by Sofia Tate
Devoted to Him
Sofia Tate
New York Boston
Begin Reading
Table of Contents
An Excerpt from Breathless for Him
Newsletters
Copyright Page
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For Linda Judge,
my BFF from Buckinghamshire.
Our love for Duran Duran brought us together,
and you’ve been my rock ever since.
You always believed and never wavered.
Love you so much! xoxo
#bestmatesforlife
Acknowledgments
The reaction to Breathless for Him, the first book in my Davison & Allegra series, was overwhelming. I was so awed and humbled by it all. My rock-star editor extraordinaire, Megha Parekh, always makes sure I do them justice. I’m so excited to continue Davison and Allegra’s journey with you! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!
Once again, an ENORMOUS thank-you to the team at Forever Romance / Grand Central Publishing, who are a million kinds of awesomesauce! I must thank Leah Hultenschmidt and Michele Bidelspach for their support and my amazeballs publicist, Julie Paulauski, for everything she did for my debut and creating the hot BFH quote cards that just blew me away! Huge thanks also to Jodi Rosoff, Marissa Sangiacomo, Jamie Snider, Janet Robbins for her amazing copyediting, and Elizabeth Turner for the drop-dead-gorgeous covers!
To my fellow Forever Romance authors: Kennedy Ryan, you are my rock! Thank you for keeping me off the ledge with your words and laughter. Lia Riley: you are too cool for words! Shannon Richard, Chelsea Fine, Shelley Coriell, Jessica Lemmon, Rie Warren, Rebecca Donovan—loved meeting you at RT! You are all so awesome! Finally, to Cecilia Tan: Thank you so much for your support of Breathless for Him! You are a rock star!
Victoria Routledge, Shelly Bell, Hope Tarr, Sara Jane Stone, and Racheline Maltese—thank you so much for your support!
Linda Judge, my BFF from Buckinghamshire: There’s a reason DEVOTED TO HIM is for you. The dedication says it all.
Holly Wright: It doesn’t matter that we live so far away from each other, because distance is nothing for us. Love you, sweetie! xoxo
Karen Mandeville-Steer: You’ve become an important part of my life, and I’m so grateful for that, as are Davison & Allegra. “Karen’s Two Cents’ Worth” are invaluable! You are a true friend, and I cannot wait to meet you in 2015! HUGS! xoxo
To my RWA/NYC friends: Thank you again for your friendship and support of Breathless for Him. Extraspecial thanks to Katana Collins, Julia Tagan, and Alyssa Cole.
Logan Belle: What would I do without you? Can’t even fathom the thought.
To my husband, Mama, Taissa, David, Dad and Wendy, Nancy, my family, and my friends: Thank you for being there for me when I need you. I love you all very much.
Finally, I need to thank two amazeballs groups of people who played a huge role in promoting Breathless for Him. First, I want to give GIGANTIC thanks to the bloggers who supported BFH with their reviews and posts: Karen from Confessions of a Booklovinjunkie, Ash from Morning Books & Coffee, Carol from Sassy Ray Book Reviews, Nicole from Heroes and Heartbreakers, Logan from Romance at Random, Kate from Home. Love. Books., Laura from Bangin’ Book Blog, Michelle from Sexy Bibliophiles, Autumn from Agents of Romance, Michelle from Ms. Romantic Reads, Kari from Love Words And Books, Kathy from Book Reviews and More, Julie from Manga Maniac Café, Nikki from Ramblings of a Chaotic Mind, Melanie from Up In the Cosmos, Katie from Babbling About Books, and More!, A.L. from The Avid Reader, Rosarita from iScream Books, Lindsay from Confessions of 2 Book Lovers, Lauren from CherryRed’s Reads, Grace from Books of Love, Paige from Mama Kitty Reviews, Momo from Books Over Boys, The Book Bellas, Bitten by Love, A Bluestocking’s Place, and Romancing Rakes for the Love of Romance. Thank you SO MUCH for reading BFH and blogging about it. I hope you enjoy DEVOTED TO HIM!
