Chapter Seven
Alexa stabbed the raw chicken smack-dab in its breast.
“You know it’s already dead, right?” Gabriel asked. He was standing next to her in the kitchen getting ready to break down a whole chicken of his own.
She looked over and gave him her best death-ray glare. He reached over and pulled the knife out of the chicken. “I’ll just take this for now.”
The ridiculousness of the moment finally got to her, and she released her smile. Relief crossed Gabriel’s face. However, he still kept her knife in his hand.
“You can give it back to me. I promise I won’t use it to hurt any more poultry dishes.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about the poultry. I’m just worried about your brother or your lawyer.”
She stilled. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you were perfectly fine before. But then I saw you walk into the dining room and talk to them for a bit, and when you came back here you started assaulting the chickens. I figured one of them must have said something to piss you off.”
Gabriel really was a quick learner.
Brandon had asked her to come out to the dining room when she had a chance because he wanted her to look at some artist renderings for the new Miami restaurant. She hadn’t expected to see Dante there.
It had been two days since he made her come in his office.
Part of her had been worried he’d call or text asking to see her. As it turned out, she had nothing to worry about. He hadn’t bothered.
In fact, he’d barely acknowledged her presence the entire time she’d sat with them looking over the drawings. He’d been preoccupied with his phone, then his laptop and then his phone again. She couldn’t believe it. Obviously, she hadn’t expected him to kiss or touch her. But he could’ve done something or said something to let her know that he hadn’t forgotten he’d had his tongue inside her barely forty-eight hours ago.
And it irritated her that she was so irritated by it.
So she’d muttered something about needing to cut up more chickens and stalked back to the kitchen.
“I promise they’re safe,” she finally told Gabriel. Her assistant looked at her with raised eyebrows but grudgingly gave her back the knife.
Annoyed or not, she had a lot of work to do, and she couldn’t do it if she was thinking about Dante. So she took a deep breath and went back to breaking down the chicken with less angry cutting.
A few hours later, the irritation had fully subsided and was replaced with exhaustion. It had been another busy night, and she’d busted her ass to get out of the restaurant at a decent hour. She made it home by midnight.
As soon as she walked through her front door, her cell phone dinged with a text.
It was Dante.
I’m coming over.
She threw her purse on her kitchen counter and then texted him back.
I’m not home yet.
The message came back quickly.
Yes, you are.
Alexa paused before replying. How did he know that?
Did you follow me or something?
A few seconds passed before his response came in.
Or something.
Go back to your emails, Dante. I’m tired.
Let me in and you won’t be tired for long.
No.
Wait. Are you mad at me?
She didn’t answer. The irritation from before came storming back, and she threw her phone on the couch. There was no way she going to justify that ridiculous question with a reply. But just as she was about to walk up the stairs to her bedroom, a pounding on the front door made her stop in her tracks.
“I know you’re in there, Alexa,” Dante said, his voice loud but muffled by the door.
She debated going upstairs and leaving him outside, knocking on the door all night. But then she thought of her neighbors and figured they probably wouldn’t appreciate the ruckus. And no way did she want to risk any of them calling the police. So she took a deep breath and headed back to unlock the front door.
“What the hell do you think—”
The rest of her sentence was swallowed up by Dante’s mouth. She instinctively kissed him back, then remembered that she was pissed and pushed him off her.
“I’m not in the mood to play games, Alexa,” he rasped and tried to kiss her again.
“Seems to me like you’re the one playing them, Dante. Ignoring me won’t get you in my bed any faster.”
He stopped and finally looked into her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Tonight at the restaurant. I get that Brandon doesn’t need to know what we’re doing, but even before this thing, you at least talked to me in front of him.”
“Jesus, Alexa. I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I was trying not to put my hands all over you. It’s been a long two days and when I saw you…well, let’s just say that napkin was covering more than just my lap. I’m sorry if it seemed like I didn’t care you were there. Because I did. Very much so.”
It did something to her to know he’d been thinking of her. “That’s good to know.”
Had she just really admitted that?
“Come here, Alexa,” he said.
Her mind told her body not to obey. She was still kind of irritated. How dare he think he could show up on her doorstep in the middle of the night and expect her to be ready to spread her legs when he said so? It took less than a minute for her feet to betray her. Once she was closer, her arms—the traitors—curled around his neck. Finally her mouth—which never had any real willpower anyway—gave in to his kiss.
She pulled away after a few seconds to look him in the eyes. “This doesn’t change anything. We’re still keeping things casual.”
“Of course. This is me being casual,” he whispered as his hands moved behind her and fisted her hair. He tugged down hard, and she gasped. Desire pooled between her legs as he licked her neck, just under left ear, and then lavished kisses down to her collarbone.
