Page 120 of The Serpent's Bride
My heartbeat stumbled.
I watched him move calmly through the enormous space, drawing the dark curtains closed one by one until the glittering skyline disappeared behind black silk and shadow.
The room changed. Smaller. More intimate. Dangerous.
“Leo,” I said carefully. He turned toward me slowly while loosening the cuffs of his black shirt.
“You know,” he murmured, voice lower now, rougher somehow, “I think your day is about to get a lot better.”
Heat climbed up my throat. I swallowed. “Why?”
A slow smile spread across his mouth. Not cruel. Worse. Hungry.
“Because,” he said quietly, stalking back toward me with deliberate unhurried steps, “I’m finally about to give you what you’ve been begging for so desperately.”
My breath caught. Every nerve in my body woke up at once. Leo stopped directly in front of me, close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from him already.
One large hand slid slowly along my waist. Gentle. Possessive. My pulse thundered violently.
“And this time,” he murmured against my ear, “I’m not stopping.”
Chapter Twenty: LEO
Ifelthershiverthesecond the words left my mouth. And God, I loved that I could do that to her. One sentence. One touch. One look. That was all it took to make Chiara unravel for me now.
The realization settled somewhere dark and possessive inside my chest while I watched her standing there beneath the soft amber lighting of the penthouse, blonde hair loose around her shoulders exactly the way I liked it. Her cheeks were already flushed, blue eyes wide and uncertain as she stared up at me.
Nervous. Wanting. Beautiful enough to make me violent.
“Leo,” she whispered carefully. “Will you be gentle with me?”
I slid my hand higher along her waist until my fingers settled against the curve of her ribs beneath the silk fabric of her dress. Her breathing changed. Too fucking responsive.
“I’m not sure. You’ve spent days begging me,” I murmured. “Crying for me. Looking at me like you wanted me to ruin you.” I leaned closer, watching her lips part instinctively. “And now you’re wanting gentle?”
Her cheeks deepened in color.
“I wasn’t begging,” she muttered weakly.
I laughed softly.
“No?” My thumb brushed slowly against her side. “Could’ve fooled me, bellissima.”
Her pulse fluttered visibly in her throat. The thought should have satisfied me more than it did. Instead, after today, after watching her with Sienna, after hearing her talk about her mother, something uglier had settled inside me.
Something deeper tshan possession. Need. I hated it.
My fingers curled slightly against her waist. “Tell me something.”
Her lashes lifted carefully toward mine. “What?”
“Did you think about me after I stopped touching you?”
The silence answered before she did. I watched embarrassment flood her face all over again. Watched her thighs shift together unconsciously beneath that dress. Fuck.
“You did,” I realized darkly.
Chiara looked away. “You’re arrogant.”
