Page 92 of Maddest Temptation

“I’ll concede mercy this time,” I teased.

“Say something else.” The music slowed and so did our movements. We had to be careful, this was the second song we had danced to together.

“I wish I could rip your dress off and fuck you right here and now.”

She gulped and looked around checking if anyone had heard me. Francesca’s eyes twinkled with mischief and her answer surprised the fuck out of me. “I’m naked underneath.”

That was the worst thing she could possibly say; if my suit jacket didn’t hide my pants, everyone at Vitelli and Marie’s engagement party would know I was sporting a massive hard-on.

I let my hand slip just so it rested over the swell of her ass. Two could play this game. “I would start by removing your dress and sucking on those pink little nipples of yours.” Her cheeks warmed.

“Cassio—”

“Then, I would eat you up like an ice cream cone on a summer’s day. Licking your pussy dry.” Her eyes widened, but I could see that her nipples were beginning to appear through the fabric of her dress. She was just as turned on as I was. “Then, only after you begged me for it, I would bend you over and fuck you hard and fast. You’d take me, all of me.”

“Cassio,” she panted.

I shrugged. “That’s just a thought.” I leaned and whispered in her ear. “Or maybe a preview of what I’ll do to you tonight.”

With that, I left her and headed somewhere where the air wasn’t tainted with her scent, and I could breathe. Two could play this game, but it seemed that even though I was the one talking, it was Francesca who won. All I had to do was imagine the things I would do to her, and I was a goner. Now I couldn’t get those images out of my head.

FRANCESCA

Why him, dear heart? I asked. When there are so many others out there, why Cassio Moretti? I removed the wet towel from my neck and stared at myself in the mirror, completely lost. I was still trying to get over the things he’d said in the ballroom. It had taken me a few minutes to compose myself again.

We had danced together; bodies pressed together. My heartbeat to the rhythm of the song his was playing. In that moment, we had been just Cassio and Francesca, two people who were learning what it was like to love again.

Why him?

Taking a deep breath, I dropped the used towel in the hamper and tried to compose myself so that no one would notice how crazed I looked. All it had taken was a couple of dances with Cassio and I was already drenched.

I wished our lives were different, not so complicated. That we were just two people dancing together, that there was no Donato to ruin my life or a future husband I didn’t want. I wished it was just Cassio and I dancing freely because we wanted to, and we could.

I pushed the bathroom door open and was about to return to the party when someone appeared from behind the shadows. My breath froze in my lungs and my heart stopped. Donato approached me while I stood there unable to move.

“Cara mia,” he greeted. “There’s nowhere for you to run,” he chuckled.

I crossed my arms and stared him down. I wouldn’t dare show him how scared I was. How much I wanted to bolt in another direction. “What do you want?”

“You are giving me quite a headache.”

“Do you expect me to care?”

“Do you think he will keep his guards around when it’s over?” Donato chuckled. “I want to see just how brave you are then.”

I frowned, fear coursing through my veins.

“Why do you think, Cara mia, that I haven’t dragged you back home? He keeps his men around you all the time.”

“Who does?” I feigned confusion.

“Don’t play dumb, Francesca, I watched you dancing with him.” He stepped closer. “Actually, that’s exactly what you are. How long do you think it will be before he grows tired of you?”

I shook my head pretending I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Cassio will never love you, he’s not capable of that. When he marries, he will do so for an alliance. Why would he need you when he already has my support? You’re just a temporary distraction. Stop this now and come back home before you ruin yourself once and for all.”

“Ruin?” I laughed “You made sure I was ruined. Why would I go back to that place when all you want to do is sell me as a broodmare?”

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