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A moan escaped my lips. I hadn’t realized how much I needed to be touched, to find relief. He’d been gone all day. I’d missed him. “Yes,” I mumbled, even though he hadn’t asked me anything. “Wait. What?” I yanked my arm away from him. “No, we haven’t finished our conversation.”
“Are you sure?” He reached for my waist and stood all in one swift movement.
In the next breath, my feet dangled briefly over the carpeted floor as he picked me up and set me on the dining table. His mouth found mine in a desperate kiss. An entire morning, an entire afternoon without him had been too long. I tunneled my fingers through his hair and brought us closer, touching the tip of my tongue to his.
My cheeks, core, and pussy heated with that small and intimate stroke. With skilled fingers, he unbuttoned my silky top to expose my breasts. He sucked on them as if it were the first time he’d seen them. I kept waiting for my craving of him to go away, but Santino knew how to make my body catch fire. That was exactly what he had been in my life since the first time I saw him—wildfire.
“I want you.” I gripped the lapels of his suit jacket.
“I know.” He chuckled and moved farther down until his face hovered over my pussy and the thin fabric of my skirt. He pressed his lips to my core and hummed. The vibration was a shock to my aching bud and built more of that almost painful desire.
I reached for him but clawed only air, since he had his large hand on my chest to keep me down, pressed on the cold table. How did we get here? I had come to see him because I wanted something. Yeah, he was most definitely who I wanted, but there was this other matter.
“Santino.”
“Hmmm.” He lifted my skirt, and omigod, his lips on my bare pussy were heaven.
“Christmas,” I mumbled.
At some point, we did need to talk about it. Obviously, not now.
The buzz in my ears stopped and the heat at my core vanished. When I opened my eyes, Santino stood over me. The outline of his hard cock pressed against his pants. He had undone his belt and button. If I had waited another minute, he’d be inside me by now. I fisted my hands mostly because I was mad at my own bad timing.
“We’ve already discussed this.” He glared at me with those dark eyes full of desire, but now, full of something else too. Anger?
“No, we didn’t.” I took a few seconds to catch my breath and let the buzz in my chest dissolve, along with the butterflies and the ribbons of lust spiraling through my entire body. I sat up, and his gaze dropped to my breasts. He stepped toward me, and I drew my blouse closed to cover myself. Now we could both feel frustrated and unsatisfied. “I came to tell you that I’m having a tree delivered in the morning. And I’m decorating for Christmas.”
“No, you’re not. We don’t do that here, Red.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t need a reason.” He yanked at his pants and buttoned them.
Now that sex wasn’t on the table, I could finally think again. “You’re not my jailer. Not anymore. Remember?”
“Red.” The one word was laced with warning.
What was his deal? Did he not get how important this was to me? How much I needed this Christmas not to hurt? How much I needed some normalcy in my life? A job? A purpose?
“I can have Christmas if I want.”
“Sure. But not with me.” He adjusted his suit jacket and walked off.
What the hell just happened? I stared at the tall doors and the empty foyer beyond them.
When the front door slammed shut, the candle lights on the table flickered as a gush of cold air swept through the dining room and straight into my chest. My gaze fell on the dying flames in the fireplace, the long dinner table, and the untouched meal.
I quickly buttoned my blouse, hopped off the table and went after him. I didn’t bother with my panties, which he’d strewn across the table, or my shoes. I ran to the front door and swung it open. Just as I had hoped, he was still in the lobby right outside the penthouse, waiting for the elevator.
“You can’t just walk away from me like that. We’re going to finish this conversation tonight.”
“Yes.” He jammed the call button again before he turned to me. “Let’s settle this once and for all.” He prowled closer to me, looking like a predator after his prey.
Not too long ago, I would’ve cowered under his intense gaze, but that girl no longer existed. I had gone through too much to still be afraid of Santino. I couldn’t let him intimidate me. In the past three months, I had given up and conceded on many things. Why couldn’t I have a job, and a somewhat normal Christmas? I stood tall and jutted my chin, holding my ground.
He stepped into my space and his musky cologne assaulted my senses.
“There will be no job at the hospital. And there will be no Christmas. End of story.”
