Page 48 of The Thief

“I wasn’t aware I had a choice in the matter,” I retort defiantly.

He nips my earlobe sharply. “Liar.” His gaze rakes down my body, hot and searing. “Your nipples are hard.” He shoves a knee between my thighs. “If I thrust my fingers into your cunt, I bet I’ll find you wet, ready for my cock. Try again. Tell me what you want.”

So smug. He makes me lose control; he shreds the walls I’ve tried to build against him with laughable ease. Ihatethe way my body responds to him,hatehow needy he makes me feel.

Hateit andloveit, all at once.

Some of what I’m feeling must show on my face because Antonio laughs under his breath. “Is it so hard to ask for what you need?”

Yes. Because it’s not just his cock I want. I’m greedy forhim.I want his attention. When he says he’s been waiting for me for ten years, I want to believe him so badly that it terrifies me.

I wriggle away from Antonio, shrug free of my jacket, and pull my sweater over my head. My T-shirt and bra follow. “Are you planning on fucking me, or are you just going to stand here andtalk?”

His eyes blaze. I think I’ve provoked him for a split second, and my pulse pounds with anticipation and adrenaline. But then his lips quirk into a maddening half-smile. He steps closer, close enough to obliterate the boundaries between us, close enough that I don’t know where he ends and I start.

“I see you,” he murmurs, pressing his lips into my neck, licking my fluttering vein. “Your pulse is racing. You’re nervous, and it’s not because you’re trapped here. You know just as well as I do that if you wanted to leave, I wouldn’t stop you.”

I do know that. Whatever else he’s capable of, whatever else he might do, he would never take me by force. Even now, when I slithered out of his grasp to take off my shirt, I didn’t have to fight free. He let me go.

“But that’s not what you’re afraid of,” he continues. His hand cups my throat, and his stubble scrapes against my skin as he leans in to whisper into my ear. “You’re nervous because you sense what I’ve known from the first time I kissed you.” He unfastens the button of my jeans and lowers the zipper. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of my panties, he tugs both jeans and panties down in one fluid stroke. “This is not just sex. This ismore.”

My nipples are two aching peaks. A familiar heat blooms between my legs. I can pretend I’m unaffected by Antonio, but my body is sending him a very different message.

“Shut up and fuck me.”

“So demanding.” He laughs under his breath. “Say please.”

I like watching Antonio laugh. He’s criminally sexy. Dangerously disruptive to my peace of mind. “In your dreams.”

Pushing away from me, he takes off his belt. I don’t move; I stay where I am, completely naked and pressed against the wall, the sight of his taut muscles robbing the breath from my lungs.

He presses a finger into me, and I bite back a whimper. I was damp when I opened the door and saw him in my living room. Wet when he sternly reminded me about the consequences of stealing from him. Now, I’msoaked.It takes all my self-control not to push forward and grind my aching pussy into his palm.

He pulls his fingers out and holds them in front of my face. They shine with the proof of my traitorous body’s response. “I won’t ask again, Lucia.”

There is a hard edge in his voice, one that sends a shiver through me. What would happen if I stayed defiant? Would he put me over his knee and spank me? No, he knows I’d like that too much.

Or would he pull back entirely? Button up his shirt and leave?

That thought sends a spike of fear through me. I’m stubborn, yes, but not stupid. I don’t want him to leave; I’m not ready for that to happen. “Please fuck me, Antonio.”

His response is a low growl of approval. “Spread your legs, tesoro,” he orders, cupping my breast and squeezing. His touch is like fire, and every time he lays a hand on me, I burn from the inside out. Heat rushes through me as I spread my legs, exposing myself to his gaze.

“Good girl. Now open your mouth and suck your wetness from my fingers.”

A shiver runs through me. I take his fingers into my mouth, tasting my desire on his skin, and his eyes darken with lust as he watches me lick them clean.

My own arousal grows, my need building to a crescendo. I want more. I want him, and I want him now.

He reads the desperation on my face. A smile brushes across his lips as he leans close. “I’m going to fuck you hard, Lucia,” he promises, his voice low and intent. “I’m going to pull out my cock and fuck you right against this wall. Right here, right now.”

“Yes,” I pant. “Please.”

His lips meet mine in a hungry kiss as he frees his erection. He gets a condom from his wallet and rolls it on, lifts my leg around his waist to pull me closer, and thrusts into me in one deep, fluid stroke.

Every nerve in my body comes alive. With one hand, he holds my wrists in place above my head. He slams into me again, raw passion etched on his face. Each stroke is deep and brutal, and I choke back my gasp and buck around him.

My naked back scrapes against the stucco, and I don’t care. I wrap my leg around him tight and bring him closer. He’s bottoming out with each deep stroke. Hitting my cervix. Sharp pain blends with pleasure until I can’t tell them apart, until it is all one blazing inferno.

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