Italian Stallions by Karin Tabke, Jami Alden Read Free Book Online Page A

undercover work, there was more of it he loved.
    Gabe pulled up on the opposite side of Lombard, across the street from Ciao Bella just as Gianna inserted the key into the gate leading along the side of the restaurant and back to the door leading to the kitchen and what he knew was a stairway up to her apartment. Two big shadows followed her and Gordo was nowhere in sight.
    Gabe slammed the car door shut and rushed across the street to grab the wrought-iron gate as it swung closed. The lock clicked. Damn it! Adrenaline shot through him. When he heard Gianna scream, he was over the spike-tipped gate like a billy goat over a boulder.
    The harsh glare of the porch light clearly illuminated Dumb and Dumber, and a terrified Gianna Cipriani plastered against her front door holding her key in front of her like a dagger. Gabe rushed up behind the two gorillas, butted their heads together, and shoved the six hundred pounds of pasta-fed flesh into the door.
    He let go and the Roman columns toppled.
    Without a word, he grabbed the key from Gianna and inserted it into the door. He pushed her through as it opened, then shut and locked it. He heard the gate rattle and a loud whoosh as a body tumbled over it. Gordo, no doubt. He’d figure out soon enough that Gabe had beat him to the punch again.
    Gabe turned to a shaking Gianna. Wide-eyed, she stared up at him. He pulled her into the circle of his arms and smoothed her hair. “You’re okay, Gianna. Those guys won’t bother you anymore tonight.”
    She pulled slightly away shaking her head and looked up at him. “How did you—?”
    He smiled and pulled her tighter against him, feeling more for this girl than just a cop protecting a victim of what would have been a really ugly crime. Gianna’s innocence was refreshing, and in his tainted world, he had the overwhelming urge to nurture it.
    “You left so fast, I wanted to get your number. I saw those two guys go after you and, well”—he looked down at her and smiled again, then said in a goombah voice—“a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.” He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his head. “You know what I mean?”
    Gianna laughed and pulled away. “I should be really mad at you for following me. I…I didn’t want you to know where I live.”
    Gabe continued to smile down at her. Her warm scent encompassed him, keeping his senses on high alert. “Yeah, well, sorry about that, but now that I know, whatcha gonna do about it?”
     
    Gianna’s body heated up in his presence. The adrenaline already in her system continued to spike. She felt safe in this big man’s arms. She leaned into him and decided she could just this once show him her gratitude. On tiptoes, she moved up against him. Slipping her hands around his neck, she brought his lips down to hers. “This is what I’m gonna do about it.”
    What began as a simple kiss quickly turned into a firestorm of passion.
    His lips were warm, they were firm and they fit hers perfectly. For the second time that night Gianna found herself responding with years of pent up passion to this virtual stranger. Gabe pulled her into him and maneuvered her up against the nearest wall. Gianna lit up like a Roman candle. Her previous terror had long since evaporated, to be replaced with white-hot desire. She felt more than grateful to this stranger for saving her from what would have surely been a brutal sexual attack. Instead, she had an entirely different sexual attack on her mind.
    Gabe’s hands and lips were everywhere—her breasts, her waist, beneath her skirt on the hot flesh of her thigh. He moved his knee between her knees and parted them. In the club, he had only pressed against her; now his fingers gently probed the moist fabric of her panties, the tip of one pressing slightly into her. Gianna arched and hissed in a deep breath. Her thighs parted more; her hips moved in a slow sensual undulation against him, pushing her hot wetness down and around his finger. His thick