Chapter 8
FRANKIE
The light breeze blows my hair in tendrils around my face. My dress billows around my legs. Neither one of us moves otherwise.
My insides twist in knots and I suddenly realize why I’m so nervous. Dante’s looking at me like I’m prey.
He’s going to devour me, and not in the way I’d planned.
“I—I came to say…” I stutter.
He moves lightning fast, pushing me up against the glass of the balcony door.
Before I can cry out, his lips crash onto mine, hard and hot and bruising.
As he kisses me, I feel like I’m falling backwards—because I am.
Dante has opened the door behind me, and his strong grip on me is the only thing keeping me upright as he devours my mouth.
My knees are so weak that God help me, I stumble, but of course he catches me. For a moment I’m exactly where I want to be. Safe and protected, back in Dante’s arms. But then he picks me up roughly and carries me into the room to throw me down on the bed.
I don’t have time to breathe as he tugs at my dress, quick and not exactly kind in his movements.
Then the fabric rips, the sound of fine silk tearing loud in the room.
It only seems to spur him on. He doesn’t just tear the dress to get it off me.
No, he pulls the seams apart on each side, then rips the flutter sleeves and halves the plunging neckline.
He’s purposely destroying it, throwing shreds of material to the floor as if he’s tearing apart an enemy.
His intensity scares me. I’m tempted to push back, but his animalistic intensity keeps me in place. I’ll let him use me however he wants and then we can start over. He’ll see just how good we are together…
“Dante?”
Without responding, he tugs me into a sitting position and yanks my bra so hard, the band cuts into my back.
I nearly yelp but keep quiet as he rips apart the fasteners and peels it off me.
When I lean back and reach down to remove my underwear, he shoves my hands away, yanking my panties off.
I look up at him, naked and vulnerable, my pulse pounding so hard I’m gasping.
“Is this what you came here for?” He sits back and stares at my body while working his tie loose, hurriedly unbuttoning his shirt. “You think I’m going to get my cock into you and forget about what you did?”
Yes. No. I don’t know anymore.
I’ve never seen him like this. I’m afraid to push him, so I don’t respond. Instead, I lower my eyelids in a sultry glare, doing my best to look like the sex goddess I was trying to be.
My nipples peak painfully as he strips out of his suit, revealing the strength of his chest and the tight bands of muscle over his abdomen. I grow needy and wet as an ache tugs at my center, consuming me. He looks hungry enough to devour me whole.
And I want him to.
His cock is fully erect and thick, a glisten of precum wetting the tip. Spreading my legs, I wait for his next move. He starts to climb over me, but pulls back harshly, his eyes narrowing.
“Where did he touch you?” he asks, his eyes raking my body.
The demand and rage in his words make me shiver, but I’m confused. “What?”
His hands come down on either side of my head, his palms pressing into the pillow. “Where did he touch you?”
It clicks then, what he’s asking. I shake my head. “Nowhere. We didn’t—I mean he kissed me, but—”
The look in his eyes has the rest of my words dying in my throat. God, if I could take back what I just said, I would.
I don’t get the chance to try to smooth things over as he kisses me again, punishing and almost cruel with his mouth. I welcome it. Anything to erase the memory of Rico.
Dante kisses me until my head fills with the lovely, desperate, drunk sensation.
But all too soon, he pulls away from me and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
As if he’s scrubbing my taste away. I reach for him, but he moves between my legs and thrusts his fingers into me savagely.
I arch my back and cry out as he goes straight for my G-spot, his fingers rapidly bringing me to a breathless frenzy.
He doesn’t kiss me again, but the quick assault of pleasure on my nerves pulls me under and I swim in the feeling.
The stirrings of a hard orgasm begin to build.
I open my eyes and see that Dante has his cock in his hand.
He quickly strokes as he works me, head glistening in his tight grip.
It makes my mouth water. I want to touch him. To taste him on my tongue.
“I want to suck you,” I whisper thickly, heedless of the desperation in my voice.
He doesn’t respond, just looks away from me to reach for the drawer in the nightstand. He takes out a condom and makes quick work of putting it on. What the…? He’s never worn a condom before.
Some of the pleasure fades from my mind. Does he think I lied about being with Rico? Or has he changed his mind about having kids?
He pushes into me while I’m still running through questions, though it only takes a second for me to get back in the moment thanks to the exquisite, thick feeling of his cock stuffing me full.
I wrap my legs around him and try to lose myself in the sensations, but something is off.
He doesn’t kiss me while he fucks me, doesn’t touch my breasts or tease my clit.
Our only real connection is his cock pounding inside me, and as good as it feels, there’s a lot missing.
