Page 37 of Tempting Tessa

“What if I told you I want you to be exclusively mine?”

I stare at him, certain I’ve misheard. “Exclusively yours? Are you fucking insane?”

He quirks an eyebrow at me and all I can do is sigh. He absolutely is fuckign insane.

“Do I have a choice?” The words slip out before I can stop them.

His eyes soften just a fraction. “We always have choices, stellina. I’m showing you my hand, Contessa. I want to fuck you again. Many times.” He leans in, his breath hot against my ear. “I want to eat your cunt and your ass. I want to fuck your mouth and paint your face with my cum. I want to use every toy you design on you and force you to watch in the mirror while I make you come until you can’t remember your own name.”

“This isn’t some love story for the ages. Like a forty-something-year-old mob boss and his best friend’s daughter? I’m sure Hallmark is already writing the script.”

He rolls his eyes, legitimately rolls his eyes at me.

He crosses his arms over his chest, muscles flexing in a way that makes my mouth go dry. “I want your body. I want your submission. I want exclusivity.”

“And if I say no?”

His eyes darken. “Then you say no. I’m not a monster, Contessa.”

But he doesn’t look like a man who hears the word no very often. The way he’s standing there, nothing but power and dominance radiating from him, makes me think he always gets exactly what he wants.

“So you want to date? Is that what this is?”

His lips quirk up in that infuriating half-smile. “Do you want me to court you, stellina? Because I will.”

The way he says it—like he’d show up at my door with flowers and take me to candlelit dinners—makes heat rush to my face. I can feel my cheeks burning, and I hate it. Hate that he can make me blush like some virginal schoolgirl with just a few words.

“No,” I say firmly, even as my traitorous body betrays me with that flush. “Absolutely not.”

Because if Matteo actually tried to charm me—if he put his mind to romancing me properly instead of just fucking me senseless—I’d be completely fucked. I can already barely think straight after one night with him. If he started bringing that intensity into actual romance? Game over.

He watches me with those knowing eyes, seeing too much as usual. “Well, you have a few days to think about this little arrangement.” He pushes off the counter, stretching his arms above his head in a way that makes every muscle in his torso ripple. “I’m gonna go get dressed and I’ll take you home.”

“I don’t need a few days,” I call after him as he turns to leave. “The answer is still no.”

He just chuckles, not bothering to look back. “We’ll see.”

Chapter 12

Contessa

The knock on my door comes exactly at seven o’clock, like a fucking appointment with the devil.

It’s the tenth fucking delivery of some kind this week.

I’m glaring at my phone in my hand like he can see it. His thread of unanswered texts staring mockingly at me.

The latest one came just an hour ago.

You can ignore me all you want. It changes nothing.

The smell hits me before I can toss my phone aside—rich garlic, butter, and something herby that makes my empty stomach clench with need. How the fuck does he always know when I’m starving?

My hand buzzes, and I can’t help but look.

I know you’re reading these. Your silence only makes my cock harder, stellina.

“What the fuck smells so good?” Natalia emerges from my bathroom, face gleaming with some expensive serum she’s been raving about. “I didn’t know you had already ordered dinner for girls’ night.”