Chapter 113: Do you think of me at night, Gianna?
Gianna’s POV
+25 Bonus
Dante yanked open the glass door, and I pressed back like I could disappear into the wall, but there was no more space. He stepped in, his presence filling the small shower and towering over me. The space suddenly felt impossibly small, his body taking up all the air.
I swallowed hard and tried again to send him away, desperate to escape the pull he had over me. “What about your hand,” I said quickly, pointing to the gauze wrapped around his palm. “Your wound. You should not be in here getting it wet.”
Dante glanced down at the bandaging as if it were barely worth noticing. “It will be just fine.”
“It will not be fine,” I insisted, reaching for anything that might convince him to leave. “If you shower, the dressing might get soaked and ruined. Then I will have to deal with you bleeding everywhere and…”
He waved his good hand, cutting me off with effortless dominance. “Good thing I have you right here. You can make sure it stays dry. And if it gets wet, you will change it.”
My mouth fell open. “That is not what I meant.”
“I know exactly what you meant,” he replied, stepping closer. “And it is still not going to make me leave.”
He reached out toward me, fingers brushing lightly through a strand of my dripping hair. Instinctively, I pulled away from the touch.
His expression hardened, the shift subtle but obvious. “You cannot flinch every time I come near you. Otherwise no one will believe this is a union of love. They will think I am wielding fear over you.”
A chill slid down my spine despite the rising steam. “Since when have you cared what anyone thinks? I thought you would want the world to know you owned me. That I had no choice. That marrying me was your way of taking revenge on Lorenzo.”
That smirk returned, deeper now.
“You are right. Usually I would not care at all.” He reached past me and turned on the shower. Water cascaded over his broad shoulders and down his chest, gleaming on his skin. “But my daughter is in the picture now. That changes everything.”
“How?” My voice softened without permission. I hated how easily he could do that to me.
“Arielle hates me right now.” The pain that flashed across his features was brief but painfully real. “She believes I have forgotten her mother. That I am replacing her with you. She is too young to understand any of this, and I cannot tell her the truth. So…” He stepped closer, so close I had to lift my chin to look at him. “The only way to win her back is to make her believe this is a union of love. Nothing else.”
“I hardly think that would change her mind,” I said carefully. “She will be even more upset if she believes you are in love with me.”
“On the contrary.” He lifted his arm and planted his palm against the glass beside my head, caging me in. “Arielle believes in true love. She believes love can fix anything. If she believes I have fallen for you and you for me, she will accept our marriage. And her approval…” His jaw flexed. “Her approval matters.”
“I do not think…”
“I know my daughter better than anyone,” he insisted. “This will work. But she is observant. She will sense any cracks. We have to be convincing.”
“Now is the best time.” Dante ran his uninjured hand through his wet hair, pushing the dark strands back. Water slid down his arm, sliding over the broad planes of his chest. It was like watching a Greek god step out of the ocean.
“No fear, no flinching when I touch you,” he warned softly. “Just comfort.”
Comfort was the last thing his touch created. Heat shot across my skin, my back pressing harder against the glass as my body reacted in ways I could not hide. I was trembling, but not from fear Desire made my legs shaky.
1/3
Chapter 13 Do you think of me of night, Gianna?
+25 Bonus
“I cannot help it,” I breathed.
“Then we will practice.” His fingertips brushed my cheek, so gentle it made my breath catch.
He dragged them slowly down the column of my throat and across the delicate curve of my collarbone.
I sucked in a deep breath as he teased the very top of my chest, barely touching but igniting every inch of me.
Lightning shot through my nervous system.
“What is your favorite snack?” Dante asked, voice almost casual, right as his thumb grazed my nipple.
My nipple tightened instantly under his touch, pleasure shooting through me so fast I almost whimpered.
My brain short–circuited. “What?”
“Your favorite snack.” He repeated it as if he were not circling my nipple with maddening precision. His touch made my knees weaken. “Arielle might ask. I should know.”
Was he insane? Asking about snacks while he was touching me like this?
“You have to stay still,” he whispered against my ear, his breath hot and intimate. “You cannot let her see you tremble.”
I tried. God, I tried. But my body was a live wire, every nerve sparking under his hands.
“Still waiting for an answer,” he murmured, his other hand sliding up to cup my neglected breast. His palm was warm and firm, kneading me gently, coaxing every reaction out of me as if he owned my body already.
“Cake,” I gasped.
He tugged my nipple, another jolt racing through me. “Cake does not really qualify as a snack.”
“I do not care much for snacks,” I managed, my voice shaking. “But I like cake. And ice cream.”
“Good girl.” His approval vibrated through me, low and deep, sending heat spiraling straight to my core. “See? That was not so
hard.”
His hands glided down my ribcage, his thumbs tracing the curve of my waist while water poured over both of us. My breath
shuddered out of me.
“Favorite color?”
“Red,” I breathed.
A dark chuckle. “Not surprised. You do know how to bite.” His lips brushed the sensitive spot below my ear, and I shuddered. ” Favorite movie?”
“I do not have one.”
“Favorite book?”
His hands moved over my hips, shaping the curve of my ass, then slid back up to tease the underside of my breasts like he was testing what made me react.
“Jane Austen,” I gasped. “Pride and Prejudice.”
“Romantic.” He pressed a kiss to the curve of my neck. “Your ambitions, Gianna?”
“You’re getting off on this,” I accused breathlessly, trying to find my thoughts in the whirlwind of sensation. “You are enjoying this.”
“I am getting to know you,” he murmured.
He took my hips and turned me toward the glass. My face and palms caught the cold surface as his chest aligned against my back.
41
2/3
Chapter 113 Do you think of me at night, Gianna?
“My daughter might want to know these things.”
+25 Bonus
His lips lowered to my shoulder, warm against my wet skin. He nuzzled lightly down my back, each touch softer than the last, making heat gather low in my stomach.
“You still have not answered,” he said between kisses, his hands settling on my waist. “What kind of life did you want before all
this?”
“I wanted to be free,” I admitted, my breath fogging the glass. “Tonake my own choices.”
“And what would you do when the five years are up?”
“I do not know anymore.”
The truth. I did not know anything anymore except the feel of his hands on my skin and his lips on my back.
I drew in a breath. “Get a job. Far away from all this. Try to live a normal life. If that is even possible.”
“Your pet peeves?” His hands slid up to cup my breasts from behind, and my head fell back against his shoulder.
“Disloyalty,” I breathed.
“Interesting.” His thumbs brushed over my nipples, circling them slowly. The sensation was overwhelming, his hard body pressed against my back, his hands on my breasts, and the cold glass against my front. “Do you think of me at night, Gianna?”
P
Comments
Support
Share
Chapter 4 were you to wet me your deepest dorest fantasy
+25 Bonus
