs to lengthen, was something I could’ve watched all day.

  Christ, I desperately wanted to photograph her naked… and one day I would. I just needed to broach that delicately. The thought of her in my studio, my instructions manipulating her legs, arms, and the positioning of her head, excited me more than anything I’d ever shot in my career. A hint… a tease… a suggestion of the type of power she possessed over me would create a work of art that was all Cassandra.

  Although not as big as a master-bath shower, there was still plenty of room for the both of us. I debated announcing myself but decided to slip in behind her, leaving no room for argument. What had happened between us on the beach left me thrumming with need. And if I had any doubt she didn’t feel the same, I wouldn’t be there forcing the issue. But I knew she felt the same… I felt how much she felt the same. Every part of her screamed for me, even if she tried to deny it.

  The skim of my hands around her narrow waist caused her to gasp. I didn’t apologize for being there. I didn’t give her the opportunity to say it was wrong or that we shouldn’t be doing this. I merely grabbed the shampoo off the marble shelf, flipped the cap, poured a bit in my hand, and began massaging it into her scalp.

  “You’re evil,” she whispered on the tail end of a moan. Meanwhile, she went lax against me as I kneaded my fingers in her silky blond hair. With each stroke at her temples, her sounds became more aggressive… more feral. Every slight movement she made caused blood to rush directly to my cock. He wanted her… he wanted in.

  “I’m evil? How so?” I asked, my lips on her ear. Goosebumps spread over her warm flesh, and I smiled at how her body never failed to respond to mine. Rivulets of soapy water slicked down the slopes of her breasts, funneling through her cleavage and over her rosy nipples.

  “Because I can’t resist this, that’s how,” she uttered, barely above a whisper.

  “Then don’t resist it, Cassandra.” After her hair, she allowed me to wash every part of her. There wasn’t an inch of her warm skin spared from my touch… except her pussy. I purposely avoided it, teasing to bring her to unimaginable heights.

  She leaned back, using my body for balance. Reaching behind her, she gripped my neck to brace herself while on her toes. The position forced her breasts forward. I cupped them while skimming my thumbs over her pebbled nipples. Wordless moans filling the steamy space instigated the need to hurry and finish the washing ritual, so I could bury myself deep and defile her. As a temporary substitute, I shamelessly rubbed myself against her to convey what I wanted.

  “Dante…” She abruptly stopped her words, yet wiggled her ass against my cock, poking the beast within me.

  “Hmm?” I asked, knowing her wheels spun with apprehension. “What, Cassandra? What is it you want to say?”

  “The others…” Confirming my suspicion, she added, “They might hear.”

  “Don’t worry about the others. Stop worrying about anything but us. Are you ready to surrender to this?” Using my touch to persuade, I skated my hand down her body toward her thigh and then into the gap between her legs. The move was met with silence, until my fingers brushing over her warm folds caused a whimper. “How does that feel, Cassandra? Am I satisfying your ache?”

  “No… you’re worsening it.”

  At her admission, I slid a finger inside her tight channel while my thumb firmly circled over her clit. “Is this better? Are you ready to surrender to me?”

  “Yes, on both counts.” She allowed me to use her body by widening her stance, and by leaning on me for support, she gave me the permission I needed to soothe the ache I was responsible for.

  I slid my finger in and out of her, and by adding another, I stretched where my dick wanted to be. Curling them just enough, I grazed that tender spot that acted like a detonator. Her warm pussy pulsed around my fingers, intensifying my ache to fuck her.

  Having her coming apart at my hand, moaning through her pleasure with abandon, became the worst form of torture. But I’d take the torment, and a million forms of it, just to have her naked and wet against me.

  After one final spasm, she relaxed, waited a few moments to catch her breath, and then turned to face me. Her blue eyes were wild with lust, her face flushed with pleasure. While staring into my eyes, she gripped my cock in one hand. “What about your ache, Dante?” she asked, stroking me in a tit-for-tat retaliation.

  “Cassandra,” I growled, trying to maintain even a thread of control. But with each grope, that restraint I fought for frayed like
a worn pair of jeans. It was when she dropped to her knees and pulled me into her mouth that my composure imploded. She barely got more than my tip in, because before we both knew what was happening, I had her straddling my body with her back up against the cold tile wall. “I’m fucking you, Cassandra. Right now, raw. Just you and me. All you need to do is tell me if I have to pull out.” She stared at me, shock and hunger fighting equally in the pale-blue depths of her eyes. “Do I?” I repeated through gritted teeth.

