The Vows He Must Keep

His hands tangled in her wet hair as the spray of hot water cascaded over them both. Framing her face in his hands, he looked down into her eyes, a wicked smile on his sinfully full lips. ‘You left before I was done with you.’

‘I’m just... I have no idea what this means. Us being together. I needed some space to think.’ She met his eyes, feeling her heart still beating so hard she thought it might explode from her chest. ‘What are we doing?’

‘I have no idea, but I can’t seem to stop.’

Dani felt her mind go blank as Valerio moved closer, kissing her worries away. There was comfort in knowing that he was just as powerless against this insane lust. She would worry about the consequences tomorrow. Tonight she would just live in the moment. In this perfect moment with him, with the steam of the water surrounding them, slickening their skin as the heat rose even higher.

He stopped for a moment, his eyes serious as he looked deeply into hers. ‘How on earth did you ever think you were bad at this?’

Dani felt a blush creep up her cheeks. ‘Um...let’s just say when it comes to sex, it’s the one area where I’ve never been an overachiever.’

He pressed the length of his erection against her, leaning down to nip gently at the sensitive skin of her collarbone. ‘I strongly disagree, Miss Avelar. You’re a natural.’

‘Well, you’re the first guy to ever get me to...to finish the race.’

He bit his lip, and something deep and dark glittered in his eyes. ‘Look at me. And if some idiot in your past told you it was a race, then he was playing the wrong sport.’

He dropped down onto his knees before her, framing her thighs with his strong hands. She shivered as his lips touched her upper thigh and began to kiss inwards.

‘You should have been given more than a thousand orgasms by now. You’ve been robbed of years of pleasure,’ he growled. ‘I plan to set that right.’

Dani closed her eyes, trying to remain upright as he kept his promise again and again.

CHAPTER NINE

DANI AWOKE TO the sun streaming through the terrace doors and the glorious scent of coffee teasing her nostrils from somewhere in the distance. She sat up, momentarily disorientated as she looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. It felt like a dream that she’d spent half the night experiencing the kind of orgasms and intense sexual chemistry she’d only ever read about in the books she’d devoured in her college dormitory. She’d never believed it could ever be for her.

Every encounter with Kitt, her ex, had been prearranged—no surprises. Even down to the type of underwear she had worn. Comparing her ex to Valerio now, after last night, was like looking at discount price wine after drinking a vintage reserve Chianti. It left a sour taste in her mouth and she knew she was worth more. But of course Valerio wasn’t truly hers. He was just acting the part.

She quickly shut off her ridiculous thoughts with a bracing shower, throwing on her silk robe while she applied various beauty products and let her curls air-dry. She’d promised not to do any work, but nabbed her phone from the nightstand, telling herself she would just take five minutes to check the most important emails.

Twenty minutes later she was engrossed in a text conversation with an insanely curious Hermione when Valerio appeared beside her and snatched the device from her fingers.

‘I was in the middle of reading something,’ she squeaked, jumping up to grab the phone back—only to have him hold it further out of reach.

‘You are technically on vacation, Miss Avelar.’ He tilted his head to one side, lazily looking down over her scantily clad body. ‘I’m demanding that you actually take the day off.’

‘I can’t just switch off like that. There are things I need to check on with the new plans...things that need my attention even while I’m relaxing.’

‘So you don’t trust the relevant teams to perform their jobs?’

She huffed out a breath, knowing he was right. She was checking on them for the simple reason that she wanted to. She couldn’t let go of the relentless force telling her to keep on top of everything, to make sure nothing was missed.

‘Well, since you can’t control yourself, I’m cutting you off.’ He smirked, tucking her phone into his b

ack pocket. ‘If you want this back, you’re gonna have to work for it.’

She felt heat creep up her spine at his words, her nipples instantly peaking at the suggestion he’d created in her mind.

He raised a brow at her, evidently noticing her physical reaction. Suddenly shy, she closed her robe a little tighter and turned around in a pretence of opening up her small case and organising her clothes. When she looked back, a shadow had crossed his features, but he quickly disguised it with an easy smile.

‘Get dressed quickly. We leave in fifteen minutes.’

‘Leave...for where?’

She froze in the middle of selecting a T-shirt. His eyes twinkled with the kind of mischief she hadn’t seen on his face in years. He was up to something, and it made her both nervous and strangely excited.

‘We’re going on an adventure. I plan to make a pirate of you yet.’