Page 288 of Alessio

Ginevra nodded, and her gaze dropped between them again … just to check. “And you’re still hard. Is that all it takes, just a conversation with me to get your cock up, Corrado?”

“I shouldn’t be feeling anything about you at all, but certainly not that.”

“But why?”

He inched closer, his body molding against hers all at once, taking away her breath, and making her incredibly aware of every nerve ending inside her. He smelled like leather and musk—maybe a touch of whiskey, too.

It stunned her.

“You are far too innocent to be playing that kind of game with a man like me,” he said, his tone dipping dangerously again. “I promise you that, Ginny. The things I’ve done in bed would make you run. You’re looking for something that’s going to be fun for you, and I only like to ruin things, woman. I take beautiful things, and I wreck them.”

She didn’t think so.

That only made her hotter.

And curious.

“Would you tell me those things?”

Corrado let out a dark sound, a noise that seemed like it tore right out of his fucking chest. Except, she didn’t get the chance to admire the sound, or the way his features shadowed because in the next breath, he was kissing her.

There was nothing soft about the kiss—nothing sweet. The roughness of his lips slamming against hers was enough to have her stomach clenching, and her heart racing. His tongue swept the seam of her lips, demanding. Like the rest of his kiss, and touches, too. One of his hands tangled into the waves of her hair, and the other landed hard to her hip, fisting into the thin cotton shorts she’ll pulled on for bed.

He took and took and took.

Lips that worked harshly against hers, their tongues warring, though he controlled that, too. And then his teeth slid against her lower lip before tugging. His mouth moved lower, a sharp heat following the same path when his teeth grazed her skin. Just as quickly, he came back up to claim her mouth again with another bruising kiss that felt like he wanted to suck the fucking soul right out of her.

She’d give it to him.

If he asked, he could have that.

He dragged her closer, grinding her body against his, and making that heat travel lower. Until her thighs ached from it, and she was sure her shorts were wet, too.

Then, all at once, Corrado stepped back from her. It happened so fast, that she didn’t know what to make of it, or the sudden stiffness in his body as he refused to meet her gaze. She could see the need vibrating through him, the way his jaw flexed as his tongue swept his lower lip, tasting her there.

Still, he kept that distance.

He stayed stiff.

“Corrado—”

“Don’t,” he said thickly, a shake of his head punctuating the words.

Something painful hit her in the chest.

It felt like rejection.

Why wouldn’t he look at her?

“There’ll be a box on your bed later,” he said, turning away from her. “I trust that the girl at the shop picked out something appropriate, and that you’ll like it. I know that you picked up your makeup and whatever else women like when we went shopping, so put it to use. Be ready for six—we have somewhere to be.”

Ginevra, refusing to show the hurt she felt, asked, “For what?”

“A mutual birthday party. For me, my twin, and my oldest brother, Marcus. Our birthday already happened, but Marcus’s is coming up. Our parents like to … do a big thing for it.”

Oh.

“When was your birthday?”