Unraveled (Guzzi Duet Book 1)(39)

The cadence of Gian’s tenor changed before his French turned to English as he asked, “You don’t even understand what I’m reading, do you?”

Cara shrugged, snuggling in closer to Gian and soft sheets. “Don’t have to.”

“That’s sort of the point of being read to, right?”

“Not right now.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You wouldn’t.” Cara hummed a happy sort of sound, grinning up at the dark-eyed man staring down at her. “It’s your voice. It’s an all the time thing, Gian. The way you sound, you probably don’t even hear it, but I do.”

“And how do I sound?”

She could have said many things.

Sexy.

Lovely.

Comforting.

Arousing.

Deep.

Provoking.

The truth was, Gian’s voice—and him, really—was a mix of all of those things. Settling on one was not enough. It did not do him justice.

“Dangerous,” Cara whispered. “You sound dangerous, Gian.”

For a long while, Gian stared at Cara, never blinking or moving a muscle. It was as though he didn’t quite know what to make of her statement. “I’ve never been told that before.”

“That’s kind of sad.”

“Is it?”

“You should know the way you can affect people, Gian. It’s more than wearing a suit and a sly smile, with a gun hidden at your back. It’s knowing that you only need to speak and people listen. A man with a dangerous voice has far more command than anyone could possibly understand, he needs to know how to use it.” Cara rolled over to her back and reached for her phone on the nightstand. She checked the time, and scowled at it. “I do need to get up soon. The study group was okay to miss, but I have a paper I need to hand in for the class after that.”

Gian didn’t reply, which made Cara look over at him. She found that he was still looking at her, but the intensity she saw in his eyes made her heart stop for a split second.

An appreciation, churned with lust and mixed heavily in his admiration and hunger. As though she was the sweetest, most precious thing to have ever spoken in his presence, and he wanted nothing more than to be right there with her forever. She had seen his many stares before—when he wanted to fuck, his irritation, or his indifference.

This was not the same.

It scared her for a moment.

Something else to add to her rapidly growing pile of confusion.

“I don’t know what to do with you,” Gian finally said, breaking the silence.

“The same thing you have been doing, I guess.”

“It’s not enough. It’s not nearly enough, bella.”

She tossed her phone back to the nightstand, and then turned back to Gian, taking her sweet time to crawl on top of his naked body, under the sheets, until she straddled him. One of his hands landed on her waist, his fingers gripping tight to keep her still, while the other slid from her stomach, up between her breasts, and stopped on her throat.

Cara only smiled at the sensation of her heartbeat thrumming under his hand. “I like that, you know. I don’t really say it, because I figure I don’t have to. But I like that a lot.”

Gian’s fingers drummed against her throat. “This?”

“Yes. Especially when you squeeze hard enough to take my breath away, like I’m floating for a few seconds, all the control is gone, and it’s only a feeling. Nothing else. Just the way I feel.”

“What else?”

She shifted her weight on top of him, attempting to ignore the length of his erection resting between her legs. It didn’t help, really. She only ended up grinding against his cock more, soaking in the silky feeling of his length sliding along her pussy. She used her hands as support against his lower abdominal muscles to keep her steady as she reveled in that simple pleasure.

“Cara,” Gian murmured.

That voice of his would kill her someday.

She was sure of it.

Her attention was back on him in an instant, and she remembered what he had asked. “And I like the way you talk when you’re fucking me, how you always take and demand, and you rarely ever ask. You don’t push, either, but you don’t have to. It’s raw and it’s filthy and I like it that way.”

“Why?”

His question seemed simple enough.

Except his voice was laced with huskiness and heat.

“Because there’s something about you that’s different,” Cara admitted quietly. “You use me in bed like a toy, like I’m yours to ruin and fuck however you want to; like your own personal little slut. And then you open my doors, you hold my hand, and you tell me I’m beautiful.”

“Of course I do, Cara.”

“Yes, because you’re different. Because there’s more to a woman than how she behaves in a bedroom, but most forget not to bring it beyond the bed, too. You don’t, and I like that.”

She leaned down, close enough that her lips were a breath away from Gian’s as she said, “And nobody’s ever fucked me quite like you do, Gian.”

“That’s a damn good thing, then.”

That was all Gian said before his lips slammed into Cara’s with a bruising, demanding kiss that silenced her mind and made her heart race. His tongue found hers in a familiar dance that came like a comfort, and a battle at the same time. It was only when he pulled away enough to bite into her lower lip that she realized how badly she needed air, but couldn’t get in a good breath.