Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
I grab her arm gently, dragging her back against my chest. "You don't want me to get on your nerves, princess?" I growl in her ear. "Then stop fucking with me. Because every time you open that smart mouth, I want to fuck it."
A soft gasp escapes her lips, full of shock. But seething just below the surface, I hear what she desperately tries to hide. Curiosity. Desire. She's attracted to me. The thought of sucking me off turns her on as much as it pisses her off.
I press my face to her neck, raking my teeth across the sensitive skin beneath her ear. Her pulse hammers there, pounding like a war drum. "Sooner or later, you're going to give in and give us both what we want, bella."
"N-no, I'm not."
"Liar," I whisper, nipping her throat before I release her.
She doesn't deny it again. We both know she can't. She wants me. It's only a matter of time until she caves.
"Don't bother trying the bathroom window, bella. It doesn't open."
Chapter Three
Callandria
Everyone has it wrong. Rafael Valentino isn't the devil. Luca is.
I pace around the luxurious bathroom, muttering under my breath like a crazy person as I make the same circuit across the stone tile. I've already used the bathroom, checked the window, and scoured the shelves for a weapon. There isn't anything of use. There isn't even a bottle of cologne I can spray in his gorgeous eyes to blind him.
I'm in no hurry to return to captivity. I even took a quick shower and stole a toothbrush from beneath the sink to delay the inevitable. My heart still races. I still feel his lips against my skin, sending shockwaves through my body.
Dio. No one has ever spoken to me the way he does or touched me as if I belong to them. It infuriates me and makes my blood run hot at the exact same time.
Luca Valentino is dangerous. Not to my family. Not because he's mafioso. Not because he has blood on his hands. But to me.
I like the feel of his hands on my body and the possessive edge to his kisses a little too much. It's madness. Complete insanity. I don't even like him. Yet he touches me and some tiny part of me craves more.
His sharp rap against the bathroom door rattles my nerves. I jump, my heart thudding against the walls of my ribcage.
"I brought you something to wear," he says. "Would you like me to bring it in to you?"
The hint of amusement in his tone sends me scurrying across the bathroom. I quickly unlock the door, thrusting an arm out through a small crack to take whatever he brought before he tries to come in.
He passes me a stack of neatly folded clothes.
"Stop stalling, bella. I'm not going anywhere," he murmurs, gently grabbing my wrist before I can pull my arm back. Electricity crackles where his skin meets mine. "If I have to come in there after you, I'll only get on your nerves again. And you know how much I like that smart fucking mouth."
Oh! I hope he chokes on his own wicked tongue!
I yank my arm back and slam the door in his face.
"Three minutes, Callandria, and then I'm coming in even if I have to break the door down."
I don't have to ask to know he's serious. He's crazy enough to do it. I quickly strip out of my silk robe and nightgown and throw on the t-shirt and sweats he brought me. I'm a curvy girl, a size twenty, but his clothes swallow me. I tie the shirt up around my waist to make it fit better and then roll the sweats up, mourning the fact that I have no clean panties and no bra. I could desperately use both right about now.
Once I'm finished, I comb my fingers through my hair to tame it, and then lurk in front of the bathroom door, counting down the seconds. I don't have a watch, but I keep time in my head, refusing to emerge a single second before required. It's childish, but I'm not feeling particularly rational at the moment.
My whole world is eroding beneath my feet. I've been taught my whole life that the man outside this room is the enemy. Yet he's offering me the one thing my own family never did: the chance to forge my own destiny. It's too good to be true, yet part of me desperately wants it to be true anyway. I want to believe him. That terrifies me, almost as much as the realization that I'm attracted to him.
He could destroy me. It's what he does. Destroys things. Dismantles them. Picks them apart until they have no choice but to be swallowed up by the Valentino empire. If his family is too big to fail, it's not because they build. It's because he consumes.