CHAPTER 16
Edoardo
I tunnel a hand through her hair, cradle the back of her head, and crash our mouths together.
There is no slow seduction, no careful lead-in.
It is just hunger between us. My lips claim hers, hot and hard and starving, as if we’ve already lost the fight.
I suck her lower lip, demanding entry, and she gives it instantly, her mouth opening for me without hesitation.
My tongue sweeps in and I kiss her like I’ve been denied air.
I chase her tongue, tangling with teeth and heat as our kisses turn feral and deliciously carnal.
I groan into her mouth, feel her shudder against me, and I let myself drown in her - her taste, her softness, the wicked way her tongue mirrors mine and gives back everything I take.
My hands angle her head for even deeper and harder kisses, until the world narrows to mouths and breath and need.
I back her into the wall, my mouth never leaving hers.
One hand cups her cheek as I kiss her like a man unhinged, like desire has finally snapped its leash.
I kiss Caroline with every ruthless ounce of want in my blood, pressing her body flush to mine, our chests colliding as lust vibrates through us, tearing from our throats in broken breaths.
My lips stay on hers as my hands slide down her sides. I trail kisses along her jaw, then the sensitive skin behind her ear, then down the elegant line of her neck. I feel it the second something sharp and electric hits her as her body goes rigid for a heartbeat.
“No.” The word comes out as a groan, not a refusal but a pause, hopefully temporary.
I stop, my lips hovering at her collarbone. “You don’t want me?”
She pushes me back an inch. “You’re really attracted to me? You aren’t playing some stupid game, not some twisted scheme behind the scenes, right?”
“No game, no scheme.” I look straight into her eyes, “All I can think about is you.”
“And you’re single? Not in a relationship.?” Her eyes still holding mine. “I won’t fuck someone else’s man.”
“I don’t have anyone, Caroline. I don’t lie.”
“And whatever this is between us isn’t a relationship. I don’t sleep around, but this isn’t a relationship.” Her tone is blunt, unapologetic. “If you start liking someone else, you tell me. I’ll do the same.”
“We don’t have to define anything,” I exhale. “I don’t like how blunt this is. It strips the fun out of it. The romance.”
She snorts. “I don’t do romantic, Edoardo. And sorry for stripping the fun, but I won’t complicate things. We share important friends.”
“Okay.” I step back. The heat that had wrapped around me a second ago drains fast, leaving something cold and sharp behind.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Her brows knit as she clocks the distance between us.
I don’t answer. I turn and pull out my phone, ready to dial my driver for the short drive home. It’s freezing outside and I’m soaked through. Fuck tonight.
“You’re such a coward.” She steps forward, blocking me in front of her door. “I’m straightforward. You should appreciate that instead of being…”
“What?” I cut in, something dark and volatile rising in my chest. “I apologized for doing you wrong. I admitted I am attracted to you. But I’m not a coward because I refuse to be a toy you play with.” My voice hardens. “You have your fucking rules, but you don’t get to toss them at me like that.”
I don’t stop. “You are fucking gorgeous and smart and strong and caring. But I have my rules. And one of them is that no woman treats me like I’m some type of dog begging for scraps.”
Something flickers across her face – conflict? heat? - her lips pressing into a thin line.
“Move aside,” I say quietly. “And thanks for the kisses.”
She doesn’t move. Her eyes are unreadable, but I see it anyway - the war tearing through her. Her body betrays her completely, the soaked blouse clinging to every curve, unable to hide the lust burning through her. She’s attracted to me. There’s no denying it.
“Fuck this.” I step forward, caging her between my body and the door. “I’m done pretending to be a gentleman since you just asked for a devil.”
My mouth crashes onto hers, violent and urgent, as my hands hike up her skirt. I kiss her like the world is ending. My fingers find lace, and I tear her thong apart without hesitation, grabbing her ass and yanking her hard against me.
She kisses me back just as desperately.
Clothes become casualties. I haul her away from the door, rip her suit off her shoulders, patience shredded to nothing.
I tear her blouse open, buttons flying but I don’t give a fuck.
She unclasps her bra and it hits the floor.
