Page 53 of The Sound of Us

“Skye. Fuck.” Dante pounded into me deep and hard, until finally his body went rigid and he came in a rush of white-hot heat.

I fell forward, resting my forehead on the corkboard while my body shook with the aftershocks of Dante’s raw and wild fantasy sex. Bracing himself with one hand on the wall, Dante sagged against me, heaving his breaths.

“Are you okay?” He eased out of me and turned me around for a gentle kiss.

“More than okay. That was the hottest sex I’ve ever had.”

“Me, too.” He quickly disposed of the condom, wrapping it inpaper towels before tossing it in the trash. When he returned, he swept me up in his arms and carried me to the couch.

“Shouldn’t we get dressed in case someone comes? Noah…”

“Isn’t coming.” He threw a blanket over the cool leather and stretched out, patting the space beside him. “Cuddle time.”

“I heard a rumor that you didn’t do cuddles.” I grabbed another blanket and spread it over us as I lay down beside him. “I heard you were a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of guy.”

“I never met anyone I wanted to cuddle with.” He kissed the pads of my fingers one by one and then found my mouth, drawing out my desire with long, deep strokes of his tongue. “I also never told anyone about my scars except for Noah. He’s the one who suggested the tattoos. He said it could be a fresh start. I believed him until I realized the old me was still there, lurking in the shadows.”

“They’re beautiful.” I traced the intricate designs with my fingers, treble and bass clefs and staffs with musical notes. “Do those notes represent anything?”

“Songs my mother used to sing.” He covered my hand with his. “I was twelve years old when she died. The birds are for my sister, Sasha. She loved to listen to them sing outside her bedroom window. I lost her four years after my mom. Now she’s free to fly with them.”

“Dante…” Emotion welled up in my throat. “I’m so sorry. It was hard losing my dad, but I can’t imagine how it must have been for you to lose both of them, and you were so young…”

He stiffened and his jaw went taut. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I understand. But if you ever do, I would love to hear about them.” I put my arm around him and we held each other in the quiet of the night.

“My mother would be horrified if I came home with my leg all inked up,” I said lightly, hoping to pull Dante back from the shadows that clouded his face. “She would think I’d turned to the dark side.”

“You have turned to the dark side.” He ran his fingers through my hair, smoothing it out over my shoulders. “You’ve seduced apoor radio station DJ during his show. Tomorrow, you’ll probably pretend it never even happened.”

“I thought that wasyourmodus operandi.”

“I can’t pretend this didn’t happen,” Dante said, tracing patterns on my shoulder. “I don’t want to pretend it didn’t happen. I’m not good at letting people in, but you snuck through my defenses when I wasn’t looking.”

“Sneak attack,” I said, trying again to lighten the mood. “Kinda what you did to me. I never would have imagined letting someone see my leg, much less touch my scars. But then I would never have imagined having sex with a tattooed bad boy in a radio station to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’ You’ve definitely ruined me for other men.”

“And I’ve shared one of my deep dark secrets. That means there can be no other men.” He tucked me against his body, my head resting on his chest where I could hear the steady beat of his heart.

“Do you see me complaining?” I slid my hand over his abdomen and down under the blanket. He was hard again, and his cock swelled in my grasp. The idea that I could arouse him sent a shimmer of triumph through my body.

“I see you want to be fucked again.” His hand slid down my back, fingers digging into my ass. “If I time it right, you’ll be screaming to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ one of my top-ten songs of all time.”

“Let me up.” I tried to pull away but only succeeded in sliding against his erection. “I can’t have sex with you now. That’s like sayingThe Avengersis one of the best movies in the world. I can’t…” I gave a dramatic wave. “I just can’t.”

“You should have thought of that before you decide to tempt me again.” He twisted his hips, dropping me to the couch so I was lying beneath him. “Now, I have to do something about it. But this time, I’m going to go slow. I’m going to kiss every inch of your body and every single scar. I’m going to make you so hot and so wet you’ll agree that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is the greatest rocksong of all time.” He leaned down to take my nipple in his mouth, licking and stroking until I was writhing beneath him.

“Will I also be so hot and so wet that you’ll make me come many times and fuck me into oblivion?”

Dante released my nipple and slid his hand down to cup me between the legs. “Are you going to be a good girl?”

His words should have sounded patronizing but instead a wave of heat flushed through my body. This time instead of worrying about why it turned me on, or what it said about me, I focused on how it made me feel. Hot. Wet. Sexy. Safe. Accepted. Complete.

Something that made me feel this good couldn’t be bad. And besides, we had passed the point of no return. I wanted to drown in the blissful feeling of his praise. I needed to hear it with a soul-deep longing that went into my bones.

“Yes,” I said, rocking against the heel of his palm as the first words of Dante’s favorite song played over the speakers. “I’ll be the best girl ever.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO“Howlin’ for You” by the Black KeysDANTE

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