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It wasn’t a lie, and I allowed my dark protector to read the stark truth in my eyes. I wasn’t accustomed to showing my more tumultuous emotions so openly, but if honesty would give me an advantage, I would use it.
He stroked my hair. “You don’t need to be afraid, farfallina. You’re with me.” Before I could formulate another protest, he continued on. “This isn’t optional. I have to attend Duarte’s party to secure our alliance. My friends are counting on me, and I won’t let them down.”
“Your friends?” I remembered the two handsome Italian men who’d argued with him last night—the brothers. “Why can’t they be the ones to go to the party?”
“They’re on their way back to Naples. It’s up to me to conclude our business here in Mexico.”
My blood went cold. “And what business is that?” I demanded, daring him to admit to his criminal activities. It would be a good reminder for me, too. The man who held me so tenderly was involved in organized crime, and I couldn’t allow myself to forget it.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he replied, posture relaxed and completely unbothered. Whatever he was doing here in Mexico, Massimo didn’t feel a shred of guilt over his lawless lifestyle.
I gaped at him. “You want to take me to a drug lord’s party, and you think I shouldn’t worry about what you’re up to?”
He nodded. “There’s no need for you to concern yourself with my business.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and the shockingly intimate gesture made my mind blank for a moment. “You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll take care of you, Evelyn.”
Deep in my bones, I believed him. But that didn’t mean I was okay with the situation.
“I don’t want to go,” I said, once again hoping the bald truth would sway him.
His lips ghosted over my cheek, his stubble lightly scraping my skin as he whispered in my ear, “I know what’s best for you, dolcezza. I’m not letting you out of my sight, but I have to attend this party. That means you’re coming with me, and you’re going to behave.” His teeth grazed my throat, a sensual threat. “I promise I will reward you after.”
My belly fluttered, equal parts unease and arousal. “I don’t want a reward.” My protest was embarrassingly breathy when I should’ve sounded outright indignant. I was wary of any gifts that might make me indebted to him.
His low hum vibrated over my neck, sinking into my heated flesh. “You will. You’ll be desperate for it by the time I’m finished with you.”
Before I could demand to know what he was talking about, his teeth sank into my shoulder in a purely primal act of dominance. I cried out at the shock of pain, even as my core contracted in response. He kept me pinned in his ruthless bite and fisted my hair in one hand, anchoring me in place. My scalp lit up with little pinpricks of pain that turned into dancing sparks along my spine.
His other hand went to my breast, palming it through his soft shirt. My nipple was hard, straining against the fabric. He growled his approval, the sound rumbling all the way to my heated core. My thighs were slick with a shocking wash of arousal, an embarrassing sensation I’d never known before meeting Massimo. I squirmed, but he kept me captive in his savage bite, his tongue tracing soothing patterns on my skin even as pain radiated from my shoulder. It morphed into dark pleasure, sending lightning strikes straight to my sex.
Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle any more of the cruelly erotic sensations, he released me, and he pressed a tender kiss to the little indentations that he’d left in my skin.
“Now everyone will know you’re mine.” His voice was heavy with his own desire, a deep, wicked satisfaction.
The prospect of attending the drug lord’s party with Massimo’s bite mark on my neck caused anxiety to nip at me, but he quickly obliterated my budding concern by pinching my peaked nipple.
His lips crashed down on mine, devouring my sharp cry. Our first kiss had been a careful, slow seduction; this one was savage, rough with raw need. He claimed my mouth with tongue and teeth, kissing me so deeply that I could barely breathe. He consumed me, savoring the taste of my needy whimpers and soft gasps as he toyed with my breasts.
I’d never known my nipples could be so sensitive. Even through the barrier of his shirt, they tingled and throbbed beneath his deft fingers. His thumbs rubbed over the tight buds, teasing me until I became frenzied in my desperate need for more.
“Please,” I panted against his lips. “Please, Massimo.”
He groaned into my mouth and kissed me more deeply, almost feral. Abruptly, he tore his lips from mine, and I cried out at the loss. With one sweep of his powerful arm, he cleared the dining table. Plates smashed, and silverware clattered to the floor. I gasped in shock, but before I could ask what he was doing, his big hands sank into my hips. He lifted me as though I weighed nothing more than a doll, laying me out on the table before him.
I stared up at him where he loomed over me, his eyes burning flame blue as he studied my body. I studied him with equal intensity, my greedy gaze raking over his muscular chest and rippling abs where his robe had parted to reveal his impressive physique. My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and he watched the sign of my desire with a low growl.
His hands fisted in the shirt that barely covered me, and the material tore like paper as he ripped it apart. Cool air washed over my heated skin, my body fully bared to him for the first time.
My hands flew to my chest and sex, instinctively covering myself. His growl roughened to a warning snarl, and his fingers encircled my wrists. He dragged my arms above my head, pinning them to the table.
“Never hide from me, farfallina,” he rebuked.
I blew out a shaky sigh, modesty warring with my raging desire for this fierce, beautiful man. No one had ever looked at me in broad daylight like this; George had been my only sexual partner, and we always had sex with the lights off.
I took another breath and shoved the fleeting thought of my traitorous fiancé from my mind. As though he read my moment of disquiet, Massimo said something in Italian. I couldn’t understand the words, but his cadence was low and soothing. Reverent.
Keeping my wrists pinned, he lowered his face to my chest, his eyes burning into mine. I watched with rapt fascination as his clever tongue flicked my nipple. Pleasure arced through me, and I barely recognized the wanton moan that issued from my chest.
His teeth grazed the hard bud on a wicked grin, an almost cruelly amused smile. Massimo was toying with me, indulging himself. His tongue explored the shape of my breasts as though he was memorizing my curves. With every deviant stroke, my belly coiled tighter with carnal need. My inner walls contracted, aching to be filled.
