Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,130

who would care about that?”

Bibiana grimaced. “Tommaso definitely wouldn’t.”

“See,” I said, feeling even more miserable. “It’s unlikely that Dante’s conscience is keeping him from sleeping with me. He’s a killer, and a skilled one at that. He’s the Boss for a reason.”

“That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have some scruples. I know that he strongly disapproves of rape.”

I snorted. “He disapproves?”

Bibiana gave me a stern look. “I’m serious. Dante told his men that he’d castrate anyone who would use rape as a form of torture, punishment or entertainment. Tommaso hates it because he thinks he should be allowed to do whatever he wants with the women in Club Palermo.”

I didn’t doubt that for one second. I’d lost count of the times he’d raped Bibiana. Of course, nobody called it rape in our world because she was his wife and her body belonged to him. Thinking about it made me sick. “Okay, so he has qualms about a couple of things.” It made sense after what he’d said about Gaby yesterday. Maybe he really didn’t want to initiate anything with me because he thought I was still mourning Antonio.

“Maybe you should make the first move?” Bibiana said.

“I pranced around him half-naked yesterday; what else can I do?”

“You could kiss him. Touch him.”

I knew how to kiss. Antonio had kissed me a few times. It had been nice, for me at least, so kissing Dante was definitely something I could do. “Touch him? Do you mean his you-know-what?”

Bibiana flushed. “I guess so? I never initiated anything with Tommaso, but he always wants me to touch him there and blow him.” Bibiana took another macaron. I knew she hated talking about sex with Tommaso. Who wouldn’t?

“Touching him can’t be too hard.”

“Oh, it’ll be hard.”

I laughed. “Dirty jokes already? The macarons really get you going.”

Bibiana giggled and shook her head. “You will be fine. Even if you blow him, you can’t do anything wrong. Use no teeth and you should swallow, those are the two most important things.”

I had to hide a grimace. I wasn’t so much disgusted by the idea of giving Dante a blow job, but the image of Bibiana having to swallow Tommaso’s stuff made me want to hurl.

“The good thing about blow jobs is that most men love them, so if you’re not into the actual sex, then you can keep them happy that way.”

I really hoped it didn’t come to that. I knew the only orgasm Bibiana had ever experienced was by her own hand, but I didn’t want to share her fate.

“I’ll give it a try tonight,” I said, suddenly feeling more hopeful.

“Call me tomorrow. I want to know how it went.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know if something exciting happens.”

* * *

That night when Dante joined me in bed I gathered all my courage, scooted over to him and touched his naked chest. It was warm and firm. Dante stilled under my touch, his brows drawn together as he watched me. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his. Dante deepened the kiss immediately, his tongue slipping into my mouth. This kiss was much more intense than the ones I’d experienced with Antonio. Dante claimed my mouth, making me tremble with the need for more. I let my hand slide lower, down his stomach. He drew back and gripped my hand, stopping its descent. He shook his head, his eyes flashing with something dark and angry. “You should sleep now, Valentina.”

I stared at him, uncomprehending. What had just happened? He’d kissed me as if he wanted to devour me, and then he stopped without an explanation. I snatched my hand out of his grasp, fighting the tears of anger rising into my eyes. Without a word, I rolled around, my back to Dante, and closed my eyes.

“I know you went to Bibiana without protection today. That won’t happen again. You can go wherever you want. You can even drive yourself, but from now on I want one of the guards at your side when you leave this house. It’s too dangerous for you outside these walls,” he said as if he hadn’t just kissed me, as if he wasn’t the slightest bit affected by what we’d done.

I pressed my lips tightly together. I wanted to scream in frustration, but instead more tears pooled in my eyes.

“Understood?” Dante asked after a while.

I had to bite back a scathing comment. “Yes, understood.”

We both fell silent again, not touching, as if we were two strangers forced into