And still, he watched her as if she were the most interesting thing in the world, a piece of art to be surveyed and purchased and owned. “I was so very careful with you, Rosa. Never too rough. Never too possessive. Safe. I let you set the pace when you sucked my cock, when we fucked. No longer.”
She tried to question him, but he gagged her again. Dante’s brows slammed down. “No, you will not lie to me anymore. I’m going to ask you a question, and you will give me the honest answer. Do you understand?” He didn’t remove his fingers, but he stopped fucking her mouth long enough for her to nod. “Bene.”
Dante eased his other hand off her pussy, reversing its journey in dragging his fingers over her ass and up to the small of her back. The rough handling had pulled her panties partly to the side, and the slick fabric of his shorts felt obscene against her throbbing center. “Let there be no misunderstanding between us. You can provoke me as much as you like, but I will not force you.” He held her gaze until she had to fight not to look away. “Do you want this cock?”
Her pride demanded she say no, but she’d already decided on this plan for reasons she couldn’t really drag into the light right now. It didn’t matter. She wanted this. Rose nodded slowly.
Dante slid his fingers from her mouth. “With your words, Rosa.” She started to wipe at her mouth, but he shook his head sharply. “No, I like you a mess. Now, stop stalling and tell me what you want.”
If she did this, there was no going back. Oh, she could change her mind later and she sincerely believed Dante would respect that choice even if he’d continue trying to seduce her. But there’d be no going back for her, and she’d have to answer some truly uncomfortable questions when she finally got back to the city.
It doesn’t matter. I’ll deal with the fallout later. I want this. I simply do.
“Da. Yes.” When he didn’t move, she gave him more. “I want your cock, Dante. Fuck me. Make me come. Please.”
He pressed a little circle to the small of her back, expression going contemplative. “If you change your mind, this stops. I will not have impatience on my part getting in the way of our future.”
They didn’t have a fucking future, but she managed to keep that to herself. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Bene.” He stood, lifting her as he did and setting her on her feet. “Sit on the bench, spread your legs, and pull your panties to the side. Now.”
Chapter 11
Dante knew a trap when he saw it, and this was most definitely a trap. Rose had come into the gym with the intention of letting this escalate, and it wasn’t simply because she wanted him too much to resist. She planned to use sex to cloud his judgment to further her end goal of escaping. A worthy plan, and it suited his purposes to allow this to play out. Sex was a double-edged sword, and he and Rose would continue to play this game of chicken until one of them faltered.
This close to having what he wanted most? It wouldn’t be him that missed a step.
But when she followed his order and sat on the bench, slowly spreading her thighs wide, and hooked the front of her panties to pull them to the side?
It took everything he had to stay on his feet and not fall to his knees before her. Best she not realize the power she had over him. She was ruthless enough that she wouldn’t hesitate to use it against him. He liked that about her, but he wasn’t going to hand her a weapon freely. He couldn’t help moving closer, though. “I fully intend to reclaim every part of you, Rosa. Starting with that aching little pussy practically begging for my tongue.”
She sucked in a breath. “Stop talking and put your money where your mouth is.”
“In a moment.” He didn’t trust himself to touch her yet. Not until they got one last order of business out of the way. “We didn’t use condoms before.” Oh, they had used them when they first started dating, but after a shared trip to the clinic to get tested, they’d forgone rubbers. He would go back to it if required, but he’d prefer to sink into Rose’s tight pussy without anything between them.
A small frown pulled her brows together. “I just got done telling you Romeo Capparelli fucked me seven ways to Sunday and you want to have sex without condoms?” Before he could answer, she charged on. “Beyond that, when we were together, you fucked me like three times a day to make up for the gaps when we couldn’t see each other, and you honestly expect me to believe you’ve gone three months without being with anyone else. Please.”
As if anyone but Rose would do once he’d decided on her. “In my defense, I did spend nearly an entire month recovering from my gunshot wounds.” He liked the way she blushed but refused to look away at that. Dante wasn’t usually one to give information freely, but she still believed it was all fake between them. If he had to continue to share the truth to combat that belief, it was a small price to pay. “Once I decided on you, it was only ever you, Rosa. No one else can compare.”
“And when was that?” She glared, but there was something almost vulnerable lingering in her eyes. “Don’t try to tell me it was when I shot you.”
It might be easier to believe than the truth. He shrugged. “It was at that art festival you dragged me to.”
She jolted. “What?”
At the time, he hadn’t been able to decide if her determination to hit all the random events that cropped up around New York were part of the mask or something she legitimately enjoyed. Dante had been half sure she was doing it to test him, to see when he’d finally put his foot down about going. She’d showed up that day with mirth in her hazel eyes and he’d known he was in for a day of being surrounded by too many people. “You had us each pick a painting.” A silly little game that he’d indulged because he was curious; would she pick as his girlfriend Rose or as Rose Romanov.
“We chose the same one,” she whispered. “I thought you were fucking with me.”
“I let you believe it.” The truth was he’d been strangely drawn to the abstract painting. It felt like violence and sex, and staring at it had made something go funny in his chest. The same something that went a little funny when he was around Rose. “It was real.”
“Stop it.”
He shook his head slowly. “We were both pretending in different ways, but that proved something to me. Down at our cores, we’re the same, Rosa.”
“Liar. Don’t try to use our shared history to manipulate me.”
“It’s the truth.” He leaned down slowly until their faces were even. “There’s only one liar in this room.”
“But—”
He pressed two fingers to her lips. Not pushing inside. Just silencing her. “But nothing. You forget, amata. I know Romeo Capparelli easily as well as you do. You weren’t dating. It was a business deal in the form of a marriage. He wouldn’t have fucked you and risked someone’s messy emotions ruining things. I bet he never even kissed you.” Dante waited, but she didn’t rush to throw more infuriating words at him. Good. “With all that said, the moment you were married, he would have claimed every part of you.” The very thought of the wedding night, of Romeo laying so much as a finger on Dante’s woman, of… “He would have wanted you pregnant as quickly as possible.”