Dante's Honour-bound Husband

And then he mated his body to hers and took her again.

It was beyond anything she’d experienced before. He called to her in a language that blended English with Italian, sweet words, a tumble of demands, hoarse pleas. She clung to him, moved with him. Drove him as he’d just driven her. Sent him soaring. Up, up, up. And there they teetered before slamming together over the next pinnacle and plummeting into oblivion.

Spent, they curled together, drawing comfort and sustenance, one from the other. And they slept; a sleep of sweet hopes and dreams, wrapped together so tightly two melded into one.

Gianna woke again in the dead of night. The full moon was sinking behind the Olympic Mountains, setting the peaks aglow and silvering the room with its light. At some point Constantine had spooned her against the hard curve of his body. While the moon softened the appearance of the room, it sculpted Constantine’s muscles and sinew into granite.

She could tell the instant he woke. The tenor of his breathing changed, deepened, and his hold on her tightened ever so slightly. “What time do you need to get up tomorrow?” she asked.

“Early.”

“When are you meeting Moretti?”

He chuckled. “Not so early.” He swept her hair to one side and traced a kiss along the back of her neck. “I want time to go through the building and finalize my presentation before we get together. Why don’t you join me there around four?”

She shivered beneath his gently insistent touch. “At Diamondt’s?”

“Sure.” He caught the lobe of her ear between his teeth and tugged, giving a husky laugh at her helpless shudder. “I can introduce you to Moretti. Since this is the first time he and I are meeting face-to-face, maybe it’ll help put us on a more friendly footing.”

“Okay.”

“What about you?” Constantine asked.

“I want to check out the address Juice gave me.” She forced her muscles to remain relaxed, difficult enough when he kept touching her. Even so, she couldn’t risk communicating any of her tension to him.

“I wish you’d wait until I can go with you,” he murmured against her ear.

Oh, Lord. That would be a disaster. “No time,” she hastened to say. “We’re flying home right after your meeting, aren’t we?”

He considered for a minute, his hand stroking her in an absentminded way. Unfortunately there was nothing absentminded about her reaction to his touch. She turned in his arms to face him and slid her leg over top of his. “Okay, fine,” he said at last. “But call me right before and right after you speak to this woman.”

She nipped at his mouth. “No problem.”

She didn’t give him the chance to say anything else. The sooner they put the conversation to rest, the better. Of course, the instant he shifted her beneath him, she found she couldn’t think, much less speak.

They gave themselves over to one another, gave themselves over to the night. Her soft sigh of pleasure was answered by his hoarse demand. Her cry of completion echoed his roar of satisfaction. Through the night they burned, riding the crest of passion from one wave to the next until the first break of dawn tumbled them back into a deep sleep.

The next morning Gianna woke to discover Constantine long gone. He’d left a single red rose on the pillow beside her and she picked it up, smiling softly. Even better, he’d prepared a pot of coffee for her, using one of Seattle’s world-renowned brands. She sipped in appreciation while preparing for the day. After doing a swift run-through with first Luc and then Juice, she pulled out the bold red slacks and jacket she’d chosen specifically for today’s mission.

Next, she headed downstairs, speaking at length to the concierge and getting very specific directions to the address she’d been given. She arranged for a cab, requesting it pick her up in half an hour. Then she returned to her room and sat, counting down the minutes, before returning to the lobby. The hope was that the brief delay would give David time to bribe the concierge and obtain the address, or if that failed, follow her to her destination. Once Luc and Juice spotted him, they’d arrange their men in a tidy net around the house, ready to spring the trap when David made his move.