Page 42 of Playing the Sicilian's Game of Revenge

She pushed the jacket off, gave it a tug so it fell to the ground. She held his heated gaze as she slowly unbuttoned his shirt. Spread it and pushed it off just like the jacket. He was all muscle, tense and beautiful. That brick wall, but she could feel his heartbeat under her hand. Real and living.

She wanted to show him just how real. She got to her knees, reveled in his sharp intake of breath as she unzipped his pants. Freed him. Then held his sharp, needy gaze as she took him in her mouth.

She watched him the entire time, the intent gaze, the harsh cast of his mouth. Here because he couldn’t resist. Not her, not the heat between them. Against all his plans, against all his strength of control, he’d gotten out of that car, told her what he wanted, because he wanted her.

He pulled her back, hand fisted in her hair. Then he simply held her there, looking down at her, both of them shaking just a little. He said nothing, made no move to allow her to finish or to do more.

“What do you want, Teo?” she asked, her voice a hoarse whisper in the quiet room, barely audible over the harsh echo of his own breath. His scowl hardened at the word want, so she smiled.

“I want to take that dress off of you, Saverina. I want to lay you out on that bed and taste every inch of you.” The he gathered her up and did just that. With wild kisses and gentle hands.

His mouth roved over her body, stoking fires, teasing, then plundering, then teasing again. She was in some other world made only of nerve endings and a love so big it threatened to drown her where she lay. Until it did, in waving crashes of pleasure that nearly had her crying.

But she wouldn’t do that. Not just yet. She rolled over him, positioned herself on top. She looked down at him. “I want you, Teo. All of you,” she said, then took him. Slow. Deep.

Everything.

Straddled on top of him, looking down at the self-satisfied half smile on his face. That faded when she reached out, traced a lock of his hair with her finger tenderly. But before he could mount any of his many defenses, she moved against him. And she decided this was for her.

She didn’t worry about him. What he saw. What he felt. She found her own pleasure. Until she was shaking out a release so potent her muscles felt weak and lax, and she all but collapsed on top of him.

“I missed this,” she said, the emotion swamping her. He’d lied to her, she knew, but she thought in this he’d always been honest. They’d always been them, lost in what they could bring out in each other.

He merely grunted and flipped her onto her back, ranging over her like some sort of avenging soldier. But she knew it wasn’t her or even her words that he fought. It was his internal response to them.

So she kept going as he slid inside. As he made the pleasure build again, spiral higher, and deeper. “I missed you. Even when I hated you, I missed you.”

His grip on her hips tightened, but he did not stop. He pushed her over that last edge, eyes black as obsidian, the war all over his beautiful face. The orgasm crashed over her, a wave of light and sensation and release. “I love you, Teo,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his neck as he followed her over the edge.

He should have left. Teo knew this in his bones, but he had not. In the aftermath, he’d convinced himself her “I love you” was of no consequence. If she felt such things, if she refused to accept he did not—and never would—that was on her.

Then he’d fallen asleep, so quickly, so easily. He didn’t wake up once through the night—not due to a stress dream, or the strange panic that had sometimes gripped him the past few months. He’d slept free and easy, like he hadn’t in years.

It might have been worth it, he supposed. A good night’s sleep would help his stress. Help him keep a clear mind as they barreled forward toward revenge. A good night’s sleep would keep him sharp and in control when it came to Saverina’s I love you.

“You have been my only.”

But in the pearly light of morning, her hair spread out over her colorful floral sheets. Her even breathing, the soft silk of her skin glowing in the shaft of light that poked through the curtains. His ring on her finger sparkling in that same light. The need to touch her, to drown himself in her scent and never leave, to always be her only, was so big, so deep, so all encompassing, one thing was very clear.

He had made a mistake. She was a danger. Herself. Her love. All of it. It threatened what he wanted.

And still he didn’t leave. He could only lie here and stare at her, wondering how she’d done it. How she’d somehow bewitched him into risking everything.

Maybe he hoped she’d press the issue when she woke. Maybe he hoped she’d be angry he didn’t return the sentiment. Maybe he hoped...for too much.

When she blinked her eyes open, sleepy and warm, she merely smiled at him. Soft and vulnerable, when she should know better by now. She stretched and yawned and curled into him, even as he kept himself perfectly still.

“I want you to let me take you somewhere this morning,” she murmured against his chest, her finger tracing some unknown pattern there above his heart.

Teo felt as though he needed to clear his throat but refused such a weakness. He waited until he knew he’d be able to speak firmly. “I only have the clothes I wore last night.”

“I’ll get you something more casual to wear.” She slid out of bed, and for a moment he forgot all his self-admonitions, the very important need to get out of here, and only watched her beautiful, naked form cross the room, slide on a short silk robe and then move for the door.

She turned in the doorway and looked at him...almost as if she was memorizing the moment of him in her bed. Then she beamed a smile his way before disappearing into the hall.

His heart seemed to be gripped in some sort of vise. He could not find the sense, the wherewithal to get out of bed, to get dressed, and to tell her they had work to do. Not places to go simply because she wanted it.

“I want you, Teo. All of you.” It had been about sex, he told himself. Over and over again, but he’d seen the look in her eyes and knew for her it was more. “I love you, Teo.”

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