  “I’m on the pill.” She met my gaze with a determined one of her own. And while her eyes boldly drilled into mine, I slid into her tight, wet heat.

  “Jesus Christ.” I hadn’t fucked bare in years, but regardless of how long it had been I couldn’t ever remember it feeling this incredible. Almost to the point of debilitating, because there I was buried to the hilt, flesh to flesh, and I had yet to move.

  “Faster,” she barked, not too kindly. And if I weren’t in the midst of a sexual meltdown, I would have laughed. But that would require basic motor skills, which I lacked at the moment, and it took every fiber of my being to remind myself to even breathe.

  All the teasing, kissing, and foreplay we’d danced around since the first time we fucked fueled what happened between us in that steamy shower. As I pumped into her over and over, I knew whatever this obsession was, it needed to continue.

  “Be mine,” flew out of my mouth before I could stop it. A slow blink meant she heard me. With our gazes tethered, she parted her lips, but no words came. “Say it, Cassandra,” I added almost angrily. Goddamn, I needed those words as much as I needed to come inside her. And both acted as an accelerant to the blaze smoldering within me.

  Finally, her muscles contracted, her grip tightened, and her orgasm ripped through her. “I’m yours.”

  At hearing that, I came harder than I ever have. This woman flipped my world upside down in a few short weeks. I liked that she had… and that should have fucking terrified me, but it didn’t.

  Cassie

  Damp sheets cocooned around our naked bodies. Dante’s suggestion of foregoing dinner seemed brilliant on the precipice of my third orgasm, but as my stomach rumbled with hunger, it might not have been such a great plan.

  “Hungry?” Dante asked with a chuckle.

  “I could eat.”

  His lips pressed against my shoulder blade. “What would you like? I could send Luca another text and have him bring you something.”

  A giddy snicker bubbled out of me. “No way. Right now, we’re the topic of their conversation. Haven’t you heard my phone buzzing since our lame excuses of you being tired and me being sunburned? Vanessa is having a field day with this.”

  Cool air hit my backside just before a warm hand struck my right ass cheek. “Hey! What the hell did you do that for?”

  “Now you look sunburned to me.” His laugh, followed by a kiss to where my skin tingled from his palm, had me forgetting my irritation. “Did you like that, Cassandra? Has a man spanked you before?”

  Avoiding his question, I asked, “Weren’t we talking about dinner?” He resumed nibbling my shoulder, and I’d come to learn enough about him to know his silence meant he was waiting for me to answer his question. “Yes and no.”

  Dante flipped me around, hedging his thigh between my legs, and stared into my eyes. “Yes and no, what? Yes, you liked it?”

  Admitting that I liked his hands on me wasn’t easy. But for some reason, confessing such a personal yet embarrassing truth would be liberating, so I went for it. “Yes. And no one has ever spanked me before. Just you.”

  “And that’s the way it’s going to stay. Only me. I only want my hands on you. I meant what I said in the shower.” His fingers traced my face from the apple of my cheek down and across my jawline. “You’re mine, nobody else’s.”

  Hearing a man like Dante claim me sent a surge of heat to the apex of my thighs. The urge to grind against his leg combated with the natural impulse to challenge his arrogance. Yes, it was a complete turn-on that he wanted me. Yet my pride won the argument, forcing me to ask the questions I needed answers to.

  “What about you, Dante? Who do you belong to? Who else will you be spanking?”

  His brows furrowed, and as quickly as strong lines formed on his forehead, they smoothed. “What are you asking? Do you want me to be yours?”

  “If I’m going to be yours, then we should be exclusive,” I said with a firm tone.

  “You never asked.” His soft lips brushed against mine. “Say it out loud. Let me hear you say the words. Guessing isn’t my strong suit, Cassandra. If you want me the way you know I want you… the way I claimed you as mine, then you need to say it.” His thigh nudged against my sex. “If there’s something you like, you need to tell me.” His fingers clawed my ass. “If there’s something you want to try, you need to voice it.” He rolled onto his back and pulled my body on top of his, framing his hips with my legs. “If you want to top me, you’re going to have to admit you do.” Dante’s deliberate maneuvers resulted in his eyes boring into mine as his erection teased my opening.

