Revenge (14 page)

“I’m fine. No shivers, no stomachache. Just a
little headache.”

His hand dropped from her forehead to caress
her cheek, his fingers skimming over the bruises Vince had left.
Then his thumb traced over her swollen lip, his face darkening. “I
could kill him for this.”

Kate felt a jolt.
Did he mean that
? He
looked so grave. She didn’t want him to do something foolish; he’d
already taken enough risks for her. “I’m okay. Just a little beat
up. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

He crouched down beside her and took her
hands in his, resting them in her lap. “I am sorry I was not there
earlier, to spare you this pain.” His hands squeezed hers. “I will
protect you from now on. I swear it. You will never be unsafe
again.”

Kate’s throat constricted painfully and tears
threatened to spill down her cheeks again.
Jesus
,
how did
he know just what to say
? This man who looked at her with such
tender eyes couldn’t possibly be a mobster. Certainly her faulty
Italian was to blame for what she thought she’d overheard.

Enrico leaned forward, one of his hands going
to the back of her chair, the other releasing her hand and cupping
her knee. He was now just inches from her, his eyes darkening with
care, with… desire. Kate inhaled in surprise, her body suddenly on
alert. He smelled sharply masculine, like citrus and pine trees
mixed together, a hint of something that was all him underneath. He
was too close, much too deliciously close. Her heart hammered out
of control. She should stop this. She was still married, even if
her husband had tried to kill her.

Enrico let go of her knee and placed his
fingers under her chin, tilting her mouth to meet his. Kate
stiffened, but after his lips touched hers, she relaxed. She did
want this. After all that had happened today, she needed a
distraction. And Enrico qualified as a big distraction. As well as
a big “fuck you” to Vince. After all, why should she feel any
loyalty to a man who wanted her dead? A man who’d called her a
whore?

And so what if Enrico was thinking about
marrying someone else? All the better. She had no intention of
staying here, with him. She wanted out of Dodge, as soon as
possible.

And, since Vince already thought she was
fucking Enrico, why not do it for real? Enrico was certainly
handsome enough. Drop dead, as her cousin Terri would say. But she
wasn’t planning to marry Enrico or have a future with him, or—

Enrico pulled back from the kiss. “Was it
that bad?”

“No, no.” She blushed.

“But you did not enjoy it.” He sat back on
his heels. “I promised I would not push you, and yet I have done
so. I apologize.”

She put a finger on his lips. “Stop.” Placing
her hands on his cheeks, she urged him toward her. “Let’s try that
again, shall we?”

This time she forced herself to stop
thinking, forced herself only to feel, only to hear. The satiny
brush of his lips across hers, the touch of his hands on her face,
his fingers tracing her cheekbones. The groan low in his throat
when she opened her mouth to his, when she let their tongues touch.
He groaned again, the sound more urgent when she opened her mouth
wider, her tongue swirling around his.

He pulled her up from the chair, his large
hands gliding down to her ass, cupping the cheeks and crushing her
to him greedily. When she felt the bulge of his erection against
her belly, a warm tingle ran through her, zinging down between her
legs. She rubbed against him.

My God, he was an amazing kisser. And if she
wasn’t mistaken, his body was going to be amazing too. He was all
hard slabs of muscle and sinew, granite next to her softness. She
ran her hands across his wide shoulders and down his back, unable
to resist squeezing his ass. It was hard enough to bounce a quarter
off.
Jesus. This was going to be out of this world
—

He broke the kiss, both of them breathing
fast. She looked up at him, confused. Why was he stopping?

“Are you certain you want this?” he asked. “A
lot has happened—”

“I’m sure. Very sure.”

His lips curved into a slow smile. “Then we
need some place more private, yes?”

She grinned up at him in answer, letting him
lead her down the hall. When they reached the staircase, he swung
her up in his arms, making her laugh. “Put me down! You’ll kill
yourself carrying me up there.”

“I do not think so.” He mounted the steps
with ease. “I take good care of myself.”

