Page 67 of Gin & Trouble

I broke the kiss, opened my eyes halfway, and brushed his hair back from his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Dante leaned forward, teasing my lips with his tongue.

I curled my fingers in his hair and wrapped my legs around his waist. Using my entire body to convey how much I wanted him. Needed him.

“Is there something you want?” He flashed me that devilish Marchionni grin.

“You, now.”

Dante pulled a condom from the nightstand drawer and slid it on. When he positioned himself above me, I expected him to kiss me again. Instead, he guided my legs over his shoulders and pressed forward until I was bent in two.

The thrill of the first thrust stole both of our breaths.

“You feel so damned good.” Dante pulled back and pushed into me again before quickening the pace.

There was nothing I could do in my position but enjoy him and mutter words likegoodandyesandmore. I struggled to keep my eyes open. To memorize the contours of his face, his strong jaw, full lips, the way his muscles rippled with each thrust.

Dante turned his head to kiss my calf and shifted himself higher up my body. The small change pushed me into oblivion. He smiled like a man that owned the world as he watched me go to pieces beneath him.

I’d barely recovered when he held his breath, tensed, and followed me over the edge. For what seemed an impossibly long time after, Dante continued to move in a slow, easy rhythm.

I let my legs fall from his shoulders to his arms and eventually to the bed. “You…wow…”

Dante stretched out beside me and pulled me to his side. “Is it naïve to think we’ll figure this out?”

Nuzzling my face against his chest. “Maybe a little, but I believe in miracles.”

20

Frankie

Heaven and Hellwrapped up in one seriously hot package. That’s how I would describe Dante Marchionni. Waking up in his arms was absolute bliss. Thinking about what our future held was complete agony—or it would be when our families inevitably got in the way.

And they will. It’s only a matter of time.

I’d be lying if I said I cared what Tommaso or my sisters thought. What business was it of theirs who I fell in love with? Dante, on the other hand, was close to his brothers. And judging by where he lived, where he worked, and where he spent his free time, he was close to his parents, too.

I can’t ask him to choose between me and his family any more than I can destroy their family on a hunch.

Keeping the DNA test quiet was the right decision, at least until I knew the truth. If it turned out Enzo was my half-brother, I’d go to him in private. No one else, Abruzzo or Marchionni, needed to know. The choice belonged to Enzo.

And if Enzo decided to go public? I desperately wanted to believe that no matter what the DNA showed, Dante and I would make it. To believe we had a future together.

What can I say? Dante’s kisses lowered my inhibitions better than tequila. One taste and my panties fell off.

Which is why I couldn’t risk another encounter with his lips.

Besides, I had Iris downstairs, work to do, and DNA test results waiting. Easing away from him, I glanced at the clock and a shot of adrenaline hit my bloodstream.

Panicked, I shook his shoulder. “Dante, wake up. It’s after ten. We overslept. You were supposed to go Christmas shopping with Enzo at nine.”

Rolling to his side, he threw his arm over me and muttered, “Sleep now. Sex later.”

I wiggled out from beneath his limb and glanced around for my phone. I’d left Iris a note, but if she’d missed it, she’d be worried sick.

My clothes were scattered on the bedroom floor, but there was no sign of my phone.

I picked through the wreckage of the night before. Dante’s jeans laid near mine, but there was no sign of my cell. I vaguely remembered checking my message while he reheated left over pasta and not so vaguely remembered him eating me rather than the food.

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