Free SavageLust by Desiree Holt Page B

heaviness of Dante’s body weighed down on her,
she had no desire for him to move. When he did, she gave a tiny cry of protest
and tightened her arms.
    He brushed his lips over hers then trailed soft kisses over
both cheeks.
    “Condom,” he reminded her and eased himself from the wet
clasp of her body.
    She lay in bed completely undone, her body lax and sated,
limp, as if she’d just run a marathon. The flex of muscle in his ass as he
walked to her bathroom and the ripple beneath the taut flesh of his back
mesmerized her. Her mouth watered just looking at him. She heard the sounds of
him disposing the condom in the bathroom and washing his hands. Then he was
back, striding toward her and climbing back into bed as if he did so every day.
    He pulled her against his body, spooning her and resting his
chin on her head, his arms cradling her. “We have to talk.”
    Her stomach knotted and her muscles tensed. She wasn’t sure
she wanted to hear what was on his mind. “I hate it when people say that. It
always means they’re about to tell me something I don’t like.”
    He stroked her arm slowly, idly, a soothing touch. “I guess
it’s only bad depending on how you look at it.”
    “Might as well let me have it then.” She bit her lip,
determined not to be upset no matter what he said.
    For a long moment he was silent, an absence of sound that
had an ominous feel to it. When he spoke, his voice was flat, toneless, as if
the words were difficult for him to get out.
    “You should know I haven’t been with a woman since the death
of my wife five years ago.”
    Some of the pain he felt stabbed into her.
    “I didn’t intend to ever be with anyone else,” he continued.
“Felicia was the love of my life. Of my heart. When she died, I felt as if my
heart was cut out and replaced by a well of pain. That agony and the
determination to find the abomination that killed her have kept me going all
this time.”
    She moved slightly in his arms. “Dante,” she began, “we don’t
have to—”
    “Wait. Listen.” He lifted one hand and touched his fingers
to her lips, a signal to be silent. “I feel as if I owe you an apology.”
    “For off-the-charts sex?” She frowned. “Is this where you
tell me it was all a mistake?”
    “Yes. No. It was unexpected but not—” He paused. “ Definitely
not a mistake. At least for me.”
    Her body relaxed a tiny fraction.
    “Me either.” She almost whispered it. “Dante, I don’t
usually do this.” She stifled a hysterical giggle. “I don’t mean having sex. I
do. Have sex, that is. I mean—”
    “I know what you mean.”
    She felt the muscles of his face move against her hair as
his mouth curved in a smile. At least he was smiling, thank god.
    “But it was like this unbelievable, unstoppable—”
    “Yes,” he interrupted. “That and more. I have no idea how
this happened between us, where this…this… whatever it is came from. The
smartest thing I can do for both of us is tell our team leader someone else
needs to lead this mission and take myself out of it.”
    No!
    “You feel disloyal to Felicia,” she guessed. “You want to distance
yourself from me.” Just the thought made her sick.
    “No,” he continued, “I’m the idiot who isn’t going to
do that. Listen, Regan, I feel like I’m drowning in strange waters here. I have
to warn you that in many ways, I’m still a basket case. I never intended or
expected to be with a woman again. I don’t know what I have to give to another
person. I don’t want you to be hurt while I’m stumbling my way through whatever
this is.”
    Regan shifted position so she faced him. “This blindsided me
too, Dante.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I don’t know how to deal with
all of it. My brother is dead, my best friend is missing, and up until a few
minutes ago, that’s all I’ve been able to focus on. I’m not usually
so—responsive.”
    He brushed his lips across her forehead. “And I haven’t