I keep ahold of Rafael’s neck as I ride him, angling my hips so that I can take more of him in. My core is quivering, already I’m on the brink of coming again. His left hand cups my face while he teases my pussy with the other, applying pressure with his thumb on the spot where my folds meet. It’s driving me mad, loony. The sounds of my panting fill the SUV as I let myself get lost in Rafael’s eyes. Insanity. This is sweet insanity from which I never want to recover.

Rafael’s chest rises and falls as his breathing picks up, becoming more ragged. Seeing him coming undone is an erotic elation in itself, but when he pulls me forward, smashing his mouth to mine in a wild, possessing kiss, I lose myself completely. Orgasmic bliss consumes me, burning away the last specks of the walls I erected around my heart in a futile attempt to keep Rafael De Santi from claiming it.

Chapter 15

“Why are you doing this, Vasya, baby?” My mother’s voice sounds sad and worried through the line. “It’s been almost two months. Please come home, and we’ll sort out whatever it is that’s the problem. We miss you so much.”

I close my eyes and lean back on Rafael’s naked chest. We tried working on his data repository twice this afternoon but ended up in bed both times. “I miss you guys, too, Mom. I’ll be home soon.”

“You say that every time and— No! Roman! Give me back the phone!”

“Vasilisa.” My father’s low, rumbling growl practically explodes through the speaker. “The instant I find out where you are, I’ll be dragging you back home and locking you up in your room. Forever!”

“Sure, Dad.” I sigh. “Can you put Yulia on the phone, please.”

He grumbles something in Russian and, a few moments later, my sister chirps. “Hey, Vasya. How are you?”

“I’m fine. How—”

“Dad has Felix tracing your calls,” she whispers urgently. “He’s been doing it for weeks, but he can’t pinpoint your location. I heard Gramps tell Dad that he’ll be switching to another tracking software and—”

I immediately cut the line. How long did we talk? Rafael said his phone can’t be tracked, but still . . . Panic grips my chest, and suddenly it’s hard to breathe.

“Vespetta?” Rafael drops a kiss on my bare shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

Did they pin my location? Bile rises up my throat. My father could be out the door and on his way to Sicily right at this moment.

I turn around so I’m straddling Rafael’s chest. My eyes find and lock onto his gaze as the storm brewing inside me becomes a hurricane. This is exactly what I wanted, isn’t it? For my dad to find me and bring me home. But, the thing is, I don’t want that anymore.

I don’t want to go home.

But I also can’t remain with the man who won’t let me choose between staying and leaving.

“Vasilisa?” Rafael threads his hands through my hair, pulling me down for a kiss. “Will you tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

“My father is tracing the calls,” I mumble into his lips.

“Of course he is. But he won’t be able to discover where you are. No one will.”

“And you won’t let me leave until I’m done fixing your system?”

He takes my bottom lip between his teeth and nips it. “That’s right.”

I cup his face with my palms and pull away, breaking the kiss. “Then stop instructing your men to sabotage the work you had me dragged here to do.”

Rafael’s eyes flare dangerously. He couldn’t have seriously believed that I wouldn’t figure out what he’s been doing. The system “disruptions” that keep popping up can’t be the result of an external source. I realized this two weeks ago but I went along with the farce because I didn’t want to leave. Didn’t want to leave him.

“I want you to stay,” he growls as he shifts his hand to my pussy, teasing me with his finger.

I gasp. Everything is still tender, but his touch feels so damn good. As he starts stroking my clit with his thumb, I feel myself getting instantly wet. Biting my lower lip, I widen my legs to give him more access.

“You want me to stay,” I whisper, holding his gaze, “or, do you want me to want to stay? Those are two very different things.”

Rafael’s other hand slides to the back of my neck, gathering a fistful of my hair while he pushes another finger inside my quivering core.

