Rosa

Chapter 43

Pulling away slightly, Rosa tilted her face up as she glared at Cristiano. Seconds strained between them, and the bastard stared down at her, impassively, as though he hadn't processed a single word she spat at him. Rosa could tell that he was giving her rien on purpose. Nothing. No reaction. Save for the tick in his jaw. Such defiance only served to agitate Rosa's already turbulent emotions.

She cast him a reproachful look. "I thought you were a man of your word? Quelle déception!"

How disappointing!

"I am a man of my word."

"Prove it."

"I have nothing to prove to you."

"You have everything to prove to me."

Cristiano eyed her with a touch of indignation. "You think you are in charge now?"

"I do not think it," she retorted, challenging him to prove her otherwise. "I know it."

Her temper felt all revved up, ready to battle his resistance with her own iron will. Scowling, Rosa placed a hand on his shoulder. She gave him a firm nudge, directing him away from the living room.

She ordered, "Allez-y. Après vous."

Please. After you.

To her surprise, the bastard didn't protest or put up a fight. Step by step, he let her usher him down the hallway. Through his bedroom door. Across his bedroom. They halted beside his bed.

Using a voice that demanded obedience, Rosa growled, "Get on your knees, mon beau."

Her provocative command struck the air. It echoed with the promise of sex and sin. Cristiano's devil-black eyes darkened considerably. Desire glimmered from their depths. Heat pulsed through Rosa's veins. Between them, a burst of passionate tension detonated like hellfire across a minefield, engulfing all traces of resistance until Cristiano appeared mesmerized by the inferno.

Donning an indignant expression, he began to lower himself. Cristiano dropped to one knee. Then, he sank down fully, kneeling before Rosa like a fallen soldier succumbing to a worthier adversary.

Softly, she praised, "Bon petit agneau."

Good little lamb.

He glowered menacingly at Rosa, "Do not look so smug. I am only playing along so you can see that my word is bond. Enjoy your fun while it lasts."

"Oh, believe me," she preened, "I will enjoy every minute of our fun."

With a wicked smirk, Rosa reached over to run her fingers through Cristiano's thick, black hair, dragging her fingernails across his scalp a little harder than necessary. Cristiano winced but he didn't pull away.

Still gripping Cristiano's hair, Rosa tilted his face up. "Look at me."

He gazed at her with a tightened jaw.

"Do not touch," she warned in sultry tones. "Until I say otherwise, you may use only your eyes."

Cristiano didn't appear to agree with these rules. He protested right away, "What if I—"

Rosa chided harshly, "Hush."

With deft hands, Rosa started strip-teasing each article of clothing from her body. Lingering over buttons and snaps. Playing peek-a-boo with the fabric over her skin. Cristiano's mouth snapped shut. He became a man entranced. His gaze followed every slip and slide of fabric. Every loosened centimeter. Each button that came undone revealed more and more of her lush dips and feminine curves.