“Rose. Amata.” He caught her chin and tilted her face up. “Do you trust me?”
“I shouldn’t. I have absolutely no reason to.”
She wasn’t wrong and yet… “That’s not an answer.”
Rose closed her eyes. “Yes. Damn you to hell, but yes, I trust you.”
“Marry me.”
She gave a choked laugh. “Just like that?”
“Marry me and I’ll fix this.”
At that, she opened her eyes and gave him an arch look. “You mean you’ll fix the thing you broke to begin with?” She pulled away and he released her. Rose smoothed her hair back. “And don’t come at me with that shit about the threat from Jovan. That might have existed outside of you, but the fault for escalating things with the Capperellis, and the marriage to Romeo lands squarely at your feet.”
“Si.” He shrugged. “I make no apologies for it. Not when I got you in the bargain.”
“Dante, you don’t have me.”
That was about enough of that. “Don’t I?” He caught her around her waist and lifted her to straddle him. She immediately scooted forward to close the last little bit of distance between them, pressing against his hardening cock. “You’re here, at my mercy. I could do anything I want to you.”
“Mmm.” Rose ran her hands up his chest. “It’s my security standing outside the door right. One word and Vasily will break down the door.” She leaned down and ran her mouth along his throat. “But I don’t need Vasily to fight my battles. I can take care of you myself.”
Dante caught her hips. Fuck, she was sexy like this, playful and sweet. Then again, he had yet to see a side of Rose that wasn’t sexy. “Very well, amata. You have me at your mercy. What will you do with me?”
“I have a few ideas.” She brushed a light, teasing kiss to his lips, retreating before he could deepen it. Rose moved, slipping off his lap and down to the floor to settle between his thighs.
Dante’s mouth went dry as she undid the button and dragged down the zipper. He lifted his hips so she could work the pants down his hips. She licked her lips at the sight of his cock, and Dante nearly lost it right then and there. “Amata.”
She wrapped a fist around his cock and gave him a slow pump. “Amata.” Rose repeated it back with a nearly flawless accent. “What does it mean?”
His breath, his words, his fucking soul, caught in his chest as she descended to take his cock into her mouth. They’d done this before, of course, but it felt different. Everything about this felt different. Rose took him slowly, teasing and licking down his length until her lips sealed around his base. In this moment, he could deny her nothing. The truth slipped free. “Beloved. Amata means beloved.”
Rose moaned and sucked him harder, moving nearly off his cock before descending again. Dante sank his hands into her hair, but he wasn’t interested in guiding her movements. She’d chosen this. She would maintain control… For a little while, at least.
It didn’t take long before his balls tightened and he had to fight the rising surge of need. “Amata,” he said sharply. A warning.
Rose opened her eyes and held his gaze as she descended on his cock again. The challenge in those hazel depths… Fuck, it undid him. Dante tightened his grip on her hair and lost it. He came hard, cursing as he did. Rose drank him down with little moans and whimpers, but she didn’t stop, sucking at him as he went soft. “Rosa.” He dragged her off him gently and pulled her up his body to kiss her deeply. Dante nipped her bottom lip. “Take off your pants before I rip them to pieces.”
“Promises, promises.” But she was already slipping out of his grasp to shimmy out of her jeans. She didn’t stop there, thank fuck, skimming off her panties and top. Her bra followed, leaving her gloriously naked.
Dante yanked off his shirt and slid off the couch to the floor. “Come here.” He guided her to stand over him and put one knee on the couch. She was so wet, he could see it, and he parted her pussy with two fingers as he looked up her body to her face. “I’ll take care of you, amata.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“Si,” he agreed easily. “All the same, I will also be taking care of you.”
Her lips curved. “I suppose you mean to start with orgasms.”
“Everything should start with orgasms.”
She laughed. It was the first time he’d heard her sound so free. He liked it. He craved it. Dante decided right then and there that he’d do whatever it took to make a life with this woman where she laughed like that on the daily.
Even if he had to bring three crime families to their knees to do it.
Chapter 22
There were a thousand reasons this wouldn’t work. It wasn’t as if Dante had declared his undying love, even if he called Rose beloved. She wasn’t sure a man like him was capable of love at all. But as he leaned forward and licked her clit, she decided that it didn’t fucking matter. She’d never felt for another person the way she felt for Dante Verducci.
This would undoubtedly blow up in her face, but everything was already exploding. Why not light another match?
He bit her thigh. “You’re thinking too hard.”
“Do something about it, then.”
Something flickered through his dark eyes, something like wonder, and he dragged her down to straddle him, dug his hands into her hair, and claimed her mouth. All her thoughts and worries were swept away in an avalanche of lust. She ground down against him, but it wasn’t enough. It was never enough with Dante. He was a fire in her blood, consuming everything. Maybe she should worry about that, but she couldn’t bring herself to care, not with him pressing against her entrance.
“Amata—”
But it was too late. She was already working herself onto his cock. The blow job had turned her on, and his tongue had only heightened her pleasure, but she still wasn’t quite ready for his size. She didn’t care. If anything, the near-painful stretch just grounded her further in the moment. Rose braced her hands on Dante’s shoulders and swiveled her hips, sinking another inch. “Do I feel good, d’yavol? Tight and wet and made just for you?”
His grip spasmed on her hips, but he didn’t drag her the rest of the way down his cock like she expected. “You are made just for me.” His low voice made her pussy tighten, and she moaned. He didn’t stop there, though. “Beautiful. Cunning. Brutal. Violent. You’re my match, Rosa Romanov. You’re mine.” He surged forward and dragged his mouth over her throat and up to her ear. “And I’m yours.”
She couldn’t breathe. She wasn’t sure she even needed to with his words buoying her. “You’re madder than the Mad Wolf.”
“Si.” He thrust up a little, spearing her another few inches. “You know that for the asset it is.”
She did. Dear god, she did. He would never balk at doing what needed to be done. She’d never have to explain her reasonings or justify the lengths she’d go to protect her family and her people. Rose slammed the rest of the way onto him, moaning at the feeling of them being sealed together fully. “We do this, there’s no going back, Dante. No changing your mind. No betraying me.”