Page 29 of Rock Bottom

He gave a half-hearted smirk. “Huh. I could’ve sworn the wrapper said bubblegum.”

“I could be wrong.” My face was hot enough to fry an egg on. “Maybe I need another taste.”

He pressed his lips together and tilted his head. “Maybe you’d better sit down and ask me for a better one.”

I should’ve left. I should have shut him down, reminded him that this wasn’t a pleasure cruise. It was work for me, and I was already putting my job on the line by taking things this far. If Boone found out I’d developed anything even remotely resembling feelings for Dante, he’d pull me off the job and…

And what? Fire me? I doubted he’d do that, especially as hard as he’d fought to repair things between us after we had a falling out when he met his husband. If there was one person who would understand what it was like to fall for someone on a job, it’d be him. He’d done the same thing. But I could lose my credibility, and I could lose my heart. Dante didn’t want me. Once our thirty days were up, he’d go back to his groupies and his supermodels and forget all about me. Maybe he was into casual hookups, but I wasn’t. This could only end with a broken heart, and I didn’t know if I’d survive that.

“Sit,” Dante ordered gently, and I obeyed. I was incapable of doing anything else, too caught up in the moment.

I sank into the couch cushions, my shoulders stiff, breathing heavy.

Dante pulled his knees under him and turned to face me. He touched my cheek, and I fought the urge to melt into his gentle touch. “Can I kiss you?”

No clever games. No cute euphemisms. Not even a hint of mirth in his blue eyes. Just an honest question from one man to another.

My heart thrummed so hard, my whole chest felt like it was bruised. I swallowed and nodded slowly.

Dante wrapped his hand around the nape of my neck. It was a small, meaningless gesture to him, but to me, it was everything. No one had ever touched me like that, like I was his, like he was the one that was going to save me and not the other way around.

When his lips touched mine a second time, it wasn’t like before. His soft, strawberry-flavored lips kissed all over mine in a slow, seductive tease, never lingering quite long enough to give me what I wanted. Every time he pulled back, I leaned in to beg for more. Dante was all heat and fire, and I was crude oil under pressure. An explosion was bound to happen, eventually. I just never thought I’d be the one to break first.

He dragged his tongue slowly over mine, just daring me to play his game, and when I took the bait, he tried to pull away again. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Dante let out a soft gasp as I lifted him and deposited him in my lap. He laughed and shifted to straddle me. “So this is how you like it, huh?”

I gripped his chin and held him in place, watching as his eyes glazed over with lust. “No more games,” I said. “I mean it, Dante. If we’re going to do this, I won’t have you talking about being with anyone else. I don’t share. I’m not good at it.”

He smiled down at me and took my face in his hands. “You’ve got everything I want. I don’t need anyone else, Church.”

It was a lie. A beautiful, painful lie, but one I was willing to believe in for a little while at least.

Dante kissed me again, and I let myself get lost in it. He seemed content to take the lead, and I was happy to let him. In every other part of my life, I was the one in command, the responsible one, the man everyone went to with their problems. Even Boone leaned heavily on me, and he was my boss. It was a relief that I didn’t have to be in charge of Dante, at least in this one instance. After, things could go back to the way they were, but I didn’t need to worry about that now. The only thing I had to worry about was following where he led.

Our kiss quickly deepened to something dirtier, more needy. Or maybe that was just me. Having him against me felt so good, so right. Dante flung the half-finished sucker over his shoulder and put his arms around me, drawing us closer. I bit back a groan when he started grinding his cock against mine through our clothes.

“It’s okay,” Dante said, moving his lips to my neck. “You can be as loud as you want out here. Nobody’s going to hear you.”

My neck flushed even hotter. “I’ll hear me.”

“So?” He dragged his teeth over my pulse. “You need to learn to let go. Enjoy yourself.”

“We shouldn’t even be doing this.” That didn’t stop me from lifting my hips to chase the friction of his body. When he pulled away and denied me, an involuntary whimper of protest escaped.

“Do you want to stop?” He nibbled at my earlobe, sending a shiver down my spine.

I dug my fingers into his shirt until my knuckles ached. “No.”

“Can I touch you?”

I swallowed, but my throat was dry. “You are touching me. Quite a lot.”

“No, I meant here.”

I made a strangled sound as Dante’s hand closed around my cock. There was still clothing between us, but that didn’t seem to matter to my short-circuiting brain. All I knew was that his hands were on me, and it felt so good. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let anyone touch me like that. It’d been so long. So terribly long.

Too long.

---