The Moretti Arrangement (4 page)

The intensity in his eyes awakened something deep inside her that she’d always been afraid of. She knew she was weak-willed, witness the current idiocy with her brother, but there was something ephemeral about Dominic. He touched parts of her that she’d always ignored. Parts that she didn’t want to have to acknowledge.

She was over her head, but then that was nothing new and for once she wanted to just let go of her fears and worries. And in Dominic’s arms she could do so.

His lips rubbed over hers, making her stop thinking and just experience him. His tongue teased her lips but didn’t enter her mouth and his hands moved over her neck and shoulders, up to her face.

She liked the feel of his hands against her face. He made her feel cherished and beautiful. Two things she could safely say she’d never experienced before. But that didn’t mean she knew how to handle it or him. Or that she even wanted to.

“I think that answers the question of attraction,” he said, ending their kiss.

She blinked up at him, realizing how silly it had been to think that the attraction between them wasn’t real.

“You’re staring at my mouth.”

“It’s so perfectly formed,” she said. “It looks hard but your lips were soft against mine.”

“Were they?”

He quirked one eyebrow at her, stroking his finger down the side of her neck. She shivered as he rubbed the pad of his finger over her pulse. She felt it increase and fought to keep her expression serene. To somehow keep him from guessing that he had any affect on her. But she knew that he was used to being around much more sophisticated women.

“Yes,” she said. “You’re a very attractive man.”

“Thanks,” he said.

Startled, she had to laugh. “You are too much.”

There was an innate charm that imbued everything he did. She wondered if it stemmed from his childhood. Or maybe his birth order. Something about being the oldest Moretti and knowing that he’d take the lead in anything he and his brothers did had made him very aggressive.

He was watching her carefully and she felt as if he were seeing all the way to her soul.

She shrugged and tried to pull away from him. But he slid his fingers around the back of her neck and held her still.

“Don’t. I won’t allow you to back down from me, Angelina. Your passion is mine.”

“Is it?”

He nodded. He was so sure of himself. So confident that she wanted to just let him take control of this situation. More than he already had. She wanted to make love to him and then fall asleep in his arms, but that was dangerous thinking. Dominic was the one man she knew who could really dominate her life.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said at last. “I want to, but giving myself to you, Dominic, is scary.”

“Scary? Why?”

“I’m excited and nervous and turned on all at once. That’s a very heady mix of emotions.”

“You’re a heady woman, Angelina.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, every curve of your body entrances me and makes me want to caress you. I have to hold you in my arms, feel you pressed against me.”

The fear she felt abated at his words. She knew that if she let herself go to him and became his mistress she’d never be the same.

Enough, she thought. She couldn’t keep dillydallying in her mind. She knew what she had to say to him. What she had to do.

She wanted an affair with him and she wanted to make up for the skullduggery of the last several months. She wanted a chance to get to know Dominic Moretti.

He cupped the back of her head and drew her closer to him. She leaned forward and found herself within an inch of him.

Her lips suddenly felt dry and she licked them. He touched his tongue to her lips, following the trail of her tongue. He tasted good, like scotch and a taste that she knew was uniquely Dominic.

The worries she’d carried for so long faded to the back of her mind. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ll be your mistress.”

“Six months. For six months you will be mine completely and then we will move on.”

“Agreed,” she said.

He brushed his lips over hers, angled his head and thrust his tongue deep into her mouth, claiming her and she knew she’d never be the same again.

He tunneled his fingers into her hair and held her head back while he plundered her mouth. She slipped her arms up around his neck, moving up on her tiptoes so she could be closer to him.

His hands slid down her shoulders to her back. She felt his hands skimming over her spine and then they came to rest at her hips. He lifted her off her feet and into his arms as he turned and sat down on the sofa.

Her legs fell on either side of his hips and she found herself straddling him. She lifted her head and looked down into his midnight eyes.

She saw passion in the lines of his Roman features. His hands as they moved over her incited further desire in her. And for the first time in her life she realized she was doing something that was just for her. She wasn’t motivated by anything other than the desire to be with Dominic.

Her lips were full and soft under his. Her tongue met his with small darts and she held on to him with surprising strength. She moaned deep in her throat as he slid his hands up her hips to her waist.

The pants she wore frustrated him because he couldn’t easily touch her skin. “From now on you will wear only skirts.”

“I will?”

“Yes. As my mistress…you will be mine, Angelina. You will do what I ask, when I ask it.”

“I’m not really the type of woman—”

He put his fingers over her lips. “Forget who you were before this moment, Angelina. From now on you are mine.”

“Forever?”

“For the next six months.”

That should give him enough time to have his fill of her body. Should. But would it? He only knew that this moment was one that he’d waited for and he wasn’t about to let Angelina De Luca mean more to him than an other mistress would.

“Okay,” she said. Putting her hands on either side of his face. “Six months. What else?”

