Forever Dante: Lucia, Book #11

• Marriage of Convenience
• Secrets, secrets, and more secrets!
• Steamy Romance
• Forced to the Altar

One scorching touch connects love child Lucia Moretti with protective bodyguard, Ty Masterson. One passionate night together changes their lives forever. One painful secret will tear them apart and threaten to destroy both their lives.

All love child Lucia Moretti has ever wanted is to share her father’s name. To be a Dante, like her dad. To belong. To feel the burn of The Inferno when she first joins hands with her soul mate. Unfortunately, she no longer believes in fairy tales. Or so she thinks until a protective stranger touches her and The Inferno blazes through her. Too bad he doesn’t feel it, too.

Ty Masterson is hired to protect Lucia when the Dantes are attacked at their spectacular gala. Then tragedy strikes and he must protect Lucia with his life, all the while fighting the passion that explodes between them.

But who is Ty, really? And why does a strange mark appear on his hand . . . and an identical one on Lucia’s? When dire circumstances force them to marry, they face a choice. To honor their marriage vows and accept the blessing of The Inferno . . . or part ways forever and risk its curse.

Note to Readers: Forever Dante: Lucia is the long-anticipated finale, Book #11 in this long-running beloved series. The Dante Inferno: The Dante Dynasty Series, is a contemporary romance series by USA Today bestselling author and eleven-time RITA© (Romance Writers of America) finalist, Day Leclaire. This story features passionate Italian-American heroes, the scorching connection of The Inferno, and a sizzling romance between soul mates.

She’d never seen such a perfectly built man before. He was huge in every regard, his shoulders so wide she wondered if she could span them with both arms outspread. Muscles topped muscles along his biceps and down a chest lightly furred with dark hair, hair that darted downward in a sharp line, bumping across impressive abs, before surrounding his impressive erection. A worrisome scar carved a diagonal path across his chest and she wondered if the wound dated from his years in the military. At a more appropriate time, she’d ask.

Lucia forced her gaze back upward to meet Ty’s. “I guess I should have stripped, too.” She stepped closer, filled with a painful hunger that burned through her veins with each beat of her heart. “I did consider it.”

“What stopped you?”

“I thought maybe you’d like to do it.”

Oh, God. The comment hung between them like a hot demand. He instantly reacted, crossing to her side in two swift strides. She expected him to strip her without delay. He didn’t. Instead, he stared down at her with an odd smile.

Ever so gently he cupped her face and took her mouth in a slow, leisurely kiss that threatened to melt the clothes right off of her. His tongue slid across the seam of her mouth, edging inwardly. And then he took her under in long, deep kisses. She shuddered within his hold, every part of her coming to life in urgent demand.

She pressed against him, her aching breasts tight against his chest, her arms equally tight about his neck, fingers tunneled deep into his hair. Desperate desire arrowed downward, settling in the very core of her. She needed him, needed him to remind her of what it meant to be a woman. It overrode every hesitation, every hideous memory of the only other times she’d been with a man.

He tugged her hair free, allowing it to surround them in a cloud of curls. “You are so beautiful. I’ve never met a woman I wanted as much as I want you.”

“Never?” She pulled back slightly, searching his expression. Did he truly feel that way? Or was he feeding her a line?

He cupped her face again and looked directly at her. “Never.”

“I shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve never felt this way, either.”

The palm of her right hand throbbed in reaction. A reminder from The Inferno. They still hadn’t discussed the Dante curse. She debated bringing it up now, then decided against it. No. This was most definitely not the time. Especially, since it only seemed to go one way. She couldn’t trust The Inferno. Refused to trust it.

He swept her under with another kiss and when she resurfaced again, she discovered he’d stripped away her shirt and bra. How had that happened? She’d never felt a thing.