VITTORIO'S MISTRESS (The Vittorio Series) (8 page)

Paige pushed the door open and walked into the empty house.
 
Although she didn’t begrudge her parents the weekends Daniella spent with them once a month, she hated how quiet and lonely the place seemed without her vivacious daughter.
 
A quick glance at the clock told her it was well past nine o’clock.
 
She’d stayed at her parent’s house much longer than she should have.
 
Again.
 
 
The fact that Daniella had no reservations about being left behind was comforting but it didn’t completely eliminate the separation anxiety Paige suffered from the minute she got into her car and drove away.

She’d just finished taking a shower and was towel drying her hair when she heard the doorbell ring.
 
Assuming it was
Chantel
stopping by to borrow a dress or skirt as she often did before going out to party with her other friends, Paige pulled on her robe and hurried down the stairs.
 
Out of habit she flipped the switch on the porch light then put her eye up to the peek
hole
in the door but the bulb must have blown because she couldn’t see anything but dark shadows.
 

“
Chantel
?”
 
She called through the door.

“No,” a male voice responded from the other side, “but rumor has it we look a lot alike.”

Paige laughed as she opened the door to
Chantel’s
twin brother.
 
“What a nasty rumor,” she teased, “everyone knows you’re much prettier than
Chantel
.”

Marc stepped inside and gave her a lopsided grin.
 
“Aw shucks ma’am, you’re making me blush.”

“You should be blushing…with shame, that is.
 
She conned you into coming over here to beg for my red heels again, didn’t
she
?”

“Hell no,” his grin broadened, “those spiky heels are for me, the matching belt and lacy shawl are for
Chantel
.”

Paige crossed her arms.
 
“If you weren’t so damn cute I’d send you back without them.”

“
Which is why she sent me to fetch them for her.
”

“All right, I’ll run up and get them but tell that sister of yours that I’d better not find one scuff mark on my shoes or I’ll take it out of her hide.”

“Got it,” Marc saluted her.
 
“Where’s the rodent, is she in bed already?”

“She’s spending the weekend with my parents.”

“So why aren’t you tripping the light fantastic with us tonight?”

“Because I like to wallow in my loneliness the first night Daniella is away,” she told him as she headed for the stairs.
 
“I might be up for it tomorrow night if you all go out again.”
 
She returned a few minutes later with a small cloth bag containing all the items
Chantel
requested.
 
“I put the pair of earrings and bracelet in there she usually scams from me when she borrows the shoes so you won’t have to make a second trip.”

“You’re the best, Pager.”

Paige handed him the bag along with a withering glare.
 
“When are you going to stop calling me that awful nickname?”

“Never,” he laughed.
 
“I get too much pleasure out of annoying my baby sister.”

“I’m not your sister, though I wish I was sometimes so I’d have the same privilege
Chantel
has.”

“What’s that, bossing me around?”

“No, giving you a good hard kick in the rear end when you annoy me.”

Marc opened the door and Paige followed him out onto the porch.
 
“You want me to change that bulb before I go?”

“I’ll take care of it in the morning.”

He leaned down and dropped a brotherly kiss on her cheek.
 
“Don’t forget we have a date tomorrow night.”

Paige stood on the porch until he’d gotten his car and backed out of the driveway then waved good-bye, though she wasn’t sure he could even see her since she’d pulled the door closed behind her out of habit, leaving her in total darkness.
 
She turned to go inside when a soft rustling in one corner of the porch sent a mild jolt of fear rippling through her.
 
It’s just a squirrel she told herself then let out a startled squeak when one very large shadow separated itself from the others and moved towards her.

“Is that
him
,” a familiar male voice growled.

“Holy hell,” Paige clutched the label of her robe, “you scared me half to death.”

Dante towered over her, consumed with jealousy.
 
“Is that the man you have been seeing, the one you were considering sleeping with?”

“That’s none of your business,” she replied stiffly.
 
“What are you doing lurking around on my porch anyway?”

“I was
not
lurking,” he bit out.
 
“I came to see you and noticed the car in the driveway so I decided to wait out here until your
guest
left.”

“You have no right to interfere with my life,” she snapped.
 
“What if I’d invited him to spend the night?
 
Would you have stayed out here until morning or were you planning on breaking down my door and challenging him to a duel?”

“Do not push me,
cara
,” his deep voice vibrated with anger, “I am dangerously close to carrying you inside and proving just who it is you belong to.”

Paige drew in an indignant breath.
 
“I don’t
belong
to you, Dante.”

“Not yet, but you will soon.”

“Are you going to take me against my will then,” she hissed, “because that’s the only way you’ll get me to
have
sex with you again.”

Dante laughed softly.
 
“Do you honestly believe I would have to force you,
mio
bello
?”
 
He moved closer, laughing again when Paige backed away from him because it only enticed him to continue advancing on her until she was pinned between the wall and his body.
 