And to the wonderful, beautiful readers who bought Breathless for Him and posted honest reviews on social media: Thank you for your words, whether they were of praise or criticism. I am grateful for all of them because you are the ones I write for, and I hope you’ll continue Davison and Allegra’s journey with me.
Chapter One
Davison
Allegra Orsini is the most stubborn, aggravating, maddening, hotheaded, smart-mouthed, opinionated woman on the planet.
And I can’t imagine my life without her.
Which is why I’m waiting for her patiently on her father’s sofa, my knees bouncing up and down in anticipation. She’s in her bedroom getting ready for her private graduation recital—the redo, the one she missed when she was kidnapped.
That bastard Carlo Morandi died a lucky man, because if the NYPD hadn’t shot him, I would’ve paid someone off to leave me alone in a room with him so I could kill him myself. I would’ve made sure it was slow and painful, not quick like that cop’s bullet. It would’ve been a pleasure to torture him the way he made my beautiful Allegra—my baby, my Venus—suffer, and her mother before that, stalking her, then murdering her in cold blood right in front of Allegra when she was five. If my damn money could be useful for anything, it would’ve been for that.
Over two months have passed since Allegra was almost taken from me. I took her to Italy to get away from the media frenzy that was ravenous for any news of her, her recovery, and me. Most of all, I needed time to just be with her. We had a huge fight before we left, letting out all our anger and frustration, with me destroying a crystal vase in the midst of it when I threw it against the wall. I never want to feel that helpless again.
That fight actually brought us some peace. It was incredibly cathartic, and from that point on, we were determined to fight for our future together. She’s already seeing her former therapist, and I’m going to start having joint sessions with her and Dr. Turner as well to continue our healing.
Our trip to Italy was amazing, especially seeing the country through Allegra’s eyes. Her fluency in Italian of course helped us when our rental broke down on the autostrada and we had to call for roadside assistance. Even more than that, I loved being able to give her the trip she deserved. I pampered her, giving her whatever she wanted so she could relax and enjoy herself. Anything for her. For my Allegra.
And relax she did. I can still hear her moaning, screaming in ecstasy when I fucked her in the bathtub in Venice. How she rode me up and down, arching her back, on the verge of her body exploding, my cock sheathed in her tight cunt, milking it again and again as she shuddered…
Fuck!
I look down at my crotch. I’m hard as a rock.
I jump to my feet to bring down my hard-on. Thank God her father is still downstairs in his butcher shop. I start pacing the floor, thinking of less arousing topics like the pile of work that’s waiting for me on the desk in my office or my old professor’s monotone timbre discussing supply and demand in my undergrad macroeconomics class at Harvard.
“Hi.”
At the sound of her soft voice, I turn away from the window.
Allegra stands before me in a simple black dress that hugs all of her spectacular curves, with a thin belt that cinches her waist. With her hair pulled back in her familiar style at the nape of her neck, her legs encased in black stockings and those black stilettos that I love, she is a vision.
But my favorite parts of her ensemble are the jewe
ls that adorn her luscious body. I gave her the ruby ring on her right hand in Venice when our gondola floated under the Bridge of Sighs, which, according to legend, was supposed to seal our love for eternity. She couldn’t stop crying when I showed it to her and put it on her finger. It was a symbol of my love for her, the promise of a future together. My eyes welled up as well, seeing how happy she was.
Around her neck is the hummingbird pendant on the chain that I bought for her as a Christmas present because that’s what she was doing the first time I met her at Le Bistro—humming like a songbird. Sometimes I think that’s what attracted me to her even before I saw her warm brown eyes look at me, sending my heart leaping into my damn throat.
Her bejeweled state reaffirms one thing for me and sends out a warning to the men who would dare approach her:
She is mine.
