“You’re kind of devious, aren’t you?”
“You’re just now beginning to notice that about me? Absolutely I am, make certain you remember that. And I’m bossy, but in a good way.”
“Is there a good way to be bossy?”
“My way is,” he assured.
They walked together, matching steps on the narrow pathway until his exasperation got the better of him. He stepped in front of her, effectively halting her, and framed her face with both hands, forcing her to look up at him. “Woman, I just declared I’m madly in love with you, and I get nothing. No reaction whatsoever from you.”
A slow smile spread across her face until her dark eyes lit up. His stomach did a slow roll and his cock reacted with a hard jerk.
“I’m a slow processor.”
“My ass you’re a slow processor. You’re deliberately trying to make me crazy.”
“And succeeding. I really hate that you investigated me.”
“My family did that. And now it’s our family, technically.”
Before she could argue with him, he bent his head and took her mouth. He loved that mouth of hers. The pouty lower lip that had always dared him to bite it. He didn’t. He kissed the hell out of her. He started slow. Gentle. Coaxing. She opened her mouth and let him in, and they both caught fire.
Flames licked over his skin and heat rushed through his veins. He shifted his hold on her, sliding one hand behind her head to hold her in place, his arm a bar around her, locking her body to his. She melted into him, going boneless, her smaller, softer body intensely feminine. He felt every curve, her breasts tight against his lower chest.
A single sound escaped her throat, a moan, sexy and low, one that reverberated through his body and went straight to his cock, carried on that wave of rising heat. The flames leapt higher. Warning bells went off in his head. “Dio, Dio, amore mio, we have to stop.” He whispered it against her lips.
“I know. I can’t.”
He couldn’t, either, but he had to. She wasn’t ready. She thought she was, but she wasn’t. He wasn’t risking losing her because he hadn’t waited. He hadn’t been careful enough. Kissing was okay. Stripping her naked in the forest and taking her like a man starved was not. He heard himself groan as he found her lower lip, that beautiful pouty lip he dreamt about, caught it between his teeth and bit down gently, somewhere between punishment and a sensual enticement.
Nicoletta gasped, and he licked at the sting and then kissed his way down her throat before holding her against him so tightly with both arms he couldn’t tell if it was her heart pounding or his. He nuzzled the top of her head.
“Dio, bella, we’re going to go up in flames if we keep this up.”
“I was all for it.”
Her voice was muffled against his chest, but he felt her breath with every word, warm and tempting, her lips like a sinful temptation against the thin material of his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his waist, nuzzling his chest.
“You’re not helping me.”
“I know. I’m sorry, and you’re being so good, Taviano. I do appreciate it, too. Well, I do and I don’t. When you kiss me, I think I could really have wild, amazing sex with you. I want to. I really do.”
She lifted her head and looked up at him, her dark eyes meeting his. She didn’t try to hide the mixture of love and desire. She looked a perfect blend of sin and innocence. Lust and trepidation mixed together in one tempting package.
“We’ll get there, but when it’s right.”
“How, Taviano? I’m so scared I’ll never be able to get there. When you’re kissing me, I can’t think straight. I’m not afraid. I just want you. But when I stop to think about the rest of it …” She trailed off, shaking her head.
“Have a little faith, piccola. I have no doubt we’re going to have amazing sex. Don’t be in such a hurry.”
Her hand slid down his chest to stroke over the material stretched so tightly over his aching cock. “I do have certain skills, Taviano. I’m really good. I made certain I was really good. I can at least take care of this for you, so you don’t have to walk around hurting all the time.”
The temptation to let her was strong. Her fingers felt like magic, and his cock didn’t just ache. Frankly, it was painful. There was something in her voice—in her expression. And he’d been there himself. “Why did you make certain you were really good?”
He felt her instant withdrawal. Her body stiffened just that little bit and separated from his by an inch or so. Her mind, so closely connected to his, slipped away. Their shadows, always tangled, always merged, began to shift, as if they might try to uncurl those tight knots.