Taviano pointed to the bed. “Just kneel up on the bed, piccola. I love the way the light hits you. You look so beautiful. Face the window and look out. The wind is picking up. It always does this time of day.” He gestured toward the bed. “You can’t ruin anything, Nicoletta, because there is no wrong or right in our bedroom. There is only the two of us and what we decide to do together.”
Dio, this man. Her man. She loved him more than life itself. She could do anything for him. She let him distract her. Let him help her over the first of the hurdles, because she was determined to give them both this time together.
Light streaked through the glass, hitting the bed from all the rows of windows and sliders, lighting up the duvet so that it shone like a watery image, almost as if it were a lily pad floating. Nicoletta hadn’t noticed that the night before or in the morning when she’d awakened. She slid her palm over it in wonder. The texture of the duvet was soft like velvet, yet cooler. The swirling greens and blues with the sun playing over them really did appear to move like water. Everything in the house, even the linens, was art. She knelt up onto the bed, hiking up the skirt so her bare legs would feel the soft coolness of the fiber.
“Let me see your skin in the sun, tesoro.”
His voice had dropped an octave, sounding like seduction itself. Now his voice brushed over her skin like velvet. She didn’t need to feel the texture of the duvet when his tone could give her that sensual feeling.
“Do you feel the sun on you right through the glass? Just slip off your top and bra. Your skin is so beautiful. I’m not going to do anything but look at you. If you want, I’ll go sit over there in the chair so you can feel safe.”
He didn’t wait for her to have to make the decision, he simply did so, removing his jacket and hanging it on the back of a chair before slipping into one of the two deep-backed comfortable chairs placed close together for morning coffee just inside, close to the slider leading to the terrace.
Nicoletta felt his eyes on her. She liked him watching her. She had always liked the way he focused so completely on her. He made her feel beautiful even when she’d never believed in herself. Now, she felt her nipples peak. Her breasts ached. Between her legs she grew damp and needy. It was okay because she was safe with him. She loved him all the more for making her feel it was all right to explore being sensual and not worry that she was going too far or teasing him and then refusing to go any further. Taviano didn’t seem to put any limits on her—or expectations.
He didn’t hurry her or insist. She knew if she crawled off the bed and got into his lap it would be okay and they’d try another day. Instead, she boldly unbuttoned her blouse, one little pearl button at a time. At first she was breathless. Scared. Then she slowed down and felt daring. Then she met his eyes and felt sexy. She let the material slide from her shoulders down to the duvet.
Before she could lose her nerve, she reached to the front of her bra where the little hooks were and quickly lifted them to spill her generous breasts free. She didn’t look at him but at the woods where the wind was playing through the leaves, stirring them up, lifting them, the way her breathing was lifting her breasts.
“You have such a beautiful, feminine form. Truly beautiful, tesoro. Look down and see my mark on you. I love seeing it on you. If you were ever to be painted in the nude, I would want my mark on your breast, just like that.”
She couldn’t help it. She had already looked in the mirror a dozen times at it. She looked down at the dark reddish slash that declared she was his. Her hand crept under her breast to lift the soft weight higher, while her fingers traced the mark lovingly. A fresh flood of liquid heat formed between her legs and she wanted to rub her thighs together at the pulsing there.
With one hand, Taviano loosened his tie and then removed it. She liked that. She liked that just looking at her made him shift in his chair. She could see the bulge in the front of his trousers, and she liked that she had put that there. So far, panic hadn’t crept in, but he was across the room from her and he’d given his word that she was safe. Taviano always kept his word.