“So you do,” she said when he put her down at
the top. He was barely breathing harder.
Good God
,
what a
man.
If only Vince could see her now. She wished she were
taping this. Then he would see her with Enrico, then he would know
how much she was enjoying herself. Then he would know she didn’t
love him anymore. Not one bit.

Enrico shut the door to his room behind them,
a hush falling over the enclosed space. He hadn’t bothered with the
lights; enough moonlight came in through the open curtains to bathe
the room in a silvery glow.
Dio
, she was beautiful. And she
was his. Finally his.

He could scarcely believe she’d agreed to
this, that she was letting him have her. But she’d said she was
sure. Very sure. And the way her mouth moved under his, the way
she’d pulled him to her, the way she’d ground her hips against his,
they all said she was sure too. He hoped she wouldn’t regret this
later. He knew he wouldn’t.

He placed his hands on her shoulders, kissing
her again.
Madonna
, he could kiss her all day. She had a
wonderful mouth, her lips plump and inviting. He could feel the
swelling in her lower lip from Andretti’s slap. Andretti would pay
for that. He slid his tongue over the lump, tasting her, soothing
the hurt. She whimpered. Was she in pain? He hesitated, then she
melted against him. No, not in pain, not at all.

He kissed down her neck, gratified by her
soft exhales, her little moans, her sharp intake of breath when his
lips touched the base of her throat next to her collarbone. She
clutched him to her, her hips grinding against his, her high round
breasts pressing into his chest. He had to touch her, had to get
her out of these damn clothes. He started to unbutton her blouse,
but she brushed his clumsy hands away and worked on the tiny little
buttons herself. “Take your shirt off.” Her voice was a husky
whisper.

“Brilliant idea.” He watched her face as he
took off his shirt and gathered from her widened eyes that she
liked what she saw.

Enrico was as magnificent as she’d guessed.
Flat, firm pecs lightly dusted with dark hair, a tight six pack of
abs that bunched as he moved, his obliques making a perfect V of
his narrow waist. Damn. He definitely worked out. A lot.

Kate pulled her shirt off. He closed the
distance between them, his big hands cupping her breasts, pressing
against the peaks of her nipples through the lace of the black bra.
He palmed her breasts for a while, then his fingers circled in
until he was tweaking and pinching her stiff little nubs, sending
shivers down her body. He undid the front clasp of her bra and
hungrily mouthed her nipples, sucking on them, softly at first,
then tugging on them with his teeth.

The combination of pleasure and pain turned
her legs to rubber and made her moan. She sagged against him, but
he didn’t stop the torture until she pushed him away. She was so
wet her panties must be soaked through. My God, Vince had never
evoked such a reaction in her. He’d always been so rushed, so
rough. How could she feel so damn good, just from a man’s mouth on
her breasts? A thrill ran through her as she thought about what
Enrico’s mouth could do lower on her body. That was something else
Vince hurried through.

As if he read her mind, Enrico dropped to his
knees in front of her and unzipped her skirt, letting it fall
around her ankles. She stepped out of it, kicking off her pumps,
and he ran his hands up her legs, his fingers skimming along the
sensitive skin of her inner thighs, his touch teasing. He grabbed
her buttocks, supporting her as his tongue and lips traced circles
across her belly, his tongue darting occasionally under the top
edge of her panties.
Lower
,
lower
, she thought,
opening her legs a little. He laughed against her skin, and spread
his large hands across her bottom, squeezing lightly, his fingers
toying with the crack of her ass through the thin satiny cloth of
her black panties.

“Oh for God’s sake,” she finally hissed.
“Will you just—”

“Do this?” he asked, slipping a finger under
the edge of her panties and stroking it up along her cleft, making
her knees buckle at the touch.

“Yes.” She breathed the word, spreading her
legs wider.

He laughed again and pushed her toward the
bed. When she reached it, she fell back, opening wide for him. He
mouthed her pussy through the fabric for a few moments, then peeled
her panties down, slipping them off her legs and kissing along her
inner thighs as he did so.