Before I met Allegra, I was never such a sap, not even with Ashton. Thank God I finally saw Ashton for what she really was—cold, unfeeling, materialistic, none of which could ever be used to describe Allegra. Meeting Allegra has opened me up in so many ways. I laugh more. She makes me want to be a better person. But most of all, I can be myself with her.
“Baby…” I murmur. I drink in her beauty, roaming my eyes over her luscious body wrapped in shimmering black fabric. I slowly make my way over to her, our eyes locked on each other. When I reach her, I cup her face with my hands. “You take my breath away.”
“Davison,” she whispers.
My name crossing her lips in a sexy tone sends my heart soaring and my cock hardening once more. I’m in awe of her. “You look beautiful.”
“So do you,” she says, fingering my red tie, then running her hands over the lapels of my charcoal-gray suit. “This is one of my favorites.”
I lean in and start nibbling on her warm earlobe, tasting her sweet flesh on my tongue. “Why do you think I wore it?”
“Don’t start, Harvard. We’ll never get out of here if you keep that up.”
She wriggles out of my grip, stepping into the hallway, returning with her coat. “Now be a gentleman and help me with this. My father’s waiting downstairs.”
If anything is going to crush my libido, it’s the mention of her father.
“At your service, Venus.”
I assist Allegra with her coat, wrapping her cream silk scarf around her neck. I look down into her soft brown eyes, seeing her love reflecting back at me. Even though I’ve only known her for a few months, I can tell what she’s thinking and feeling just from the expression in them.
“Baby, you have nothing to be nervous about,” I reassure her. “You’ve been rehearsing almost every day. I should know. I’ve been missing you like crazy.”
She laughs slightly at my attempt at levity, a smile appearing on her lush lips.
“You’ve got this. You’re going to be amazing.”
She nods. “Thank you. I needed that. Now let’s go before I lose my nerve.”
She turns around, and with my hand on the small of her back, I steer my love out the door.
* * *
Allegra
Front row center.
He’s always there, no matter what.
I smile back in silent reply to the one spread across Davison’s face. He gives me a quick wink of encouragement from his seat as I clear my throat. I signal to Derek, my accompanist, who begins playing the opening notes on the piano in my favorite rehearsal room at my grad school, the Gotham Conservatory. I open my mouth and enter my comfort zone. I forget the eyes staring at me and the ears listening for everything from pitch to pronunciation.
I finish the final note and shut my eyes, trying not to let the tears that are forming fall down my cheeks. I open them again to see the entire audience on their feet, applauding with Davison and my father shouting, “Brava!”
I bow in gratitude for the applause. Davison is the first to embrace me, of course.
“You were amazing, baby,” he whispers in my ear.
My father steps up to me with tears in his eyes. “I’m so proud of you, cara.”
“Grazie, Papa,” I tell him. “I just wish Mamma could’ve seen me.”
“She did see you. I know she did,” he assures me.
I nod as he holds me once more. A loud voice announces, “Okay, Mr. Orsini, my turn.”
My best friend, Luciana Gibbons, is standing behind my father. Next to her is her boyfriend, Tomas Novotny.
“That was incredible, Alli!” she says. “Thanks to you, I’m a total mess!” I laugh as she wipes her eyes. I watch as Tomas places a hand on her shoulder. It makes me smile in wonder how Lucy was resistant to dating Tomas, but now she swoons over him like a schoolgirl.
“You were vonderful,” Tomas says to me in his thick Czech accent.
“Thank you, Tomas.”
The rest of the audience, mostly the faculty, comes over to congratulate me. When Signora Pavoni, my mentor, approaches me, she isn’t alone.
“Brava, Allegra! I would like to introduce you to one of my dearest friends, Ginevra Ventura.”
My mouth drops. I can’t believe my eyes. Ginevra Ventura is one of the last true divas of the opera world. She’s known for her passionate temperament and her famous string of lovers that ranges from film stars to royal princes. Her nickname is appropriate—“La Diva.”
