Dante (Blood Brothers Book 5) (31 page)

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true. Being a lone wolf, I had run-ins with those who wanted to kill me and I did what I had
to
. So yes, in those cases I did kill, but never while I was with the Serpent Gang. When they’d gotten involved with Beatrice and Adonis, I left them but even before then I’d began to distance myself from them. They killed this innocent family while I just watched and I did nothing to stop them. I know it sounds horrible and it was. I should have stood up to them. I tried to save the child but they found her and there was nothing I could do because if I stopped them
,
they would have turned on me. I admit I’m a coward for that and it haunts me daily. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

Shaking his head, he snorted. “You don’t get it, do you?”

Isis balled her hands into fists at her sides
. She wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say.
“Obviously not,
but I hope you’ll tell me
.”

“I asked you repeatedly if there was something you needed to tell me, but you kept the secret of your past to yourself
.
You’re a liar, and who’s to say your past won’t come back to haunt you? It usually does, you know. There may be someone you crossed
that
you didn’t quite finish off. They could be
lying
in wait to take their revenge on you. Do you think I would allow my family to be put in that kind of danger after what they’ve already been through? I don’t need that shit, so I suggest you get the hell out of here
,
while I can still think rationally.”

His words
hurt far more than any of the wounds she’d suffered in battle
. However, his small display of emotion gave her enough hope to remain in the room.
If he didn’t care for her, he wouldn’t be so passionate in his conviction.
Torn between anger and sadness, Isis strode over to Dante and grabbed him by the collar, hot tears scalding her cheeks. “I was scared, Dante! From the moment we met,
I fell head
over heels for you. And when I learned what Black Adder was up to, I volunteered to help, not only for the sake of your family, but to be with you. I wanted you to get to know me before I revealed my past to you. I never lied to you.”

His dark blue gaze narrowed. “A lie by omission is just as much a lie as one spoken.”

He attempted to shrug her off, but she held on, refusing to let go of this man, her heart’s true mate, without a fight. “Well if you believe nothing else, know that I love you. That wasn’t a lie. We belong together and I know you
feel it
,
too.”

Dante stiffened. “Isis, your
five
minutes are up. Let go and get out.”

“No!” With her pride already in tatters
,
where he was concerned, she had nothing to lose. She
couldn’t let things end this way
. “
Dante I didn’t imagine you telling me you cared about me. You’re not the kind of man who would lie about something like that
.
Love isn’t something that can be turned on and off at the snap of
your
finger
s
.”

“You don’t know shit about me!”

“I do! I know
you’re passionate
about the things you believe in. I know you love your family. I know I’ve hurt you by hiding the truth
from
you and if I could change it
,
I would. I know you still have feelings for me. You couldn’t have made love to me the way you did or kissed me so tenderly
,
if you felt nothing.”

“We didn’t make love, Isis. We fucked. I’ve fucked a lot of women in my lifetime, and I can’t say there was anything particularly memorable about my experience with you.”

He could have punched her in the stomach and it wouldn’t have knocked the breath out of her the way his cutting statement had. There was no need for Dante to push her away because she released her tight grip on him as if her fingers had been scorched. “You don’t mean that,” she croaked in a hoarse, shaky whisper.

With a vindictive tilt of his lips, he reached out and pulled her roughly against him. “I don’t? How about I prove it to you?”

Even now when she should have
pulled away in the face of his cruelty
, Isis found herself trembling within the circle of his arms.
She was hypnotized by his stare as
he lowered his head and the warmth of his breath touched her lips
. Isis
tilted her head back, ready to feel the press of his mouth against hers.

Instead of kissing her as she’d expected, he chuckled. His cobalt gaze turned to a dark glowing gold and his fangs descended. “S
o eager for it, aren’t you, Isis
?”

His taunt was a bucket of ice water to the face. Splaying her palms against his chest, she gave him a shove, but he was unmovable.
She gasped
when Dante gripped her ass in his large hands, forcing her pelvis against his. The thickness of his cock seared her through their clothing. “
Let me go.”
She wanted him, but not like this.

“What’s the matter, Isis? Don’t you like this?
I thought this was what you came for
;
my
cock in
your hungry little cunt.
You really should make up your mind about what you want. First you need me and you love me; now you want me to
let you go
? Which is it?”

Isis realized he was still angry with her but she didn’t expect him to be so vicious toward her
.
“I came to talk to you. I was hoping you would allow me to explain to you why I had lied but now
,
I see you’re in no mood to listen. Please let me go.”

Again that cruel smirk curved his lips. “
I told you I didn’t want to talk to you when you arrived, but you insisted so now here we are. You don’t get to play the victim now. Besides, the last thing you want is for me to release you.
The heat from your body gives you away every time, Isis. You w
ant me, don’t you?
” Dante lowered his head again, but instead of kissing her, he grazed her neck with his fangs.

Isis trembled involuntarily
. He was right. She was hot.
The heat within her core spread through her body as Dante
ground
his dick against the juncture of her thighs.
She opened her mouth to deny him, but closed it immediately. She would be fooling no one
. She couldn’t
deny him this even if she wasn’t happy with the circumstances.

