by C. L. Parker
Dante laughed at the picture she painted.
“I’m serious! You don’t know how paranoid she can get. Please, Dante? Promise me you won’t say anything to them.”
The pleading in her eyes and the threat she might be whisked away somewhere he might not be able to see her was enough to convince him to agree, despite his better judgment. “Okay, okay, okay . . . I won’t say anything to them, but on one condition.”
“Anything,” she replied without the slightest forethought. Her quickness was almost enough to make him change his mind. Her nightmares must have been pretty bad.
“I want to be with you when you sleep so that I can keep an eye on you.”
She looked at him as if she was trying to figure out if he had a hidden agenda. He didn’t. He just wanted to make sure she was okay. Judging by the way she screamed out his name during her nightmare the night before, he had a feeling he’d end up back in her bed anyway.
“You want to sleep with me?”
“Very much so.”
“In the same bed?”
“Yes. Look, you said that I was able to wake you up just by touching you. So it stands to reason that if I’m touching you, you might not even have a nightmare in the first place, but if you do, I’ll be there to wake you.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” she said even though she still looked skeptical. “But I don’t know if that’s what really woke me. It was just a theory.”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
“Wouldn’t hurt to give it shot, but,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him, “don’t even think about using this to your advantage.”
Dante gave her an innocent smile. “Now, would I do that to you, Angel?”
She laughed. He knew she secretly liked his mischievousness. He might have decided to let her take the lead in how far they took things and only when she was ready to go further, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t pour on the Dickens charm. And now he would be in her bed every night, even if they never did anything more than cuddle and kiss, that was plenty enough for him.
A couple of hours later, Dante and Tori were in much better spirits, having spent the rest of their time at the cliffs joking around and genuinely enjoying each other’s company. Dante kept up the relentless flirting, and Tori managed to throw some right back at him from time to time, even stealing a kiss or two. She was becoming bolder for someone of her limited experience—or, no experience at all, as it were—but Dante seemed to appreciate it.
There was something about him that made her feel comfortable, like she could test the waters without looking like a complete and utter fool. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing for their new sleeping arrangement, but she was sure time would tell. Dante was a flirt, and he loved to tease her; the problem was that she secretly liked it and knew she might let him press his advantage if he chose to do so.
Tori couldn’t help but wonder how he might feel about another man in her bed. Would Dante’s presence keep him from coming as well? Because she didn’t want that. He was her friend, or maybe it was something more than that. Hell, she didn’t know; it was too confusing. Was she cheating on him? Could he even pass as her boyfriend if he wasn’t real to anyone else but her?
What a convoluted clusterfuck. Tori decided she wouldn’t dwell on it for fear she’d drive herself crazy trying to figure out the what-ifs. Tonight would be a test that should answer her questions, and then she’d decide what she wanted to do from there.
Before long, Dante and Tori were back on the motorcycle for the ride home with her satchel and his button-down secured in the saddlebag. Tori couldn’t stand to see how fast they were going because she just knew that at any moment he was going to hit a rock or a deer was going to run across the road and make them go skidding across the pavement. Like on the ride there, she buried her face into his shoulder so she wouldn’t have to see anything.
Without warning, Dante pulled off the road and the bike came to a halt.
“Why are we stopping? Can I open my eyes now?”
She stole a glance without waiting for his reply to see where they were. Before she could really take anything in, Dante turned in his seat, wrapped an arm around her waist, and spun her around until she was straddling his lap with her back to the road.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“Put your hair up.”
“What? Why?” She had taken it down before they left because she liked to feel the wind blowing through it.
Dante sighed. “Because it’ll be whipping me in the face and I won’t be able to see to steer. Just . . . where’s your hair tie? I’ll do it myself.” He looked down at her wrist, finding it, and pulled it over her hand before gathering up her long hair.
Tori tried to pull away in protest, but he held her firm, wrapping her tresses into a bun at her crown and securing it in place.
“Stop being a wuss, Angel. You’re not enjoying yourself because you’re too bloody scared to open your eyes. I figure this way,” he smirked, “we’ll both enjoy the ride.”
He winked at her before revving the motor and kicking off, forcing Tori to wrap both her legs and arms around his upper torso. She buried her face into the crook of his neck so he wouldn’t have to lean to the side to see around her to the road. When she inhaled the musky scent of his skin, a wicked idea popped into her head.
Have fun. Walk on the wild side. Live a little.
What was it Auntie Gabe had said to her? Oh, yes. “. . . a little experimentation never hurt nobody.”
Maybe he had a point. Besides, Dante liked to play games with her; she’d see how he liked it when the roles were reversed and there was nothing he could do about it.
Tori started by running the tip of her nose along the length of his neck to his ear and felt him stiffen immediately. She smiled to herself, loving that she had as much of an effect on him as he did on her. Next, she pressed her lips to his pulse point, softly at first to test the waters and then a full-on open-mouth kiss to follow up.
