Page 30 of Ruthless Desire

Instead, I moan, my traitor body melting against him.

Dante growls his approval, deepening the kiss as his hands roam my exposed flesh. One tangles in my hair, tugging sharply to angle my head. The other grips my ass, pulling me flush against him. I can feel every hard plane of his body, the heat of him searing through the thin lace of my underwear.

"That's it," he rasps against my throat, nipping at the sensitive skin. "You know what I want. What you want…"

His words are like a bucket of ice water. What the fuck am I doing?

I shove hard against his chest, catching him off guard. As he stumbles back, I make a break for the door.

"Natalie!" Dante roars behind me. "Don't you dare—"

But I'm already gone, racing down the hall like the hounds of hell are on my heels. And in a way, they are. Dante Corleone is every bit as dangerous as any demon, and twice as determined to drag me down to his level.

I skid around a corner, nearly colliding with an elderly man in a butler's uniform. He steadies me with surprisingly strong hands, his rheumy eyes widening as he takes in my disheveled state.

"Please," I gasp, hearing Dante's footsteps growing closer. "Is there another way out? A secret passage or something?"

The butler hesitates, conflict clear on his weathered face. Then he nods, ushering me towards a large painting of a long-dead man with cold, calculating eyes and a serpentine smile, embodying the essence of a Machiavellian monster.

"Quickly now," he whispers, pressing a hidden mechanism. The painting swings open, revealing a dark tunnel beyond. "This will lead you to the forest. But be careful, miss. The master... he doesn't take kindly to those who defy him."

I want to hug the old man, but there's no time. "Thank you," I breathe, ducking into the passage.

The painting swings shut behind me just as Dante's voice booms through the hall. "Where is she? Tell me, or I swear to God—"

I don't stick around to hear the rest. I plunge into the darkness, one hand trailing along the rough stone wall to guide me. The passage slopes downward, twisting and turning until I lose all sense of direction.

Just when I think I can't take another step, I see a faint glimmer of moonlight ahead. I burst out of the tunnel and into a moonlit forest, gulping in the crisp night air.

Freedom. Finally, gloriously free.

But my relief is short-lived.

"I can smell you, moy voron," Dante's voice rings out, closer than I'd like. "Your fear, your arousal... it calls to me like a siren's song."

Fuck. Of course he knows about the tunnel.

I take off running, branches whipping at my face and legs as I crash through the underbrush. The forest floor is rough against my bare feet, but the pain is nothing compared to the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"Run all you want, Natalie," Dante calls, sounding entirely too amused. "It only makes the hunt sweeter. And when I catch you... oh, the delicious punishments I have planned."

A shiver runs through me that has nothing to do with the cold. I push myself harder, lungs burning as I weave between trees. But it's no use. Dante's footsteps grow louder, his presence like a red target on my back.

I burst into a moonlit clearing, skidding to a stop as I realize there's nowhere left to run. I spin around, panting, to face my pursuer.

Dante emerges from the trees like some pagan god of the forest. Moonlight gleams off his sweat-slicked skin, highlighting every sculpted muscle. His eyes are wild, filled with a hunger that makes my knees weak.

"Caught you," he growls, stalking towards me with predatory grace.

I back away, my defiance warring with a sick sort of readiness. "Stay back," I warn, but my voice trembles. "I swear to God, Dante, if you touch me—"

"You'll what?" He smirks, closing the distance between us. "Scream? Run? We both know how that ends, solnyshko."

In a flash, he's on me. We tumble to the forest floor, a tangle of limbs and heated skin. I struggle, but it's halfhearted at best. Dante pins my wrists above my head, his body a cage of muscle and sinew.

"Surrender," he demands, his lips a breath away from mine.

I meet his gaze, storm-gray eyes blazing with a cocktail of emotions. "Never," I whisper.

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