I nearly dropped the fork.
How I’d missed that hard bulge in his pants when my back had been pressed against him, I didn’t know.
But it was pressed against my thigh, straining against the material of the jeans.
I tried and failed to ignore it as I piled more food onto the fork. I should’ve been used to the feel of his body by now. But I wasn’t. Heat spread over my skin. That tricky little organ in my chest beat faster.
Even my mind was on board with the idea of crossing into the place of no return. Heart, body, and mind were in agreement. But I was still scared. That dead place inside wasn’t so very dead after all.
My soul was alive—and it wanted to connect to his.
That terrified me.
We have to play the cards we’re dealt.
Vincenzo was back in my life. He’d forced me into a marriage contract. If I chose him, there were two choices left. Survive and thrive with him by my side.
Or die alone.
I couldn’t take losing him again if I gave in to this.
Being his shouldn’t be a complicated thing. But it would push me closer to that line where there was no turning back. Could I bring myself to fight for us again?
Setting the fork on the table, I slid my palm down his chest. The black material of his long-sleeved shirt stretched tight over muscles cut from stone.
Vincenzo swallowed with an audible gulp. “Mandy.”
My name was a warning.
I dropped my hand and let it rest on his cock. “I want to taste you.”Again.
This proposal was intimate. In the years between our past and present, I hadn’t done this—or much else—with anyone. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Every time I tried, I became violently ill. I always blamed it on my ambitions, but the truth was, there was only him. Always him. Forever.
His cock bobbed under my hand.
“I thought you were full?” he rasped, words shards. “Or did you make room for more?”
I nodded, and he pushed me off his lap. The motion was incredibly gentle, even laced with the firm command of his touch.
“On your knees, fiore.”
Those strong thighs brushed against me as I knelt. Looking up at him, I was captured by that powerful stare. It was pure hunger. A rapid tingle raced beneath my skin.
Vincenzo brushed a hand against my cheek. His thumb stroked my lips. “You know what to do.”
“Yes,” I breathed, shifting my knees against the ground.
Sliding the zipper down his jeans, the zap of the teeth filled my ears and sent a zing straight to my clit. Vincenzo pushed his hand along my scalp, fisting my hair. I peeled down the boxers, and his cock jumped out, grateful to be free. My core pulsed at the thought of having the thick length in my mouth.
Bowing to any other man would have felt like a loss of power, degrading on some level. But not him. I burned. Ihungered. The panties under my dress were drenched.
“What are you waiting for?” His fingers tightened in my hair.
I leaned forward and flicked at him with my tongue.
A hiss escaped his throat. It was a punch of pure adrenaline.
I pulled the swollen tip between my lips—and sucked hard. A salty bead of precum spread over my tongue. With a moan, I took him deeper.
