‘I don’t bite.’
Foolish words, perhaps, but they actually made things easier for him, reminded him of the woman he was dealing with. No matter how sweet her exterior, inside she was as hard as nails—would use him as a means to an end.
Just as he would now use her.
‘Oh, but you do!’ A smudge of a smile relaxed his lips, but it didn’t soften his eyes.
His mouth moved that last delicious fraction, and it was Caitlyn’s eyes closing. The bliss of flesh on flesh, of his lips finally on hers—the moment she had dreamed of for so, so long was actually eventuating…His hands were on her shoulders, his mouth moving with hers, and if ever there was a textbook kiss then this was one. His lips were tender, measured, skilled, his tongue sliding around hers…Only as perfect as it might be, even if there wasn’t one single thing she could fault, the best Caitlyn could come up with as his mouth moved over hers was that it wasn’t her perfect.
Dreams were dangerous. Dreams let you inhabit a world that didn’t exist—let you savour and taste what you’d never had, what didn’t or couldn’t exist. Because, as adept and as proficient as his kiss was, no matter how she tried to go with it, no matter how she closed her eyes and attempted to relish this moment, the reality of it didn’t match up to her dreams.
‘Lazzaro…’ She pulled back, shook her head, knowing perhaps she would appear a tease—might in that contrary moment be giving credence to Malvolio’s vile accusations—only she couldn’t pretend. Couldn’t just go along with something that wasn’t okay. ‘This isn’t…’
He felt her detachment before she pulled back. Knew he had lost her before she had gone. But just the taste of her, the smell of her, the feel of her, had him hungry—hungry for all of her. A fierce need was coursing through him, every nerve in his body shrilling demands that their master must not deny them now. And he could do it, Lazzaro said to himself, as he pulled her back in and lowered his head again. He was strong enough, Lazzaro told himself—he could give just a little bit more of himself and then detach.
One hand snaked around her waist, finding the small of her back and wrenching her in as the other knotted into her thick blonde hair, holding her head till there was nowhere else she could go. Kissing her, kissing her as she should be kissed, as he’d wanted to kiss her from the second he’d laid eyes on her, his tongue devoured her, tasted her, drank from her.
His chin was hard on hers, scratching at her skin, his body not just warm but hot through her bathrobe. She could feel herself sink into him, melt into him. His kiss, this kiss, was all she had ever imagined—all it should be.
He smothered her—smothered her with rough, urgent, hot kisses that burnt somewhere deep inside, that offered only temporary satisfaction. Every taste made her hungry for more. His hands were on her bottom, wedging her groin into his in an almost needless gesture because she was pressing herself against him too. She closed her eyes as his mouth kissed her hairline, her eyelids, almost bleating with pleasure, with fear, as his tongue explored the hollows of her neck. This time when she pulled back it was for a very different reason—stupidity and inexperience were two different things entirely, and Caitlyn knew exactly where this was going. Knew because her body was telling her—knew that for the first time it felt absolutely right—that this was what to date her lovers’ kisses had been missing. And she knew he needed to know.
‘I haven’t done this before…’
His mouth was still on her neck, kissing her deeply and making her head roll.
‘Done what?’
She could feel the warmth of his words on her neck, and the warmth of her blush spread down to greet them as she told him her truth.
‘This.’
‘What?’
He wasn’t kissing her now. Standing to his full height, he was staring down at her, taking in the blonde dishevelled hair. The oil from the massage made it look wet—as if she’d just stepped out of the shower. Her face was flushed, as if the water had been too warm, and her gown had parted just enough to reveal one soft bosom that he wanted so badly to taste.