Page 24 of How to: Seduce Your Wife

“Yes?”

“Vai all'inferno.” For a minute she thought he’d hung up, before realizing he was conducting a muffled conversation in the background.Go to hellhad sounded so much more forceful in her mind in Italian. “Did you hear me?” She’d be damned if he made her repeat herself.

“Listen.” Wow, how did he manage to load so much impatience and irritation into one simple word? “I'm currently dealing with a situation or—”

“Or you'd be dealing with me in person?” she suggested sweetly, fury overriding every other emotion.

“It's nothing personal.” His clipped voice remained steady,calm.

“Really? Then why am I taking it personally?”

“So, that’s a no to my offer?”

“That’s a no. Goodnight, Mr. Salvatore. Iwon’t say it’s been a pleasure.”

“Maybe next time,” he had the audacity to suggest before the line wentdead.

Mia looked at the phone for a long moment and, without thinking, threw it as hard as she could, shattering it against the nearest wall. She didn’t know why the phone call had affected her so badly. Maybe Soren’s dismissal simply added another stone around her neck, threatening to pull her under. If he kept his word and investigated her, how long before he discovered her connection to Carina?

She stifled a sob, then another. The next one escaped just as Brand threw open the door. He took one look at her, another at the destroyed phone, and reached her side in three swift steps. Sweeping her up in his arms, he carried her to the bed and sat with her there, holding her on his lap. She burrowed against his shoulder, her humiliation complete.

“What happened? Who called you?” he demanded urgently, before shaking his head. “Never mind. Soren, right? He tried to call me, too. Ishould have guessed when I didn’t answer, he’d go after you.”

She gestured wildly toward the shattered pieces of her phone, bursting out in Italian, “I smashed your brother to tiny bits.”

A soft laugh rumbled through Brand’s chest. “If only you had. Unfortunately for the two of us, he’s not that easy to smash.” He gently thumbed away her tears. “He’s also not worth shedding tears over.”

She shivered at the gentle caress of his hand, anger and hurt and pain easing into a series of far different emotions. Longing. Need. Desire. The breath stuttered from her lungs and before she could stop herself, she turned to him. Lifted to him. Moistened her lips in anticipation.

Ofhim.

Brand didn’t hesitate. Her name escaped in a harsh undertone. And then he consumedher.

Chapter6

Mia’s lipsparted beneath Brand’s and he couldn’t resist another instant. Taking full advantage, he swept inward, staking his claim. She tasted amazing. Sweet and tempting and delicious. The kiss felt new and different, and yet oddly familiar. He couldn’t explain the dichotomy of sensations. Didn’t have the will or ability to pull his thoughts together sufficiently to explainit.

Her arms crept up around his neck and he deepened the kiss, allowing it to grow ever more heated. He couldn’t get enough, couldn’t bring himself to end it. He caught her small whimper of pleasure, tasted its delight on his tongue, inhaled its essence into his lungs. Breathed her in and gave her his breath in return.

All the while a warning light flashed. He’d had this sort of instantaneous reaction once before and it had ended badly. Very badly. But desire overrode all reason and logic.

“Brand…” His name escaped in a small, needy whisper. “What are we doing?”

He smiled against her lips. Soft, plump, ripe lips. “If you don’t know, we’re in serious trouble.”

She laughed, the sound low and husky. “I thought we were going to wait.”

He caught the lobe of her ear between his teeth, delighting in her helpless shiver. “Do you really want to wait?”

He swept the collar of her robe to the edges of her shoulders, allowing it to teeter on the verge of drifting downward and exposing her. Though she’d tied the sash, the upper half of the robe gaped, exposing round, full breasts. He cupped them through the terrycloth, running his thumbs across the puckered tips. She shuddered beneath his touch, her breath catching.

“You’re beautiful,amore mio.”

She pulled back slightly, allowing a coolness to drift between them. “Don’t call me that, I’m not beautiful or your love. I’m neither.”

“Granted, we’re not in love. But you are definitely beautiful.”

She jerked from his hold, her breath coming in frantic little pants. Without a word, she stood and yanked at the sash of her robe, struggling to untieit.

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