He remained motionless and unyielding.
She stared at the fierce intensity in his eyes. ‘I can make up my own mind!’ Katie’s frustration at his unnecessary protectiveness exploded. ‘I don’t need you to make the decision for me.’
His breath hissed out between clenched teeth. ‘No? You’re claiming control? Fine.’ He took one barely leashed step forward. ‘But some elements I do get to decide.’
The steel in his voice sent a shock of anticipation into that secret part of her—so thrilling, so stunning, she was rendered speechless.
‘My room. My bed. My way.’
He punctuated each word with another step towards her.
She couldn’t move, locked in place by the burn of blue. He was so strong, so consuming, and as he stalked closer she felt the overwhelming desire to surrender—to simply melt before him. This was what she wanted. His attention. Nothing but now. All physical.
She closed her mind to the complications of the future, not even daring to consider the next five minutes. She couldn’t bear the agony of embarrassment.
She chose just him—just now. ‘Okay.’
He swallowed and took the last step towards her. In the moonlight she saw the faintest sheen of sweat skimming his skin. He wore only boxers, and they did little to hide the reaction of his body. For a moment she just stared, her heart thudding with a roar of both anticipation and anxiety, before she made herself look away.
Her knees weakened as desire rushed to pool low in her belly. But with his all-seeing eyes he knew she’d peeked.
‘Not pity,’ he teased softly. ‘You’re getting something far more powerful than pity, Katie.’
That old playboy arrogance was tinder to the spark of rebellion that smoked only in his presence. To the need to fire back at him.
Her heart quadrupled its pace. She ran her tongue over her parched lips but was barely able to mutter the response that he’d provoked. ‘Prove it.’
His lips curved, but that sly smile didn’t soften the steeliness in his eyes. ‘Next time you dare me, try taking a breath first.’
‘It’s impossible to breathe around you,’ she confessed.
His hand cupped her jaw. ‘Katie...’
For a horrible moment she thought he was going to deny her. But then he bent towards her. His kiss tasted of lemon and mint, cool and refreshing. His body brushed against hers, his skin burning through her silk slip. She uncurled her fists, reaching out to touch him, resting her hands on his waist. The kiss deepened. Emboldened, she traced more of his skin, discovering his strength and height and heat.
His muscles tensed beneath her touch and he tore his lips from hers. ‘Katie—inside.’ He paused and then stepped back.
He didn’t reach to pick her up and carry her this time. Instinctively she knew he was testing her, ensuring that this was her choice, her decision. Her legs trembled—but not from fear. It was anticipation...pure yearning.
This once, she promised herself. There was no one else she wanted—that she’d ever wanted. He was a present to herself in this fantasy place for this one perfect night. She couldn’t deny herself and she’d have no regrets.
His bedroom was even more vast than hers. The curtains weren’t drawn and in the bright moonlight the spacious bed gleamed—a pearled place for private pleasure. She noticed the white coverings were untouched—had he not even tried to sleep tonight?
Her pulse thundered as she sat on the bed. Her senses were so heightened that the luxurious linen felt deliciously soft and cool on her overly sensitive skin. He didn’t move to join her. Did she have to ask him again?
But then he released a harsh breath and came to her. As he knelt on the bed beside her he framed her face in his hands and kissed her hard and deep and long. She tumbled into the sensation—all sweet heat and relief—because finally she was here, with him, having what she wanted...needed...from him. With nothing held back.
He lifted his head and took his time. To her infinite torment he touched her slowly, slipping the thin straps of her soft silk nightgown from her shoulders. Then he tugged it lower, exposing her breasts to his gaze. To his touch. To his kiss. Then he pulled the gown lower still, until she was bared completely. He paused and cocked his head, one hand rubbing the back of his neck as he surveyed her with hungry eyes.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he muttered hoarsely, and bent to kiss her belly, then to kiss her lower still.
‘You don’t have to flatter me...’ she moaned, turning her head to press her cheek to the cool sheet, briefly closing her eyes at the intensity of such an intimate touch.
