"You're impossible."
"So I've been told. Repeatedly. Mostly by you."
This time a genuine smile threatened to appear. It was gone almost as quickly as it came, but I'd seen it. God help me, I wanted to see it again. The thought should have concerned me. Instead, it settled somewhere deep inside my chest and refused to leave.
Aurora's expression softened. Not much. Just enough. "I don't understand you."
There was no accusation in her voice. No anger. Just honesty.
For years, I had worked very hard to make sure nobody understood me. It was safer that way. Simpler. The Devil was easy for people to understand. Men like me killed. Men like me hurt people. Men like me were monsters.
The truth was far messier.
"Some day, you might.
Her brows drew together. "And that's supposed to make me feel better?"
I studied her face for a moment before answering. "No. I don't understand you either."
The silence that followed felt strangely intimate. The kind that didn't need filling. The kind that made every heartbeat sound louder.
My gaze drifted to her mouth before I could stop it.
A catastrophic mistake. Because I remembered every moment I'd wanted to kiss her and hadn't. Every challenge she'd thrown at me. Every smart remark. Every smile. Every time she'd walked away while leaving me wanting more.
The air between us changed. The distance separating us felt far too noticeable. Far too deliberate.
"I still want to keep you, Aurora." My voice came out rougher than intended.
Her eyes lifted to mine. For a moment neither of us moved. Then I watched something shift inside her. A decision. Reckless. Impulsive. Entirely on brand for Aurora.
She closed the distance between us before I could say another word. The kiss caught me completely off guard. Not because I hadn't imagined it. I had. More times than I cared to admit. But because she'd done it.
The woman who spent half her time arguing with me and the other half trying to escape me.
For a fraction of a second, I simply stood there. Then instinct took over. My hand slid into her hair as I needily pulled her closer.
The ocean and the estate disappeared. Everything disappeared except her. The warmth of her. The softness of her. The way she seemed to hesitate and commit at the same time.
It wasn't a careful kiss. It sure as fuck wasn't gentle. It felt like weeks of tension finally snapping beneath the strain.
The kiss ignited like gasoline on open flame. Raw, desperate, and viciously unrestrained. Aurora crashed into me like she’d been holding back for weeks, her fingers twisting brutally into my shirt as if she could rip it off with her bare hands. I growled against her mouth, the sound low and feral, and took complete control.
My hand fisted tight in her dark hair, yanking her head back exactly how I wanted her. She tasted like whiskey, rebellion, and sweet sin, the kind of taste that ruined a man. Her lips parted on a broken gasp and I devoured it, tongue plunging deep, stroking against hers in a filthy, demanding rhythm that left no room for doubt about who she belonged to. She met me with equal hunger, biting my lower lip hard enough to draw a hiss from my throat before sucking it into her mouth like she was trying to consume me.
I backed her up until her spine hit the cold stone railing, caging her smaller body with mine. My thigh shoved between her legs, pressing hard against her heat. The needy whimper that tore from her throat nearly snapped my restraint. I gripped herhip with bruising force, grinding my throbbing cock against her so she could feel every thick inch of what she did to me.
“Feel that?” I rasped against her lips. “That’s what you fucking do to me.”
She arched into me with a soft, broken moan, her full breasts pressing against my chest, nipples hard through the thin fabric. Her nails raked down my back, digging in hard enough to sting, and the pain only made me hungrier. I kissed her deeper, filthier, tongue fucking her mouth the way I wanted to fuck her body, while my hand slid down to grab a handful of her ass, lifting her slightly so I could rock against her core.
When I tore my mouth from hers, I dragged my lips down the delicate column of her throat, sucking and biting until her skin bloomed with my marks. I wanted her wearing my claim tomorrow. I wanted every bastard who looked at her to know she’d been claimed by the Devil.
“Santino…” she moaned, husky and wrecked.
The sound of my name on her lips in that desperate tone sent a bolt of pure lust straight to my cock. I sank my teeth into the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder, marking her harder, and she cried out, hips jerking against my thigh like she was already close to falling apart.
Her hands fisted in my hair, tugging sharply, pulling me back to her mouth. We were a mess of teeth and tongues and grinding bodies, possessive, violent, consuming. The wind whipped around us, but all I could feel was her burning heat, the way her body melted and fought against mine at the same time. Dangerous. Addictive. Mine.