I looked up to find that Dante had turned. His bearded chin was propped on his fist while his elbow rested on the couch cushion near my book. He watched me, amusement glittering in his eyes.
My cheeks heated, and I wondered how long he’d been watching me. Instead of asking that, an entirely different question came spilling out before I could think better of it.
“Is it really like how it’s depicted in books?”
He raised a brow. “Define ‘it.’”
“You know …” I waved a hand at the open book, still on the scene that was just beginning to get hot. “Kissing and everything that comes after.”
“It can be if you’re doing it with a partner who knows what they’re doing or one that’s willing to learn. Sex should be good for all parties involved.”
“So it’s not meant to be good for just the guy?”
Dante dropped his hand and stared at me hard. “Is that what you were told?”
I shrugged. “I mean, it’s all I know. Bradley always got off and seemed to enjoy himself, but I never felt anything. Honestly, it was pretty boring. Not to mention, my very religious step-mother told me that sex was only about a woman serving her husband and gifting him children.” My nose wrinkled as I forced out the words that had been jammed into my head since I was little.
“Humans and their stupid lies,” Dante grumbled under his breath.
I tilted my head slightly at the odd addressal. “Humans? That’s—”
My words caught in my throat as Dante’s palm cupped my cheek and pulled me close. His lips met mine, and the air zapped from my body with an electrifying pulse. He tilted my head to deepen the kiss, his tongue swooping in to tangle with my own.
Fire made up of everything sinful, hungry, and primal engulfed my body until all I could think about washim—his strong palm coasting over my jaw to hold my head where he wanted it, his soft lips reteaching me what it meant to be claimed, his sweet tongue owning mine. All I felt was Dante, and I wantedmore. I wanted closer. I wanted him to show me more of this relentless, starved passion that he’d managed to spark with a mere sweep of his lips and tongue.
As if sensing my mounting need, he pushed in harder while also moving to grip my upper arm. He tugged me toward him, and I followed that pull, sliding off the couch and onto the floor beside him. No sooner had I found a spot next to him than he grabbed me and pulled me between his legs.
He abruptly broke the kiss, but he didn’t go far. His face hovered centimeters away so that his lips brushed mine as he ordered roughly, “Turn around.”
I could barely catch my breath. My lips tingled from the kiss, and a sensual fog had taken up residency in my brain. I did as he instructed without argument and turned on shaky limbs so that my back was to him, settled in the apex of his spread legs. His hands slid to my inner thighs and parted them, only to hookthem over his own thighs where his legs could keep them held apart. With his hands free now, one snaked around me to pull me flush against his warm, broad torso.
His lips grazed my ear, and he whispered, “Let me show you what real pleasure feels like.”
The idea of receiving pleasure at the hands of Dante made a shiver dart down my back. God, how I wanted him to show me and teach me everything he knew about sex and physical euphoria. But the part of my brain that constantly worried about messing things up screamed that this could be a mistake. This could ruin our relationship.
His hands trailed up my torso, over my shirt, and between my breasts until he gripped my chin. He turned my head back in his direction and started to bend his head toward mine again.
“W-Will we still be friends after?” I asked shakily, my frantic yet lustful eyes locked on his.
He chuckled softly under his breath. “Yeah, Star. We’ll still be friends.”
I swallowed hard and, for once, decided to ignore the made-up warning in my mind. “Okay.”
His mouth crushed mine again. His firm hand kept my face tilted back toward his, all while the other dragged across my stomach at an agonizingly slow pace before it dipped beneath the waistband of my sweatpants and panties.
I gasped into Dante’s mouth. Lightning practically rippled through me from the mere roaming of Dante’s fingers between my open legs. His hand hadn’t even reached my crease or the place I always touched, yet I was wetter than I’d ever been and hungry for anything this man was willing to give me.
His tongue shoved into my mouth just as his finger slid slowly between my folds. A groan rumbled through his throat. “Goddamn, you’re fucking soaked.”
I blew out a hard breath and fisted his pants along his thighs, needing something to hold onto as the tip of his finger rubbed over my pulsing clit. “Dante!”
The wave of pleasure that shot through me with that one motion was nearly too much, and my legs wanted to close yet open wider all at once. They seemed just as frazzled as I was.
“Keep those legs open for me,” Dante purred, nibbling on the skin of my neck.
I gasped and bunched his pants tighter as my head fell back onto his shoulder. All the while, one lone finger of his made a slow drag up and down through my hot core. My legs trembled, and my chest heaved. This was unlike anything I’d ever done solo or with Bradley. Even though it was the same spot I’d shown attention or where Bradley hadtried, something in Dante’s skilled caress made it far different. Entire galaxies in every color spun behind my shut eyes, and the sweet heat of uncharted suns blazed at my core.
This was Heaven.
