I rip my mouth away, unable to bear the tenderness. Tenderness is for men who haven't sold their souls for revenge. Men who deserve second chances.

"Tonio," she whispers, and the nickname slices through my defenses, making my cock pulse against the confines of my zipper. No one else calls me that anymore. No one else would dare.

I can't take it. I need her closer, need to feel every inch of her against me, need to bury myself so deep inside her that neither of us knows where I end and she begins. With a growl that sounds more beast than man, I lift her, hands gripping her ass as she instinctively wraps those dancer's legs around my waist.

The heat of her core pressing against my straining cock nearly undoes me. I stagger to the desk, setting her on the edge with a ragged breath that sounds like it's being torn from my lungs.

Leaning in, I nuzzle the delicate shell of her ear, my stubble rasping against her skin. "You want this," I whisper, my voice a graveled rumble that vibrates through both our bodies. "But do you have any fucking idea how much I crave you? How desperate I am to hear all those sweet, filthy sounds spilling from your lips as I take you apart?"

I set the cream on the desk and drop to my knees, my hands sliding up her thighs, bunching the fabric of her dress as I go. Her skin is silk beneath my callused fingers, a contrast that makes my cock throb painfully. The first brush of my touch against her inner thighs is feather-light, a barely-there tease that has her trembling.

But then I dig in, gripping her flesh hard enough to leave imprints of my fingers as I yank her panties down, tearing the flimsy fabric in my haste. She gasps—a sharp, startled soundthat goes straight to my cock—and I look up to find her pupils blown wide with desire, her chest heaving.

"Fucking perfect," I breathe, my eyes drinking in the sight of her bare and dripping for me. She's the most exquisite thing I've ever seen, and the knowledge that she's mine, that she's surrendering to me so completely despite everything between us—it's almost too much to bear.

With reverence that borders on worship, I settle her legs over my shoulders, the heels of her shoes digging into my back as I lean in, inhaling the heady scent of her arousal. My mouth waters with the primal need to taste her, to feast on her until she's shaking and begging for mercy.

I don't hesitate. I bury my face between her thighs, my tongue delving into her slick heat, lapping at her like a man starved. The taste of her explodes on my tongue—musky and sweet and so uniquely Isabella—and I groan against her flesh, the vibration making her jerk against my mouth.

"Oh god, Tonio!" she cries out, her back arching as her fingers tangle in my hair, nails scraping my scalp with just the right amount of pain. Her thighs tighten around my head, keeping me exactly where she needs me, and I've never been more grateful to be trapped.

"You're everything, Bella," I rasp against her sensitive flesh, the words pouring out unbidden. "My past, my present, and fuck, I want you to be my future. You're my sins and my salvation, my strength and my weakness. My darkest desire and my purest one, too."

I punctuate each declaration with a precise flick of my tongue against her clit, alternating between featherlight strokes and hard pressure until she's writhing beneath me, her hips bucking frantically against my mouth. I slide two fingers deep inside her, curling upward to find that spot that makes her see stars, and thesound she makes—half sob, half moan—is the sweetest fucking music I've ever heard.

Feeling her close, I grab the tube of cream again and coat my fingers generously. I replace my tongue with my thumb, circling her clit with just enough pressure as I slide first one, then two fingers inside her tight heat, stretching her, preparing her for what's to come.

Her body welcomes me, muscles fluttering around my fingers as I pump in and out with deliberate patience. Despite the need burning through me, I refuse to rush this. When I take her, it will be with the care her body deserves.

She doesn't tense. Instead, she lifts her hips, staring at me with parted lips and glazed eyes. I lick my lips slowly, savoring the taste of her as I continue working her with my fingers.

"I need you," she murmurs, her voice husky with desperate need. "All of you. Now, Tonio."

There is nothing gentle about the way I stand, yanking my belt open and freeing my cock in one rough motion. It springs free, hard as steel and weeping for her, pulsing with each thundering beat of my heart. I swear it has its own gravitational pull toward her, like it knows she's the only one who can grant it relief.

Her eyes drop to my length and it twitches under her heated gaze, another bead of precum forming at the tip. Anticipation crackles between us like lightning before the strike. I drink in the sight of her—hair wild from my fingers, lips swollen from my kisses, thighs glistening with her arousal and my saliva. Christ, she's never looked more beautiful, more tempting. More mine.

"You want this inside you, Bella?" I rasp, my voice strained with the effort of holding back. "Want me to fill you up, make you forget every fucking thing except my name?"

She nods frantically, a needy whimper escaping her kiss-bruised lips. That's all the invitation I need. I grip her hips hard enough to bruise, positioning myself at her entrance. The headof my cock nudges her, feeling her heat, her wetness, and it takes every ounce of control not to slam inside her.

Instead, with my eyes locked on hers, I push forward slowly, inch by agonizing inch, letting her stretch around me, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. There's none—just pure, unadulterated pleasure as I fill her completely, until I'm buried to the hilt and we're both panting.

"God, Isabella," I groan, the sensation of being inside her again overwhelming me. "So fucking tight. So perfect for me."

She wraps her legs tighter around my waist, pulling me impossibly deeper, and the movement breaks my control. I start to move, setting a relentless pace, my hips slamming against hers with enough force to make the desk beneath us skid across the floor. Each drag of my cock inside her silken heat ratchets the pleasure higher, sends me closer to the edge.

Isabella meets me thrust for thrust, her nails raking down my back, leaving furrows I'll feel tomorrow. The pain only heightens my pleasure, making me drive into her harder, faster, claiming her with every powerful stroke.

I reach between us, my thumb finding her clit, circling it mercilessly as I pound into her. Her inner walls flutter around me, tightening with her approaching climax, and I can feel my own building at the base of my spine, threatening to explode.

Our mouths crash together in a kiss that stops time, all tongue and teeth and desperate need. I swallow her cries, reveling in the knowledge that I'm the one making her fall apart. That she's mine in this moment, utterly and completely.

Mine to protect. Mine to worship. Mine...

All mine.

Chapter thirty-nine