Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
The staff removed the last of the cakes and wheeled the table into the kitchen. They would clean up the cake, and I would take the last of the reusable supplies from the table and depart. I had to give them a short while to do so.
The band started up again, and I slipped to the balcony, enjoying the cool air and the quiet as I waited. I leaned on the rail overlooking the pond, the fountain’s graceful arcs of water changing color as they cast ripples on the surface.
A song started, and I shut my eyes, tapping the gentle beat with my fingers on the iron rail. I began to hum, the lyrics and tune clear in my head. I sang softly, the notes coming easily. I loved to sing. When I was baking, I always had music playing, and I sang along all the time, grateful to be alone and able to do so. The tension in my shoulders loosened. I lost myself to the melody, my fingers and toes tapping out the rhythm.
There was no warning but the sudden sense of intensity behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. My breathing picked up.
And then, he was there.
His chest pressed against my back, his enticing scent surrounding me.
“You should be dancing.”
“I-I don’t dance.”
“You do now.”
He spun me around, yanking me close. He wrapped a hand around my hair, tugging it until I was looking into his eyes. Under the light, the molten gold was rimmed in black. Unique. Like him.
“You dance with me.”
He moved, and without thought, I followed. It was as if we’d danced together for a lifetime. My lack of height didn’t matter. My inexperience didn’t bother him. He led, and I went where he directed my body.
“Sing for me,” he demanded. “Just for me.”
Normally unable to sing in front of anyone, I opened my mouth and did exactly what he wanted. Low and soft, but loud enough he could hear. I sang the beautiful words as we moved around the deserted balcony, our footsteps never faltering, our bodies never separating. One song bled into another, and when I didn’t know the words, I hummed. My head rested on his torso, and I felt the rumble of his chest as he sighed in pleasure. He kept me close, and for the first time in my life, I felt as if I was exactly where I belonged.
With him.
Which was all sorts of crazy.
I didn’t know him.
I never would.
The song ended, the band taking a break, and he eased from me, staring down, his eyes locked on mine.
“Who are you?” he breathed.
“Nobody.”
“Wrong answer, Little Bee.”
“It’s all I’ve ever been.”
“Not anymore.”
Then his mouth was on mine. Hard. Insistent. Passionate. I flung my arms around his neck as he lifted me into his arms, holding me tight to his body as he ravished my mouth. His tongue was velvet on mine as he explored me. I felt us move into the shadows, the cold, hard side of the building pressing into my back, a direct contrast to the heat of him. I wrapped my arms tighter around him, swimming in all he was. His warmth. His taste. The way he controlled the kiss. Controlled me. I was lost in a vortex of never-experienced emotions and sensations. My body was on fire, consumed by the desire pulsating through it. I wanted him.
It didn’t matter who he was.
I wanted him.
He tore his mouth from mine, dropping his head to my neck, kissing and tonguing the skin, groaning curse words, wicked assurances, filthy promises of what he wanted to do to me. And I was going to let him.
Until the door opened, and I heard Carolina’s voice. “I was sure I saw her come out here.” The door shut again, but it broke the spell I was under.
I froze, the reality of what I was doing, what I was allowing to happen, hitting me. I didn’t know this man. I hadn’t even asked him his name.
I pushed at his chest, and he growled in displeasure but released me.
“We’ll wait a moment and leave,” he murmured.
“No,” I snapped. “We won’t.”
And before he could react, I ran.
Away from him.
Away from that mouth.
That temptation.
I heard his shout of anger. His roar of fury.
I ran as if my life depended on escaping.
I had a feeling it did.
Chapter Three
DANTE
“I’m nobody. It’s all I’ve ever been.”
I couldn’t get those damn words out of my head. They were stuck in there on a loop, playing in the background constantly. I hated them. I hated the fact that I couldn’t forget them.
Or her.
The little angry bee without a stinger. The one who tasted like honey.
The one whose memory I was trying to ignore.
She had run. One moment, she was in my arms, our mouths locked together, and the next, she was gone. Running away as fast as her little legs could move in the heels she wore.