Page 48 of Casino King

I like stoking that fire in him.

“Morning, bella,” Alec says smoothly, in his deep, seductive voice. He takes my coffee cup from me and places it behind me as his pins me against the counter with his hips. Moving my wet hair over my shoulder, he plants kisses up the side of my neck. “Mmm, you smell so good,” he practically purrs, the low vibrations of his voice reverberating through me. His tongue licks the spot behind my ear and I sigh, tilting my head to the side so he has better access. “It’s too bad I have to go, or I’d lick you all over to make sure you taste just as good everywhere.”

His dark promises make my knees wobble and threaten to give out.

“What are you going to do while I’m gone?” he asks, a hopeful, dirty questioning tone to him that suggests he wants me to sit here and think about him all day. He lazily strokes his fingers up and down my bare thigh, and while I will no doubt be doing that, it won’t be here.

“I have classes to teach this afternoon.”

Pulling back, he grips my chin and forces my eyes to his. “What are you talking about?”

“I took on two Saturday classes at the studio.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” he says, a hard edge to his words.

“I know. I was going to. It just happened a couple of days ago. Since I’m not at the diner anymore…” I trail off, and his eyes lose a little of their hardness, knowing I agreed to not work there anymore. For him. Something I didn’t do lightly.

“What classes?”

“Ballet for ages 5 to 8.”

“I bet you look so sexy in your little ballet teacher outfit,” he murmurs close to my lips, pressing his hips against mine so I can feel his hard length.

“I don’t not look sexy,” I say back, leaning into him so my lips brush his. Kissing me hard, Alec licks the seam of my lips and bites down on my bottom lip, making me groan.

“Now, all day I’ll be picturing you stretching and getting limber for me for later.”

“Maybe that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. And I’ll be picturing you when I do.” I smirk, and he pulls away, shaking his head slightly like he can’t believe I’m real. “I finally got to open my gift from last night,” I tell him with a smile. “I was a little too distracted to do it after the show when I read your note.”

Alec’s eyes turn stormy at the mention of last night, and my body floods with heat that I have to ignore.

“I love the roses, Alec, but you don’t have to give me anything else. The bracelet is beyond beautiful, but I don’t need such expensive gifts.”

Alec cups the side of my neck and brings his face close to mine, forcing my eyes up with our lips so close. “I’ll get you whatever I want, mia bella rosa. I know you aren’t the kind of woman to need such things, but I like giving them to you. I like seeing you wear them on stage. I like the little smile you wear that’s just for me. Our secret.”

Stroking my neck, I arch back, exposing more of my delicate flesh to him like prey offering up the kill shot for the predator. And willingly so.

His hand tightens around my throat and I sigh, that little breath all the invitation he needs to capture my lips in a kiss that I feel spread through me like a wave – every inch of me covered until I’m drowning in the thick emotions I don’t know how to surface from. I don’t know if I even want to. They’re filling every empty place inside of me that I never thought could be.

Smoothing my hands up his chest, I circle his neck and kiss him back, pouring everything I can’t say into him, hoping he’ll take it without throwing it back at me.

Untangling from each other, Alec kisses the spot below my ear and inhales my scent before pulling back.

“Have a good day at work,” I whisper, biting my lip.

Something flashes in his eyes, but it’s gone just as quickly as it came. “I will,” he says, giving me one last kiss before leaving me.

With a shaky hand, I reach back for my coffee cup and take a sip, the caffeine making my already on edge nerves because of Alec, even more frayed.

When the door opens again and Enzo walks through, I jump a little, startled out of my thoughts of Alec.

“Did I scare you?” he asks, giving me one of his boyishly handsome smiles that makes him look a lot less deadly than when he’s in bodyguard mode.

“No,” I say through a laugh. “So, I’m teaching two classes today from 12 to 2. I don’t think Alec had time to tell you since I just told him a few minutes ago myself.”

“No worries, T. He texted me on his way down. Plus, that other dance teacher who’s there a lot,” he says, humming. “She’s fine. A work of art.”

I roll my eyes, knowing exactly who he means. “Her name is Claudia. But don’t even go there. She has a boyfriend.”

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