Chapter 40: Chapter 40

Paige swallowed. "Should she tell him it was because she was in love with him and was hoping he would date her? Or should she lie outright and deflect his questions? In the end, she decided on the truth.

"My ex treated me horribly and no, am not still pinning after him." Her voice was bitter, skipping entirely the reason she was still single.

Leo's face fell. "Do you…Do you care to elaborate on that a little more?"

No matter how casual he tried to make that sound. Or how disinterested he tried to sound. Paige couldn't help noticing the subject was of interest to him.

So she lifted her chin. Felt like she was being bared open and wondering what his sudden interest in her past was. "Why don't you tell me about your love life instead."

She had expected him to close off after asking that question. Instead, he leaned back in the chair and smiled. Amusement danced on his lips at the look on her face. Had he realized what she was trying to do?

"Where do I start?"

Now she has been presented with the opportunity to dictate where he would start. Paige didn't know what to ask. "Em… you can start by telling me how many women you have dated before. Wait a minute, no tell me how many women you have ever been in love with?"

Leo threw his head back and laughed. A raw, masculine laugh that did things to Paige's body. "From my college days till now I have dated eight women but was only ever in love with five."

"Those five must have been special for you to have loved them."

He fished out a cigarette from his pocket and cupped his hand around it, lighting it. "You think so?" Leo spoke around his cigarette, and Paige nodded her head, but he didn't see it.

The night had gotten quieter and Paige sensed somewhere in the house. The party must be coming to an end.

Leo lifted his head and put his lighter into his pockets, gave a long drag of his cigarette, and smiled at her.

"The first woman I ever loved was older than me."

"How old?"

He puffed out smoke from his mouth and smiled at her. "Five years my senior."

The scent of tobacco reached her, and Paige frowned. Why was he always smiling at her anytime he took a long drag of his cigarette was it that relaxing for him or was he drawing courage from it? Perhaps the topic wasn't an easy one for him to talk about like he tried to make her believe.

As if reading her mind, or was it the look of displeasure on her face, Leo took another drag from his cigarette and then squashed it with his shoe. "I had been pining after her, I had my heart all out for her but she didn't like me. That didn't stop me from trying, however, the result was the same. One day she came to me saying she was ready to be my girl. We dated briefly until I discovered she had decided I might just be of use to her anyway. I had what she wanted. Money."

His mouth tightened, and Paige could feel the bitterness from there to where she was sitting.

He gave a harsh laugh, seeming to get into the mood to talk. "The second one said my love was too intense and overbearing for her. I tried to change that. Turns out she was a lesbian and she was just using me."

"I see you have a knack for picking the worst set of women," Paige murmured. Feeling sorry for him and tried to imagine what it must have felt like.

"Fate has never delt me a good side Bella." His gaze rested on her and he seemed to be thinking about something which Paige couldn't help but feel concerned her. He grinned at her. "I think I will stop here and skip the rest of the soppy story. Surely you don't want to hear it."

Paige didn't mind listening to his soppy story but if it will distress him to talk about it, then she wouldn't ask. So she smiled at him, taking in his features. "If you insist."

"If I insist?" He murmured, seeming absorbed in his thoughts. "Perhaps they were right in their assessment. I'm an overbearing fool when it comes to love, and I fall pretty hard." He went silent after that and Paige realized he hadn't intended to say those words it had just slipped through his mouth.

Seeing the self-deprecation going on within him. Paige's expression altered. "That's not true," she muttered. "I think you are an intelligent man, smart and very kind, and if they can't handle your emotions like that, all intense and raw then it's their loss."

He stared at her in surprise. His brown eyes ran all over her face. She had just defended him, and he knew that.

Finally, his brown eyes locked with hers, and he lifted a hand and caressed her cheek. Paige closed her eyes to enjoy the feel of his hand on her face and then realizing what she was doing snapped open her eyes at once, only to feel the pressure of his firm lips on her mouth. He tasted tobacco and wine. Paige sucked in a breath and closed her eyes again, surrendering to him.

He was gentle, very gentle in the way he handled her as his tongue pried open her mouth, and he suckled at her lower lips before deepening the kiss.

In less than a second, he elicited a moan from her as he kissed her hungrily. His hand trailed slowly on her body, and he hoisted her on his lap. Her red silk gown bunched up around her hip. She was sitting on his erection. Paige felt her cheek burn and pulled her mouth away to stare into his eyes.

And instantly she became aware he knew she knew. But he did nothing, just left her there. She felt it twitching under her, and Paige's knee tightened around his body.

His hand trailed her body and cupped her breast, then moved upwards to cup her shoulders. So fleeting was that action it appeared not to have occurred at all, but the effect was so spontaneous it had Paige throwing her head back and arching her back with a soft moan. Her fingers fisted his shirt at the back. Her nipples instantly turned into hard buds.

He pulled her towards him then and dragged her lips into his while Paige dragged herself excruciatingly slow towards his body. Feeling her lower body ruffle his dick from those layers of clothes between them. Leonardo pulled his lips away from her and moaned. The first verbal sign was that whatever was occurring there was affecting him as much as it was affecting her.

Wanton wickedness seeping into Paige made her want to grind on his groin to see how he would react but before she could act on that Leonardo picked her up and turned her sideways on his lap, so that her two legs were draped at one side of his lap.

This time Paige could swear she felt his erection pushing from under her butt. Her breathing accelerated and became harsh, and she felt her panties become wet. Paige grabbed a hold of his cloth as his hand moved up her legs, getting to her inner thighs, parted her soaked panties moving it to the side, and then he swiped a finger over the lips.

Paige's body jerked up involuntarily, and with a cry on her lips, her thighs clamped shut, trapping Leo's hand there. He held her down and pulled her head down for a kiss, distracting her with it, stroking her thigh until she finally opened it up again.

Replacing his finger with his thump, Leo stroked her in a circular motion which seems to work Paige up. And as he watched her, his breathing became labored and harsh and there were short breaks in his moans. Which sounded hoarse and low. Paige stared at his face and felt a tension coil in her lower abdomen, which caused her to dig her nails into his back and arch her back. Her breast pressed on his chest. Her breathing came out in short gasps.

At that point, he slipped one finger inside her and with three powerful strokes brought her to ecstasy.

He held her body as waves of sexual excitement hit her.

After her climax. Paige looked away, embarrassed, refusing to look at Leo. He lifted her chin and brushed his mouth over hers. "You don't have to feel embarrassed about what happened here," he murmured in her ear and then helped her to clean up her fluid with his handkerchief, which he stuffed in his pockets.

Paige stared at the handkerchief in his pockets and wanted to collect it, but she hadn't come away with her purse where she could hide it. She bit her lips.

"It's okay, let me hold on to it for you."  He leaned down and kissed her lips again, smiling sheepishly at her. "I guess I have worn you out, and you must be uncomfortable in that dress. Why don't you go upstairs and freshen up?"

Paige stood up quietly from the wooden chair. "Are you coming with me?"

He shook his head. "No, I did rather stay here." His face clouded, and Paige noticed for the first time how uncomfortable he looked.

With one glance at his body, Paige realized why? Leonardo was still sporting an erection which he didn't try to hide, however immediately her eyes connected with it. His cock twitched, and he groaned softly. "Paige, just do as you are told. Will you?"

Paige nodded her head and stared at his erection one more time. Swallowing before she turned and left. Wishing she dared to bring him pleasure, as he had done for her