18. Dante #2
“He murmured it in my ear when he bent me over the Venetian suite’s balcony railing and fucked me senseless while our client watched.”
Something uncomfortable twisted in my gut. “Good for you.”
“Good for him, too. And definitely good for the client, who paid triple his usual rate for an encore.” She studied me over the rim of her cup. “You interviewed Renato, right? How was that?”
“Professional.”
“Professional?” Natalia repeated incredulously. “That’s how you sum up fucking a walking wet dream? With his golden eyes and that cologne that makes panties dissolve in an instant?”
I ignored her accurate comments about him. “He was qualified for the position.”
She burst out laughing, drawing brief glances from a nearby table. “Wow, you sound like a corporate HR drone. ‘Qualified for the position.’ Was the position on your dick?”
I gave her a pointed look. “Natalia.”
“Don’t ‘Natalia’ me with that tone, mister. I know you too well for that shit. When you clam up, it means something’s gotten under your skin.”
I bristled at the truth. Sometimes it was a tremendous pain in the ass that she was so good at reading me. “Everything’s fine.”
“Sure, if by fine you mean fucked-up, insecure, neurotic, and emotional.” Her playful gaze took on a calculating intent. “If I told you he asked about you after our session, you wouldn’t want to know what he said?”
“Nope.”
Her cheeky grin told me how much she was enjoying lording her knowledge over me. “Are you sure you don’t want to know how I answered his question about what makes you come the hardest?”
I took a long sip of my espresso as I stared her down.
“Come on, you know you’re dying to know about my conversation with him,” she cajoled.
“You shouldn’t have been talking about me at all.”
“We were careful, don’t worry.” After working at the brothel for so many years, she was as well-versed as I was in where the safest spots for hushed conversations were. “Stop acting like you aren’t curious.”
There was more than one way to play the game with Natalia. Denying her what she was after was the best method to get her to spill. “I don’t care.”
Her eyes gleamed with glee. “Maybe I told him how you melt when someone bites the back of your neck while fucking you from behind.”
I remained silent, refusing to give her the satisfaction.
“Perhaps I told him you secretly enjoy it when somebody leaves a mark on you that reminds you of them for days.”
“Is there some reason you’re trying to get me in trouble?” I asked with an irritated sigh. She knew the rules that clients had to pay a high price to leave a mark, even impermanent ones. “The last thing I need is him giving me a hickey and dealing with the punishing consequences.”
Despite my protests, my dick perked up with interest at the thought of Renato biting me hard enough to bruise, maybe even bleed.
“Then again, I might have said nothing.” Her grin was unrepentant. “I’m happy to tell you if you ask.”
“You’ll tell me, regardless,” I pointed out.
“Don’t you want to hear how he waxed poetic as he told me you were the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, but you needed someone to make you laugh more?”
“I laugh plenty.”
She leveled a challenging look at me. “Name the last time.”
“Five minutes ago, when you told me Jace comes faster than a teenage boy.”
“That wasn’t a laugh. It was a smirk with sound effects.” She reached over to poke my chest. “I’m talking about a genuine laugh. The kind that makes your stomach hurt and your eyes water.”
“Those are overrated.”
She tilted her head as she studied me. “Damn, Renato must really get under your skin in a way no one else does for you to be putting up this much of an unaffected front. No wonder it scares the hell out of you.”
“You’re projecting.” I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you so invested?”
She studied me with fascination. “Because in the six years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you genuinely attracted to anyone you work with.”
“I’m attracted to you,” I countered.
“That’s different, and you know it. I’m like your sexual security blanket. Comfortable, familiar, safe.”
The assessment was surprisingly accurate. “Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I’m not. I know exactly how good I am and what I mean to you.” Her expression softened. “That’s why I know Renato scares you a little, doesn’t he?”
I shook my head but said nothing.
“Then why won’t you talk about him?” She crossed her arms. “Usually, you’d have given me a detailed analysis of a new hire’s sexual technique, complete with pros, cons, and numerical ratings.”
I shrugged. “Maybe there’s nothing to say.”
“Or maybe there’s too much.” Her gaze turned sympathetic. “He made you feel things you weren’t ready for. Now, you’re pretending he was nothing special because you don’t want to admit you like him.”
I glared at her. “Are you done?”
“Not even close. His cock is magnificent, isn’t it?
Thick enough to spread you open to your limits with every inch.
That perfect upward curve hits so deep you’ll scream.
And those hands?” She bit her lip with a moan I rarely heard her make outside of the bedroom.
“The way he whispers filthy Italian against your skin while his fingers work magic inside you makes you forget it’s business.
Makes you beg for things you never thought you’d want.
And the things that man can do with his mouth should be illegal even in our line of work. ”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, subtly adjusting myself.
She ignored my question and kept going. “But it’s his ruthless dedication to your pleasure that will ruin you.
He made me come eight times. Eight, Dante.
He started with that sinful tongue, licking and sucking until I was soaking wet and shouting his name with back-to-back orgasms. Then I rode him hard until I came twice more, my pussy clenching around him like a vise.
He flipped me over, spanked my ass raw, and took me from behind until I squirted all over the sheets. But he wasn’t done.”
“Natalia,” I said in reprimand, but she was on a roll and kept going.
“He held me up against the wall next, my legs wrapped around his waist while he whispered filthy promises in Italian and wrung another out of me. For the seventh, he pinned me on the bed, shoving his magical cock inside me again, which was so thick it burned in the best way when I was oversensitive, and fucked me until I screamed. And he was still hard, still hungry for more. He finally pulled out, straddled my chest and slid that gorgeous cock between my tits, fucking them with the same intensity until he came all over my neck and collarbone. The hot splash of his cum on my skin triggered one last, shuddering orgasm. Only you’ve ever wrecked me more thoroughly than that. ”
“Are you done?” I asked, maintaining a flat tone despite my hard-on.
“I didn’t believe there was a man alive who could fuck as well as you, but Renato gives you a serious run for your money.” She leaned back, satisfaction written across her face. “And I think you know it, which is why you’re fascinated by him.”
I broke off another piece of croissant, chewing slowly. “I’ll admit he’s skilled.”
“Ha!” She clapped her hands together. “We’re finally getting somewhere.”
“Don’t make it into something it’s not.”
“I’m simply pointing out that in all the years we’ve known each other, I’ve never seen you this rattled by anyone.”
I huffed at her unerring accuracy. “I’m not rattled.”
“Uh-huh, sure. Your knuckles totally aren’t white around that cup in your death grip.
” She laughed when I relaxed my hold with a scowl.
“Look, I’m giving you the rare opportunity to talk out your conflicted feelings about him before you blow a gasket from overthinking.
You should take advantage of it before we have to go. ”
Despite my reluctance to open up to anyone, Natalia was right. I gave up the fight. “What I don’t understand is why he’s working at Gennaro Corporation. He could have anyone he wanted.”
“We all have our reasons.” Her voice softened. “Most enjoy the money. Some have debts to pay. A few of us have people to protect.”
“I slip with him in a way I’ve never done with anyone else.” The words burned on my tounge. “It’s dangerous.”
Natalia’s expression turned serious, her playfulness momentarily set aside. “Maybe that’s what you need, Dante. Someone who makes you forget the script for a while.”
“Scripts keep me alive.”