"You are a beautiful woman,Vivia. Your family has disowned you. My job with you right now is to keep you safe and protected until the time comes where we can prove your innocence. If you were in good standing with your family, what would be the rules your brothers would have for me?"
I start blinking rapidly,chewing my lips. I force my hands onto my lap to study the fire. My breath comes in short, rapid gasps. "You wouldn't be allowed to touch me. If they thought that you did, they would hurt you." Vivid memories of bloodstained sand fill my mind. It wouldn't be the first time. I swallow. "He… They would…" I'm having a hard time forming a complete sentence because of the nerves that shatter my body.
I knowexactly what he's insinuating. We're alone. My brothers have disowned me and think I’m dead. Anything he does now is off the record. We both know that only he could hear the words, and he probably will. I don't know what that will mean…
He playswith the braid on my shoulder. "My job is to bring you to them safely. My job is to find the people who tried to kill us, and more importantly, Marialena. But there isn't much I can do about that here in the woods, so I'll leave that part to Orlando. Tell me this. If I were to bring you to your brothers and we were to prove your innocence, how would that change things?"
"I will be reinstatedas a Montavio sister."
"And when theyfind out you gave your virginity to the man that betrayed your family?"
I breakout in a cold sweat. I can't speak. I grip my knees so that my knuckles turn white. "I don't know what they would do," I say in a trembling voice. The truth is, I don't know exactly what they would do. But it wouldn't end well for me.
"So your onlychance at survival is easy. Your only chance is here with me."
I'm not mentallysure of what to do. I swallow hard, fruitlessly trying to calm my frayed nerves. I feel a little dizzy to have a choice before me. Or more accurately at the lack of choices before me. I want to flee and hide to escape this dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach, but before I can do anything else, he brushes his fingers over my temple in soothing circles. My eyes flutter closed. Wordlessly, he bends and kisses the bare skin at my neck.
And I knowexactly what he's doing. Excitement, and fear, and lust flood me.
I know what he's going to do, but I don't know how I am going to react. I've never been here before, and I can't forget who he is, or who I am. But there is one thing I know for a fact. If he shows up in front of my brothers, proves my innocence, and then proves that I belong to him, it will be a radically different situation than if he brings me before them guilty and no longer a virgin.
Dario hasthe choice to own me. And if he does, it will change the course of both of our lives forever.
I tryto mentally sort through the options, try to think what will happen. I try to anticipate what could happen next, but I can't. Because the next thing I know, his mouth is on my neck, his tongue is drawing circles on the sensitive skin there, and the moan he draws out of me makes me wet between my thighs.
I don't knowwhat his plan is, but right now I don't care. All I want is for him to touch me again. For him to claim me, to lose myself in this moment and forget who I am. I need this. Maybe he does, too.
His voice movesover my body like foreplay, the ring of command making my nipples stand hard at attention and a growing need throb between my legs.
"You're such a pretty girl,"he whispers in a silky voice. "That's a girl. Close your eyes now. I love the way you look when you're at rest."
When he beginsto praise me, my body sings as if he's playing me like an instrument. "You're such a beautiful girl. Lie still so I can keep drinking you in with my eyes. I hated having to take you as my prisoner." He stops talking. His voice sounds amused. I keep my eyes closed obediently, as he smooths over the apple of my cheek. "No, that's a lie. I loved being in close proximity to you. What I didn't like was that you were with another man."
His voice has changed,no longer soothing but now more corrective. "I should punish you for that. Shouldn’t I?"
My heart begins to race.I know this is foreplay, that he's trying to turn me on, but I couldn't stop myself now for all the money in the world.
My eyes flutteropen and I look at him. The mystery in his gaze begins to heat me. There's a sharp, almost sassy nature, a dark insolence, he brings out in me. He doesn't play by anyone's rules but his. And I'm drawn to the compelling nature of his. I can't help it. There's something in those depths that says "you're safe with me. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you." And scarier still, "there's nothing I wouldn't do to you."
There'sa little heat in his eyes that makes my already swimming body silently beg for more. I want him to do all kinds of wicked things to me, and that look in his eyes promises exactly that. His gaze falls to my neck, and his eyes rove over me as he lazily appraises me. I can't imagine I look that good, but he looks as if he's taking in a masterpiece.
My heart raceswhen he reaches down and holds me, his arms coming around my back and shoulders to cradle me against his legs. I try to throttle the dizzying arousal that races through my veins, my limbs, my nerves, but I can't. He radiates something that draws me to him in a way that’s out of my control.
It's everything about him.The smoldering flame in his eyes, the possessive sound of his voice, the way he touches me.
"That's my girl,”he says. If he touches me right now, one stroke of his fingers between my legs would make me soar into nothingness. I'm completely helpless when he begins to praise me, and I couldn't stop my growing need with all the reserves in the world. "That's my girl," he says while he drags his thumb down my collarbone and circles the tender skin right above my breast. "Damn, woman." I expect him to finish the sentence, but it seems like that's all he has to say. "Say my name," he commands.
I swallowand look up at him. He's asked me this before. He loves when I say his name. I wonder why.
Butterflies eruptin my stomach at the eager look in his eyes. "Dario," I whisper.
"That's it lovely.I love it when you call my name. You're such a good girl."
Good girl,good girl, the words are like fire in my veins, igniting my desire so strongly I can't stop myself. "Come to bed with me, love. And I'll make you forget everything."
My eyes flutter closed when he reaches down and lifts me into his arms, carrying me to the bedroom.
He slides me unceremoniously to the floor.