Page 67 of Under His Protection

Nina

Istretched in bed, lazy and warm. I hadn’t slept that long and that well in so long, even since coming here and living in Dante’s house. The bed in the guest room was comfortable, but there was nothing better than sleeping in his arms.

After slapping my hand out and realizing I was alone, I sighed and closed my eyes again.

Was it all a dream? Did I hallucinate after all that champagne and fantasize about his saying he wanted to make it real and keep me in his life for good?

Surprisingly, I wasn’t hung over. I sobered up last night, and in the middle of the night, when I woke up and had to go to the restroom, I drank a full glass of water before returning to Dante, where he spooned me and held me close.

I knew we’d talked. I listened to him express his desire to make me his “real” girlfriend, but I was skeptical. It simply sounded too much like a fairytale to believe it. This guardedness couldn’t be healthy, but it was the result of how I’d grown up. It was the side effect of facing the trauma and dread of being lost to the MC men.

Before I could sit up and wonder what to do next after sleeping in so long, the door opened.

Dante entered, keeping the wooden panel open by pushing his fine ass against it. And what an ass. Clad in nothing but gray sweatpants, he was a thirst trap, all right. I lost the fight and stared at him, feasting my eyes on his chiseled torso, ripped arms, and cocky smile as he turned toward me.

“Hungry?”

I nodded, thinking of a more carnal sort of starving. I was hungry for him, all right, but it was also sweet of him to bring me breakfast in bed.

“Very hungry.”

He used his foot to kick the door shut, and he did it without causing anything on the tray in his hands to wobble. I smelled the coffee, but he’d surpassed that bare minimum of breakfast things. Two plates were covered by silver domes. A bowl of cut fruit slid a bit on the tray, but nothing fell. Nothing spilled.

Except maybe me. I was reminded of my naked status as my arousal began to slip from me. Pushing my thighs together, I did my best not to make a mess on the sheets. But this man just did it for me. The mere sight of him shirtless, those pants slung so low as to give me the visual of the cut lines dipping toward his groin. He turned me on just from breathing and being near.

“Hungry for what?” he challenged.

I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure of what his attention meant like this. Was I just a sex toy for him? A convenient woman to keep and fuck when he wanted?

Like that would be so terrible?

All I could do was go with the flow of it and ride this thrill for as long as I could.

A swift streak of naughtiness urged me to show him what I was hungry for. I wanted everything with him, to matter as more than a burden to protect. But right now, seeing him half naked and while I lie in his bed naked…

Bold, but a little nervous, I sat up and flung the covers off me. I slid one foot up the mattress, lifting my knee and giving him a peek of my pussy.

His gaze dropped. He stared and stared, not moving at all as he held the tray in place. “Hungry for what?” he asked again.

The material of his pants pushed up with his dick tenting them, and I parted my legs a little wider. “Hungry for you,” I replied, praying I looked sexy and confident, not needy and clueless.

“What are you doing, Nina?” he asked as he set the tray on the table near the bed.

“I was hoping I was seducing you.” A little self-deprecating laugh left my lips. “But I’m a novice at it all…”

He growled, staring at my entrance with a smoldering tension. “But if you’re hungry,” he countered, “that’s just a snack for me.” Crawling onto the bed, he pointed between my legs.

“I meant?—”

His deep, throaty chuckle could’ve been mocking if he was mean like that, but I wasn’t sensitive enough to be bothered.

“Tell me what you want,” he ordered.

I shrugged, leaning up on my elbows to watch him kneel closer. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Tell me.” He glanced up at me as he reached me. Setting his hands on my knees, he smoothed his palms over the joint in a slow caress that also pushed me to widen my legs open.

“You. I want you, Dante.”

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