Page 67 of Vito

"Where does this come out?" His breath is hot on my neck, and a shiver ripples through me.

"My office." I force myself to keep my breathing steady. Having him so close to me, alone with me, his breath on my skin…

It's making me want things—things Icannothave—in a terrible way.

"Who knows about this?" His voice is deep and low. Dangerous and lethal.

He's short-circuiting my exhausted brain.

"Me. All the past owner-operators of Gilly's."

"Who are all now dead."

"Yes," I admit, keeping us walking forward, trying not to think too much about being underground. And trying not to thinka lotabout Vito's closeness. "Aiken told me about this in his email. It's a guarded secret that's only passed down through the successors. But I guess I royally fucked that up with you."

Vito's breathing sounds a bit labored.

Alarmed, thinking he might be having a panic attack about the subterranean space, I turn around.

He's even closer than I expected, and we slam into each other. I jump back to give us space, and my cell light shines around us. His face is illuminated on one side but shadowed on the other.

"A secret tunnel… that no one knows about." He swallows, drawing my eyes to his corded neck. He licks his lips. "Eden… A secret tunnel… thatno oneknows about."

Realization hits me at what he's saying, and my chest heaves.

His strong hands settle on my waist, and he steps closer. He's huge—tall and chiseled with hard muscle—and his blue-green eyes are filled with a heat that sears right to my pussy. "Tell me you don't want my cock."

I don't know if it's a taunt or a plea.

"I wish I fucking could."

There it is.

The damning words and knowledge are out there.

But can we do this? Fuck without anyone finding out and get each other out of our systems?

This is the safest place. Just this once—in a place no one knows about, in the middle of the night, with no one around.

Yes. Absolutely yes.

"We do this.Once," I say quickly, getting the words out before my brain takes back over. "One-and-done. Get it over with, then we can move on with clearer heads."

His nostrils flare, and his hands tighten around my waist. "Agreed."

My breathing is ragged and erratic. "We're really doing this?"

In answer, he slams his mouth down on mine and drives me into the wall.

My cell phone falls, the flashlight illuminating us. I grip his face, kissing him hard as lust consumes me.

I need to feel him.

I pull his shirt up and off, then trail my fingers over the taut, broad planes of his shoulders, back, chest, and arms, feeling the scars on his hot, hard flesh.

I moan at the sensation of touching him. Pleasure fills me at being able to finally feel him. I've been dreaming about this hard body for months.

From the sounds he's making, he's as affected by my touching him as I am by him touching me. He groans into my mouth, grinding his hips against mine.