Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Trust me, I fucking noticed.” He let out a dark chuckle, his hooded eyes taking me in slowly, leaving fire in their wake. His eyes were on my legs when he groaned, biting his lip, a sound that hit me between the legs. “Why are you wearing that?”
“Because it looks good on me,” I said. “I can handle working in a dress and heels.”
“I’m not sure I can handle you working in that dress and heels.” His gaze fell on my left hand. “No ring yet?”
“I left it at home.” I looked away briefly. “It’s worth more than my life, according to Adriano.”
“Hm.” His expression hardened. “I thought dukes were supposed to be romantic.”
“In fairytales, maybe.” I laughed, then saw his bandaged hand. “What happened?”
“Work hazard,” he said.
I walked toward the bar, our arms brushing as I tried to move past him. My heart skipped when I heard his sharp inhale. Was it possible that he felt this too? I couldn’t imagine. He’d practically called me a virgin last night, which wasn’t far from the truth. I never knew what my father would do if he discovered I’d had sex with someone before marriage. I walked around the bar and let out a breath as I leaned against it, pushing my tits up slightly.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered.
“You don’t have to fight your attraction to me,” I said.
“Trust me, I do.”
“I bet you’re attracted to many women and don’t fight it with them.”
He was quiet for a long moment. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting him to say. Probably something straight out of one of the romance novels I loved to read. He could say he’d never been this attracted to any of them. He could say he wanted to have me for himself. Anything was better than his silence.
“I don’t know what you want me to say to that, but this needs to end, Lenora.” He gave me that serious look again, the one he gave me last night, right before he said dirty things. I braced myself. “Do I want you? I think that’s obvious, but nothing can happen between us. You have to know that.”
“Because I’m Dom’s sister, Giuseppe’s daughter, or because of Adriano?”
He let out a rough chuckle. “Take your pick.”
“They’d never find out, so those are stupid reasons for something not to happen between us.” I pushed off the bar and crossed my arms.
“Spoken like a brat who’s used to getting her way.”
“I don’t always get my way,” I said, annoyance shooting through me, an ingrained reaction from all these years I’d been told that. “I’m marrying a man I don’t even know.” I let out a breath. “I’m attracted to you and want to do something about it.”
“What is it you think you want, Principessa?” he asked, taking one step toward me, and then another, until he was directly in front of me. He set a finger underneath my chin and tipped my head up. I forgot how to breathe again. “Do you want me to fuck you on this bar?” He took another step until our chests touched, making it clear that he was hard. All over. He ground into me, his cock at my stomach. I bit my lip but the moan still escaped. “Do you want me to pry your legs open and eat your pussy?” His voice was so low and his eyes as dark as his promises. “Is that what it’ll take to get this out of your head?” He took a step back and dropped his hand. “I can assure you that if I fuck you, it’ll only make things worse when you marry.”
“You mean because I’m going to end up having mediocre sex for the rest of my life?” I huffed out a shaky breath. “I don’t want to get married without ever having experienced good sex?”
“How do you know we’d have good sex?”
“I just do.”
“Well, then, you’re free to use your imagination when your husband fucks you and pretend it’s me.” He turned to walk away.
“One time,” I said, my voice so quiet I was sure he hadn’t heard me, but then he stopped dead in his tracks. “We have sex one time, and that’s it.”
“Have you ever had sex with anyone?” He turned around.
“Not exactly.” I licked my lips. His eyes flared. “I want you to be my first.”
“Jesus.” He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head as he looked down at the ground. “I can’t be your first, Lenora.”
“Why not?”
“Because it isn’t right.” He pinned me with a stare, the intensity in his eyes making me shiver.
“Please, Rocco.”
“Don’t beg,” he said. “Never beg a man for anything.”
I frowned. “I thought men liked it when women begged.”
“The only time I want to hear a woman beg is when I’m fucking her, and she wants to come.”