My thoughts keep my orgasm far away, and for the first time, I don’t finish before he does. Dante hardens and comes with a groan, pushing himself up on his hands instead of pressing into my chest like he normally does.
Immediately, he pulls out of me and takes off the condom, tossing it in the trash before cleaning himself with his discarded shirt. My skin cools, my pulse picking up and not in a good way. This isn’t what I’d expected. Dante is so…different.
Turning back to me, he stares at me almost desperately, breathing hard. I push up on my arms and grab the sheet with one hand, but he rips it from my grasp.
“You don’t get out of this that easily.” He pushes me down and moves between my legs again, pushing my thighs wide apart and diving his tongue to my center. Lapping at me, sucking, stroking into me with his tongue. It’s so intense, all I can do is moan and writhe on the bed.
“You’re going to come, do you understand?” he says.
I can’t answer him. My throat is dry, my brain under water as I ride the waves and crests of sex.
Tongue thrusting in and out of my hole, he uses his thumb to stroke hard over my clit, followed by a lighter, softer touch, repeating the pattern over and over until the orgasm drags out of me, hot and strong.
The sheet bunches in my hands as I ride the wave, whimpering.
“I’m coming,” I tell him, trying to give him the show of obedience he demands.
But he’s not done with me. He continues working my sensitive flesh, fingers sliding into me, even as I shudder with aftershocks. I almost can’t stand it, but I resist the urge to pull away as another orgasm builds, agonizingly deep.
“Again. You’re going to come again,” he says.
I murmur my agreement.
“You’re going to say my name,” he tells me.
I’m concentrating so hard, needing to come so bad, I almost don’t process what he said.
“Dante,” I whisper desperately.
“Again. Louder.”
“Dante, yes, fuck, Dante,” I moan.
He replaces his fingers with his tongue and licks me hard, relentlessly, until I can’t help grinding against his face, my orgasm close, tantalizingly close, if I could just get a little more—
“Dante!” I cry out as my release crashes into me.
The sound of foil ripping open, the weight of him between my legs. Suddenly, he’s fucking me again, riding me hard, pinning me down in my lingering state of pleasure as he pulls another orgasm out of me. It’s hard and quick, just a firework of release that has another one immediately behind it.
His hand wraps around my throat. “Say my name, Francesca.”
I’m more than happy to comply—he’s pushed all possible thoughts of anyone else into oblivion. “Fuck! Dante…oh my God.”
“Come for me,” he repeats, over and over, in perfect time with his cockthrusts.
Just like that I’m coming again, senseless as it crashes over me. He groans and pounds three quick thrusts into me, his release pulsing inside my swollen channel.
Then he collapses, lying on his side, his head beside mine and his breath warm and harsh in my ear. It’s so peaceful being here with him, I can almost believe we’ve turned a corner.
Not to mention, that was insane. I can’t even count how many times I came. He’s a beast. And I love it.
A smile tugs the corner of my mouth up as I lean in to kiss him. But his eyes immediately open and he recoils, quickly getting up off the bed.
“I want you gone,” he says.
My stomach drops, my face going hot. He’s throwing me out? After what just happened?
The rosy afterglow quickly fades as the reality of my situation sneaks back in.
I sit up and try my best to look unbothered. “Okay…I’ll go back to the guesthouse.”
He gives me a smile of pure distaste and shakes his head. “No. You’re not a Bellanti anymore. You never were, and you’re certainly not a guest here.”
My jaw drops. I feel like I’m sinking. Drowning. “But—I thought we had to keep up appearances for the—”
“Fuck appearances, and fuck the investors. I don’t care anymore. Go back to your loser father for all I care.” He jabs a finger in the air. “But he still owes me. I’m keeping the vineyard.”
Dante goes into his bathroom, his voice reaching out at me.
“I’m changing the name, though. The Abbotts mean less than nothing to me and I’ll be damned if I keep that name.”
I clutch at the sheet in fear, pulling it up to my neck. All I can think about is Livvie and the horses.
Swallowing hard, I find the willpower to make my voice strong. “What about the house?” Despite my attempt at bravery, my tone wavers.
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Dante scoffs, his head popping out so he can sneer at me. “Daddy Abbott kept that for himself. Though I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he loses that, too.”
My mind is racing, but I’m immobilized by panic.
Dante comes out of the bathroom, still stark naked, and spreads his hands at me. “What are you still doing here?”
I look at him, but I don’t see him past the veil of tears in my eyes. Sliding out of bed, I spot my ruined dress in a heap on the floor. I’m not sure how much of it is even intact, so I just wrap the sheet around myself with as much dignity as I can muster.
Tears rolling down my cheeks, I quietly let myself out.