“Later,” he said, pulling her head back to his. “Tomorrow morning I’ll have my lawyer draw up the agreement.”

She started to pull back, but he held her close. Bringing his mouth to hers, he pushed her doubts aside with the force of his will.

He drew his hands over her body, enjoying the feel of her. He’d worked late with her many nights, wishing they were spending the hours in a much different way. Now she was here in his arms.

He slipped his hands between their bodies and lifted up the hem of her blouse. The skin at her waist was smooth and cool to his touch. She shifted back on his thighs and looked down at him as he touched her.

“You have very pretty skin,
mia
Angelina.”

“
Grazie,
Dominic,” she said. She cupped his jaw and ran her fingers over his face. “I love the feel of the stubble on your jaw.”

“I have a heavy beard,” he said, but his mind wasn’t on this conversation. It was on the flesh he was slowly revealing as he drew the fabric of her blouse up her body.

The blouse was pretty and feminine and he found a zipper in the side of the garment and undid it. She stilled in his arms. Just hovering over him.

He slipped his hand into the gap made by the unfastened zipper. He felt the edge of her bra. The fabric felt lacy as he caressed the fullness of her breast.

He pulled his hand out from under the blouse and caressed her through the fabric of her shirt. She shifted her shoulders, drawing his eyes to her hardened nipples. Placing his palm over the center of her breasts, he rotated his hands against her.

Her head fell back, revealing her long, pretty neck and he was transfixed by the sensual nature of this woman. He wanted her, but he felt a deep stab of lust that went beyond anything he’d experienced before.

“Dominic,” she said. Just his name, spoken so deep and husky and so damned entrancing made him realize that any illusion of power he had was just that—an illusion. She was in charge. She was in control of him and his passion. And he wanted to wrest it back from her.

He leaned forward and kissed her neck. Nibbled his way from the base where her pulse pounded strongly. The scent of her perfume blended with a more natural essence of woman. He licked at her skin and felt her shiver in his arms.

“Dominic…”

“Sì?”

“I need more of you.”

“How much more?” he asked. He wrapped his arms around her and spoke directly into her ear.

She shivered again. He felt her nipples tightened against the center of his palms. He moved them over her and she squirmed closer to him.

He bit lightly on the lobe of her ear, waiting for her reply. “Angelina?”

“
Sì,
Dominic?”

“How much more do you need?” he asked, tracing the shell of her ear with his tongue.

“All of you,” she said.

She shifted on his lap, finding his erection with her center, and rocked her hips over him. He was tight and full and needed to feel her naked in his arms.

But he took his time, needing to wrest back control. And no matter how much he thought he might explode from the very thought of her hot core sliding over him, he was going to take his time.

He would seduce her in increments until she was a writhing mass and had no doubts who owned her body and soul.

He drew her blouse up over her arms and tossed it onto the floor. Her bra was pale blue lace with a pretty beige accent, but her breasts were all he wanted to see. Reaching behind her, he unhooked the bra, pulling the straps down her arms until she was finally naked from the waist up.

Angelina couldn’t think as Dominic held her in his arms. No longer sad as she had been in the piazza earlier, she realized that Dominic was giving her a chance at something she’d always wanted.

Him.

She had been so afraid to take him. Afraid to believe he could be hers. And though he was only offering her six months, she knew that six months could change a person’s life. And if she played her cards right…maybe, she and Dominic could have so much more. And even if they didn’t, she knew she’d still cherish this time with him.

And since her parents’ death, she’d had so little time in her life where she could just relax and enjoy a relationship. Dominic’s caresses and his attention made her feel as if she were really alive. She reached up and touched his face, felt the shadow stubble on his jaw.

“What?”

She shook her head. How could she say that he made her want to start dreaming of a future again? Made her want to believe in the dreams she’d abandoned to save her brother? “I’m just so glad to be here with you right now.”

God, he was making her hot. His hands on her breasts were magic. He knew how to touch her so that she received the most pleasure from each caress. It had been a long time since she’d been in a man’s arms. And Dominic had long been her fantasy man.

He nibbled on her neck and shoulders, holding her at his mercy. It didn’t surprise her that Dominic would be so dominate. She dug her nails into his shoulders and leaned down, brushing against his chest. He felt so good. Her nipples were hard points when he pulled away from her.

“Do you like that,
mia?
”

“
Sì,
very much.”

She closed her eyes and held her breath as he fondled her, running his finger over her nipple. She saw the absorption on his face as he brushed his finger back and forth until she bit her lower lip and shifted in his arms.

She moaned a sweet sound that he leaned down to capture. She tipped her head to the side so that she could open her mouth wider and let him all the way inside. She held his shoulders and moved on him, rubbing her core over his erection.

She needed to touch him, to feel his body against hers instead of the starched cotton of his Savile Row shirt. But he still held her wrists at the small of her back. Her breasts were thrust toward him, and watching the way he looked at her made her very proud of her less-than-perfect body.