I tear my shirt off, buttons scattering, my bare chest pressed to hers as our mouths collide again.
Our hands fumble and rip and tug until my belt is gone, my pants and briefs shoved down my thighs.
I kiss her like I’ve lost my mind. Her hands thread into my hair, pulling me closer as she grinds into me, erasing what little space remains. I suck at her neck, my hands finding her breasts - lush, firm, perfect in my palms. I squeeze, tease, roll her nipples until she gasps.
There’s no patience for foreplay, but I can’t stop myself. One hand stays on her breast while the other slides between her thighs. She’s already soaked. I plunge two fingers inside her, and Caroline moans.
“Oh…” Her head falls back as her body arches, her moan breaking as I take her breast into my mouth, sucking hard. Her skin is soft, her taste sweet and addictive, her sounds filthy and raw in my ears as her muscles clench around my fingers.
“You’re so hot, Caroline,” I murmur against her mouth as I capture it again. “I’m not going to be a gentleman tonight. I’m going to fuck you like you deserve.”
I roll on a condom, hitch her legs around my waist, lift her ass until she’s wrapped around me completely. I cup her face, force her to look at me, and thrust into her in one deep, brutal drive.
I am inside her, all the way to the hilt. She’s tight, smooth, and perfect.
“God,” we groan together.
I roll my hips, long and deliberate, pulling almost out before slamming back in. She gasps at the stretch, at the pressure. Our mouths collide again, ravenous.
I draw all the way out to the tip and slam back in, over and over. Caroline’s arms tighten around my shoulders, trying to find a point of leverage to take me deeper.
I brace an arm against the door, shielding her head as her arms slide up and lock around my neck.
I drive into her hard, a brutal thrust that slams into a deep place she isn’t prepared for.
Caroline cries out, sharp and broken, and I hit it again at the same exact sweet spot, making her gasp as her body jolts against mine.
Our breaths fracture and race, panting mouth to mouth, skin slick with sweat, control splintering under the force of it.
“More. Faster,” she begs, breathless and wrecked. “I want more.”
I give it to her.
I move fast, relentless, setting a pace that’s brutally deep and unforgiving.
She feels incredible - tight, smooth, impossibly sweet around my cock.
Her body answers every thrust, pulsing and clenching around me, her muscles gripping mine like she’s trying to hold me there, like she doesn’t want to let go even as everything inside her breaks open.
“You feel so fucking good,” I groan into her mouth as I pound into her, the words torn from me by the force of it.
Our bodies collide again and again and again, the rhythm brutal and consuming.
I bury my face in the crook of her neck, my mouth closing over her skin as I suck and bite while driving into her without mercy.
Her nails dig into my shoulders, sharp and deep, but I barely register the sting.
All I can feel is the pleasure building hotter with every thrust, every slam of my body into hers.
It surges through me, overwhelming, fucking incredible, until I drive forward again and Caroline breaks, a soft, wrecked whimper spilling from her throat.
“I’m…” she gasps, words dissolving as she pushes back into me, lips parting, moans spilling freely.
She’s close.
“Let go.” I shift my angle and pound into her again, the change drawing a sharp sound from her. I curl an arm around her shoulders and pull her into every thrust, forcing her to take all of it with me.
I can feel it - those waves gathering, rolling closer with every single savage drive. Her inner muscles tighten relentlessly until they clamp down hard, locking my cock deep inside her.
“Let go, Caroline.” I hiss, my thrusts turning wild and frantic, control slipping fast.
Her restraint shatters. She clings to me, holding on as I ride her through it, the waves cresting again and again. She cries out helplessly, clutching me as orgasms tear through her body, her whole frame trembling in my arms.
I growl into her mouth and drive into her harder.
She takes me with abandon, her body undoing me completely.
The exquisite sensation ripples through me, vibrating straight to my core as I snap my hips, thrusting deep and brutal, chasing my own release.
I lose myself, keep slamming home, the pleasure climbing and climbing.
Another thrust, another, another, and I lock my arms around Caroline and shudder, spilling over the edge and tumbling into my own release.
We stay like that for a long, breathless minute, wrapped around each other, bodies fused, trembling together until our breathing finally slows and we come back down.