by Virna DePaul
He knocked once on Aurora’s door before he strode into her office, closing the door behind him and sitting down in the chair across from her desk. She sat behind her desk, looking good enough to eat in that clingy silk blouse. She raised her eyebrow at him.
“Can I help you?” Her voice had its usual dose of disdain for him, but there was something else there, too. Nerves.
“Now that you mention it, yes,” he said, giving her an exaggerated lascivious grin, hoping to make her smile, and it almost worked.
She bit back her smile and rolled her eyes. “I’m actually glad you’re here,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “I was wondering if you’d want to collaborate with me on the Sydney expansion project. I can do it on my own, of course, but it’s a lot of man-hours, and I was thinking—”
“How long have you been in love with Gio?” He asked the question casually, his body reclined in his chair like he was a lion eyeing a gazelle from across the prairie.
“I… what?” Her face had gone white, just like it had before when she’d almost fainted last week.
“I just wondered. Has it been weeks? Months? Years? No wonder you slept with me the night of the party. It was the first night he ever brought Rose around.” The words were like gravel in his mouth but he spit them out anyway.
She stared at him, her pupils dilated and her breath coming fast. “I…”
“Look, actually, never mind.” He held up a hand to stop her. “None of my business. I just figured that you might want someone to talk to about it. It must be hard, being in love with a man who loves someone else.”
Her eyes dropped down and for a moment, Dante wanted to drink poison. He was such a fucking dick. But he’d had to land that blow to be able to propose something that would be good for both of them. Mutually beneficial.
She cleared her throat, raising her eyes up again, although they didn’t quite meet his. “Do you have a point, Callaghan?”
“Yeah, actually. I think I can help.”
She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
He eyed her. “You find it hard to believe that I would want to help you, Aurora? You think so little of me?”
Her expression softened just a little. “No, of course not.”
He nodded. “Because what I have to propose would be very beneficial to both of us.”
She raised an eyebrow, then gestured for him to go on.
“Use me.”
She let out a surprised, exasperated laugh. “Excuse me?”
“You need to get over Gio somehow or another, no? You’d rather do it quickly, no? Well, I’m here. I’m obviously willing. Do whatever the hell it is you want to be doing to Gio, but do it to me. Just get it the hell out of your system.”
She was looking at him like he’d just spoken in another language. Like the words had to make it through Jello before they got to her. “I’m sorry.” She stood, her hands tented on her desk. “I can’t possibly be hearing you correctly.”
He remained seated. “You heard me just fine. Use my body however you want to use Esposito’s and work through some of these feelings. You can’t just hold them down forever, Aurora. They’ve gotta go somewhere. So let them out with me. And then move on.”
She closed her eyes and pressed those luscious lips together. “Get the fuck out of my office, Dante.”
He rose, knowing when to retreat. “Offer’s on the table, LeMonde.”
* * *
It was rude. Insulting. Presumptuous. Arrogant. And he was an absolute ASS for proposing it.
Aurora slammed her briefcase closed and slung the strap over her shoulder. She’d never been so incensed in her life. She took a deep, hissing breath and tried to let it out slowly.
This kind of rage couldn’t be good for the baby. Between the anger and the constant hum of lust in her belly, this kid was on track to being born an extremely passionate person.
Just like its daddy. Aurora paused at her office door as memories of that night washed over her. He was extremely passionate. She’d never had a more thorough or attentive lover. He’d known what she was feeling before she had. And he’d used every weapon in his arsenal. She shivered.
Her mind shifted from what had been to what could be. Her eyes fell to the chair he’d sat in earlier that day. The way he’d looked, draped across it like a king. God, he was an ass. But he was also very appealing. His hair was longer than it had been that night and she’d found herself wanting to tug on it. Tunnel her hands into it while he buried his mouth between her legs.
Aurora shook her head. She couldn’t possibly want that. He was the biggest jerk she’d ever met. He’d actually proposed that she be his fuck toy.
No. Wait. Actually, he was proposing that he would be her fuck toy. In a way, it was a little bit sweet.
Aurora shook her head. She must be insane. She blamed it on the pregnancy hormones. Yeah. It was the pregnancy hormones that had her pressing her legs together in her slacks. It was the hormones that had her picturing striding around her desk and straddling him where he sat.
Aurora reached for the door handle of her office but let her hand drop. She really had to get ahold of herself before she went out into the world. She was liable to do something insane if she just walked out there like this. Like confess her love to Gio. Or jump a total stranger.
Aurora looked down at her body. Same old body she’d always had. Tall, curvy, currently filling out a silk shirt and work slacks. No one would guess that there was a river of sexual need pulsing through her right now.
Well, Dante might have guessed it. But she was ignoring that right now.
She took a deep breath. And then another. She was a grown woman in her place of work. She was just going to get in her car and go home and regroup when she got there.
She was going to have to figure out what the hell to do with this considerable need pulsing through her. Sex obviously had to be in her near future in some way, with someone. She couldn’t go on much longer feeling like she might pass out if she didn’t get off.
