Melissa Schroeder - A Santini Takes the Fall (The Santinis Book #9) Read online

  “Come on.” She took his hand as if she meant to lead him into the bedroom like a little boy. He wasn’t about to let her do that. He stopped, yanked on her hand until she turned back around. Quickly, he lifted her up in his arms. She giggled, and the light sound moved through him. It was a magical sound that he knew he had taken for granted one too many times. But at this moment, in this time, he knew he was the one who had made her laugh, and he felt like he owned the world.

  When he did nothing but stand there and stare at her, her smile faded. “What?”

  He shook his head and kissed her. “Just sounded nice.”

  “Oh, no, Santini, don’t get too nice on me. We might have issues then.”

  He shook his head as he took her to the bedroom. “Any other woman would melt when I said their laughter sounded nice.”

  “Why do I care what other women would do? And why would you care at this moment? You have me.”

  He stopped in front of her bed. How could this woman he needed to have so badly do this to him? She was arguing with him even as he was taking her to bed.

  “Did anyone ever tell you that you have a big ego?”

  She snorted. “Pot, kettle, black.”

  With a laugh, he tossed her on the bed and followed her down. She bounced up with a laugh, then moaned as he pressed his lips against her. The sound of it skated across his flesh and sunk into his soul. From the moment he met her, he had been a little out of control and now, he relished it. He wanted nothing more than to lose every bit of his restraint and just feel.

  But—he also wanted to take his time. He pulled back from the kiss, and she protested by pressing her hand against the back of his head. He was laughing as she took possession of his mouth. His blood heated to boiling as his arousal surged. Soon, though, he needed more. He needed to feel his flesh against hers. He pulled back and this time Lalani let him go.

  Anthony slipped from the bed and pulled her along. With fast movements, he slipped the sundress off her body. It slipped down, each inch revealing golden brown skin. She was wearing a strapless bra and matching panties. It was all lace and silky material.

  His first instinct was to rush, but something told him to take his time. This moment was important. He skimmed the back of his knuckles over the tops of her breasts. Then he walked around her, keeping physical contact with her the entire time.

  “I feel like you’re going to kick my tires.”

  He chuckled. “Sorry, but lord, woman, if I had known that reality was better than the fantasy, I don’t think I would have lasted a day without trying to get you into bed.”

  “Are you telling me that you fantasized about me?”

  He chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Morning, noon, and night, Hawkins.”

  Leaning forward, he kissed her shoulder and saw her quick smile. Again, something nudged at him, pulling on his heart—and other important bits. It left him lightheaded, but he shoved it aside again.

  With easy, slow movements, he undid her bra, letting it fall to the floor with her dress. The woman was made of long, lean muscles and fragrant, golden brown skin. And lord help him, her ass. He had fantasized about it more than once, but he had never known perfection like this existed in the world. Her training had made her what she was on the outside, but add that to the woman he was starting to get to know, and he was overwhelmed.

  He lifted her hair up and over her shoulder. He kissed the nape of her neck.

  “Hmm.” It was all that came to mind. His body was raring to go, and he was pretty sure all the blood in his brain had drained. He kissed his way down her spine, then leaned down to slip her panties off. He turned her around, laying her out on the bed again. She settled back on her elbows and frowned.

  “Don’t think you aren’t getting naked, Santini.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t have to be warned more than once.”

  In what he was sure was record time, he’d slipped off his clothes, then stepped close to the bed. She sat up and wrapped her hand around his erection. He closed his eyes as he tipped his head back. With nimble movements, she stroked him, testing his already strained control. A shudder moved through him before he could stop it.

  He took the sweet torture until he knew it had passed beyond his control.

  “Enough,” he said, pushing her back onto the bed. When he saw the knowing little smile, he decided to pay her back for that.

  First though, he took in the sight of her. God, almighty how had he gotten so damned lucky?

  He kissed her mouth first, taking his time to drink in the unique flavor of her. Slowly, he kissed his way down her neck, scraping his teeth over her pulse point, then licking it before moving further down.

  When he reached her breasts, he teased one, pinching it between his fingers as he bent his head to pull the other between his lips. He pulled her to the edge of the bed, and spread her legs wide. After kneeling beside the bed, he pressed his mouth against the very center of her. Slipping his tongue into her sex, he shuddered again. The sweet, pungent taste of her danced over his taste buds. She moaned his name and started to keep rhythm with him, lifting her hips off the mattress.

  He slipped his hands under her ass and lifted her up, controlling her movements. He continued to taste and tease, pulling back each time he felt her nearing the edge of completion. Soon, though, he knew he had pushed himself too far. He needed to be inside of her, to lose himself to the pleasure.

  With his hands and his mouth, he pushed her over the precipice. She slipped her hands into his hair and held him against her sex. As she shouted his name, she convulsed, her body bucking up against his mouth. He didn’t stop there. As she was coming down from her orgasm, he stroked her into other one.

