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“Already taken care of. The unit should arrive tomorrow and it’s complete with additional speakers that can be placed as far away as one hundred feet.”

When she looked at me, I could tell she was doing her best to figure out why I’d even give a shit.

“How do you know these things?”

“I’m no fool, Carmella. I do read.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you?”

“I can barely tolerate my father, but the one thing he told me that I do believe is that if something is too good to be true, then you better start looking for a sharp instrument to be thrust into your back.”

I inched closer, using only the heat of my body to drive her against the wall. She acted as if she was going to push me away, even planting her palms against my chest.

“Answer me this question, Firesong. What do I have to gain by lying to you? Or by hurting you?” I lowered my head, inhaling the sweet essence of her perfume. There was a hint of something floral mixed with a fresh dash of citrus and several warm spices. The fragrance had almost driven me crazy in the car.

She wrapped her fingers around my shirt, her breathing more labored than before. The fact she was having a difficult time looking me in the eyes was telling.

But not nearly as much as the heat resonating from her body. I’d told myself keeping a certain distance from her at this point was a good idea.

However, just being close to her in a room, discussing nothing that pertained to the brutal world that had determined we were a couple had changed my mind.

I wanted her. All of her.

Not just in name only.

“I wish I knew, Alejandro. Perhaps you’re some knight in shining armor, but there are very few heroes in this world.”

As soon as I dropped my head even lower, she arched her back, lifting her chin until our lips were almost touching. “I’m not trying to be a hero.”

“Then what are you trying to be?”

“A decent man.” I captured her mouth, holding our lips together. She’d been the first woman I’d been with in years, my only experience one brief encounter after Jessica’s mother had died. That had felt empty, a ghost looking down from above.

This was entirely different. I felt every alteration in my pulse, the skyrocketing heat that usually came close to overwhelming us both during the throes of passion. I wrapped one hand around her jaw, extending my fingers down the long line of her neck. The hold wasn’t forceful, but it was possessive.

Her tongue fluttered against my lips and I opened them, allowing her to explore my mouth as I’d done with hers. She was tentative at first, acting as if she wasn’t allowed to touch me.

Or to enjoy our carnal needs.

She was trembling, soft moans escaping our kiss. There was no pretense about who and what we were, just a strange but intense connection that had already tethered us together. My hunger growing and my patience waning, I tightened my hold around her throat and deepened the kiss.

I captured every moan as she quivered to my touch. As she ripped the shirt from my jeans, her fingers finally touching my skin, my cock became painfully hard.

Just being able to explore her mouth was pleasurable, but my desire was already reaching entirely different levels than what I’d experienced both before and after the wedding. Maybe I’d finally accepted I was married to a woman I had no business being around.

My carnal instincts took over, leaving all rationality tossed to the side. I wanted nothing more than to ravage every inch of her body and that’s exactly what I was going to do.

Carmella continued ripping at my shirt as if desperate in her building hunger. She even attempted to drive her hands between us so she could unfasten my belt. But our bodies were too tightly woven together.

I controlled her tongue, dominating every inch of her mouth, but she wasn’t complaining. If she had alternative thoughts, her body had already betrayed her.

After sucking on her tongue, I broke the kiss, tilting her head and exposing her long neck. If the woman had any fear of me and what I could do, it certainly didn’t show. She closed her eyes as I dragged my tongue from one side of her jaw to the other. Every sound she made ignited me even further.

There was something powerful about being lost in her.

The moment I bit down on her neck, she gasped then issued a subtle yet nervous laugh. It appeared she hadn’t experienced passion in as long as me. That was about to change. I was finished toying with her and enduring her gentle caresses. I longed to bring out the lioness I’d experienced before.

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