Page 39 of Savage Proposal

She nodded, sniffling slightly. I brought my hand down for the last two spanks, one right after the other, and Isabella let outa cry that was anything but pained. Before she had a chance to gather herself, I reached between her thighs and pulled her panties to the side.

“Drenched,” I said, clicking my tongue against my teeth. She whined softly, stuck somewhere between shame and aroused, and it was intoxicating. “So much worry and confusion, but you see what happens when you listen to me?” I slipped a finger inside of her, smirking when she moaned and pressed her face into her folded arms.

I played with her, dipping my finger into her pussy, teasing at her clit, until she was shaking. “Please,” she sniffled, still hiding her face.

“Please what,dolcezza?” Another pitiful whine, and I almost gave in…but I wanted her to ask for it. “Tell me what you want.”

Isabella trembled under my hands. “Please make me come?” she pleaded.

I fucked my fingers into her with purpose, not teasing anymore, and she moaned louder now. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yes. Oh,God, yes.”

“You’re so close, aren’t you?” I circled her clit with my thumb, and Isabella cried out. “Your body wants it so badly,dolcezza. Your pussy’s practically weeping for it.”

She was murmuring something that I couldn’t quite hear, but I didn’t pause to ask her to repeat herself. Her muscles were clenching down on my fingers; my palm was slick from her. She was so close; she just needed a little push to get her over the edge.

I brought my free hand down her back and between her ass cheeks. Isabella gasped when I touched her furled rim. I didn’t press inside, not yet, but just that soft pressure was enough. She came hard with a high-pitched cry.

“There you go,” I murmured, working her through it. When she went lax, I pulled away from her. “I’m going to help you up, all right?” Isabella nodded, quiet now, and I helped her to stand. Her hazel eyes were hazy and faraway. I stood and, cupping her chin, I pressed my lips to hers, chaste now. “Let’s go to bed.” Isabella nodded, docile and so sweet that I had to kiss her again.

My heart squeezed in my chest as I looked at her, and I shoved the budding emotion as far away from me as possible. I was going to take care of Isabella, after I’d put her in such a fragile state, but I didn’t have feelings.

I refused to have feelings.

CHAPTER 24

Isabella

“Ican help you with dinner tonight,mia cognata,” Gia simpered to Amalia over breakfast. She had been staying at the estate for three days now, and somehow, I had resisted the urge to smack the ever-living shit out of her.

Just barely.

“I could use some help making the salad,” Amalia said with a smile that I could tell was fake.

But Gia beamed. “Of course! I make an amazing salad dressing; you all will love it.”

I seriously doubted it. From what I had learned in the past several weeks was that Lorenzo was a creature of habit, especially when it came to food. He liked pattern and routine, and he had his favorite meals that Amalia rotated just enough so that no one else got bored.

I must have made some kind of sound because Gia whipped her head around to look at me. “I don’t see you offering to help with anything,” she spat at me.

I pasted on a smile too big to be anything but false. “Amalia wouldn’t want my help,” I said. “Beyond making a decent cup of coffee, I am absolutely useless in the kitchen.”

Gia rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised that you can’t cook?” She sighed and fluffed at her perfectly curled hair. Her makeup, too, was artfully applied. It was half past seven in the morning. When did she get up this morning? “Is there anything that youcando?” She looked down her nose at me.

But did he pickyoutosleep in his bed last night?I had woken up in Lorenzo’s bed this morning with him curved around me, and I still didn’t know what to make of it. In the warm haze of the moment, I had rolled over, eager to get my hands on him. There hadn’t been time, but Lorenzo had looked at me softly and called medolcezza, and despite everything that I had been through, what he’d put me through, I had felt so warm.

But now, staring down Gia over my eggs, I felt cold and off-kilter. The more I slept in Lorenzo’s bed, the more often I ended up in his arms, the more that feeling settled into the core of my being.

Having Gia in the house only made that feeling worse. Her little digs were getting to me, as much as I was loath to admit it, and as much as Lorenzo didn’t respond to her flirting, he didn’tstopit either.

“Gia,” Amalia scolded gently. “There’s no reason to be rude.”

She blinked, as if she were shocked. “Who’s being rude? That was a genuine question: what is she doing here?”

“I’m paying off a debt,” I said. I knew that she had been told that much, and for whatever reason, that explanation seemed to piss her off even more.

“Lorenzo brought you into his home to do that?” She scoffed. “The Vitali family has a dozen facilities where he could have placed you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “What, exactly, are you doing for Lorenzo? Because it stops thesecondhe marries me.”

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