He breathed in the scent of her arousal, his
cock twitching. He loved the spicy musk of her. Blowing on the
short curling hairs of her pussy, he enjoyed how she squirmed and
panted, how she spread her legs wider for him, soundlessly begging
for his mouth. He lowered his lips to her right leg, licking a path
along her inner thigh that made her moan. When he came to her
pussy, he parted the lips so he could reach her clit, sliding his
tongue across the little nub, back and forth, delicately at first,
then rougher when she pressed up to meet him. “Don’t stop,” she
moaned. He loved her little pants, her helplessness, her greediness
for the pleasure he wanted to give her.

He reached down between his legs and palmed
himself, feeling how stiff he was through his trousers, trying to
give himself a little relief. If only he had known he was going to
end up with her tonight, he’d have taken the edge off that morning
in the shower. It was taking all his control to go slow. He didn’t
want to rush this. Not at all.

He lazily ran his tongue up and down the
length of her, dipping it inside her pussy, and when she moaned
even louder at that, he slipped first one, then two fingers in her.
“Yes, yes, fuck me with your fingers,” she gasped, raising her
hips, her hands clenching the sheets. There it was again, that
wicked, sexy word he’d never heard her say before today.
Fuck
. The rawness of her language heightened his own need.
He flicked his tongue across her clit, then settled in with firmer
strokes as her breathing sped up. He slid his fingers in and out of
her, faster now, deeper, harder, until her moans were practically
sobs. He listened to her sounds, concentrating. He wanted her to
come. Hard.

Kate bucked up with her climax, feeling like
her whole body had seized with pleasure. She had never felt such
delicious, prolonged, unmitigated bliss, had never had a release
that shuddered through the whole core of her body. She caught her
breath and collapsed back against the bed, breathing as if she’d
been running. She heard a rustling of cloth, then Enrico climbed up
onto the bed beside her. He was totally naked, pressed up against
her side, the hard length of his cock making her curious. She sat
up on her elbows and looked down.
Oh. My
. His cock matched
the rest of him.
Magnificent
.

Biting her lower lip, she touched him. He
moaned when her hand closed around him, and he thrust into the
circle of her fingers. “I cannot take much of this,” he panted. “It
has been a long time.”

She gave him a naughty smile. “Just a taste
then,” she said, and scooted down the bed so she could take him in
her mouth. She loved the velvety skin covering his cock, the way it
slid up and down over the steel beneath. She wanted to feel him
inside her mouth, wanted to please him the way he’d pleased her.
Wanted him at her mercy, as she’d just been at his.

Enrico hissed when she touched him with her
mouth, a sound somewhere between surprise and pleasure. He could
hardly believe this was happening; he’d never had a woman do that
before. He’d seen it done in videos, of course, but Toni had felt
the act was sinful; she couldn’t bring herself to do it, and he’d
felt bad for pressing her. When Fiammetta had learned of his
interest, she’d tried to use it as a bargaining chip, promising him
such a pleasure after they were married. As if that would have
changed his mind.

But now that he was experiencing this wonder,
maybe it would have, if Fiammetta had given him a preview. No, that
wasn’t true. The wonderful part wasn’t the act itself; it was the
idea that Kate cared about his enjoyment as much as he cared about
hers. Perhaps even, she enjoyed it as well. Was it possible?

Letting go of such thoughts, he surrendered
himself to pure sensation, wanting to remember every second. The
feel of Kate’s tongue was heavenly. She swirled it around the head
of his cock, then flattened it and stroked it up and down the vein
that ran in a ridge along the underside of the shaft. When she hit
the sensitive spot just under the head, he nearly came. She pulled
back for a second, then he felt her warm breath above the tip. He
looked down, and the sight of his cock disappearing between her
lips was entirely too much. He wanted her to keep going, wanted to
savor the experience, but it was proving overwhelming in his
current state. He had to have her.
Now
. If he waited, it
would be too late. He pulled out of her mouth, and she gave him a
puzzled look. “Did I do something wrong?”