‘Don’t hide behind your judgemental ideas of me to reject my appreciation,’ he growled, lifting his head and waiting until she turned and looked him in the eyes. ‘Accept the compliment, Katie.’ He placed his hand on her—intimately. ‘Accept the caress. Or we cannot continue.’
His gaze, his touch, burned into her—through her—until she had no recourse but to release the pent-up tension in a deep sigh and slide her legs a little further apart.
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
‘Good...’ He smiled. ‘Because I need to see you. I need to taste you. I need to have you.’
His words shook a fierce response from her, and his hands stoked it even higher. His fingertips swept over her and his mouth followed, bestowing caresses and kisses both firm and gentle, playful and passionate. All the length of her body sensation ignited—blissful pleasure and a desperate, driving need for more.
He chuckled as she arched, to encourage him to stroke harder, to touch her right where she was so tormented. But he didn’t. He held back with deliberate devastation.
‘Not yet.’ His words sounded slightly slurred as he shifted and began again.
He teased her to the brink and back again. Once, twice...until she was writhing, shaking and finally asking all over again—begging, in fact. She couldn’t take it any more.
‘Please, Alessandro...’
He smiled that wonderful, wicked, infuriating smile that always made her tumble towards him. And then he moved closer, kissing her lower, then lower, while his hand cupped and his finger teased.
She shivered as he discovered her hot, wet secrets. Slowly, gently, he slid a single finger inside her. She moved uncontrollably, then tensed as a moment of lucidity hit—as she realised the total intimacy of his touch.
‘Let yourself go,’ he breathed against her. ‘Your instincts are good.’
She had no choice but to obey the dictates of her trembling, aching body, because then he sealed his mouth to that most sensual private part of her. She arched, driving her hips high against him, and screamed in ecstasy as he relentlessly subjected her to the most intimate, most incredible experience of her life.
The orgasm shot through her, racking every muscle and cell, twisting her inside out in a series of pleasurable pulses, until she finally fell back on the bed in a limp heap. But even as she breathed out that last sigh of supreme delight she realised her body was charged—fully powered and ready for something so much more. Something she instinctively knew only he could give her.
He lifted himself right away from her.
Shocked, she watched him stand. ‘Seriously...?’
He shot her a look—tension intertwined with amusement. ‘Absolutely.’
She realised he’d retrieved a box from the drawer in the small table beside the bed. Her heart thudded as he finally removed the boxers that had been the only barrier between them and rolled a condom down his length.
Katie ran her tongue along her lip and then swallowed—unable to look away, unable to speak.
‘I’ll take care of you, Katie,’ he said softly.
But that steely determination was still audible.
It made her shiver. ‘I know.’
The moment he came back to her on the bed the chemistry between them combusted. He
gently nudged her legs apart with his, bracing himself over her and kissing her beyond anticipation all over again. He was so, so close, and she’d never been as excited, as aching, in all her life.
But then he paused to look deep into her eyes. ‘Are you—?’
She twisted beneath him in an agony of desire. ‘Don’t you dare ask me again.’
He half laughed, but she could see the strain around his eyes. She put her hand on his jaw, feeling the heat of his skin, the sheen of sweat covering him.
‘Katie...’ He cupped her face in return, then slid his fingers to lace them through her hair. His eyes locked on hers. ‘You’re beautiful,’ he said. ‘More beautiful than is comfortable,’ he added in an almost inaudible murmur.
He pressed closer. She drew in a shocked, sharp breath, her eyes fluttering shut as she strained to take him.
His low groan felled her. ‘Katie... Breathe.’
She trembled, yielding on a soft sigh as he pushed right inside her. He was so big, his invasion hard and thick, and now he paused, searching her eyes as he slowly took what she offered and gave what she needed.
Silently they stared at each other as he pressed ever so slightly closer, sliding deeper into her tight, slick body. She moaned at the sensation—so full, so overwhelming. And just at the moment when she thought it was too much he kissed her—tenderly, but taking her totally. His tongue caressed her slow and deep, matching the rhythm of his hips, pressing close and then releasing before thrusting closer, then closer again.
She more than melted. She moved—breaking free of his kiss to gasp in delight and arch closer as she suddenly realised just how good this was.