I don’t know what else to say to him, so I just stay where I’m at as he deposits his plate into the dishwasher. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have your mother, who walked out on you as a kid, reappear twenty-five years later with the half sisters you didn’t know you had. If Alessio wasn’t fucked up before, he sure is now.
My heart aches for him, even though I know I shouldn’t allow myself to feel anything for him other than pure, animal lust. Like him, it’s too dangerous.
He straightens and turns back to me, and I can’t help but admire the play of light and shadow on his upper body, the way his muscles twist and tighten in his washboard abs.He’sthe real work of art.
“Now that you fed me and you managed to get me to talk about something I really, really didn’t want to talk about, I think you owe me.” He moves toward me, a predator stalking his prey.
I’m no match for him, and anyway, I want to be caught.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” He doesn’t stop until we’re almost touching, flattening his palms on either side of the counter to fence me in.
But I’m not intimidated in the slightest. I’m just turned on.
Lightly, I trail a fingertip along his collarbone, running it over a jagged scar. “What do I owe you?”
“I think you owe me a few more orgasms, at least.” He slides a hand down my waistband, cupping my pussy. “Fuck. No panties?”
I arch into his touch, shameless. “Didn’t know if I’d need them.”
He gives me the devil’s own grin. “You definitely don’t.”
Chapter 17
SAINT
I wake up with morning wood and Isla in my bed. We were so caught up in each other last night that I didn’t bother to lower the shades, and light is streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The sun has already crested over the city, snarls of traffic coming to life below as the morning commute takes the streets in a stranglehold. I have work to do today. Russian Bratva psychos to contend with. Shit to figure out. A disappearing mother to interrogate. Sisters to meet.
Fuck.
All I want to do is stay right where I am, with Isla warm and naked, pressed to my side. I want to fuck her all day long. And then I want to fuck her all night long too. I got a decent start on getting her out of my system last night and into the early hours of the morning.
But I’m beginning to realize that the more I have of Isla, the more I want of her. And the more I wantfromher. I’m addicted to her, and last night’s hit only made me need more.
She makes a sleepy sound of contentment and rolls over. The sheet slips down, revealing the pale curve of one perfect breastand her hard pink nipple. I can’t resist cupping it, rubbing my thumb slowly over the tip. She’s so fucking soft. The scent of pineapple and citrus and sex rises from my sheets.
She arches her back and blinks awake, looking sleepy and gorgeous and fuckable as hell. “Is it morning already?”
I’ve never had a woman spend the night in my bed before. I don’t do relationships, because there’s no room in my life for them. I’ve dedicated myself to the family, to my duty. The fewer complications, the better.
I tug at her nipple and plant a quick kiss on her lips and then withdraw before I deepen it and roll her onto her back. The temptation to stay here, to sink my dick inside her and fill her with my come, is strong.
My aching cock tents the sheet and duvet at the thought, but I’m going to have to get a rain check. I know me, and if I start indulging in Isla, I’m not going to leave my apartment today.
“Unfortunately, yes, it’s morning,” I tell her, my voice raspy from lack of sleep and coffee. “I should get going. I’ve got shit to do.”
“Are you going to see your mom?” she asks.
I probably shouldn’t have told her about Antonella. It’s not like me to share, but in my defense, I’d just had epic, life-altering orgasms. I probably wasn’t thinking all that straight.
One bonus comes from my oversharing the night before. My cock wilts instantly, morning wood cured by the mention of the woman who spawned and abandoned my brothers and me.
“She’s not my mom,” I tell Isla, reluctantly releasing her breast and flipping back the covers to get out of bed. “She’s an egg donor, and I don’t want anything to do with her.”
“What about your sisters?”