  Anthony would have loved to take his time and give her more pleasure, but he just couldn't take a chance on embarrassing himself. He stood, grabbed his shorts, so he could get a condom. By the time he had it on; his hands were shaking. She had already moved further onto the bed and he joined her there. Settling on his knees, he grabbed her hips. They both moaned when he started moving. He couldn’t wait, couldn’t savor the moment. Not now. As he drove into her again and again, he thought of nothing else but their mutual gratification.

  She wrapped those long legs around him, squeezing him closer. She met him thrust for thrust as he neared his orgasm. He kissed her then, stealing inside for another taste of her. In that moment, her inner muscles squeezed his cock hard as she came once again. He followed her, thrusting into her one last time and losing himself to pleasure.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Lalani woke up a short time later a bit disoriented. Her blinds still showed a bit of the setting sun and she was in bed. She looked down and found Anthony’s arm draped over her. Her lips curved as satisfaction moved through her. She looked up at him, his eyes were closed, but she could tell he wasn’t sleeping—just drifting like she had been.

  “Not bad, Santini.”

  He opened one eye. “Not bad? I think I heard you call my name at least twice.”

  She chuckled. “Well, there was that. But, considering your age, and the fact that you aren’t a dancer…”

  Before she could blink, he was above her looking down at her with a frown. “My age?”

  She laughed. “Okay, you were amazing.”

  He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, then settled down beside her again. “Are you telling me you’ve never slept with anyone but dancers?”

  She shrugged. “Or former dancers. There was one regular guy, but it’s hard to meet people out of the business. It is a very insulated world.”

  “How?”

  “It’s hard to describe, but I don’t think it is much different than the military.”

  He snorted. “I beg to differ.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “Yes.”

  She didn’t mind it. So many people thought the life of a dancer was easy. But it wasn’t, and it took most of her life up for several years while she lived in New York.

  “W
hen I was a dancer, I was up at four in the morning, every morning. I had practice much of the day. Performances at night. My days were usually about sixteen hours of training, exercising, and performing.”

  “Okay, but can you kill someone with just your hands?”

  “Nope. Don’t wanna, but I am sure I can unman someone who doesn’t take me seriously.”

  He chuckled and kissed her shoulder, sighing contentedly. The sound of it shifted through her. It was as if the one act of making love made her in tune with him. It was troubling on one level, but on another level, she just didn’t care. Her body was still humming, and it was hard to panic when that was going on.

  “I didn’t really expect to take you to bed tonight.”

  “Yeah? I think someone said something about me being beneath you when you came into my apartment.”

  He kissed her shoulder again. “Okay, there is that, but I had wanted to take it slow.”

  “What for?”

  “Important things should be.”

  “Oh, good Lord, you sound like an instruction manual.”

  “I wanted you to know that I didn’t just come here and take you without thinking it through. It is important for you to know that you’re important.”

  She studied him for a long moment and, for some reason, almost felt like crying. Why? Was it because it was the sweetest thing a man had said to her? Or was it because she knew at this moment, it wasn’t a line and he really meant it? Probably a little of both.

  “Okay.”

  The serious moment over, his lips curved. “Now, back to this only dating dancers.”

  “Oh, I thought you might have forgotten about it.”

  “I just asked you about it.”

  “Well, considering your age.”

  He goosed her and she squealed. “Now, tell me.”

  “Okay, what do you want to know?”

  “Your dating practices.”

  She pulled herself up and rested on her elbow. She brushed some of his hair back from his forehead. “As I said, all those work hours, it is really hard to keep a social life. What little of one I did have was with other dancers. When I was younger, all I cared about was dance. And, being a Marine brat didn’t help.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, indignation filling his voice.

  “Well, I was a little bit of a rebel.”

  “Hard to believe.”

  “You know what it’s like living on base. A lot of the guys I went to school with and lived by were bucking to be Marines. That was something I wanted to avoid. I love my father, but I have never been someone who had daddy issues.”

  He toyed with the ends of her hair, wrapping a strand of it around his finger, then letting it loose to watch it unravel.

  “And so, I didn’t date a lot before I went to New York.”

  “Except for dancers.”

  She nodded. “We need to eat.”

  Her stomach growled proving her point.

  He chuckled. “Yeah. I’m hungry too.”

  She gave him a kiss, then slipped from bed. “Did you want to order in?”

  “Nothing to eat here?”

  She shook her head as she grabbed her red silk robe. “I’ve been too busy all week getting ready for the recital.”

  “Recital?” he asked as he stood and grabbed his knit boxers.

  She watched as that magnificent Santini ass disappeared. She was starting to truly understand Alana’s preoccupation with Marco now. Every one of the Santinis she had met were wonderful examples of male beauty. Although, now that she thought about it, she preferred Anthony’s long lean muscles.

  He turned before she could avert her eyes. By the time her gaze met his, she wanted to smack the knowing smile off his face.

  “So, what can we order in?” he asked.

  “I guess we could go out.”

  He shook his head as he walked toward her.

  “Why not?”

  “Going out gets in the way.”

  “Of what?”

  “Getting you back beneath me.”

