The Duke's Willful Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

after that revealing statement.  She stood up on shaky legs and walked out of the machine, bracing herself for the next flight, unaware of the stunned expression on Dante’s face, assuming he was right behind her.
    Dante eventually followed her, but it took several moments to recover from her words.  They were casual, he thought as he climbed the private jet that would take them from London to Rome.  He glanced at her sitting in yet another leather seat, this time only slightly more relaxed than the last flight.  How he was going to get her through this take off he hadn’t yet figured out.  Or even if he was going to try it.  He took the seat opposite her instead of next to her and she turned away.  That didn’t bother him at all.  He appreciated the slight, needing to put things back into perspective. 
    As the plane taxied down the runway, he pulled out several reports and started making notes in the margins, pretending to ignore Sasha and focus only on the numbers.  Five minutes later, they were speeding down the runway and he glanced up. 
    With a curse, Dante unbuckled his seatbelt and moved across to the seat next to her.  Safety aside, he grabbed her head and pulled her towards him, surprising both of them with the kiss.  It wasn’t tentative.  He meant for the kiss to be a shock, to distract her until they were airborne and then he would push her away. 
    But the moment his lips touched hers, his plan was gone.  The softness of her lips, the flowery scent of her hair and the feel of her skin under his hands as he held her head still for his caress, they all combined to undo him completely.  The insulting kiss he’d meant to deliver changed, his tongue touched her lips, demanding entry and when she opened for him, when he felt her shaking fingers on his hand, the kiss changed, softened, explored.  Gone was the anger, leaving in its wake only the tortuous need that had always preceded their lovemaking.  There had never been any hesitation with Sasha .  She was too vital, too exciting.  And his common sense had always been overridden in her presence . 
    After long minutes where their mouths explored, retuned to each other and furthered their exploration , Dante pulled back, his surprise reflected in her eyes as she stared back at him. 
    He leaned back and cleared his throat.  “We’re airborne now,” he said, his voice husky and gruff.  He jerked away and moved back to the other side of the table, immediately picking up the reports again and writing comments in the margins, acting as if nothing monumental had just occurred .
    Sasha sat in stunned silence, watching him become completely absorbed in his work.  How he could totally disassociate from that kiss, she’d really like to know.  She tried to pretend like it was nothing, but she kept her hands in her lap so he wouldn’t know they were shaking so violently.
    It had always been like this, she thought. 
    She remembered the first day she’d met Dante like it was yesterday…..
    Bundled up against the cold, biting wind, she’d been lugging her portfolio to the studio, head bent and intent on just getting out of the weather as quickly as possible .  She hadn’t seen the tall man heading in the same direction so when they both collided into the door at the same time, she’d looked up intending to apologize for being so clumsy.   But all words stopped in her throat as she looked up at the most handsome man she’d ever met in her life. 
    “My fault,” he said with a lilting accent that instantly made her heartbeat increase.  And his smile….wow!  That smile combined with the eyes from the devil, eyes that showed her all the secret delights he’d like to share with her, and she was a gonner.
    She tried to pull away, but the wind and her large, leather portfolio were making that awkward.  “No, my fault.  I wasn’t watching where I was going,” she said, her hand limply holding the door. 
    A gust of wind reared up at that