“Careful, love,” Dante warned, but Tori didn’t feel the slightest bit threatened. Unless he wanted to kill them both, there wasn’t anything he could do but go mad from her teasing.
She rolled her hips to scoot closer, pressing herself against him completely while suckling his skin in a trail up and down his neck.
Dante growled. She could feel the vibration through his chest against hers. “You’re being particularly bold for someone who has absolutely no intention of following through on what she’s starting. What kind of game are you playing?”
Tori put her mouth to his ear. “Does it matter? You like games, remember?”
He chuckled. “Oh, I see. You do realize that in every game your opponent gets a turn as well, right? And if you think I’m going to let you forfeit once I’m batting, you’d better think again.”
Tori ignored him and took his earlobe between her lips to gently scrape it with her teeth while tonguing the little gold hoop earring. They still had a long ride back home, and no way was he going to try anything with their parents around.
Dante hissed as he turned toward her ear. “Christ, woman. You’re driving me mad.”
He took one hand off the handlebar and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. She could feel the bulge from his crotch just under her ass, but instead of scaring the shit out of her, it fueled her on.
“Watch the road, Dante.”
She grabbed his chin and turned him until he was facing straight ahead. Then she continued to suckle his neck, paying particular attention to the place where it joined his shoulder because he seemed to really like that. Using the distraction, she slipped her hands under his wifebeater and pushed it up his sides until he was forced to lift one arm and then the other so that she could quickly pull it over his head. She noticed the grin on his face when it was gone, but he kept looking straight ahead, seemingly content to let her do as she pleased for the time being.
Tori lifted her rear and put t
he shirt between his legs before sitting back on it so that it wouldn’t go flying in the wind behind them. The thought occurred to her that she must be truly insane to be making out with a man and undressing him while traveling down a road at seventy miles per hour on a motorcycle, but she had gone too far to stop.
Her hands roamed freely over the toned muscles of his chest as she resumed her exploration of his neck and shoulders with her lips and tongue. He was delicious, a bold manly taste with just a hint of salt. And speaking of bold . . . her fingers slid down his chest, over each divot of his taut abdomen to the button on his jeans. When she brazenly popped it free, the bike veered to the left.
She looked up, finding Dante had taken a dirt road that led into the cover of a wooded area. He took another left through a part in the trees just wide enough to let them pass, and then he slowed the bike to a stop.
He cut the engine and looked at her with a lopsided grin, his eyes ablaze with lust. “My turn,” he said, and before Tori knew what was happening, her shirt was over her head and the front clasp on her bra was popped, leaving her chest just as exposed as his. Damn, he was quick.
Dante leaned her forward as he cradled her back with his hand and forearm. A split second later, his mouth was latched onto one of her breasts. Tori inhaled sharply, having never felt the sensation of a man’s mouth on such a private part of her. She didn’t know whether she should push him away or pull him closer, but when his tongue began to do things that shouldn’t have been possible, or legal, the resounding decision was made. She fisted his hair in both hands and arched her back in encouragement for him to keep going. Then Dante palmed her other breast in his large hand and began to knead it while the arm cradling her body moved her back and forth over that impossibly hard bulge in his pants.
Never had Tori felt more like a woman than in that moment. Sensations she had never felt before engulfed her with a foreign need, one that had to be met or she was sure she would combust. Dante stood, somehow having the presence of mind to still hold the bike in place between his strong thighs, and maneuvered them into a better position. His mouth left her breast but never her skin as his lips moved up her chest, over her collarbone, and along her neck until he reached her mouth. Just as their lips and tongues met in an urgent kiss, he cupped her ass and undulated against her, hitting that erotic spot between her thighs. Closer, faster, harder he ground his hips until suddenly, something snapped inside of her.
A very satisfied moan erupted from her throat, muffled by Dante’s groan and relentless mouth as he pushed hard against her and rocked back and forth without breaking their contact. When he slowed and Tori’s blinding pleasure finally waned, her body went limp. Her fingers relaxed, releasing the grip on his hair.
“I’m really going to love this game,” he whispered.
Tori’s eyes fluttered open and heat flamed her cheeks the second his knowing gaze met hers. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breaths came just as labored as hers, but the smile that spread across his face was easy and strikingly gorgeous.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Angel. It was a first for me as well.”
Tori’s brows drew together. It sure seemed to her like he knew what he was doing. No way was that his first time. “You mean you’ve never . . .”
He sat upright and looked down at himself with a chuckle. “Not with my pants on.” Then he fixed his eyes on her, still lying back on his bike. “And definitely not on my Duck.”
“Duck?” Tori reached for the hanging parts of her bra, self-consciously pulling them together in an attempt to cover herself.
“Sorry, it’s slang for Ducati, my bike.” Dante took her hands and pulled her up, his fingers making fast work of fastening her bra for her.
“Hate to put these away, but I don’t fancy some bloke getting an eyeful of them on the way home.”
He leaned over and retrieved her shirt and turned it right side out before slipping it back over her head.