Aurora flung the door open to her office and strode to the elevators. Get home. That was the only goal. She jammed the elevator button and froze. Wait, was that…? Oh my god. That was a giggle coming from Gio’s office. A woman’s giggle.
Aurora whipped her head around to face the other way. Rose must be in there. In Gio’s office right that second. She must be in there, touching him, sitting on his lap, nibbling her way up his neck.
Oh god. Aurora was sick. She was so horny that even the thought of Gio with another woman was turning her on. The elevator doors opened and not a moment too soon. She needed to get the absolute hell away from this office and away from Gio and Rose.
She took the elevator down to the car park and her body trembled. From rage? Yes. From horniness? Yes. From adrenaline and pain? Yes. She felt like she could pull her skin off and dance around. She simultaneously felt as if she could run a marathon and get into bed and sleep for a week.
So far, she was not impressed with pregnancy.
All she knew was that she needed to get a little action. Something to take the edge off. She’d be able to think clearer after that. Aurora pulled out her phone and scrolled to the Tinder app. She’d installed it on a whim a few weeks ago. But she’d yet to open it. Her finger hovered over the little square before she dropped the phone in her lap and leaned forward, forehead against the steering wheel.
God, how pathetic was she? Tindering for a one night stand in the parking structure of her office while Gio was upstairs canoodling with his girlfriend or whatever. Oh yeah, not to mention that she was pregnant and on the search for meaningless sex.
She couldn’t have sex with a stranger. What if they did something weird or awful and it ended up affecting the baby? Aurora would never forgive herself.
Her only options were celibacy or… Dante. Which was insane. Absolutely insane. Why in the name of god in heaven would Aurora ever ag
ree to sleep with the man from whom she was currently trying to conceal a pregnancy.
Although, she didn’t exactly LOOK pregnant right now. She would still have some time before she had to come clean with him.
Aurora chewed her lip and picked up her phone. In a way, it would be killing two birds with one stone. She’d get to scratch this god-awful itch with someone who was truly incredible at sex. And she’d inevitably get to know Dante better in the process.
The real question was, did she want to? Did she want to sleep with him again? Aurora’s mind took her back to about four a.m. of the night they’d spent together. She’d been straddling his lap as they sat up on his bed, their arms wrapped around one another and his cock buried inside her. He’d had his forehead pressed into her shoulder and her head had fallen back with the pleasure of it all. Something had caught her eye and had her looking to the side. A floor length mirror that hung on the back of his open closet door. It reflected their image back to her.
Aurora had been shocked by what she’d seen. The passion between them had been more than obvious. She’d seen it in every line on her face, the way her fingers dug into him, the straining, trembling grip of her muscles. But even more than that, she’d been shocked by his utter beauty. The fluid, almost violent grace of him as he’d pumped himself into her. His strength, both wildly evident and viciously restrained at the same time. He’d been a fierce, unforgiving lover. But she could see in the mirror exactly how much he was holding back from her, keeping gentle for her. It had been deeply intoxicating to see him coiled and taking and giving.
Aurora’s fingers moved over her phone. She was typing and she’d barely even given herself permission to consider the consequences.
Apparently her body had become very bossy since Dante had knocked her up.
Fine. You win. I’m coming over in half an hour.
Chapter Six
Dante popped the tops off the Indian food that he’d just had delivered, tossed some forks on the counter of the breakfast bar and ripped off some paper towels for napkins. There. That was just fine. If she wasn’t happy with that then she could just…
Oh who was he kidding? If she wasn’t happy with that, he’d get out his grandmother’s china.
Dante scraped a hand over his face and looked down at his work clothes. He usually would have changed out of them by now, but he’d gotten her text right when he’d gotten home and then spent the next half hour frantically getting ready for her. Thank god his Aunt Arlene had been free tonight, otherwise, he might have had to lock Michelle in her room for the next few hours.
Just kidding.
He glanced at the clock. It was almost 45 minutes since she’d texted. Had she changed her mind? He looked at his response to her, texted seconds after she’d texted him.
A single word.
Good.
And then about fifty party hat emojis followed by fifty firework emojis followed by fifty flame emojis.
Maybe not the coolest thing he’d ever done, but he would bet his bank account that it had made her laugh and simultaneously roll her eyes. So it was worth it.
Every muscle in Dante’s body froze up tight when he heard a soft knock at his front door.
He strode through the hall, swung open the door and there she was on his front porch. Standing, her hands in the pockets of her slacks, her blonde hair tumbling down her back, and a look on her face he’d seen many, many times before. This was the look she had in a business meeting when she knew she was seconds away from getting what she wanted. If it tented his pants in boardrooms with ten clients sitting next to him, it did it tenfold standing in his front entryway with no one around but the two of them.
“Hi,” she said, her voice low and husky.
He immediately stepped back and let her through. He took a few steps toward his kitchen. “I’m glad you came. I took the liberty of ordering some Indian food. If you—”
“Dante.”
He turned, looked back over his shoulder and froze. She was toeing out of her shoes and starting to unbutton that clingy silky blouse. The look in her eyes had him forgetting his own name.
