“Don’t kid yourself.” The heels came closer, and when she spoke again, Ava’s voice held a tease. “Trust me when I tell you there are invitations. Lots of invitations that have nothing to do with sweet Italian women and their nice restaurants.”
“Name one.”
“Why would that interest you, Mr. Carelli? You interested in where I lay my head at night?”
Maggie looked at me, sharing the same grin I gave her, but when Dario released a low, frustrated grunt, I saw the problem heading our way.
This isn’t good, I mouthed.
Sounds damn good to me, Maggie replied.
“Ava,” Dario said, taking in a breath and doing something I couldn’t see that made the woman gasp. “Where you lay your head doesn’t matter to me, until you’re laying it on my lap with your mouth around my cock.”
I shut my eyes, knowing what would happen next, not surprised when the sound of a slap fractured the quiet in the small alcove.
“Fuck,” Dario said, as the sound of those heels got quieter, and then my brother walked off in the other direction.
I helped Maggie stand and followed behind her, pulling her back when she started toward the dining room.
“What do you think will happen?” she asked me, releasing a small yelp when I leaned her against the wall.
“Dario’s troubles are his own. I’m not fighting his battles anymore.”
“You want him to do his own time?” she said, smiling. I’d almost forgotten I’d told her that.
“Yeah, I’d rather do mine...” I kissed Maggie, working my lips over hers, teasing like she liked, “with you.”
“I don’t think I’d mind so much doing hard time with you, Dimitri.”
“No?” I inched closer, lifting her leg up. “That’s a forever kind of sentence and I’m a dangerous man.”
“I know,” she said, inhaling when I nuzzled her neck, taking her ear between my teeth. Maggie held my face, bringing my attention back to her. “But you’re my dangerous man.”
Thank you reading Smoke. Are you ready for Dario? Tap here to grab DARIO now!
Turn the page to read a sneak peek of Dario’s story.
Want to read another title by Eden Butler?
Tap here to read book The Fall.
A secret smile.
A haunting kiss.
Life – Interrupted.
Keilen Rivers was the best Lily Campbell never had. He was the promise she didn’t let herself keep. After all, nothing in life seems meant to last, and love is no exception.
When Lily’s life takes an unexpected and tragic turn, she leaves behind both her island home and the boy she could have loved to protect the only family she has left.
But sometimes life takes without giving. Sometimes you cannot bend, only break. And when her career spirals out of her control, Lily can only watch as everything she worked for falls to ruin.
But some lies are hard to come back from. And some promises are made to be broken. Sometimes going home again is the only thing that can save you. But first you have to break. First you have to fall.
Tap here to read book The Fall.
Dario Sneak Peek
Dario:
The Carelli Family Saga, Book Two
Ava fought me since day one.
There was no reason to her stubbornness.
There was no rhyme to her obstinance. I’d seen grown men doing life with less pig-headed ways. But what I knew about the woman—and what she tried to hide from every man that gave her even the smallest second glance—was that she was lonely.
Strong people. Capable people who like to be in control, don’t like to maintain that control all the time. No one can keep that up. It starts to fuck with them. It fractures their resolve and if there isn’t some slipping of that control, then they never find freedom.
They never feel release.
She ignored me as I watched her, standing behind her in the small kitchen. The staff was gone. The stock for the next morning looked prepared. But she was still here, in her designer skirt and apron, pretending there was still things to do. Pretending my questions, my presence didn’t challenge her.
When I moved, Ava stiffened her shoulders, and I spotted the curl of her fingers on the chair she sat in.
“You think a strong woman is made weak when a man insists on dominance in the bedroom?”
Her back was a rod now. Even in the low light, I could make out how she kept herself straight, how ridged her limbs were, how she lifted her chin like she refused to show any weakness at all.
It was so fucking obvious. The woman hadn’t had anyone stretch her out in forever.
Not that back, not those hips, not that wide, plump ass. Damn sure not that pussy.
Just the idea of it, of her spread out on that metal table, her thick red hair everywhere, her pale, perfect skin glowing in the dark kitchen had me aching to touch her. But, I reminded myself this was a game, me teasing her like this. Me getting under her skin because I knew I could. The fire was there, just below the surface, but she wouldn’t let anyone see it.
Ava moved her head, her gaze on me as I made slow steps behind her, keeping myself a few feet away, not close enough to be a threat, but near enough that I could take her if she asked.
Fuck, I wish she would.
“That’s not why I want to be in control,” I continued, hand in my pocket, taking a step. I could make out her profile from the light above the stove. She looked like something that should be hanging in a museum. Can’t remember if I’ve ever wanted a woman as long as I wanted her. It had gotten easier for me since I got out. The habit returned. At first, fucking was a necessity. Something I did to remind myself what I’d gone without for five damn years. Then, over the months, it was simpler, expected. Now, there was no need to even wait for women to offer themselves to me. It was there for the taking, always.
I only needed to say yes.
Except for her.
Another step and those shoulders got stiffer. She moved her gaze up now, eyes wider, unblinking as I looked down at her. I’d stood so close to her an hour ago, had her pressed against the counter, felt the soft curves of her body against me, felt how she shook as I leaned into her.
I wasn’t the only one waiting.
“Ava,” I started, keeping gravel in my tone.
She shifted her gaze, the movement slow until she looked right at me.
“Stand up for me.” I didn’t expect her to listen. She never had before, but something in my tone seemed to affect her and Ava, stubborn, strong Ava, stood, not facing me, her attention on the light in front of her. I was hard already seeing how she submitted, knowing if I was any other man, if we were anywhere else, she’d laugh at me.
“Come here to me.”
Her movements were slow, but deliberate, and I didn’t bother to adjust myself as she moved. I was proud, bold, wanted her to see what just her listening, obeying me, did to my body. My breath was calm, fingers unflinching, but my heart was humming like a jackhammer as she stepped away from her chair, eyes wide, attention caught like she was a puppet, and I was pulling her strings.
It was all I could do to keep from gripping her, holding her against me as she stood in front of me, a goddess among pathetic mortals ready to be worshipped. “Lean on the table.”