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Chapter 27: A Tasting
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The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 28: Heating Up In The Kitchen
I'm testing a spicy variation of my new caramel recipe when the jingle of the bell on my bakery's door announces Dante's arrival at a quarter to four on Monday afternoon.I freeze. He's early. I should have known he'd be early.My last three hours have been spent in intense concentration. It's easy to let my mind wander when I'm making recipes I've made a hundred times before. But when I'm testing things, I want to make sure I take in every detail, notice every shift in color or texture, taste or smell. It has made it much easier to forget about why I'm here today.But now that Dante has arrived, I can't distract myself anymore - and I refuse to examine whether my heart has sped up due to nerves or anticipation."I'm in the kitchen!" I call. The caramel sauce I'm stirring has just started to thicken and I can't walk away. "I'll be out in a minute."There's no response. But a second later, I hear the kitchen door swing open behind me."Give me a moment to finish this sauce," I say
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 29: His First Taste
Dante leans close to me, his chest brushing my back."No one who sees you here could ever doubt that this is what you were born to do," he says in a husky tone. "It shines through you. It's visible in every brick in this place. And, no doubt, through every bit of food that comes out of this kitchen." He leans even closer, looking down over my shoulder. "What is it you said you were making?"How could such a simple, ordinary question sound so intimate?"Caramel sauce," I answer softly."May I try it?"The color and texture are finally just about right - I see no reason to deny him a taste. I switch off the burner and reach over to grab a couple of the disposable plastic spoons I use for taste testing."It's extremely hot, so let it cool a moment first," I say as I scoop a little of the sauce up in each spoon. "And it's a new recipe, so it might need some tweaking. I haven't even had a chance to try it yet.""I'm sure it will be delicious." He's still right behind me, so I pass hi
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 30: Just One More Taste
Dante's finger hovers in the space between us, that bit of buttercream waiting for my tongue.I can't believe that I'm arguing with him about this. He's supposed to be the serious one. Not the one tempting me into breaking the rules. And though he's right that these particular bits of cake and frosting will never be served to the public, I still find myself resisting. Especially since he's holding his hand out as if he expects me to lick his finger.But I can tell by the look on his face that he's testing me. Teasing me. And I'm not exactly the sort of girl who backs down from a challenge.Okay. I'll play.Rather than dip my head and lick the frosting right off his skin, I use my own finger to scoop off a bit of the buttercream and bring it to my lips."There," I say after it melts on my tongue. "I've licked my finger. Are you happy now?""Not nearly." He grabs my hand and lifts it up. "You've left a good bit of frosting on your skin."I'd hardly call what's left on my finger a
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 31: In Which I Make A Very Bad Decision (Again)
A sound rises in my throat that's half sob and half moan, but I can't fight this anymore. I don't want to fight it. Dante drops my wrists and loops his arms around me, pulling me against his chest, and his hands are everywhere - cradling my lower back, gliding up my spine, threading through my hair - and always pulling me closer. Deeper. His lips devour mine, and when I try to catch my breath his mouth moves around my face, kissing up my tears, erasing them with his lips and tongue. Taking all of my pain, all of my hurt, all of my anger. Everything I've built up over these past three years is pouring out of me as desire, as need. I'm dizzy with it.His mouth dances over my cheeks. My eyelids. My jaw. My throat. And I kiss him just as fiercely wherever I can reach - his neck, his ear, his temple."You made me crazy," he says against my throat. "You still do. It never stopped." He spins me around and presses my back against the table, then buries his face against my neck again. "There'
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 32: I Hate Him
Dante undoes my jeans as his mouth moves to my other nipple. Then his hands move to my hips and slide down my thighs until he can pull my legs away from his waist. I make a sound of protest, but he compensates by giving me an especially passionate nip with his teeth, and I relent. This allows him to pull my jeans and underwear down my legs, leaving me completely naked beneath him. No sooner have my jeans hit the floor than he's undoing his own fly and pushing his pants down his legs.It's been so long since I've seen him naked. So long since I've admired the hard planes of his chest, or followed the dark trail of hair from his belly button down to his groin, or marveled at the hard, thick length of him. But neither of us seems to want to waste time on studying each other's bodies. We're both slaves to a larger need, a deeper hunger. He leans down fully against me, capturing my mouth again, and the feel of his full weight against me, of his rigid arousal pressed between my legs, is so
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 33: This Was A Terrible Idea
Dante moves first, rolling off of me and onto his side. But he keeps one of his arms around me, letting his fingers trail lightly, soft as a kiss, across the skin of my belly. Part of me longs to lean into him, to keep the connection between us, and the other part wants to get far away from this - from him - as fast as possible.I sit up, still trembling."Not yet," Dante says, his strong arm sliding around my waist. "I'm not done with you."He pulls me back down, right against his chest. I sink back, melting against the familiar, heady scent of his skin. His body is still slick with perspiration. God help me.His lips are at my neck, warm and velvety and intoxicating. His fingers drift down between my legs, down to where I'm still wet with the evidence of our ecstasy. Part of me wants to sink into that feeling, to drown in him again, to forget about all the heartache this man has caused me.But the other part of me can never, ever forget.My stomach clenches. I feel like I'm goi
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 34: The Heartbreak
For days afterward, I'm in a daze.I don't feel like myself. My head throbs. My heart feels tired. My body... my body feels different. It's been so long since I've had sex that I feel as if I've reawakened parts of myself, stirred long-dormant nerves back to life. My skin is more sensitive than usual, and there's a tender feeling between my legs that reminds me too much of the soreness I felt the day after he took my virginity. The marks left by his mouth and nails linger on me for even longer - and in spite of everything, I find myself reliving the passionate nips of his teeth every time I catch sight of those bruises in my bathroom mirror.I'm hopeless.The worst part is that every time my cell rings, every time the bell on the door of the bakery jingles, my heart leaps as if I expect him to be there. And when it isn't him, I'm flooded with an unsettling mixture of disappointment and relief.Serves me right. I got what I wanted, didn't I? He seems content to leave me alone, and n
The Fontaines of Hollywood series: The Sweet Taste of Sin Chapter 35: The Interview
The ache in my heart is still there now, after all this time. But so is the desire, so are all the intense emotions that drew me to Dante in the first place.He said he wasn't going to let you walk away from him this time, I remind myself. But that doesn't mean our problems are gone, or that Dante suddenly finds me worthy of inclusion in his public life. We have an intense physical connection, sure, but even the best sex in the world isn't worth the heartache I know I'll experience if I continue this madness.I'm a mess at work. I screw up recipes I've made a hundred times before. I forget a pan of muffins in the oven. I'm hardly functioning. Mama Pat starts to look at me like I'm insane. But it's hard to work when I'm standing right where it happened - I can't look at my workstation without remembering the way the metal felt against my back. I gave everything the scrubbing to end all scrubbings - this is still my place of business, after all - but I can't clean away those vivid memo
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