“We’re not eating. We’re not talking.” She slid the shirt from her shoulders and tossed it on the floor. She wore a sheer black bra that was both there and not there. He could see her nipples beading and pressing against the fabric. Next came the button on her slacks. And then she was stepping out of them. Standing there in two scraps of woman magic lingerie that made him want to fall to his knees.
“Were you wearing that at the office today?” His voice was low and gravelly and sounded too intense even to his own ears.
“What?”
“The underwear. That bra. Were you wearing that when you were sitting across from me in your office today.”
She nodded.
Dante ripped his work shirt off over his head. Fuck the buttons. He was going for the undershirt as well when she strode toward him.
“Leave it. Undershirts are fucking hot.” And then she batted away his hands, undid the button on his pants and then rose up.
They stared at one another for a blinking, breathing second before she lunged forward, planted her mouth at the pulse point on his neck and dragged him to the floor.
Dante thanked god for carpet as they rolled over one another. He lowered his head and suckled her hard through her bra. Aurora cried out and clamped her legs around his waist.
He tried to pin her arms over her head but they grappled for control. He reached down and clamped her lip between his teeth, still the closest they’d come to kissing, and Aurora moaned, hard. His body went pliant against her and she took advantage of the opportunity.
Using all of her weight and the element of surprise, Aurora rolled them over so that she was on top. There was fire in her eyes as she raised up just enough to fully open his pants, jam them just far enough down his legs to free his cock.
“Jesus. I thought for sure I was embellishing in my memory,” she said as she stared at his cock.
He grinned. “Nope.”
She looked up at him. Didn’t return the smile. “Condom. Now.”
He dug into the back pocket of his pants and started to tear it open when she ripped it from his hands, started to do it herself. As she slid the condom down his length, Dante had to grit his teeth and grip the carpet with his hands. It was just too good.
And then she was bracing her hands on his shoulders, raising up over him, poised to take him.
“Aurora, sweetheart, let me—” He reached one hand toward her core, knowing that, small as she was, she was going to have to be extremely ready to be able to take him. He wanted to help her get there. He wanted her to come on his hand, on his mouth. He wanted to make her come a hundred times before he took her. They had all night.
Apparently, she didn’t think so, because she slapped his hand away, hooked her panties to the side and sank down on him in one swoop, taking him all the way down to the base.
“Fuck,” Dante groaned, his head lifting involuntarily and then rapping back into the floor. Holy god. How the fuck had she been that ready with zero foreplay? But here he was, buried inside her less than thirty seconds after she walked through his door. Dante was not going to waste the opportunity.
His hands found her hips and he gripped her for a second before sliding them up to her gorgeous breasts. He filled his hands with her while Aurora started to ride him. There was no lead up, no finding of her rhythm. She just started riding him hard and kept riding him hard. Her strokes were some addictive cross between vicious and gentle and Dante was losing his mind.
Her eyes were slammed closed, as tight as her fingers, which were digging into his shoulders. Her hair spilled everywhere, tickling his chest, grazing his neck and it gave Dante the insane feeling that she was inching her way inside him as much as he was her.
He planted his feet and started to meet her strokes, taking it to the next level. The slap of skin on skin filled the entryway and Aurora began to moan in earnest now.
He could feel her body start to tense and he watched her in amazement. God, she was so responsive. She leaned down even more, ground her clit against him with each stroke. Dante had to look away from the sight of her taking him, lest he blow way too soon.
She was close. So close, he could feel it. He wanted to take her there. He was just bringing his hand to her clit when she lowered her chest to his, blocking the angle. She ground herself against him in every way, every inch of her body smashing, pinning, possessing him.
He was seeing stars and didn’t know how much longer he could possibly hold on through the most exquisite torture of his life. But then she reared up the slightest bit, just enough to plant her plush, soft mouth right on his.
And oh god, he wasn’t ready. He had no idea a kiss could be like that. She was swallowing him whole. Every single inch of his body was on fire and her mouth on his was a cool, floral balm. Her warm tongue slipped into his mouth, tentative, sweet, searching. Dante lost his shit.
His arms clamped around her back, cementing her to him as he fucked her hard from the bottom. His mouth opened and his tongue met hers, devouring her. Her flavor exploded through him. The best thing he’d ever tasted in his life. Given he’d tasted her pussy, that was really saying something. He sucked her tongue into his mouth as she moaned, hard and fierce.
Her body clamped down on his over and over again. He swallowed her moans, took them inside of him where they could never escape. Every inch of her was clamping him, down to her hands on the sides of his face. She came so hard and so long that Dante couldn’t wait for her to finish. He clenched his eyes closed, his hands made fists on her back, and he poured himself into the condom. For the first time in his life, he cursed the barrier between him and a woman.
* * *
Aurora opened her eyes and slowly realized her hair had completely covered her face. Dante breathed hard underneath her and soon that breath turned into a dark, rumbling chuckle.
“Holy shit. I think you killed me.” He reached down behind her bottom to hold the base of the condom as he pulled out of her.