Page 112 of Vow Of Fire

I rose before she could recover, hooked an arm beneath that curvy ass, and lifted her effortlessly against my chest. She let out a soft gasp, instinctively wrapping her legs around my waist, dress riding up as I carried her down the hallway.

This time, she didn’t protest at all.

30

A DANGEROUS IDEA

Evelyn

The trouble I’d been in before was nothing compared to this. Dante’s cold indifference, his scowling demeanor—that I knew what to do with. But this version of him, in full-on seduction mode, was something I was completely unequipped to handle.

Gone was the careful self-control. The alternate agenda. In its place was pure desire. It burned behind his silver eyes and made my pulse race and my stomach flutter as if a swarm of butterflies had gotten trapped in there.

I kissed him the whole way to his bedroom. When we got there, he kicked the door open with his heel, and I felt him unzipping the back of my dress.

We only broke contact when he laid me on the bed. I stared up at him, heat coiling in my stomach, spreading lower into my core.

I was so hot for him, it was insane. All night I’d felt his eyes on me, and that little show of possessiveness had only served to heighten my awareness of him. I liked that he wanted me. I loved that he couldn’t keep his hands off me.

It gave me a tiny iota of power in a situation in which I felt utterly helpless.

But I wasn’t thinking about any of that as he leaned over me and peeled the straps of the gown off my shoulders.

“You drove me crazy tonight,” he murmured roughly, as his hot, slightly calloused hands ran down my arms. I felt like he was scorching me. Setting me on fire with every caress.

Down the dress went, inch by agonizing inch. I squirmed as he followed it with kisses. The scrape of his stubble against my stomach sent violent shivers through me.

“Dante,” I gasped.

He made a low, growling sound in the back of his throat like hearing his name on my lips caused him actual pain.

The dress slid lower.

“Every man in the museum was staring at you tonight.”

His mouth closed over my breast and I gasped, fingers tangling instantly in his dark hair. He made a sound of pure satisfaction as he licked and sucked my needy nipple.

Lingering deliberately, he teased me until my entire body felt feverish and hypersensitive, until I could barely think past the pleasure building inside me.

The silk continued disappearing downward under his hands.

He kissed the sensitive curve beneath my ribs, then lower still, until I was twisting against the sheets trying to get closer to him.

“Easy, baby,” he murmured as I unraveled beneath him. I was melting into a liquid bundle of pure sensation and want.

His large hands spanned my waist, holding me still while his tongue plunged into my belly button, causing me to arch up toward him. How could such a small action be so intensely erotic?

I moaned, gasping his name.

“Dante, please—” I didn’t know what I was pleading for… but I needed more of it. More of him.

Grabbing the fabric in both hands, he tugged it down over my hips, down my thighs, and finally off me altogether. I heard the soft sigh as it landed in a heap on the floor at the foot of the bed.

Then his mouth was back, but this time kissing me up the inside of my leg. I still wore my stilettos, but no underwear. He’d removed that with the dress.

Now he lifted his head and stared down at me, his silver eyes alive with hunger.

“Jesus, you’re beautiful.”