Cate Masters: Sunday teaser - more from Cursed

At the bottom of the stone stairs, he set her on her feet but maintained his firm hold. “Dampness has a habit of lingering here. You’d best allow me to assist you.”

“Please.” She fitted herself against him, acutely aware of the way his body moved against hers.

“In these calle of San Samuele,” he said, “Giacomo Casanova spent his youth.”

“Calle?” She should have brushed up on her Italian.

He dipped his head closer. “Narrow alleyways.”

“Narrow and dark. I wonder how many trysts Casanova had in these alleys?” And Casanova had nothing on Bruno. Women probably flocked around him constantly. Acid flashed through her at the thought.

“Too many to recount.” He paused, then added, “If one believes the writings in his diary. His mentor, the poet Giorgio Baffe, lived just down there.”

“Mentor?” She didn’t recall Casanova writing poetry. Did Bruno as well? Or was he not romantic that way?

“Of a sort. The man who introduced Casanova to worldly pleasures.”

The way the last two words rolled off his tongue, so enticing. She glanced at the dark steps that led to deeper shadows beside the canal.

She surprised herself by steering him down there, tugging him to an abrupt halt. “Do such mentors still exist?”

He whirled her against a wall. “Why? Would you be interested?”

She let her hands wander across the contours of his chest. “You did offer to introduce me to the delights of Venice.”

The same growl as earlier rumbled in his throat, unmistakable this time. “You do like to play with fire, don’t you?”

And he knew how to ignite one. “Yes.”

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