by Virna DePaul
Aurora used the last of her strength to sit up, still straddling him. She tossed her hair back behind her. “I think I killed both of us.” She planted a hand on her wildly beating heart and couldn’t help but chuckle a little along with him.
“Feeling a little pent up there, gorgeous?” he asked as he climbed to his feet, tied up the condom, and tossed it into the adjacent bathroom trash. Hands on hips, he turned to look at her in all his magnificent glory.
She admired him for a moment before stretching luxuriously. “Just a tad,” she said.
She moved to get up, but before she could, he bent down, lifted her up, and carried her into the kitchen where he set her down naked on his granite countertop. The coolness made her hiss, and he smiled. “Now that’s a beautiful sight. Hungry after all?”
She swallowed hard, then nodded, grateful he wasn’t going to make her talk about what had just happened. They didn’t need to talk about all the reasons she’d acted so aggressively just then. All he needed to know was that she’d wanted to have sex, and they had.
Simple as that.
Only as she sat there in her bra and panties, she knew she was kidding herself.
She knew from the moment she’d met him, nothing with Dante had been simple, and that was especially true now.
With apparent reluctance, Dante slowly stepped back, then crossed to the other side of the kitchen and the food he had set out. “I’ve got Indian for dinner and then some ice cream if you want dessert. I remembered you like Indian food because—” He turned around to face her and completely froze.
“What is it?” she asked when he remained silent.
“Do you have any idea how fucking gorgeous you look. In my kitchen. On my counter. In those two little scraps of lingerie, your hair messy and shiny, your eyes bright and big, and your lips red and smudged and plump.”
She blinked, feeling drugged. “Do you have any fucking idea how gorgeous you look? In your kitchen? Almost naked. Your hair messy. Your blue eyes brilliant and dazzling. Your lips red and your body… your body…”
His eyes dead set on her lips, Dante crossed back over the kitchen like a lion stalking prey.
“You let me kiss you just now,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
“Oh. Yeah.” Aurora hadn’t wanted to kiss him the night of the party, it had seemed too personal, but tonight she couldn’t have stopped herself from kissing him if a tornado had come through the house.
“You’re going to let me kiss you again,” he said, almost against her lips as he slid between her legs.
“Okay,” she whispered, unable to think of anything she wanted more. Okay, she could think of a few things she wanted more, but since she was pretty certain she’d get to have it all, she yearned for his kiss. Right here and now.
And then his lips were on hers. Harsh, demanding, consuming her. There was nothing gentle about the way he was kissing her, crushing her mouth against his, swallowing her alive.
“Dante!” she pulled back from him in surprise when his tongue swept over the front of her teeth.
“Let me,” he growled. “Your front teeth drive me insane. So white against your pink little lips and just a little crooked.”
“Hey!” she pulled back again, not sure whether to be offended or flattered. She planted a hand over her mouth. “I hate my crooked front teeth.”
“Don’t,” he demanded, tugging her hand down. “They’re so fucking hot.”
She looked at him like he was insane. “Crooked teeth are hot?”
“Yours are,” he insisted, leaning forward and sucking her bottom lip into his mouth for a second. “Something about the little imperfection. I don’t know. It just drives me wild. It’s like you’re this complete and utter goddess. Aphrodite. Cleopatra. And then you have this little perfectly imperfect thing that reminds me that you’re human.” He traced one hand roughly up her side, cupped her breast in a possessive way. “It reminds me that you’re touchable.” He stepped even closer to her, pressing her heat into his stomach and tangling his tongue with hers for just a second. “Fuckable.”
“Oh.” The word was breathless, desperate as she gasped and clasped her feet around his waist. They’d just fucked not ten minutes ago, there was no way he was going there again, right? The man was almost forty. But, whoops, yeah, that thing she was feeling against her core was definitely not his leg. Wow. The man had stamina.
She tore her mouth away from his and took a gasping breath, resting her forehead against his shoulder for just a second. There were feelings bubbling up inside her that were making this moment very confusing. She was exhausted yet wired, sated yet hungry, wary and giddy all at once. She knew the smart thing would be to retreat, regroup, take a beat to organize her thoughts in the privacy of her own home.
But all of those thoughts completely fled as Dante began to kiss his way down her neck. And over her breasts. He paid lavish, selfish attention to her breasts as he unclipped her bra, then laving each of her breasts with his tongue and teeth, using his stubble to make her nipples stand tall and beg for him.
She leaned back on her hands on the counter as he continued to kiss down her stomach, nuzzling her navel and then finally, finally, letting his mouth close over her core. She still wore her underwear, so she couldn’t feel him in great detail, but his hot, wicked mouth already had her clenching and raising up off the counter.
That night they’d spent together, he’d tasted her off of his fingers, off of her own fingers, but he hadn’t directly gone down on her. And the thought that he might be about to do just that had Aurora’s breath coming in pants.
He knelt before her and stripped her panties away, then took one more second to strip his undershirt away. He tossed the discarded clothes onto the floor beside him. For some reason, the sight of her slinky black underwear mixed and tossed with his utilitarian undershirt was wildly erotic to her. Aurora found herself spreading her legs for him with no prompting necessary.
