Chapter 31
COSIMO
There was only so much a man could take before he snapped, and I was well past my limit.
Fabiana had been testing my sanity from the start, but tonight, she’d pushed me clean over the edge. If I didn’t have her—if I didn’t do something drastic to quiet this obsession—I’d never be the fucking don. I’d throw myself off a cliff just to get her out of my goddamn mind.
The fact that Vita had somehow managed to get under her skin was laughable. If it weren’t for Fabiana’s incomprehensible insecurities, she would’ve realized by now that somewhere between the engagement party and the altar, she’d managed to put me on a leash.
I was so fucking stupid for this woman.
There’d been a small chance the night wouldn’t end like this, but then I’d heard her put Vita in her place. No one had ever done that for me. Not even my own father. Her standing up for me like that had cracked something open inside me.
As I’d driven us home, I’d tried to think of some way to keep myself from her tonight, and I’d come up blank. I’d been so absorbed with my dilemma that I’d somehow missed her stewing a foot away from me.
But all our fight had done was burn away the last of my restraint.
I tightened my grip on her neck and deepened the kiss, pushing my tongue into her mouth. It wasn’t so much a kiss as a conquering. A claiming long overdue.
For a second, she retreated.
Then her tongue tangled with mine, and her hands balled into fists in my jacket as she yanked me closer.
Had she fantasized about this as obsessively as I had?
Highly unlikely. For all the talk of her naivete, when it came to us, she was the sensible one, while I’d been the one slowly losing my mind.
I shoved my leg between hers, pressing it hard enough against her mound to drag a moan from her. Her delicate throat trembled beneath my hand. I pulled back and then dove in again, pulling on her bottom lip with my teeth before doing the same to the top.
I was so fucking hard for her already. She writhed against me, rubbing herself against my thigh with an eagerness that turned me on even more.
I let go of her throat and broke the kiss to drag my mouth to a spot on her neck.
Every lick and every nip made her tremble more.
My palm swiped over her shoulder, and I hooked my fingers into the dress that was really starting to annoy me.
I pulled it down her arm as far as I could and kissed the newly exposed flesh while she rode my thigh.
“Fuck, Nettle. You gonna come for me from that alone?” I growled against her shoulder.
“Maybe,” she panted.
I pulled my leg back a few inches. She made a frustrated sound and glared at me, but she calmed down when I dropped to my knees.
I shoved the dress with all its fucking feathers up to her waist, took her hands, and forced them closed around the bunched-up fabric. “Hold that for me.”
There was nothing but a tiny slip of fabric left covering her. I dragged my tongue over the front of it, then I curled my fist into the side of the thong and snapped it off her with a sharp pull.
She sucked in a harsh breath.
I looked up. Swiped my palms up the backs of her thighs. “Spread your legs, Nettle. Let me show you how attentive I can be.”
She held my gaze as she took a small step to each side, exposing herself to me. Her pussy was pink and slick with her wetness. I dragged my palm over my mouth, just looking. Getting my fucking fill. “You’re even more perfect than I imagined,” I muttered.
And then I dove in. I traced her clit with my tongue, pulled it into my mouth, sucked on it. The taste of her coated my tongue—salt and something sweeter.
Her little gasps and moans imprinted themselves into my memory, and I realized that whatever relief I’d hoped tonight would bring would be short-lived. I’d only have more things to obsess over now.
I dug my fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs, holding her steady as I dragged my mouth lower, sliding my tongue inside her entrance. She whimpered, her hips jerking forward.
“That’s it,” I growled.
My cock throbbed against my trousers, aching, but I ignored it. This wasn’t about me. Not yet. Not until she broke for me.
I lapped at her until her body began to coil with tension. I slid two fingers inside her sopping folds just in time. She clenched around me with a broken sob, and then she folded over, grabbing hold of my head to keep herself from falling.
I curled my fingers inside her, drawing the orgasm out until her moans quieted.
