Page 42 of Ruthless Guardian

“Oh, my, God, Raf! You’re going to drive me crazy.” She tugs at the long locks of hair cascading down her shoulders. “I came here to escape, to finally have an ounce of freedom and you’re making it impossible.”

“I’m not here to cater to your whims,principessa. I’m here to keep you alive. Can’t you understand that?”

She closes the distance between us and jabs a slender finger into my chest. “What good is being alive if you can’t actually live?”

“It all trumps being dead.” I bring my hands to her face, cupping her cheeks. I’m too close to her, but I can’t stop myself. My head spins, a mad pounding in my skull a mixture of fury and the warm haze of wine. “Trust me.”

She inches closer, her body flush against mine. Her tongue darts out, dragging across her bottom lip and a flare of lust widens her pupils.

Fuck.

My eyes latch onto hers, the fire building in those crystalline irises igniting something deep inside me. The most overwhelming urge to capture those pouty lips rolls throughmy entire body. Every fiber of my being screams to close the distance, to taste the promise of her breath mingled with mine, as the quiet Roman streets around us fade to nothing but the electric space between us.

Instead, I wrap my hands around her hips and haul her over my shoulder.

CHAPTER 21

SHATTER THE LINE

Raffaele

“Put me down!” Isabella continues to pound at my back as we finally cross the threshold of the miniature hotel room.

“Gladly,” I mutter and toss her onto the bed. She lands on all fours, her face crashing indelicately onto the pillow. After I’d been forced to call Sal to pick us up from the restaurant, I’d had to physically restrain her from running when we reached thepensione.

“I just want to see the Colosseo at night!” she whines as she glares up at me from over her shoulder. She’s still on all fours, tight jeans wrapped around a perky ass that’s just begging to be spanked.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I draw in a deep breath to slow the mad thundering of my pulse. Once the storm subsides, I open them again and my gaze latches onto a hair tie she’s left on the nightstand. Dragging it over my hand, it just fits my wrist. I snap it, the slight pang like a bee sting.Perfect. Hopefully, it’ll be my answer to these damned inappropriate urges.

“We’re going to be here for three months,” I grind out. “We’ll have plenty of time once I scope it out first.”

“Ugh,” she grumbles and rolls onto her back. Her fingers dig through a small pocket in her jeans, drawing my attention to a faint bulge.

“What’s that?” I bark.

“Nothing.” She slaps her hand over the spot.

“Isabella…” I stalk closer so that my legs brush hers which are dangling from the mattress. She crab-crawls backwards until she hits the headboard, and I follow her like a fucking idiot, crawling up the mattress until I loom over her.

Now pinning her to the bed and with those blazing blue irises peering up at me, the rage simmers, and I realize my monumental mistake. My cock is heavy, straining against my zipper as I brace myself over her. Isabella’s pupils widen, her mouth curving into a tempting O as if she too has suddenly realized the compromising situation we’ve found ourselves in.

I attempt to push off, but her leg curls around my hip. “Stay,” she whispers, the scent of limoncello swirling between us, and my heart halts mid-beat.

The wordnois perched on my tongue, but for some goddamned reason I can’t seem to set it free. I snap the elastic band around my wrist again.

“Isabella, I?—”

Her gaze drops between the measly inches of space between our bodies and her hooded lids rise, along with the corners of her lips. Fuck. “Don’t tell me you don’t want this, Raf. I can see you do…”

I clear my throat, every muscle tense as I hover over her, fighting the urge to capture her lips and throw all my rules out the window. “It’s a physical reaction,principessa, nothing more.” I grit the words out, even as I feel the bitter lie in them.

Her head falls back on a cackle, and I stiffen over her. Once the laughter has finally died away, her eyes lock to mine once more. “So why can’t this just be physical? I can barely tolerate you, and you’ve made your feelings about me clear. Just one night? To dispel the tension…” Her hand crawls up my torso, tracing the trail of abs then settles on my chest.

I’m so damned hard now I’m going to bust the zipper of my jeans.

Her free hand moves south, fingers dancing along my waistband so that her flesh touches mine.

Madonna, mia, I deserve to go straight to heaven for this. I snatch her hand away and pin it to the mattress. “No, we can’t.” The rough edge to my tone calls me out for the liar I am.

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