“Good girl,” he growled, looking up from between her legs. He held her eyes as he leaned forward and planted his mouth over her.
Aurora’s body went fully electric. She wouldn’t have been surprised if blue light was shooting out of her fingertips, out the top of her head. She’d never felt anything like this before. This man was deeply skilled, that much was for sure, but she’d also never been in the path of this much passion before.
His hands were planted on either of her thighs, holding her fully open for him. He kissed her as if she were the love of his life, like they’d been separated by war for decades. He kissed her pussy like he was suffocating and she was air.
And then his tongue was plunging into her and the making love part was over. Now he was just downright fucking her pussy with his mouth. He plunged into her over and over, dexterously touching every part of her. When he slid his mouth upward and sucked her clit, tonguing and sucking and groaning, Aurora plunged over the cliff and to the other side of pleasure. Her body quaked and shook and liquefied for him. He suckled her through her orgasm and then stood up, immediately cushioning her head against his shoulder as she went weak around him.
She was vaguely aware of the sound of a condom wrapper tearing. He threaded his fingers through her hair and tipped her head back. She was shocked at what she saw on his face. A terrible need for her, etched into every line. He was no longer the smooth-talking Dante she saw in boardrooms or the flirty, sexy Dante who sidled up to her at social engagements. This was full-on pirate Dante, soldier Dante, sex Dante. He was tense and coiled and on edge.
The hand in her hair tightened, just to the edge of pain, before he slid it around to her chin. He held her face in place as the head of his cock nudged her entrance, pushing in just a scant inch.
“You going to let me take it again, baby?” he asked her, and his words had her pussy clamping again, her heart racing.
“Yes. God, yes.”
He plunged into her completely, and both of them groaned. His strokes were short and fierce and measured as if he were
digging inside her for some special secret. And god did he find it. The angle had him pressing against something that Aurora had never felt before. It felt like an orgasm that started from deep inside her, but she hadn’t even known that was possible. She tensed her legs around his waist and let him take her there. Let him show her all of it.
She clung and exploded into a kaleidoscope of stars as she screamed into his mouth. She felt him tense and let go as well, and all she could do was hold him tighter.
Chapter Seven
“Food,” Aurora groaned into his neck where she’d buried her face. The aftershocks had gone, and all that was left was a full-bodied exhaustion. An absolute need for nourishment like she’d never known before. “Now.”
Dante chuckled and disentangled them, wincing as he pulled out of her. She immediately missed the heat of his skin against hers, but something kept her from pulling him toward her again.
He held out a hand to help her hop down from the counter.
“This food’s going to need some reheating. If you want you can wash up in my bathroom while I get the food ready. You remember where it is?”
He jerked his chin toward the stairs and the room that Aurora remembered very well.
Aurora nodded and shivered. She hadn’t realized the air had been so chilly in here until she was standing there completely naked, covered in a thin layer of sweat. “How’d you know I’d want a bath?”
He shrugged. “You’re practically swaying on your feet right now. Go relax upstairs and I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”
Aurora frowned, but she turned and walked up the stairs. This was really not how she’d thought this was going to go. She really thought she was going to get here, bang him, and leave. But he’d ordered them dinner? What the heck was his angle here? There was no way she was leaving without eating some of that food but he wasn’t wrong that she was basically dead on her feet. A bath would actually be really nice right about now.
She ignored his bedroom and the onslaught of memories it brought back and walked straight into his adjoining bathroom. She sighed. A claw foot tub. Perfect.
She ran the water into it, but couldn’t find any bubbles to add. She couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the well-stocked drawer of condoms he had. Fat lot of good that had done them.
Normally, she liked a piping hot bath. However, her OBGYN had warned her against that in her first trimester, so Aurora settled for a mildly warm one. Still, she had no complaints when she piled her hair in a messy bun and slipped into the warm water. Heaven.
She made quick work with the bar of soap on the ledge, reveling in the manly smell of it.
All clean, her eyes fluttered closed and she hovered somewhere between thoughts and dreams and memories, each muscle in her body slowly relaxing.
“Sweetheart.”
His voice had her eyes flinging open, but she didn’t tense back up. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom, barefoot and shirtless, his work slacks slung low over his hips. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a pained expression.
“You trying to invite me in?” He nodded toward her legs, one of which was drawn up, her foot planted on the edge of the tub. It had been a natural pose for Aurora to strike in the tub, but she could see now that it was alluring. She was opening herself for him.
The thought struck her like lightning. She pictured him crawling into the tub, slacks and all, the water spilling over the sides. Her core clenched around nothing, needing to be filled again. But a different hunger won out.
“Food,” she croaked again.
Dante threw his head back and laughed. “Fair enough, gorgeous. It’s all ready downstairs. I brought your clothes up.” He nodded toward a pile of folded clothes he’d set on the counter. “But you can find something in the closet if you want to get more comfortable.”
And then he was gone. Leaving her be. Aurora had been certain from the minute she’d seen him in the doorway that he was going to stay and watch her get out of the tub. But no, he gave her space. And had folded her clothes.
