Page 64 of Salvatore

She shakes her head, the motion batting her small breasts and drawing attention to their tight centers. “If you didn’t want me, I’d understand,” she says, her voice quivering and her focus lowering to the large mass behind my zipper. “But you do?”

I don’t feel myself move, I’m just suddenly there, my body shoved against hers. “It’s not that I don’t want you,” I tell her. “And you know it.”

She tilts her chin, capturing my gaze. “Then prove it,” she says.

I know what she’s asking. I’m ready to tell her no, point out all the countless fucking reasons I shouldn’t rip off my jeans and push inside her. But before I can ease away, she wraps her arms around my neck, kissing me softly and in a way that makes me feel every bit of her pain, fear, love.

“Make love to me,” she begs between kisses. “Please.”

She should be reaching into my jeans or rubbing herself against me to get me to give her what she wants. But what she’s doing to me—everything she’s making me feel—makes me want her more.

It’s like all the hate and anger leaves me at once, all the poison infecting my body dripping from my pores and vanishing into the air. But it’s the guilt over everything that I’ve seen and done since working for Vin that stays, keeping me from acting.

My fingers fasten against the counter on either side of her as I struggle to stay in control. “You don’t want this,” I bite out. “Not from me.”

I try to keep my face averted. But Aedry’s done with my excuses and she’s done waiting. She nibbles her way along my jaw. “You’re wrong,” she whispers, slipping her tongue in my ear.

I don’t stand a chance, not with how she’s holding me like I might break.

“I love you,” she says, clutching me tighter. “Show me you love me, too.”

I shouldn’t. But I do, losing my mind to everything she’s making me feel.

I lift her into a straddle and carry her to bed, kissing her hard.

We flop onto the mattress with me on top of her, my hips grinding against hers as my clothes are flung on the floor. I reach between us, rubbing my thick head along her slick center. But as I start to push in, I hesitate and ease away from her.

She clasps my shoulders, her pleading expression holding me in place. “Don’t,” she says, “I need to feel close to you.”

Every tendon in my body constricts against my frame as reason and desire fight it out. I jerk my chin, looking away from the woman I’d give my life for. “I’ll ruin you,” I say, speaking through my clamped jaw.

She caresses my face, drawing my focus. “You’ve only ever made me better,” she tells me quietly. “Help me make you better, too . . .”

God help me, I do.

My chin dips to her neck, my tongue trailing along her throat as I carefully make my way inside her. Aedry’s knees fall open, helping to ease the agonizing push of my hips. Her body seizes mine, clenching me tighter and thickening the lust heating the air.

I want her so much, but I take my time, advancing and stretching her slowly, kissing her softly and gently passing my hands through her hair, along her breasts, and back to that face that always finds its way into my dreams. Her body fastens around mine, grasping me as if afraid to let go. She’s perfect . . . so damned perfect.

I’m not even halfway in when her head lolls to the side and her brows knit taut. “Am I hurting you?” I murmur, kissing the spot behind her ear.

“I’m all right,” she bites out.

“I can stop,” I answer, withdrawing gradually even though every pull away from her kills me.

“No,” she says, her voice barely audible as she pulls me to her. “Please don’t.”

Her mouth finds mine, keeping us joined. I hover over her, torn by what to do. But as she relaxes beneath my touch, I tilt my hips, rocking forward until she and I become one.

She grunts as I withdraw, my thrusts gradual as I take her with care. She’s my beautiful Adriana, my star, my love. I can’t tell her, so I whisper the words in a way she can’t understand.

“Mia bella Adrianna . . . mia stella . . . mia amore.”

I’ve fucked a lot of women. I’ve never cared enough to make love to any of them. Until tonight. Until Aedry. Until everything in my world changed when she told me she loved me . . .

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