She is everything I imagine her to be from her CD covers. Her gray eyes contrast against the jet-black of her hair with a widow’s peak in the front, wearing a black pantsuit and a matching cashmere shawl covering her shoulders. A clearly expensive red handbag is hanging from her elbow.
She takes both of my hands in hers before she speaks to me. “Signorina Orsini, thank you for your performance. I was very impressed by your voice. You are very talented. We will speak on Monday morning. Lunedi, sì?” she asks, looking back at Signora Pavoni.
My professor nods. “You made me very proud today, Allegra. Would you stop by my office then, perhaps around eleven?”
“Of course. I’ll be there. Grazie mille,” I reply, my curiosity piqued, wondering what my professor and La Diva are planning to tell me.
I keep staring at the two women as they walk away, not even noticing Davison returning to claim me.
He wraps his arms around me from the back, placing his head on my shoulder. “What was that about?”
“Do you know who that was?” I ask incredulously.
“Of course. La Diva.”
I watch Papa from afar, talking to her and holding his hand over his heart, probably telling her how much he and Mamma loved listening to her albums.
“What did they say to you?”
“Not much. They want me to meet them in Signora Pavoni’s office on Monday.”
“So basically, you won’t be able to focus on anything until then,” he whispers into my ear, instantly arousing me.
“Oh yeah, I’ll be completely useless,” I joke.
“Hmm. We’ll see about that, baby. You ready to head to Le Bistro for dinner? The sooner we get there, the sooner we finish.”
I turn around in his arms, giving him a quick kiss. “I love how you think, Berkeley.”
Chapter Two
Davison
Allegra’s head is nestled on my shoulder as Charles drives us home from dinner at Le Bistro. We’re slightly buzzed from the champagne that the owner and my godfather, Elias Crawford, sent over to our table to congratulate his talented employee on her successful graduation.
I watch as Charles pulls in front of my building. I look down at Allegra’s peaceful expression.
“You awake, baby?” I whisper.
“Mmm-hmm,” she murmurs. “Just resting my eyes. Are we home?”
“Yes.”
Home. I love the sound of that word coming from her mouth. Hopefully, it won’t be long until it actually becomes a reality—sharing the same home with her. I have plans.
She waits for me to open the car door for her, something that’s become part of our routine. I wrap my arm around her shoulders an
d don’t let go until we’re inside my apartment.
I take off her coat, putting it away with mine in the hall closet. When I turn back around, she grabs my tie and pulls me to her, her lips slamming over my mouth. I suck on her tongue, feeding on its sweetness. Her hands run through my hair, bringing me in tighter.
When she pulls away, I groan with need.
“Fuck me, Davison,” she commands.
That’s all I need to hear. I sweep her up into my arms, carrying her to my bedroom. She doesn’t say a word, and neither do I. We both want the same thing—me inside her.
Once there, we work on each other’s clothes, quickly taking turns as she undoes my tie and my shirt buttons, and I unzip her dress and pull the bobby pins out of her hair, letting the silky strands fall around her face. Both of us are now fully naked.
I roam my eyes over her luscious body.
Fuck. She is the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever seen. And she is mine. All mine.
I pick her up and walk with her body wrapped around me to the bed, where I lay her down and fall on top of her.
She quickly wraps her legs around my waist, her hands squeezing my ass.
“Hard, baby,” she orders me in a husky voice. “Fuck me hard. I want you now.”
I grunt in agreement because I’m too damn overcome with emotion. I’m dying to taste her pussy and suck on her luscious tits, but right now, more than anything, I need that connection with her, to feel my cock sheathed inside her like a vise.
I slide my dick into her pussy, which is completely soaked.
“Oh God, baby, you’re always ready for me, aren’t you?” I moan. “You feel so good. So fucking wet.”
I start thrusting inside her, and she quickly picks up my rhythm. She then links my hands with hers, holding them above her head. We are amazing together, always in sync with each other. And when we come together, it’s fucking priceless.