Because she saw blatant desire in his eyes.

“Let me touch you,” she said.

“Not yet.”

He traced a path from her neck down her chest with his tongue. Circling the full globes of her breasts, narrowing the circle to come closer to her nipple but never touching it.

“Dominic…”

“
Sì,
Angelina?”

“Kiss me.”

“Where?”

“There,” she said, gesturing with her chin to her chest.

“Here?” he asked, sucking on the white fleshy part of her breast.

“No, Dominic.”

“Here?” he asked, his breath moistening one nipple.

“Yes. Yes. Kiss me there.”

He complied and she shook to her core as his lips closed around her nipple. He suckled strongly on her and she shifted against him as she went completely liquid between her legs. She craved this man. Craved more of his touch.

She struggled to free her arms so she could pull him closer to her. “Let me go.”

“Not…yet,” he said.

He moved his mouth from one breast to the other, taking his time and nibbling against her skin. She felt overly sensitized by the warmth of his mouth against her.

She shifted on his lap, frustrated by her pants and his. Frustrated at the lack of control she had in this moment as Dominic continued to drive her slowly toward an orgasm. Her entire body felt so susceptible and she was out of control.

“Dominic, stop.”

“Not yet,
mia
Angelina. I want to see you come for me.”

“Not like this. You aren’t even undressed.”

“I don’t have to be,” he said.

She felt his free hand moving between their bodies, undoing the button of her pants and drawing down the zipper. His hand slipped inside and she shifted on her knees, lifting her body so that his fingers could reach to the very core of her.

“This doesn’t feel like no,” he said.

“It’s not,” she admitted. “I want you, Dominic.”

“You are going to have me,” he said. “But not until I’ve heard you scream with pleasure.”

God, he hadn’t been this hot since—never. This was more than just sex and it was important to him that he bring pleasure to Angelina. He wouldn’t be satisfied with an orgasm until he knew he’d wrung out every ounce he could from her. He rubbed her nipple and she shivered in his arms. He pushed her back a little so he could see her. Her breasts were bare, nipples distended and begging for his mouth. He lowered his head and suckled.

He still held both of her wrists in one of his hands at the small of her back. The action kept her breasts thrust up toward him.

Her eyes were closed, her hips moving subtly against his hand, which he’d cupped around her body. He teased her with his finger through her panties. The humid warmth of her body branded him as he continued to stroke her. He blew on her nipple and watched as gooseflesh spread down her body.

He loved the way she reacted to his mouth on her breast. Her nipples were so sensitive he was pretty sure he could bring her to an orgasm just from touching her there.

“When you come for me, Angelina, that will seal our deal. There will be no backing down. You will be mine.”

He bit carefully at the creamy skin of her chest. “Do you agree?”

“
Sì,
Dominic.”

“Say it,” he said.

“I’ll be yours.”

He groaned at the sound of her agreeing that she belonged to him.

He kept kissing and rubbing, suckling her nipples, trying to quench his thirst, until she rocked her hips harder against his hand. He was straining inside his trousers. He had her hot wetness against his palm, and his hot erection against the other side of his hand.

It was one of the most sensual things he’d ever felt. He pulled his hand free of her pants and then lifted his hips. He so wanted to feel her on him. He wanted to do away with the layers of clothing between them. He needed to feel her long sexy legs wrapped around him until they were truly one person.

He bit carefully on her tender, aroused nipple. She moaned and shifted against him, her hips rocking over him.

“I need more.”

“More of what?”

“Your hand, Dominic,” she said.

“Beg me,” he said.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. She was completely at his mercy. “Please touch me again.”

“Like this?” he asked, slipping his hand back into her pants, rubbing her again through the crotch of her panties.

“No.” She shook her head.

He stopped caressing her. “You don’t like that?”

She rocked her hips over his hand. “More. Please, Dominic, give me more.”

He pulled the crotch of her panties to one side and slid one finger against the warmth of her core. She moaned.

“Is that what you wanted?”

“Oh yes.”

He traced the opening of her body with his finger and then slipped the tip into her. She tightened around him, rearing up on her knees and then sinking back down.

“Oh, Dominic.”

He liked the sound of his name on her lips when passion overcame her. He added a second finger and she rubbed herself against him again.

This time he pressed his thumb to her and rubbed up and down, sending her soaring. He felt the climax rip through her body as she screamed and convulsed in his arms.

He brought his mouth down on hers and drank the sounds of her passion. Wrapping himself in her ardor as she came.

He rocked her until her orgasm faded. Letting go of her wrists, he stroked her back and kept kissing her. Holding her close, her bare breasts brushed against his chest. Now he was ready to take her. He was so hard he thought he’d die if he didn’t get inside her.

He glanced down at her and saw she was watching him. The fire in her eyes made his entire body tight with anticipation. He gently pushed her back so that she stood before him. Getting to her own feet, he stripped her pants off.