  She went easily into his arms, heat already flaring low in her belly as arousal warmed her blood.

  “I bet you would have just as much fun beneath me.” His erection pressed against her stomach.

  His lips twitched as he leaned down. “I think I can agree to that.

  Then, he walked them back to the bed. He fell on it, pulling her with him.

  “Why don’t you prove it to me?”

  She laughed and straddled him. She was already wet, growing damper by the second.

  “Wait,” he said. He pointed at his wallet. Lalani leaned over to pull out some more condoms, dropping the extras on the table next to her bed, then setting one on the bed.

  “So, about having as much fun…”

  She smiled as she leaned down and kissed him. Slowly, she made her way down his body just as he had with her. Kissing and nipping his flesh as she went. She pulled off his boxers, and grabbed hold of his cock. She stroked him, enjoying the way his eyes closed and the moan that slipped from his lips. She had never been shy about sex, but there was a different feeling with Anthony. He didn’t just make her feel good. He made her feel powerful.

  She leaned down and laid the flat of her tongue against the tip, before taking him fully into her mouth. Keeping her hand at the base, she moved up and down, grazing her teeth against the crown of his penis every now and then.

  He threaded his fingers through her hair as he molded his hands to the back of her head. Soon, though, it was apparently too much. He pulled her up and over him, then cussed.

  She laughed as she grabbed the condom before he could. She took it between her teeth, and ripped it open. Anthony tried to grab it, but she swatted his hands away.

  “Hey,” he said, laughing.

  “I said, I was on top and that means in everything.”

  She thought he might get irritated, but he didn’t. Instead, his eyes darkened, and his mouth curved up.

  “I’m at your mercy.”

  With very slow movements, and much teasing on her part, she rolled the condom on, rising up so she could slide down onto his erection. She started to move, up and down, allowing them both time to enjoy the feeling.

  She was still a little sensitive from their first time together, but she didn’t care. Pleasure rippled through her as Anthony placed his hands on her hips. He wasn’t trying to control her, but gave her support. Heat traveled up her spine as she felt her orgasm approaching, but it stayed just out of reach.

  Frustrated, she growled. Anthony chuckled. She opened her eyes and frowned down at him as she stopped moving.

  “Just move, baby. I’ll help you.”

  She did as he suggested. He slipped his hand between them, teasing the little bundle of nerves at her apex. In the next instant, her orgasm rushed over her.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s it, Lalani.”

  He started thrusting up with her, his hands taking her hips under his control. She barely noticed as he shouted her name again, as he drove up inside of her and gave himself over to his own orgasm. Moments later, she collapsed on top of him.

  His heart was hammering against her ear and she smiled. With considerable effort, she rose up and looked at him.

  “See, I told you.”

  He chuckled as he skimmed his fingers over her rear end.

  “And I am a man who knows when to admit when a woman is right. Especially when it ends so spectacularly.”

  She smiled and rested her head on his chest again. It was definitely the perfect way to end her week.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  They finally made it to a kitchen about an hour later. Anthony had been insistent on taking a shower, and that she join him. It hadn’t taken him much to get her into the tub with him.

  “Stop smiling,” she said as she dropped the takeout menus on the breakfast bar.

  “You say that like it’s a crime to smile.”

  She shook her head. “It’s the way y
ou do it.”

  “How do I do it?”

  She pursed her lips and studied him. He wasn’t a man that usually had an issue with attention from women, but things were different with Lalani. Her interest always had the ability to make him feel like a fumbling thirteen-year-old. He had to fight the urge to shift in the chair.

  The moment he saw her mouth curve upward, he knew she was fucking with him. With a growl, he rose out of the chair and grabbed her. She squealed as he pulled her back down on his lap.

  He gave her a loud smacking kiss. “And, I’m smiling because I just had amazing shower sex with one of the sexiest women who has ever walked the streets of Honolulu.”

  She patted his cheek. “Nice save, Santini.”

  “So, what do you want to eat tonight?”

  She picked up a couple of menus and started to look through them. She hummed as she studied them. She was always humming in some way. He had noticed it from the moment he had met her. It wasn’t something that stood out, but even if she wasn’t singing, there was a way about her that was always musical. He knew it came from her training in dance, but part of it was the woman. Now, he noticed it more and more often. It was a happy sound that never failed to make his heart dance a little.

  “Big City Diner or The Fat Greek?”

  “Got any Thai?”

  She nodded and picked up a menu from Phuket Thai. “I’ll take some Pad Thai, extra spicy,” he said without looking at it.

  “Fair enough.”

  She dropped the other menus on the table and opened the Thai one. He was happy to watch her. He pushed some of her hair back over her shoulder, then found himself toying with the ends of it again. He was becoming obsessed with her hair. With her. He’d come to the realization that his need for her wasn’t going away, not any time soon. She had been sneaking into his thoughts from the day he’d met her. Now, he couldn’t go more than a few minutes before she came to mind. Anthony wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but at the moment, he didn’t even want to think what it meant.

  “Do you want any appetizers?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.