What is happening?
“Don’t,” I say, trying not to cry. “Just leave me be.”
“I cannot.” The sincerity in his voice doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Why?”
“Because you’re in pain.”
“No!” I stand. “I’m not in pain, you are, and I don’t want you to be busy with me. You just had to lay your mother to rest. You should take some time. Have someone comfort you.”
He places a hand on the small of my back and pulls me in closer. “I don’t want that … What I want, what I need, is you.”
I swallow. Hard.
“Especially now.” He clutches my face with both hands.
“Please …” I mutter. “Don’t ask me to do the impossible.”
“I am not asking you to discard your own wants and morals,” he says.
“But I need something more than this. I need more than what this is. Whatever it is,” I say. “But I can’t ask that of you after what you just had to do with Mario, so please. Just let me be and do what you need to do.”
“I know what I need to do,” he says. “What I needed to do all this time.”
And he smashes his mouth back onto mine with full fervor, leaving not a single inch of my lips unkissed. Every lick of his tongue is one I greedily accept even though I know I shouldn’t enjoy it. Even though I know he is the one guy I shouldn’t ever crave.
It’s too late. I’m smitten. I’ve fallen for my worst desires, for an unobtainable man who sees me as nothing more than an object he can use to satiate his lust.
I’m powerless against his hungry kisses that make me feel all heady and needy.
“Marcello …” I mutter between volatile kisses. “Please. Don’t.”
“Give me one good reason,” he groans, still refusing to stop kissing me. “There is none.”
“But we have to,” I say.
“Why?” He pulls away for only a second. “I know you want me.”
“Because it’s not right. Because you only kiss me to make the pain go away. To quell the rage in your heart. To silence the storm in your head,” I say, looking at his luscious lips, wishing I didn’t feel the way I do. “And I’m tired of being something someone can use.”
He plants his forehead against mine, looking me deep in the eyes. “You think I only want to kiss my grief away?” When I nod, he plants another sultry kiss on my lips. “Wrong.”
More kisses fill me with more wantonness than when we fucked the second we came back to the mansion. Because fucking like that was pure lust at play. We were fucking away our pent-up rage, but this … this is so much more.
And I don’t know if I can handle that. Because he’s already taken my freedom, my will, my desires … I can’t handle him breaking my heart too.
But when his lips unlatch, he says, “I am not using you to grieve. I’ve grieved for years. I’m done with that. Pulling the plug was the final straw. She’s gone. It’s over.” He grabs my face and swipes his thumb over my lips. “But you … I cannot lose you too. And seeing you get taken by the enemy did something to me that I cannot ignore.”
My lips part, and confusion fills my heart as I look up into his commanding eyes. “Then I’m going to ask again … What do I mean to you, Marcello?”
He palms the small of my back and yanks me even closer to him until his lips are so close to mine that I want nothing more than to give in. If only he could just … admit it.
“Everything.”
Harper
When his lips land on mine, I am lost. Lost to him, lost in his touch, lost to the growing feelings swirling through my heart.
How can I resist?
How could I ever when this man just told me I mean more to him than his dying mother?
I whimper when his mouth slides down my neck, greedily licking every inch of my skin as though he wants to leave nothing unscathed. “Let me have you, Harper. Let me own you.”
“Marcello, I …” I mewl when his lips touch the mound above my breast, and he greedily grabs one of them and squeezes hard.
“No more games. No more fighting. No more lies,” he groans against my skin while planting luscious kisses all over. “Give me your all, and I will give you everything in return.”
My breath hitches in my throat. “Everything?”
He looks up at me with an animalistic hunger in his eyes. “Whatever you want.”
Does that mean … even my freedom?
I gasp when he rips off my top again and buries his face in my breasts.
“I want every inch of you, Harper. It’s never enough. Even when I’m done with you, I still want more, more, more.” He groans with delight, and it covers my skin in goose bumps.