Page 6 of Sins of the Son

She squeezed herself into a corner. Her voice was high-pitched and fractured. “I mean it. Get out.”

I was so close I could smell the spicy jasmine scent of her perfume. I kept my arms raised in front of me, approaching her as I would a wild animal, ready for either fight or flight at any moment.

She then did something I was not expecting.

She closed her eyes, tipped her head to one side, and let out a soft whimper.

My brow furrowed.

There was a fine line between hate and love, anger and desire, but this? Could this be fear?

My mind flashed back to that moment in her apartment over a month ago. It was so fleeting, I had passed it off as a figment of my imagination. There was a moment where I could have sworn she thought I was going to hit her. For all our heated banter, I thought she knew deep down I would never be physically violent with her, not in that way.

Something was fucking wrong.

There was no goddamn way I'd misread that situation. She responded to my kiss that day, to the feel of my hands. I knew she felt the same way about me as I did her, and it was only her stubbornness keeping us apart. I knew she was fighting the desire between us. I was not fucking wrong about that.

There was something else at play here.

I tossed my belt away from me onto the floor.

Gently running the backs of my fingers down her arm until I reached her wrist, I lifted her arm and pressed her open palm on my bare chest and waited a few moments, until I was sure she’d leave her hand there. I stepped closer until our thighs brushed. She hissed in a breath through her teeth, her body twitching in response.

I soothed her. “Shhh, carissima. I’m here.” I reached for her waist and carefully wrapped my arm around her body until my hand was pressed against her lower back.

Fuck, she felt so small and vulnerable in my arms like this.

I just wanted to close her up in my palm and never let go.

She leaned in close… and sunk her teeth into my shoulder.

Her tiny fists flew at me, pummeling my chest. “Don’t touch me!”

I snatched her wrists and wrenched her arms behind her back, easily securing them with one hand. “Listen, la mia piccola gattina selvaggia. I’m about to do a great deal more than touch you, so you better get used to the idea.”

She pitched her torso to the left and right but could not dislodge my grasp.

I held her tighter. “Keep moving. I like the feel of your breasts pressed against my chest.”

She immediately stilled.

She sucked air in through her clenched teeth. “I’m warning you, Cesare, let me go.”

The corner of my mouth lifted. “You’re warning me?” I leaned down and traced my lips along the soft curve of her ear. She really had the cutest little ears. I flicked my tongue over her earlobe before pulling it between my teeth and giving her a quick nip. My lips moved to the edge of her jaw. “So, what happens if I ignore your warning?”

She tilted her head back and away from my mouth to look up at me.

She had the most gorgeous lips. They were a soft pink, luscious and full. I especially loved how they formed an adorable pout when she was angry.

Her bright, intelligent eyes read my intent. “I don’t want you to kiss me,” she hissed.

I brushed her glossy black curls back from her face. “That’s too damn bad,” I growled.

I claimed her mouth. Christ, she tasted sweet. I twisted my fingers in her hair as I tightened my grip on her waist and stepped closer, pressing my thigh between her legs. I forced her head back and pushed my tongue in deeper. My head slanted, switching from one angle to another as I devoured her. I couldn’t get enough of her taste or the feel of her in my arms.

The only thing that sliced through my fevered reaction to our kiss was the hesitant brush of her hand against my shoulder. I froze. Waiting to see if she was going to push me away.

The very moment her hand hesitantly wrapped around the top of my shoulder to clutch at my neck and pull me closer, she sealed her fate.

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