Dante kept one hand pressed against her lower back as he gyrated his hips against her
s
. He worked her body into a frenzy while
he used his other hand to thread his finger
s
in
her
hair
. He
gave it a hard tug, forcing her head back to expose the column of her neck.
Then he
raked his incisors against the tender flesh, pricking her skin but not burrowing those fangs into her neck as she secretly desired him to.

Chuckling, he raised his head to meet her gaze. “You don’t have to answer. You
r
body says it all, but I wonder if it’s me or would any vampire do?” His grin widened as he gauged her expression. “Oh, you didn’t think I knew about your vampire fetish? I have a way of finding these things out. Would it give you a thrill for me to sink my te
eth into your delectable skin
? Would you like that as I finger that tight little pussy? Or do you want it rough? Do you want to be fucked like the bitch you are?”

She whimpered as his words flayed her like daggers. Even he continued his verbal assault
,
she felt helpless against his touch. Her body was his to do what he whatever he wanted to it. Isis
pressed herself against him
tighter still
. She couldn’t help herself. Besides her love for him, Dante Grimaldi had a powerful sexual hold on her she couldn’t deny.

“There’s no point in lying about it, Isis.
You want it bad
,
don’t
you
? And guess what? I’m going to give it to you.
”
Dante gripped her shoulders and twisted her around until his erection pushed against her backside.

Hooking one arm around her waist, he wrapped his hand around her throat, his fingers pressing against her windpipe until she
could barely breathe
. “What? No words, Isis?” he
softly taunted
.

She closed her eyes,
ashamed of easily she had surrendered to him no matter how cruel his touch
.
This was a
mockery of their earlier lovemaking
but she couldn’t help herself where this man was concerned
. Moistening her lips, she leaned her head against his shoulder, craving the feel of his lips against her skin while silently cursing her weakness.

Da
nte shoved his hands inside the elastic
waistband of her pants and brushed his fingertips against her mons. Isis shuddered violently. “Oh!” she cried out in a mixture of surprise and delight. Arching her back, she wiggled her bottom against him, silently encouraging his erotic exploration.

“No panties? It seems you’ve come prepared.”

She shook her head as much as she was able to. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Of course it wasn’t, Isis.” His tone clearly underlined his disbelief. “Spread ‘em. Show me how much you want
me
, my deceitful little shifter.”

When he had made love to her before
, Dante had been tender, whispering words of endearment. But not now. He seemed hell-bent on shaming her, and he was doing a pretty damn good job of it. But she couldn’t
bring herself to
leave
. The insatiable need to be near him was too strong to fight. Isis wished she weren’t so damn needy where he was concerned. She’d vowed to never be one of those women who let a man use her. But here she was, giving in to a dark carnality she knew couldn’t be healthy.

He continued on, shoving his hands farther between her thighs and pinching her outer labia together until she cried out from pleasure and pain.
Something this
wrong
,
shouldn’t have felt so right.
“Dante,” she sighed, fearful her knees would give out
from
under her.

Dante slipped his fingers into her damp folds and caught her clit between his thumb and forefinger, rolling the tiny bud of nerves until it grew thick and sensitive to the near pain. “I shouldn’t want you
so much, but I can’t help myself
,” he muttered, rubbing and twisting her nubbin until she writhed against him uncontrollably.

His admission should have made h
er happy, but it didn’t. He still fought
their attraction and it frustrated her. “You want me because we’re bonded forever.”

“The only bonding between us will be my
dick
in your pussy. Don’t read more into this than there is.” As if to prove his point, Dante released her
clit
and roughly shoved two fingers in
side
her. There was no gentleness or finesse in his touch,
but
it still drove her insane with passion.

She bit her bottom lip, drawing blood, to stop herself from crying out again. Even before this battle of sexual domination had begun, Dante had been the victor and they both knew it. This depraved desire she derived from his careless caresses only showed what little shame she had where he was concerned. Isis
however, tried to break through his anger toward her
.
“I’m not the one who’s mistaken, you
are.
You’re my mate and I’m yours
.”

He continued to finger her, shoving his digits faster and deeper into her. The hand resting on her throat tightened as h
is incisors nicked her skin
again. She rode his fingers, moving closer to her peak. Dante pushed another finger into her soaking wet channel, stretching her vaginal walls to their limit. But it seemed he wasn’t finished with her yet
. He was
on
a
quest
for
sexual torture. He slipped yet another finger into her, and Isis stiffened as she realized what he meant to do. “No! Don’t. Please don’t!” For the first time since he pulled her against him she tried to break away, but his grip tightened around her.

Dante moved his hand away from her throat and circled her body with his arm until it rested under her breasts. His menacing chuckle
caressed
her ears. “Why not, Isis? You love me, don’t you? We belong together, right? Those were your words, were they not? Why shouldn’t I be able to express how I feel to the woman I supposedly love beyond reason?”