Page 74 of Made to Sin

I blamed my lack of words on the nerves, but what was his excuse? Did I get the wrong message this whole time? Was my body not what he wanted? Embarrassment ran up my neck as I spun on my heels, ready to make a run to my room.

“If I had known all I had to do was get you some friends for you to greet me like this, I would have done it a lot sooner.”

I flushed at his bluntness, pausing in my steps. They weren’t the nicest words, but it was better than the silence prior.

The door closed with a softthud, and I turned back aroundat the noise to see Luciano walking toward the minibar to pour himself what I was guessing was a glass of whiskey. It deflated my confidence a bit to see him resort to alcohol, but I persisted.

I didn’t want him to think I was solely doing this to repay him. Rather, I needed him to see I wanted to do it for him.

“Did you have a productive day at work?” I asked, my voice awfully shaky.

Luciano slammed the whiskey decanter down on the countertop harsher than I expected, making me jump a bit.

“I warned you to not mess with things you can’t handle.”

“I’m aware,” I breathed.

He observed my face as he took a sip of the amber liquid. My eyes zeroed in on the way his throat bobbed. It was oddly erotic, sending a chill down my spine.

“Come here,” he demanded.

My body followed automatically. It should be humiliating he had me at his beck and call, but his voice was so smooth, it was hard to find an ounce of protest.

I walked over until I was close enough to feel the heat radiating off his body. My breasts tingled at what was to come, pushing against its lace confines.

His eyes dropped to my cleavage for a millisecond before returning to my face with an unreadable expression. “Do you know what you’re doing, sweetheart?”

I faltered. Weren’t men supposed to be excited when a woman was nearly naked for them? What was with all these comments?

The idea of him not being interested in me sent a vile burn up my throat. “God, I wanted to have some fun tonight. If you don’t want to, I’ll go find someone who does.”

That was not my intention for tonight, but I was too ashamed to reveal my true reasoning. He had crushed my dignity, there was no need to lay out my heart too.

“Go ahead. One dead man won’t tarnish my reputation anymore than it already is,” he said dryly.

I searched his face for any signs of a joke, but there were none. I sucked in a deep breath. “What do you want from me, Luciano? I stand in front of you in lingerie, which was really hard to put on by the way, and you don’t want anything to do with me. But when I decide I want someone else, you won’t let me. Make up your mind.”

His eyes flashed with discontent as he placed his tumbler on the table behind him and, within a blink of an eye, bent me over the bar. One of his hands held mine behind my back in a shackle while his body weight covered the rest of me.

My frustration hadn’t ebbed, but something else, something sinfully needy, leaked into my bloodstream when he had me in this position. I wondered if we would make progress this time around.

“You think I don’t want you?” His roughened Italian roots bled through when he was angry. The abrasiveness against my skin evoked a shiver, which I was sure he felt too.

I didn’t know what to say, remaining quiet as I attempted to not give him a reaction.

Slap.

The sharp sound echoed across the room, followed by the sound of my labored gasp.

Did he just… spank me?

My body lit ablaze, lava coursing throughout. Involuntarily, I arched my back and stuck my ass out for more.

Better question, why did I kind of like it?

“Answer me,” he gruffly demanded.

I sucked in a tortured breath and bit out, “It doesn’t matter.”

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