Tame his Beast - Claire C. Riley Page 0,42

feeling the taut muscles underneath his expensive shirt, and he moaned into my mouth as I slid my hands down his back. Lorenzo tipped my head back, exposing my throat, and began to pepper it with soft kisses, his breath hot on my skin. As he moved along to my shoulders, his hands slid, teasingly slow, down my arms. My nipples hardened and I was glad I hadn’t worn a bra now because his nostrils flared when he noticed, and it was hot as hell. He slowly pushed down the straps of my camisole, exposing my breasts, and a rumble echoed from his chest.

He muttered something in Italian before reaching over and cupping them, the pad of his thumb rubbing over the sensitive, hardened nipple of one of them so gently that I had to clench my thighs together. He looked at me with those deep blue eyes of his, like he was asking for permission, and I panted a yes.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, his tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip. He leaned down and flicked his tongue against my nipple, making me groan.

I blushed and looked away, embarrassed.

“No, Belle, don’t do that.” He reached up and took my face in his hands again, pressing a hard, urgent kiss to my mouth before slowly laying me back on the sofa, his body covering mine.

I reached between us, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his hard, unblemished chest underneath, my legs spreading to accommodate him between them.

“You sure?” he asked again, his breathing heavy.

I’d known Lorenzo for a long time, but it wasn’t until this past week that I’d really seen him as someone other than just the owner of Dela Roma. He was handsome, considerate, sexy as hell, and successful. He was every woman’s fantasy, and he was there with me.

The music finished and silence—other than our own rapid breathing and noises from the restaurant downstairs—filled the apartment as we stared into one another’s eyes.

“It’s okay if not,” he continued. “If you want to wait.” His fingers played with a curl that lay against my collarbone, and the small movement sent a shiver through my body, making my nipples harden even more and my back arch. He breathed out heavily, his hard length pulsing against my center through his jeans. “You need to decide soon, though, because I’m not sure how much longer I can wait, Belle.”

I thought of Beast in the hospital, all on his own. His anger and pain burning up inside of him, ready to explode at any minute. His rage was wild and wicked, like the man it belonged to. I saw his beautiful scarred face, his eye, gray and moody, thoughtful and deep, burying everything that he could be in favor of his hatred for the world. I felt his hand on my ass, squeezing, kneading, and my pulse quickened at the thought of what his brutal touch would be like. I replayed the moment I’d walked in on him and the prostitute, his angry, almost feral expression, and the way he’d gripped her so forcefully, slamming her down onto his hard length and filling her violently. And then I thought about the way he had looked at me tonight, like he was seeing me for the first time, and I realized that he had been jealous that I was going on a date. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was that I was able to go on a date or because he didn’t want anyone else to go on a date with me, but jealousy had been vibrant on his face regardless.

Beast was the opposite of Lorenzo, and that was okay by me.

Lorenzo was what I needed, and Beast wasn’t even an option, and that was okay too.

Curiosity played with me, and I couldn’t deny that no matter how awful Beast was, a part of me was attracted to him. Was it his brutality that I found so intriguing, or was it something else?

“Belle?” Lorenzo said, his fingers tracing down the side of my face, his blue eyes searching mine for an answer.

Lorenzo was here. He was handsome, he was a good option.

Beast wasn’t either of those things and he never would be.

I reached up and cupped the back of Lorenzo’s head before pulling his mouth to mine. I kissed him hard, wrapping my legs around his waist, and got lost in his touch. His mouth on mine, his fingers against my skin, his body pressed against me, and everything in between.

Chapter Fifteen

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