Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
I raked my fingers across Cesare’s short hair, and he responded by running his large hand up my back, tugging at the blonde tendrils that had escaped my messy bun. He deftly found the large bobby pins and plucked them out, causing my hair to cascade down around my shoulders. His large fingers soothed it in place as he pressed his body against me, turning me slightly, possibly to make sure the gun was hidden from sight?
Letting out a moan, I stroked his neck and his back. I was surprised to feel an answering rumble from his chest. Was he faking moaning like I was? Or was he actually moaning. Because there was something he wasn’t faking, and that was the hardness pressing against my abdomen. His gun definitely wasn’t the only hard thing pressing against my body.
My senses were alert for any sound coming from the doorway, but something strange was happening. Well, everything about this messed up situation was strange, but still… I never expected to feel anything from this kiss. It wasn’t real. I didn’t know this guy. Sure, he was hot in a body-builder kind of way. And in a talk, dark, and powerful kind of way. But that had never been enough in the past. I needed to know someone—and like them—in order to feel something with them.
So why was there this warmth coursing through me? This urgency in the way my mouth met his? It made no sense. This whole thing was terrifying, not a turn-on.
Except somehow it seemed to be both.
Then I heard a soft chuckle. “My bad,” a voice said from the open doorway, and then I saw the light shift and heard the door click shut.
And still, Cesare kissed me. I’d initiated the kiss, but he’d taken it over, there was no doubt about that. His mouth ravished mine, and I finally let my eyes close as I gave into the sensations. I sank against him, letting him hold me up as the strength left my body.
Even if I could’ve mustered the strength to pull away, I probably wouldn’t have. It was like everything else in the world had melted away except for this powerful man who’d overwhelmed my senses.
Finally, his friend near the door spoke. “He’s gone.”
And still, I let Cesare kiss me. At the moment my thoughts were so muddied that I could barely remember why we were doing this. But then Cesare eased his massive body back an inch or two, and I felt the cold metal of the gun through my scrubs.
That snapped me out of it. I stepped back, looking up at the big man towering over me. He lowered the gun, tucking it back in his jacket. I couldn’t interpret the look he gave me, but that wasn’t all that surprising. Right now, I couldn’t even seem to remember my own damn name.
The man behind the door stepped toward us, his gun lowered. “That was quick thinking,” he said to me.
Cesare arched one thick eyebrow and nodded. “It was. Matteo, this is Piper. Piper, Matteo.”
The man gave me a nod, which I shakily returned.
“Think they’ll be back?” Cesare asked Matteo.
“Doubt it. You two were pretty convincing.” Matteo gave me a small smile. “Funny how the bastard would’ve had no qualms about shooting an injured man, but drew the line at being a cock-block.”
“What?” I stared at Matteo.
Cesare ignored my confused question. “Don’t worry, he didn’t see your face.”
I hadn’t been worried about that, at least not until he said it. But now I was. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” a voice said. Except it wasn’t Cesare’s low, gruff voice. It was a younger voice.
I turned to the bed to see Leonardo staring up at me. I moved to his side and brushed the hair away from his eyes. “How are you feeling?” I asked. In the midst of all this insanity, asking a patient how he felt made me feel on firmer ground.
But my question was ignored. “He angled your body away from the door,” the injured man continued.
“And that’s why he let down your hair,” Matteo added. There was a faint smile of what looked like appreciation on his face. “It’s like a golden mane.”
A bit self-consciously, I reached up and twirled a finger around a tendril. Then I glanced up at Cesare. I couldn’t quite process the flood of emotions inside me. Fear was right up top. But my increased pulse rate was less from that and more from the way he’d kissed me. Had it all been an act? I mean, sure, I was glad he’d protected my identity in case whoever that was had seen through our act, but… well… he’d seemed like he’d really gotten into it, too.
I sure had, though I didn’t know what it said about me that I could enjoy a kiss with a gun trapped between our bodies.