Page 33 of The Devil's Pawn

“Uh-huh.” She narrows her eyes. “You suck at lying. You know that?”

I guess not as much as you think, baby.

“Man, I have so many things to improve on.” I walk up a step, then some more. “And now that I remember...how about you come over here so I can practice kissing you again? Maybe this time, I’ll get it right.”

She rolls her eyes, lips teasing me with a hint of a barely there smile. “Not on your life, Dante Cavaleri. I’m not that kind of girl.”

“Really?”

I’m in front of her now, roughly cupping her jaw, my gaze pinning her in place.

“It didn’t seem that way this morning, when you were rubbing this ass all over my cock,” I say gruffly, grabbing a handful of her ass cheek.

Her exhales instantly grow ragged, her face flushing crimson. “I must’ve been asleep.”

“Who’s the liar now, wife? You know you can’t resist me just as much as I can’t resist you.”

I lower my lips to hers, softly kissing her once. Twice. Even though her lips don’t kiss me in return, that rapid breathing greets me.

“How about you stop denying you want me?” My words roll over her mouth. “How about we see where this goes?”

Her chest rises faster now as my lips feather over hers, softly caressing.

“Whether it ends today or months from now, the world is ours, and we don’t need to know what happens next to enjoy the days we have.”

“I want to,” she confesses. “But I can’t.”

“Why?” My voice is low and deep as my mouth still brushes over hers, while my hand is tightly circled around her lower back.

“You scare me, Dante. I’ve never felt this much intensity for someone, this much attraction.” She sighs, like it’s a bad thing. “I like you, and I don’t want to like you because I’ll be gone in three months.” Her eyes fall to the ground. “And maybe you’re used to fooling around, but I’m not.”

“Hey.” With a finger, I tip up her face to mine. “Don’t put a label on this. Not before we’ve even had a chance to figure out what we are. What we could be.”

What the hell am I saying?

She’s right. We can’t be more. I can’t love her. I’d be betraying my brothers. My family. Everyone. At least that’s how I see it.

But she is my wife, and she will be forever, so I’m not okay with her calling us a fling.

“I can’t stay here.” Her eyes beg for understanding, shrouded by so much pain. “Even if I were to fall for you at the end of this, I couldn’t stay. They’ll always find me, and they’ll kill us both.”

I cup her cheek, wanting to touch her every chance I get. “You don’t have to worry about them hurting you, or me. I’ll slit every one of their throats to keep you safe. You hear me?”

Her gaze alights with tears. “You don’t mean my father, right?”

When I don’t answer, her stare widens.

“I don’t want anyone to die, Dante. I just want to be left alone.”

“Sometimes the only way to find peace is to take someone else’s away.”

She inhales sharply, looking at me with a twinge of fear.

“Who are you?” The question comes as a whisper, one full of bewilderment, like she already knows the answer.

But she doesn’t.

She doesn’t know I’m both the prince from her fairy tales and the monster from her nightmares.

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