“Tell me again,” he whispered against her lips.
 
“Tell me how I shall have to take you against your will.”

Paige let out a helpless whimper when his mouth crushed down on hers.
 
Heat surged through her, so intense that it felt like her whole body was going up in flames.
 
She grappled with her resolve to resist him for all of two seconds before anchoring her arms around his neck and surrendering to the passion Dante ignited in her.
 
He was incredibly aroused; she could feel his throbbing erection through the thin silk material of her robe as he ground his hips into her and she moaned in response.

Dante slipped his hand beneath her robe and found the moist spot between her thighs.
 
“Come for me,” he said gruffly, then smiled with deep satisfaction when Paige’s body began to convulse.

She had no will of her own, no defense against the waves of pleasure that were turning her into a quivering mass of flesh.
 
Paige buried her face in his neck and held on for dear life as his skillful fingers triggered one explosive climax after another until he’d wrung every last ounce of moisture from her body.
 
At least that’s what Paige thought, but she hadn’t considered what having him inside of her would do.

Vaguely her mind registered that his hands had moved to her bottom and he was lifting her up, spreading her legs so that she could wrap them around his hips.
 
But even then she didn’t realize he’d unzipped his jeans and shoved them down until she felt his probing heat against her opening.
 

Dante thrust into her, hard and deep, filling her so completely she cried out from the sheer pleasure of it.
 
Over and over
he
impaled her, each penetrating stroke taking her higher and higher until she exploded, her mind and body shattering into a million pieces as she slowly tumbled back to earth.

Dante’s own climax was as powerful as hers, his heavy thrusts ending in one long shudder as Paige’s inner muscles clenched around him and bathed his rigid flesh in her liquid heat.
 
He held himself inside her for several minutes as he attempted to drag air into his lungs and willed the pounding of his heart to slow down.

He hadn’t meant for this happen, though he’d be lying if he said he regretted it.
 
Maybe now that he’d taken the edge off the God awful ache he always carried around inside for her, he’d be able to control himself while he followed through with his plan.

Dante let her legs slide slowly to the ground.
 
When he was certain she could stand on her own, he yanked his jeans up and zipped the fly then gently pulled her robe back over her nakedness and cinched the silk tie around her slender waist.
 
Her breathing had evened out, and though he couldn’t see anything but the faint outline of her face, Dante knew she was still in a bit of a daze.
 

He wanted to take her back in his arms and kiss her but not in the same fierce manner he’d delivered them only moments ago.
 
He wanted to show Paige the tender side of love making with kisses that were soft and giving, not rough and demanding.
 
But he couldn’t afford to show any weakness, not until he had her where he wanted her.
 
It took nerves of steel to keep the gentleness from his voice but somehow he managed to sound cold and indifferent when he finally spoke.

“We need to talk, but tomorrow will be soon enough.”
 

Dante crossed the porch to the place he’d been standing in when Paige came outside and retrieved the manila envelope he’d left sitting on one of the wicker chairs.
 
It hadn’t taken him more than few seconds to get the envelope and turn back around but in that short period of time Paige had managed to get to the door and was trying to scramble through it before he could get to her.
 
In three long strides he was at the door and just barely had time to stop it from closing by heaving his shoulder against the wood.
 

Dante didn’t realize how hard he’d shoved back or maybe in her shaken state, Paige simply didn’t have the strength she normally would have.
 
To his immense horror, the door struck her hard enough to send her flying back several feet where she hit the foyer wall with a loud thud before slithering to the floor.
 
Dante’s heart leapt to his throat as he rushed across the small entranceway and scooped her up in his arms.

Paige pummeled her balled up fists against his chest, for all the good it did.
 
“Put me down,” she cried, “haven’t you done enough damage for one night?”

Dante kept a firm grip despite her flailing arms and legs.
 
“
Dio
, I did not mean to hurt you!”
 
He hugged her to him, pressing his cheek to hers.
 
“Forgive me,” he murmured, “I swear I never meant for any of this to happen.
 
I only came to talk to you, but when I saw you with that man…dressed only in a robe and making arrangements for a date, I wanted to rip his head off.”

All the anger suddenly went out of her.
 
“You had no right to be jealous,” Paige said in a subdued tone, “and you had no right to do what you did to me because of it.”

“You did not fight me,” he reminded her.
 
“Whether you admit it to yourself or not, you wanted me as much as I wanted you.”

“Maybe I did,” she replied dully, “but it can never happen again.
 
Please…put me down.
 
I want you to go now and I don’t want to see you ever again.”

Dante’s chest squeezed.
 
Her words hurt, her emotional withdrawal hurt, finding her with another man hurt.
 
He hated it that she still had the power to do this to him in spite of the wall he’d so carefully built around his heart.
 
He let her feet drop to the floor but kept her locked in his arms.
 
Her hair was a tangled mess, her cheeks flushed, and her lips were swollen from the furious way he’d been kissing her.