“What I’m saying…is that you just can’t…God…show up and…oh, my…think I’m going to have…yes, like that…sex with you.”
“I won’t think that. At all.” His words might have sounded more convincing if he wasn’t pulling her T-shirt off.
“I just want to be clear!” She didn’t mean to yell, but he’d yanked down her bra and latched onto one engorged nipple.
He stopped sucking only long enough to ask, “We’re clear, okay? Now, do you want to keep talking or do you want to get to fucking?”
If he expected her to answer, he wasn’t very patient about it. Dante cupped her ass and hoisted her up his body. She curled her legs around his waist, purposefully grinding herself against the hardness already forming underneath his pants. Their lips slammed together, and nothing else mattered more than feeling his naked body against hers. She pulled at his shirt like a crazy woman while he walked them both to her stairs.
“God, Alexa. I don’t think I’m going to last another minute,” he groaned, digging his fingers into her ass.
She felt the same way. He flipped a switch every time he touched her, and it drove her absolutely wild with desire. She licked his tongue one more time before pulling away. “Then put me down.”
He nodded in understanding and let her gently slide off his body until her feet touched the floor. With an intense gaze that heated her blood, he watched as she slowly unhooked her bra. No more words were needed. Dante pulled his own shirt off and then went to work on his belt and pants, never once breaking eye contact. Her own fingers trembled in anticipation when she unbuckled her capri jeans and then hastily shimmied out of them and her panties.
Finally, they stood before each other at the bottom of her stairs. Naked. Exposed. Instinct made her want to cover herself with her hands, but she knew he wouldn’t let her. So she squared her shoulders and readied herself for whatever came next.
He stroked his cock as his eyes raked over her body. Pulses of desire radiated straight to her clit, and she licked her lips. Although she’d only had the opportunity to see his dick the other night, she had already decided it was spectacular. It was just the right proportion for his body. Not too large, not too small. Her pussy clenched on its own at the memory of being filled by it.
She was so turned on that she worried she’d come on the spot. Since when did Dante become the man who could give her an orgasm just by looking at her?
Sensing her growing impatience, he tore open the condom packet he’d been holding in one hand. He’d fished it out of a pocket after dropping his pants and boxer briefs. After sheathing himself, he walked a few steps to one of the pillars in her foyer and commanded, “Get over here, now.”
She went to him like an obedient girl and her reward was a deep, openmouthed kiss. He bent his stance just long enough to hook his arm under her right knee and then straightened back up. It spread her wide enough for him to thrust inside, and she grabbed the edge of the pillar for balance.
“Yes,” she moaned as he pumped furiously in and out. It was a sweet and sinful fullness—it made her feel so satisfied and so desperate all at that same time. Why had she denied herself such pleasure for so long?
“See what you do to me? I can’t stop. I won’t stop,” he murmured against her neck.
She didn’t want him to. Not when she was on the verge of unraveling.
“I need…” she moaned.
“You need what?”
“I need to come now.”
“Look at me, Alexa.”
Through half-closed eyes, she tried to focus on his determined jaw and dark eyes.
“Now tell me again,” he ordered after one hard thrust.
“Make me come,” she begged. Her words and his torrid gaze triggered a pulsing deep in her core. So when he slid one finger between them and found her clit, it only took seconds before she screamed his name and surrendered to the orgasm.
“My turn,” he roared and pumped one more time until his own tremors vibrated against her body.
When they had both stilled, he released her leg and then wrapped her in his arms. His skin was hot and slick, but she didn’t mind. She let herself enjoy being held so intimately. Their ragged breaths eventually slowed, and their heartbeats returned to normal. Fingers from one hand combed through her hair, while another hand drifted to her back, making lazy circles just above her ass.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into his chest.
“For what?”
“For being upset that you were giving me space just like I asked you to. I don’t mean to be so confusing.”
“Stop. If anything, I didn’t help the situation. You asked me to be direct with you about what I want. And the truth was, I wanted to be with you as soon as you walked out my office door that day. But I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t in control of this.”
The pounding of her heart sped up at his frankness. Not from fear. But she wasn’t exactly sure where it was coming from.
His fingers trailed over the cleft of her ass, and the pounding intensified. And she knew exactly where it was coming from.
He’d been inside her less than five minutes ago, and she was already craving him again. “Keep doing that and I’m going to be the one losing control,” she said and heard the desire in her own voice.
“That’s kind of the point,” he countered.
He moved his hand underneath her chin and lifted it up so he could meet her lips. They kissed long and languidly, enjoying the taste of each other.
“Come upstairs,” she said when they finally broke free.
Dante smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”