The Unwanted Conti Bride (The Legendary Conti Brothers) Read Online Free

how easily his plan had gone utterly wrong ten years ago. How, even for his jaded palate, Sophia had proved to be too much of a temptation.
    Dio, suggesting marriage to him, of all men... Hadn’t she learned her lesson? Why was she tempting the devil in him?
    He was tempted. What man wouldn’t want to muss up those ugly dresses and that shrewish facade and want to find the soft woman beneath? What man wouldn’t want a claim on that kind of loyalty, on that steely core of her?
    He set her away from him, none too gently. Lust riding him hard, he drew one rattling breath after another.
    He controlled the pursuit of pleasure and the pleasure itself. Without shame or scruples, he used his charm, his looks, to draw women to him, amused himself for a time and then walked away.
    He’d carefully built his life to be that and nothing more. He’d trampled her innocence even when he’d intended to do the right thing once. But in the end, he’d left. He would walk away again.
    After having a small taste. She really expected it of him—to behave abominably, to torture her with his lascivious words and deeds. He couldn’t disappoint her.
    His humor restored, he eased his grip on her. Instantly she shoved at him. He didn’t budge. “I can think of an infinitely more pleasurable and mature way to vent your frustration.”
    “It’s hard to be mature when you laugh in my face like this.”
    “Your dignity is that fragile? The Sophia I keep hearing about in boardrooms and business mergers is apparently nothing short of Goddess Diana.”
    He curved his mouth into his trademark smile. Her glare didn’t dim one bit. If anything, she stiffened even more.
    Dio , when was the last time he had had such fun? And they hadn’t even shed their clothes yet. “I was right, it is I that gets under your skin.”
    Her eyelids fell slowly. A second to restore her quaking defenses. Right on cue, she looked up, her fiery glare renewed. “I forgot that it’s all a big joke to you.”
    “Being a debauched playboy who cares for nothing is hard work.”
    “I was stupid to think we could have a mature conversation. All you—”
    “Then persuade me.”
    “What?”
    Surprise in her gaze filled him with a strange satisfaction. Shocking, needling, generally startling Sophia out of that hard shell could become addictive. “Persuade me. Indulge me. Make me an irresistible offer.”
    * * *
    Make herself irresistible to the most beautiful man on the face of the planet? A man who held nothing sacred?
    “I have a better chance of finding treasure in my backyard,” she said softly. Wistfulness snuck into her voice and she cringed.
    “Kiss me, then.”
    “What?” She rubbed her temples, dismayed at how he reduced her to a mumbling idiot.
    “Put your lips on mine and pucker them up. Your hands can go on my shoulders or my hips or if you’re feeling bold, you can grab my ass—”
    “What? Why?” Years of oratory at debate club evaporated, her brain only offering whats and whys.
    “That should be the first step for a couple considering marriage, si ? I could never marry a woman who didn’t know how to kiss.”
    Don’t. Look. At. His. Mouth. “It’s obvious you’re only torturing me and will never really consider it and you...” She looked and the contoured lushness of it made her lick her own lips, which made him grin and prompted her to raise her gaze. “Your lover is lying in your bed and you’re—”
    “If you’d been paying attention and not mooning over me—” Sophia fisted her hands, just fighting the urge to wipe that satisfied smile off his face, for he was right, damned devil “—then you would know that Mariana and I are over.”
    “You just said you wore her out!” Her brow cleared. “You said that just to rile me up, didn’t you? There was hardly any time between when you left and I found you for you to...to—” She couldn’t believe what her logic led her to say. If only she could stop blushing! “— wear her out