“The police and I have a history, and they’re just itching for a reason to throw me in the cell. Best not to give them one. My beating the bloody hell out of some bastard for ogling my lady will do just that.”
He pulled his shirt from under her ass and put his arms through it.
“Your lady?”
What was it with men and their possessiveness? Just because he had gotten her off for the first time, that didn’t make her his.
Dante popped his head through the neck of the shirt and pulled it down over his stomach. He smiled and pulled Tori against his chest hard. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law, Angel.”
Tori pushed back against him and somehow managed to climb off the bike without breaking her neck. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Getting me off doesn’t make me your possession.”
A rumble of thunder sounded overhead, evidence of her Guardian ire. Dante’s smile faded and he looked up at the dark clouds rolling in.
“Nice touch,” he said, nodding toward the sky. “Trying to catch your death of cold before I can even get you within city limits?”
“Just trying to prove a point.”
“Point proven. Perhaps my patience wasn’t as steadfast as I had originally thought. Being around you tends to muddle my brain.” He gave her an apologetic smile and held his hand out to help her onto the back of the motorcycle. “How about you knock off the theatrics and let’s get you home?”
Tori concentrated on her mood and reined it in, which also affected the clouds overhead and pushed them back to allow the setting sun to shine through once again.
When she took Dante’s offered hand, he pulled her to him once more so that his lips were at her ear. “But just to be clear, you don’t have to be mine for me to be willing to do that for you again.”
Tori ripped her hand out of his and put it on his shoulder instead, pressing down harder than necessary as she used it for leverage to get up on the bike.
“Just to be clear,” she started, mocking him, “you don’t have an open invitation to do that for me again.”
He laughed and started the engine. She grabbed onto his sides, not really sure where to put her hands. It seemed silly after what they had just done, but she still felt she had a point to prove.
Once they hit the main stretch of road and Dante opened the motor to go dangerously fast again, she gave up and wrapped her arms around his waist, which she was sure he was gloating about even though she couldn’t see his expression.
Stupid, conceited, gloriously talented bastard. She was going to kick his ridiculously great ass during their next training. She couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to be able to sleep with him after what they had just done and believe it was all going to be innocent. A better question would be whether or not she wanted it to be.
When Tori finished up her bedtime routine, she took a deep breath to still her nerves, squared her shoulders, and walked into her bedroom where Dante was waiting. He was lying on his side in the middle of the bed with his head propped up by his hand and the covers pushed down to his hips. She was still irked at him, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the masterpiece before her. She was a woman, after all.
Her eyes were immediately drawn to his bare chest—she really loved that part of his anatomy—and the V-shaped muscles that cradled his lower abdomen with a light dusting of hair that trailed down the center and disappeared beneath the bedding.
A seductive teasing was in his eyes as a slow smile spread across his face. “I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind.”
She almost had, but much like the stirring she felt inside her at the sight of him, the allure of a peaceful night’s sleep was hard to ignore.
“You’d better not be naked under there, mister.”
“What is it with you and this obsession about my nudity? Shall I show you mine and you show me yours so that we can just get it out of the way? Because I’d hate to think of you losing sleep wondering about it. That would be counterproductive to our testing env
ironment.”
Tori shook her head. “Will you never give up?”
“I might . . . if you ask me to and actually mean it, but you and I both know that’s not going to happen.” Dante pulled back the covers showing that his lower half was indeed clothed by a pair of black sleep pants. Then he patted the spot next to him. “Come to bed, Angel. I’m quite eager to feel you lying next to me.”
Tori slipped her robe off and laid it across one of the white upholstered bergère chairs that sat in the corner of the room. She hadn’t considered the chill of London’s night air when she packed, so all she had brought for sleeping attire were camisoles and sleep shorts. She had plenty of socks to keep her feet toasty enough, which she was particularly glad of tonight because she was badly in need of a pedicure. Dante didn’t need to see that. She did manage to shave her legs before bed, though. Not that it mattered because they weren’t going to do anything, but still, she’d be in the same bed with him, and he was doing her a favor, so it seemed just plain rude to slice his legs up with her stubble. Besides, it helped with her self-esteem.
Self-esteem was something she had plenty of while sparring. It made her feel like the top of the food chain in an ocean filled with prey. But lying next to Dante in bed, knowing he was far more experienced than she, felt more like she was the cartoon clown fish in Finding Nemo darting in and out of the safety of her anemone—afraid to go any farther, afraid to take risks even though the last time she had, it had definitely turned out in her favor.
She avoided looking into his eyes as she climbed into bed with her back to him and turned off the table lamp before resting her head on the pillow.
“What’s this? No goodnight kiss?”
Oh, she wanted to. In fact, she wanted to roll him onto his back, straddle his waist, and kiss him until his breath was stolen away, but she wouldn’t. One bold move was about as much as she could force herself to make for one day.
When Tori didn’t answer, Dante put his arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. “I’m only joking, Angel. I’m perfectly content with just being near you.”
