Page 32 of The Fighter

A shiver of pure need runs through me as I kiss him back. I slide my tongue over the cut I wanted to touch, and he growls into my mouth, his grip tightening.

He kisses me as if I’m a dish worth savoring, one morsel at a time, slowly, leisurely, until I am a creature of need and want and desire. He kisses me as if he can’t get enough, as if he’s ready to tear the clothes off my body, lower me to the concrete floor, and thrust into my heat, and I want that.

I want everything he’s offering and more.

He fists my ponytail and sucks my lower lip through his teeth. Desire punches me in the gut, and I moan into his mouth.

“Oh wow,” a woman’s voice says, cutting through my fog of lust. “What a beautiful couple you two make.”

Tomas pulls back, slowly, reluctantly, his eyes dark with heat. He runs a shaky hand through his hair. “Alina, meet Maria Isgro.”

22

ALINA

Maria Isgro could be a supermodel. Okay, maybe she’s not tall enough to walk the runway, but she’s beautiful. Lush dark hair that spills over her big breasts, a tiny waist, and a round butt.

I hate her.

“So you’re the girlfriend,” she says to me, her eyes sparkling. “No wonder Tomas likes you. You were amazing out there.” She runs her hand down his back before taking my hand to shake it.

No, not shake.

Caress.

“All that barely leashed aggression,” she murmurs. “So hot.”

Hang on, is she flirting with me?

Her next words all but confirm it. “If you’re looking for a play partner,” she purrs, still holding onto my hand, “let me know. I would love to have a three-way.” She takes in my expression, and a wicked smile curls her lips. “Tell me, Alina, aren’t you at least a little bi-curious?”

I’ve honestly never given it any thought.

Tomas spins me around so my back is resting against his chest. His arm wraps around my waist, holding me against his body. “That’s a very tempting offer, Maria,” he says, far more calmly than I’d be able to manage. “But I’m going to have to decline.” He bends his head and kisses the side of my neck, his lips pressed to my fluttering pulse. “I would be far too jealous to share Alina.”

The other woman tucks a small business card into my back pocket. I half-expect her to pinch my butt in the process, but to her credit, she doesn’t. “If you change your mind, call me,” she says. “That goes for both of you. Separately, or together.”

She winks at me and strolls away. I wait until she’s out of earshot before I pull away from Tomas’s hold and spin around to face him. “Did that really happen?”

“Ciro’s parties,” he says with a shrug. “They tend to attract a certain type.”

I shake my head, resisting the urge to touch my swollen lip. I still feel the touch of his mouth on mine. The pressure of his tongue in my core. “I thought Maria was an ex.”

“Nope. Just someone who was rather obviously interested.” He laughs. “In both of us, evidently.”

And in response, he said he would be far too jealous to share me.

It’s a line, Ali. Just pretend. It’s not real.

But the thrill that shot through me when he wrapped his arm possessively around my waist—that wasn’t pretend at all. That felt all too real.

Tomas plucks the empty glass of prosecco from my hand. “How did you get to Milan?”

I have to stop thinking about his kiss. The way his tongue slid into my mouth, sure and unhurried, the way his breathing quickened, the way he growled as I deepened the kiss…

“I took the train.”

He frowns. “It’s one in the morning. How were you planning on getting back? There’s no train until the?—”

---