“No one can offer you what I can, Vasilisa.” The grip on my hair tightens slightly. “Name whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you. Money. Jewels. A yacht, if you want it. I have two, but I can buy you a new one. If you don’t like Sicily, just pick a spot, and I’ll get you a house there. It’ll be in your name.” He pinches my clit, making me cry out. “Any damn thing you desire, I’ll deliver.”

“So, anything, except the freedom to decide whether I want to stay with you?”

“You will want to stay with me,” he growls as he moves his hands under my ass. “I’ll make sure of it.”

With those words, he pulls me forward until my hips hover just above his face. His warm breath feathers over my wet folds before his tongue slides between them. A shiver shoots up my spine, causing me to arch my back and moan with pleasure. With his fingers digging into and massaging my rounded cheeks, Rafael slowly licks up the length of my slit. I hold onto the headboard like a lifeline as he continues to feast on my pussy. The sounds of crickets and distant voices outside fade into the background as I lose myself to the sensation of his hot mouth on my most intimate parts. Nothing else exists except for Rafael. Nothing else, at this point, matters.

His skilled tongue delves expertly, exploring every curve and crevice, ravaging me with masterful precision and powerful waves of pleasure that I never want to end. The room becomes a hazy blur, and my body melts into divine oblivion. My every gasp, every sigh blends in harmony with muffled groans and languid mmms, accompanied by the sound of his lips and the gentle swivel of his tongue.

The graze of his teeth on my throbbing bundle of nerves sends a jolt through every cell of my body. The headboard rattles from my furious grip while I struggle to breathe as he seals his mouth to my clit and sucks it in. My body shakes from the sheer intensity of the pleasure he’s giving me, and a loud shout rips out of me as I climax, exploding into a million tiny particles.

Air leaves my lungs in short, shaky bursts as I try to pull myself together. Rafael licks my pussy one more time, then kisses my inner thigh, and gently lowers me to sit back on his chest.

“I’ll worship every part of your body like this, Vasilisa. Every day. Every night,” he says as he slides his hands up my ribcage and over my breasts to wrap them around my neck. With his thumbs at my chin, he strokes my lips. “You’re going to become so addicted to my touch, that just the thought of being away from me will manifest as physical pain.”

I pant as I search his eyes, finding steely determination reflecting at me from the green flinty rocks. He’s wrong, though. I’m already addicted. And just like every addict, I want more.

Just one more. That has become my mantra. Just one more day with him, and then I’ll put a stop to this crazy train. Just one more night in his arms, and then I’ll find a way to leave. Just one more bone-melting kiss . . . Just one more soul-searing touch . . . Just one more moment in heaven.

And slowly, each of those “ones” became a two. Then, three. Then, ten. Then, a yearning for forever.

But the time has come, and this counting game has reached a point where it can’t continue anymore.

“I’m going to take a shower, and then I’ll resume my work.”

“We both know there’s no need for you to work for me anymore,” he barks.

“Of course there is. I’ll finish the configuration changes today, and then I expect you to arrange for me to go home. I will not be kept a prisoner here any longer.”

“I don’t see you in chains, Vasilisa.”

“Because the shackles you’ve chained me with are not tangible.”

Rafael’s eyes darken, upheaval swirls in their depths. He grabs my chin, pulling me closer to his hard-lined face.

“I’m in love with you, Vasilisa.”

My heart stops beating. For a fleeting moment, every molecule in my body is completely still while I process the words I’ve been longing to hear. But there’s no joy in hearing his declaration. That feeling of soaring through the clouds is missing entirely because I can’t believe that what he said is true. He might have a strange way of showing it, but I do think he feels something for me. I’m just afraid it isn’t love.

Love is the purest of emotions. It’s not selfishness. Not ownership. What he feels is an obsession over someone who didn’t easily fall into his hands. It will pass, be replaced with something new. And in the end, it won’t even matter. Nothing will change for me. Except for the presence of a crippling fear. Did I fall in love with a man who’s not capable of loving me back? A man who will do anything to keep me with him. Anything, except let me go.