Page 10 of The Capo & the Curator

"Dante, don't stop," she whimpers, her nails digging into the sheets. "Oh God, Dante, I'm... I'm..."

"That's it, baby, come for me," I growl, driving into her with one last powerful thrust, feeling my own release barreling toward me like a freight train. I clench my jaw, desperate to make this last, to savor every damn second of her.

Her walls clench around me, her orgasm ripping through her body as her cries fill the air. I can feel her muscles milking me, and it's my undoing. I let out a primal groan, burying my face in the crook of her neck as I spill myself inside her, every muscle tensing as my climax rocks me to the very core.

Spent, I collapse onto the bed beside her, my chest heaving as Evelyn's naked body presses against mine. Her scent permeates the air, musky and enticing, and I inhale deeply, a smug grin playing on my lips. That just may have been the best damn sex of my life, and believe me, I've had my fair share. But with her, it's different. It's more. I can't explain it, but I know it in my bones.

I'm fucked, no pun intended.

"Hmm," she purrs, nestling closer, her head tucked beneath my chin. Her silky hair tickles my bare chest.

I gaze down at Evelyn, her bare skin glowing in the moonlight filtering through the window. She's breathtaking like this—disheveled, sated, and utterly mine. A possessive surge rushes through me at the thought, one I don't bother trying to tamp down.

She must sense the weight of my stare. Her eyes flutter open, locking with mine. A faint blush stains her cheeks, but her gaze doesn't waver. If anything, there's a newfound boldness there in the aftermath of our passionate joining.

"So..." She traces an idle pattern against my chest, her touch igniting tiny sparks along my skin. "About those coordinates..."

A harsh bark of laughter escapes me before I can rein it in. Only this woman would be coherent enough to circle back around to the damn journal after what we just shared. "Insatiable, aren't you?"

"You know me." That blush deepens, but there's a coy twinkle in her eye as she props herself up on one elbow, the sheets pooling around her waist. "I can't resist a good mystery."

"Neither can I, tesoro." With an indulgent grin, I haul her against me, relishing how she readily molds herself against my side.

This... this is uncharted territory. The easy affection, the simple pleasure of holding her close without agenda or motive. It's unfamiliar, yet I find myself craving more of it.

"But for now, we should rest," I murmur, pressing a lingering kiss to the crown of her head.

She nods, already drifting as fatigue drags her under. "Just a few hours," she mumbles.

I listen as her breathing evens out. Only when I'm certain she's truly asleep do I allow myself to relax.

This remarkable woman has well and truly undone me, laying siege to the formidable walls I've spent the better part of a decade erecting. In her presence, I'm unmoored, untethered from the certainties that have long grounded me.

And somehow, the prospect doesn't terrify me nearly as much as it should.

Chapter 7

Evelyn

The dilapidated villa looms ahead, its once-stately facade now crumbling beneath the relentless onslaught of creeping ivy and decades of neglect. Still, an air of faded grandeur clings to the cracked stucco walls and the ornate stonework framing each arched window.

"This is the place." Dante's deep voice rumbles beside me as we pick our way through the overgrown garden, his hand at the small of my back. "The coordinates in the journal led us here."

I nod, unable to shake the thrill of anticipation that's been thrumming through me ever since deciphering that latest string of encoded numbers and symbols. Each new revelation seems to lead us deeper down the proverbial rabbit hole, pulling back layer after layer of this elaborate mystery.

And I can't get enough of it.

"So," I murmur, casting Dante a sidelong glance as we approach the vine-shrouded entrance, "any idea what treasure lies at the end of this hunt?"

"Getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" His fingertips trail a light path along my spine, sending a shiver rippling through me that has nothing to do with the slight chill in the air. "Let's have a look inside first."

I huff out a soft laugh, swatting his hand away in a gesture that only seems to amuse him further. There's an ease to our banter now, a natural rapport that's somehow managed to blossom in the midst of this chaotic endeavor. A delicious tension, too—one that's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Especially after last night...

The memory of his naked, sweat-slicked skin sliding against mine has my breath catching in my throat. Of the desperate, frantic way his fingers mapped every curve and hollow while his mouth staked an incendiary path along my neck. It had been wild and uninhibited, all restraint obliterated in the wake of the searing passion that had finally ignited between us.

And if the heat in Dante's eyes is any indication, he's recalling it just as vividly.

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