Page 58 of Savage Proposal

When I was able to breathe again, I croaked out, “Thank you,” before I buried my face against him. A sob worked its way out of my throat, and it was like the floodgates had opened. My tears soaked his T-shirt.

“You’re safe here,dolcezza,” he said, cupping the back of my neck, holding me tighter. “I would never let anything like that happen to you again.”

“I knew,” I choked out.

His lips pressed to the top of my head. “Hmm?”

“I knew that he didn’t love me,” I said. “He’s never been a good father, but—” More tears, and shame was starting to mix into the devastating void that was threatening to swallow me whole. “How could he do that to me?”

Lorenzo was quiet for a moment. “I could make him pay,dolcezza,” he said.

I shook my head. “No.”

He tipped my head back so that I was forced to look up at him. His eyes were intense on mine. “Give me one good goddamn reason.”

“Because you don’t know for sure, and I don’t want you to find out.”

Lorenzo wanted to argue, I could see it all over his face, but instead of doing that, he leaned down and kissed me. It wasn’t the kind of kiss that led anywhere, just warm and solid, and I hummed against his mouth.

I still couldn’t figure out why being in Lorenzo’s arms made me feel so good. The man had kidnapped me and threatened me; hell, he’d nearly killed me. Yet, here I was in his arms, and I felt safe. Something had to be wrong with me…but I wasn’t sure I cared anymore.

When he pulled back, I reached up and reeled him back down, kissing him again. This time, itwashungry. I wound my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, holding him against me. Lorenzo was momentarily surprised, but then he tightened his grip on me, and he took control of the kiss, licking his way into my mouth.

He pressed me down onto the mattress so that his big body was covering mine. “Please,” I murmured into the kiss. Need speared through me, and I clung to him.

Lorenzo pushed me back enough to peel me out of my clothes, throwing them over his shoulder as he went. His lips and tongue skated over my skin; his fingers plucked at my nipples, giving me goose bumps. He kept his touch gentle; it was the softest that he had ever been with me, and it made me shiver.

He kissed his way down the scars on my side, reverently, and my eyes began to burn. I sucked in a breath and weaved my fingers into his hair. “No one else will ever hurt you again,” he vowed, sealing his words with his mouth against my skin, and tears slipped down my cheeks.

“Lorenzo,” I pleaded. I had never felt so needy before in my life.

He hushed me and slipped lower between my thighs. I stared up at the ceiling, wetness tracking down my face, as he held me open for his gaze. “So beautiful,” he said, more to himself than to me, and I felt a littlegush. Lorenzo chuckled. “You’re sopping wet, and I haven’t even touched you yet.” I whimpered, both embarrassed and turned on by his words, and I covered my face with my hands. Lorenzo grabbed ahold of my wrists and pulled. “Look at me,” he said.

I shook my head. “I can’t.”

“Do it,” he insisted. “Watch me.” I forced myself to look down the length of my body and meet his eyes. He grinned. “I’m going to make you feel good.”

That was what I needed, more than anything. I nodded. “Please.”

I watched as he lowered his face to my pussy, and I moaned, forcing myself not to look away as he ran his tongue over my clit. My hips bucked into the touch, and Lorenzo’s big hands pinned me so that all I could do was lie there and take his toying with me.

Everything low in my gut grew tight, and I shivered in Lorenzo’s grip. His tongue dipped down and pressed inside, just enough to bow my spine with the sensation. “Keep watching,dolcezza,” he commanded softly.

I tried. I really did. But it was impossible to keep my eyes on the man between my thighs when he was driving me out of my mind. “Lorenzo!” I needed him to speed up, to get rough,somethingto push me over the edge.

But he remained gentle. Sweet in a way that he had never been with me. “You’re so close,” he murmured, coaxing. My pussy clenched around nothing, and Lorenzo chuckled, the vibrationmaking me groan. “You need a little something inside, huh?” One hand slid from my hip and he pressed his thumb into me.

“Oh!” I groaned. It was exactly what I needed. I went from dangling on the edge of an orgasm to soaring over it. Lorenzo continued to fuck into me with his thumb, extending the pleasure that coursed through me.

Finally, the feelings ebbed, and I melted back into the mattress. Lorenzo crawled back up and pulled me into his arms, tucking me in against his chest. I wanted to reach down, touch him, but his comfort had a drugging effect. “Thank you,” I murmured against him.

“Don’t thank me for that,” Lorenzo said with a scoff. “Thank me when I figure out who attacked you, and I bring you their heads.”

A part of me was sickened at the idea, but a small, much darker part of me, wanted him to do exactly what he said. I decided that I wanted to know, for absolute certain, that they couldn’t hurt anyone else. That I didn’t have to fear being alone ever again.

I kissed Lorenzo’s chest. “Okay,” I said, unsure of what else to say.

CHAPTER 36

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