The air stilled.
I drew my fingers out and brought them to my lips.
She watched me taste her with hooded eyes. “I forgot how much I liked seeing you on your knees,” she teased.
Amusement tugged on me. I gave her cunt a light slap, pulled her down to the floor with me, and smacked her ass for good measure. It earned me a sharp gasp. I swallowed it with my mouth and rolled us over.
For the next few minutes, we just kissed, her body beneath mine. I’d always thought kissing was overrated, but that was before I’d kissed her. There was something so earnest about the way she kissed me… It threatened to undo me.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I pushed myself up on my arms and took in the view of her.
Her lips were pink and swollen, her hair a little wrecked, her dress deliciously askew.
The dazed, sated look inside her emerald gaze made something terribly needy rear up in me.
I wanted to see her like this over and over again, and I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I couldn’t.
I slid a hand inside the front of her dress and wrapped it around a soft breast. Her nipples were peaked, desperate for contact, and when I rolled my thumb over it, her back arched.
“Oh God.”
I wanted those tits in my mouth, but this goddamn dress didn’t have enough give.
Frustrated, I gave it a harsh jerk.
Rip.
It slid down, freeing her just the way I wanted.
“Cosimo. The dress,” Fabiana hissed, sounding panicked. “It’s expensive.”
“It was in my way.” My mouth moved from her cheek to her neck, trailed a path over her collarbone and down to her chest. My teeth caught a nipple, and I sucked it into my mouth.
“You’re… Ooooh—”
Whatever protest she was about to stage died on the tip of her tongue. Dress forgotten, she moaned and moved her hands into my hair, tugging me closer. I gladly obliged. I could spend hours just playing with her tits if she’d let me, but she didn’t.
Instead, she slipped her hand between us and gave me a stroke through my pants.
I groaned.
When she did it again, I knew I wouldn’t last long. “Stop,” I ground out. It’d been three years, and there was a good chance I’d blow right inside my slacks if she kept going.
She stopped, but only to unbuckle my belt and unzip me. I shoved my slacks down over my ass, so fucking hot for her I could barely think straight.
She pulled the dress back up around her waist and opened up her legs for me. Something shy flashed inside her gaze, but it didn’t linger. It hardened into something more sure, more wanting.
I held myself above her, my cock hard as it bobbed between us.
I wanted to be inside her so badly I ached, but as I stared down at her, I faltered.
I wanted everything I could get from her, but some stubborn part of me rebelled at the thought of taking what she’d saved all these years on the floor of a foyer in a house that would stop being hers in five months.
I’m a good Italian girl. I’ve been saving myself for marriage.
A marriage. Not a six-month deal.
She’d regret it tomorrow. And no matter how badly I wanted her—and God, I wanted her—I wanted to avoid hurting her even more.
I grabbed my cock and worked it, angling it at her inner thigh.
Five, six pumps was all it took. I came on her leg and the ruined dress in a burst of pleasure so intense it briefly blinded me. I squeezed my eyes shut, pressed my forehead to hers, and panted ragged breaths against her lips until the world came back.
When I pushed off her, I found her looking at me with furrowed brows. “Why didn’t you…” She trailed off. Swallowed.
“Your first time shouldn’t be wasted on me. Save it for your second husband.”
Her expression turned stony. She pushed at my chest until I rolled off her. “How thoughtful of you.” She sat up. Pulled the ruined dress to her chest. Then she got to her feet without another word and walked toward the stairs.
I stayed where I was and watched her go.
The house settled around me. Just the dark foyer and the sound of her footsteps on the stairs, and then nothing. I braced my elbows on my knees and dragged a hand through my hair.
She was angry with me. Fine. It was better that way. If I’d done what every cell in my body had pushed me to do, I would’ve woken up tomorrow with her looking at me like I’d taken something that wasn’t mine to take.
We’d stepped over a line tonight.
But that was as far as we’d go.