Chapter 4
OLIVIA
Nathan’s kiss was worse than what I’d expected. It was made of brutal, all-consuming fire. It made it difficult to focus.
Or breathe.
I’d started this because I was curious. Now I was tumbling out of control.
He kissed me as if he was angry with me, yet desperate for more. His tongue parted my lips and advanced, tasting me boldly, not asking for permission. It sent a shockwave of heat through me, down to where it settled between my legs.
The angle of the kiss was adjusted by him, like he wanted to be in charge. If that wasn’t enough, he put his large hands on my hips and trapped me there. As if I would run now. Not in a million years, not even if a leopard ambushed us . . .
“This is dangerous,” I said in between kisses.
“I agree, but you started it.”
“I meant being outside.”
His hands roamed over my body, avoiding the areas I most wanted them to go, teasing me. I sighed against his mouth, tunneling my fingers in his soft, thick hair. I needed him to touch me.
Frustrating anticipation built until I was almost in a frenzy and ready to beg for it.
His fingers closed around the zipper of the fleece and eased it down, inch by slow inch, and I could faintly hear the jacket’s zipper teeth over my ragged breathing.
Too slow.
I shoved his hand aside and yanked the zipper the rest of the way. Our lips left each other for a moment so I could fling it open, then he returned to me, setting his mouth over mine and his hand on my collarbone.
The warmth of his palm was flat against my chest and began to creep lower. His unapologetic kiss stifled my moan when his hand reached its target and closed over my breast. My body responded, pebbling under his touch.
The wall against my back was cold, whereas the man over me was hot and firm, making need ramp up inside me.
It had been so long. I felt weak and lightheaded, but desperate for more.
My breath came and went rapidly, and it was then I noticed how fast his had become too.
I sucked on his neck and felt his pulse racing.
A reaction after all.
The idea that I held this kind of power over him was intoxicating.
“Olivia.” Nathan abruptly went rigid. “Let’s slow this down.”
Had he lost his mind? “Why?”
He turned his head, looking somewhat dazed. “Because Giovanni won’t like it if I sleep with you.”
“Awfully presumptuous,” I said. “But I thought you liked pissing him off.”
“He won’t be angry with me.” When I shrugged, his face turned dark. “Upsetting him is not something you want to do.”
“I can handle Giovanni Abramo. I thought you were supposed to be more dangerous than him.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an evil son-of-a-bitch.”
I didn’t want to talk about Giovanni right now. In fact, I didn’t want to do any talking at all. I used my most seductive voice. “It’s warmer in my room and probably more comfortable.”
He looked surprisingly tortured, like he was facing an impossible decision. Here I was, throwing myself shamelessly at him, and he acted unsure of which choice to make. It caused me to second-guess myself. Perhaps he was right—
“Okay.” He released me and gestured to the room.
Thank God. I scrambled around the corner to put the key in the lock and open the door. I didn’t turn on the lights, but when he came in behind me, there was a click and the room filled with soft light. I made a face, knowing I’d have to turn them off again before we got naked.
Assuming that happened.
I gave him a look that I hoped was brimming with impatience and desire. His shoulders lifted with a deep breath when I sauntered toward him. Then I gripped his head and pulled his lips down against mine roughly, igniting the fire again.
His kiss was powerful and commanding, but it was gone a second later. “I should get going.”
My head spun, disoriented by this turn of events. “Wait, what?”
“You’re safe in your room now, and I need to get back.” The emotionless mask returned and he stood out of reach, as if he wanted to keep his distance. Like he was wary of me. “You have my jacket.”
The bitchy teenager I’d once been wanted to scream Mine now. His reversal had sent me into a nosedive, and I couldn’t level off nearly this quick. “What the hell just happened?”
“Nothing happened,” he said, his dark eyes pinning mine, “and we need to keep it that way. Jacket. Please.”
He didn’t want to get too close. Why was that? Was he worried I might distract him again? “Okay, Nathan. Come and get it.”
Oh, he both did and didn’t like that challenge. All it took was one large stride and he was right there, hauling me up against him, my breasts crushing into his hard chest. He lowered his mouth to mine, dominating and aggressive.
My legs turned to jelly under the power of his kiss.
He pushed the fleece off my shoulders, but he didn’t try to strip it off, which was what I was prepared for. Instead, he closed his hands over my breasts and squeezed. He used teeth on his kiss, nipping at my bottom lip.
I groaned with pleasure against his mouth.
Whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t freaking stop. I couldn’t put my hands on him with the jacket bunched around my elbows, so I shook it off.
Yet when I reached up to trap his head, it wasn’t there. He’d backed up. The discarded fleece was in his hands, and he was already working to pull it on.
He’d fucking played me. Gotten me to basically hand it over. Fire burned in my belly now, not just between my legs.
“Good night.” He ducked out the door like he’d been shot through it.
I stood stock-still, staring at the door for a long time in disbelief and unsatisfied anger that built and built until there was no other thought in my head. What the hell was his problem?