She wrinkled her nose at the new information. Weird. It somehow didn’t fit the playboy image she had of him in her head. Well, part of the reason she was here was to learn more about him, so she supposed it was important to approach things with an open mind.
She dried off and despite being terribly tempted to go through his clothes and pick out something to wear, slipped back into her clothes. She had to maintain some distance, after all.
She peeked at herself in the mirror and was surprised at what she saw. Besides the professional clothing, she looked like she could be a college girl hanging out at home after class. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, her makeup washed off from the bath. Her skin was flushed and slightly pink. And her eyes were… blurry? Relaxed? Happy?
Strange. Feeling vaguely suspicious of what her own reflection was telling her, Aurora headed downstairs. She was fairly certain she could eat an entire buffet right now. All-you-can-eat would lose money tonight.
She had laser vision as she bounced down the stairs and perched herself on the bar stool at the breakfast bar. Dante, bless him, had already loaded her plate with food and was just setting out a glass of ice water for her.
“I also have beer? Wine? A stiff whiskey to put the color back in your cheeks?” He surveyed her, cocking his head to one side. “Actually, strike that. The bath did that just fine.”
She met his gaze for a moment, and something electric passed between them before she deliberately tucked into her food. She waved her hand to show him that water was fine.
He leaned over the bar and watched her eat with a vaguely amazed look in his eye. “You look about 18 with your hair piled up like that and no makeup.”
She finally looked back up at him, swallowing what was in her mouth and taking a big gulp of water. “You wanna see some ID?”
He laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”
* * *
Dante slid onto the stool across from her and started eating. He couldn’t get a read on her. She seemed relaxed and sated and obviously very hungry. But he couldn’t tell what the hell else she was feeling.
He wasn’t sure why it was so important. Regardless of what she was feeling, they’d still done something amazing together. He thought of the look in her eyes when she’d come through the door. The way she’d looked when she’d taken him inside her. Yeah. He was pretty much on cloud nine right now. It was ridiculous, but he felt like his bar stool was a helium balloon, floating him up into the stratosphere.
Some of her ravenous hunger taken care of, Aurora took a deep breath and started eating at a more human pace. As she did so, her gaze scanned his home.
He wondered if she was surprised by what she saw.
“You know, your house is cuter than I thought it would be. It’s actually like a house.”
He raised an eyebrow and bit into a samosa. “What were you picturing?”
“I dunno. Lots of chrome and glass. Some condo high above the city where you could look down on everybody. A room designated for your sex swings.”
Dante threw his head back and laughed. Really laughed. “Well, you pretty much described my old condo down to a T. Except for the sex swing part. But yeah, I sold that and moved here when I got custody of my sister. She needed something a little warmer. More homey.”
* * *
Aurora dropped her eyes from him and stared at the food on her plate, hardly seeing it. He’d surprised her again. As if his house hadn’t already done that enough.
It was homey. Colored jars of herbs and spices on the counter, an ugly little handmade something hanging in the window above the sink, mismatched placemats on the big dinner table behind her. And pictures on the walls. Lots of them. Artsy ones and family ones. What the hell?
And what the fuck did he mean ‘custody’. He was raising his little sister? Dante Callaghan was living in a house in suburbia raising a kid? Why the hell hadn’t she known this? She’d known the man for four fucki
ng years.
He narrowed his eyes in confusion as he studied her reaction. “You didn’t know? About my sister?”
Aurora cleared her throat and took a grateful sip of her ice water. “I knew that you two were close. I met her at that company picnic a few years ago. Remember?”
“I remember.” His eyes were dark and inscrutable.
“But I didn’t know you had custody of her. I assumed you brought her in order to…”
Aurora trailed off, appalled at the ugliness of her assumption and appalled that she’d been about to say it out loud.
But Dante merely quirked a smile, dug out more channa masala from a carton to put on his plate. “You assumed I brought her as some sort of pick-up tactic for the women at the picnic? A way to soften up the ladies so I could get a little taste of tail?”
Aurora shrugged, her cheeks flaming with her deep embarrassment. “I guess.”
Dante took it in good humor, chuckling and sighing. “Well, I gotta say, I didn’t expect it—how hot some women found it when I told them I was raising a kid alone.”
Aurora laughed, pushing her food around on her plate. She was still reeling. Both from the discovery that Dante was raising his sister and from the fact that she barely knew him at all.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to assume the worst about you.”
He shrugged. If she’d hurt his feelings, he hid it well. “I think my reputation often precedes me. Whether it’s an earned reputation or not.”
What did that mean? That he wasn’t a total player? Aurora’s head spun. This was a lot of new information all at once. She had about a hundred questions but she found herself snapping her mouth shut. She’d already insulted him enough and was too nervous to say anything else.
Dante scooped more food onto her empty plate, eyeing her. “It’s okay, Aurora. You can ask questions. You want to know more about my situation with Michelle?”
She looked up. It seemed rude to pry, but he was offering and more information was a huge part of the reason she was here in the first place. “Your parents are…”