  I knew the game he played. Every taut muscle on his torso awaited my response. And there was only one way to answer him… to acknowledge what he already knew to be true. While on my knees, I slicked his dick with my arousal, lubricating him just before impaling myself. “You’re mine. Just mine. Only mine,” I demanded.

  His face was full of satisfaction, shining with unwavering peace. “Only yours.”

  Morning sunlight created a prism of colors against the crystal champagne flute. After claiming each other, we were famished. Raiding Jude and Brae’s refrigerator, Dante and I decided on a smorgasbord consisting of anything that didn’t require cooking, including a bottle of chilled champagne.

  Today we would be heading back to the city, and if we didn’t get our asses moving, I wouldn’t put it past Luca to leave us. The man was ruthless about keeping on schedule. Remembering the morning after Jude’s wedding, when he threatened Kyle would be walking home for taking so long, spurred me to get out of bed.

  When I stood and stared at the gorgeous man still asleep, I wished I didn’t have to move. We created our own little haven. Reality loomed around the corner. I looked upward as if asking for guidance. I’d be going back to work tomorrow, and I didn’t know Dante’s schedule. Who knew where his job could take him? What would happen if he was given an assignment away from New York?

  With the new day came new concerns. Our worlds couldn’t be more different. He photographed beautiful women for a living, where I disciplined and instructed five-year-olds. I couldn’t help but wonder if our declarations last night were made under the throes of passion. Would he feel the same today? Now that I’d gotten a taste of being Dante Benedetto’s lover, I wasn’t sure I would be okay returning to my mundane life. One that didn’t consist of sleeping in his arms and feeling his lips against mine. How would one get over a man like him? If the day came, could I handle losing him?

  With a sigh, I lowered my eyes to see Dante studying me. Surprised he was awake, I didn’t say a word. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing,” I said with trepidation.

  “You’re lying. Just like last night, you need to talk to me.”

  Last night. My mind was a crystal ball, and he was a psychic reading it. I needed to remember to keep some thoughts to myself. If I only possessed that talent, things would be far less difficult.

  Dante propped up on one elbow. “You’re wondering what’s going to happen once we return to our normal everyday life, right?” At seeing my halfhearted shrug, he patted the mattress. “Come here.” Taking my hand in his, he laced our fingers together. “Is that it?”

  “Yes. You can’t blame me for wondering what’s going to happen once we step outside this room?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. We’re going to go to work and do our jobs during the day. Occasionally, we’ll text or maybe I’ll come and take you to lunch. Then when we’re off the
clock, we’ll be together… my bed or yours; I’ll leave that up to you.”

  “So it’s just about fucking?”

  “No,” he said with a smirk. “I’ll also feed you.”

  “I’m being serious, Dante.”

  His hand rested on my knee, his pinky tucked behind it. “What changed from last night? We went to bed with an understanding. You woke up and are now questioning it. Nothing between the time I closed my eyes and opened them changed for me. Did they for you?”

  I took a moment to stare at the sincerity in the depths of his brown eyes. “No, but it’s easy to get swept away when we’re together in a beautiful home, surrounded by luxury. When we get back, everything will be different.”

  “The only thing that’s changing is geography, and how we act in front of our friends. If you want to be concerned about anything, be concerned that I’m not going to be curtailing my desire for you… no matter who’s around. Just prepare yourself, Cassandra. I don’t play games.”

  With that, he palmed my face with his strong hands and reminded me how much desire he could unveil with just a kiss.

  Chapter 16

  Cassie

  As Sabrina and I were getting ready to walk out of the house, Luca honked the horn. We found him and Dante standing behind his SUV, waiting for us. “How long does it take to pee?” Luca scolded, holding Sabrina’s door open.

  Sabrina shut him up with a kiss before turning toward Dante. “Do you want to sit up front? It’ll give you more leg room.”

  Dante opened the back door, and said, “No, thanks. I’ll sit with Cassandra.”

  Sabrina and Luca exchanged a look before she hopped in and buckled her seatbelt. After I slid in behind Luca, and Dante closed the door behind me, my heart started to beat a bit faster. We were really going to do this… and I knew he had something planned, although I had no idea what. As soon as Dante closed his door, the large space felt tiny and my anxiety spiked.