“Come home with me,” he repeated, his voice low and gruff. His warm, minty breath floated across the side of my neck and a tingle shot down my back. Images from two nights ago banged around in my head like an invitation to sin rather than a warning.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you want to.”
“You’re a little too cocky for your own good.”
Butterflies exploded inside of my stomach, and I reeled them in as quickly as possible. Kon was a lot of things. He was my enemy. He was my ally. A couple of nights ago, he was my lover, but he could never be my future. I promised my father I’d consider marrying Nico. I promised Nico I would marry him in spite of knowing deep in my bones I’d never be happy.
It didn’t matter, though. I was my father’s daughter, a mafia princess, bred to obey my family and fulfill their wishes. As much as I willed it, an alternative future wasn’t available to me. And Kon…well, we could never be anything except star-crossed lovers unless I was willing to walk away from my family, and I wasn’t. They were my foundation, my life. It didn’t matter anyway. Kon had told me more than once he didn’t want a future with me.
“Just come back to my place for a little bit and we can talk and have a drink.” He ran his hand through his already disheveled hair and a quiet self-deprecating laugh escaped his mouth. “Look, Carmela, we only have a month to get whatever this is out of our system. I can’t explain it. I know you feel it too. I can tell by the way you look at me, how you respond when I touch you. The way I see it, we can either ignore this or see where this takes us. I’d prefer the latter, but it’s up to you. I won’t push you.”
His hands skimmed the sides of my waist, barely touching the silky fabric of my dress, and like magic, my body came to life.
Crackle. Sizzle. Pop.
He pressed his lips against my neck and inhaled. They were warm, smooth, and unrelenting. My hips arched without permission, seeking more contact. More friction.
Kon was right. I did feel drawn to him. He occupied more of my thoughts than I’d ever confess out loud, and I couldn’t motivate my conscience to object. My need for him debilitated my common sense. Holy shit, I was going to do this even knowing it was the absolute last thing I should be doing five seconds after agreeing to marry Nico.
“Okay,” I whispered, tilting toward him, dizzy with his nearness. Dizzy with possibilities. Dizzy with the idea of pressing the pause button on my future and embracing the present. I wanted to be like any other woman, seeking solace in a warm body for a night without complications or expectations. “Promise me you’ll drop me off at my car before midnight. I don’t want my mom to worry about me.”
His lips trailed up the column of my throat, and all I could think was that I had been seduced by the devil.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Konstantin
The entire drive to my place was a form of medieval torture. The way Carmela’s nipples pebbled against the silky material of her dress tempted me to the point of distraction. More than once I forcibly trained my eyes on the road in front of me so we didn’t end up wrapped around a stop sign and kill a half-dozen pedestrians in the process. Then the way she licked her lips like she wanted to tackle me and have her way with me. Fuck, I couldn’t go there.
The ride on the elevator was another exercise in control. I studied the lit panel, counting the floors in my head instead of glancing at her because one glimpse was all it would take for me to rip her little dress over her head. While elevator sex may sound enticing on any other day, I thought it might send her running in the opposite direction.
The minute we crossed the threshold of my apartment, all bets were off. I flipped the lock and flattened Carmela against the door. Her breath rushed out of her lungs and the picture on the wall rattled. The steady beep of my alarm chimed. Punching in the code with one hand, I pinned her arms above her head with the other, taking my time to drink in the sight in front of me.
Her pupils nearly eclipsed her golden irises. Her chest rose and fell like she’d run up the ten flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. Her nearly black hair curled around her shoulders, and the kicker was, she had no clue how sexy she was.
My mouth crashed against hers, our tongues lashing like weapons. The possessive side of me I didn’t know existed until I saw Nico kiss her raged with the need to wipe any trace of him away. My blood roared through my ears, and all I could think about was ripping Nico’s lips from his smug face.
Gasping, she broke our connection, her fingernails clawing into the tops of my shoulders. My lips traced the graceful arch of her neck, biting her right beneath her ear and sucking on the smooth skin until I left a mark.