“Oh!” she said, startled by the sting.
The noise he made was pure, maddened pain. He rolled away and threw his arm over his eyes.
“Sandro—”
“Give me a minute, cara,” he said, voice tight.
“I was only going to say it’s not that bad. I want to. I want you.” She splayed her torso over his, sliding against him in a full-body caress. “Please.”
He made another agonized noise and said, “I’m the one who wants to beg, cara. Like this then.” He dragged her to straddle him. “You do it. Go as slowly as you need.” He spoke through his teeth, not even opening his eyes, and reached up to catch his hands under the edge of the ornate headboard.
She took a moment to admire the taut strip of muscle he made, straining beneath her, nipples hard and jaw clenched. Then she guided him and took a few careful inhales and exhales as she brought him into her. When she was seated right against him, his thick shape filling her like the pulse of her own heart, she gloried in the perfection of it.
She stroked her hands over his hard chest and his rib cage swelled under her touch, breath moving through his teeth in hisses of tested control.
It made her smile. So much man. So much discipline held so very, very tightly.
So unwilling to let himself let go.
Bracing her hands on his chest, she scraped her nails into his hard pecs, liking the way he shivered like a stallion feeling spurs. Could she crack his restraint?
“You’ve always been the one to call the shots,” she mused, moving experimentally. So much pleasure sparked through her, she gasped and almost lost the plot.
His eyes opened in glittering slits of green. “You’re enjoying this,” he gritted out.
Her smile widened. “That’s the point, isn’t it?” She moved with more purpose, teasing them both, arching as another streak that was even more intense went through her.
His nostrils flared and he brought his hands to her hips, fingers flexing in with warning, abdomen sucked tight as he cautioned her to take care with her movements. “Dio, you’re beautiful, riding me like this.”
“So are you,” she allowed, moving in a way that was absolute joy, hips undulating instinctively. Irrepressibly. “I missed this, caro,” she confessed in an unrestrained whisper, growing greedy. “So much. And I want you to—” Her voice caught as climax rose hot and fast. “Oh, Sandro,” she breathed.
“Yes,” he growled. “Let it happen.” He lifted beneath her, maintaining the surging rhythm, driving her over the edge. She arched her back, not caring that he watched as her breasts flushed and trembled and she shuddered atop him, sobs of ecstasy escaping her parted lips.
Her cries died away and her bones dissolved.
“Come here,” he commanded. His hand slid up to curl around her neck and bring her down, then tangled in her hair as they kissed deeply, bodies moving in gentle adjustment. “Your hair,” he muttered, burying his nose in a handful of it as it fell across his face.
“I’m sorry—”
“No, I adore it. I want to feel it all over me. I want you like this, naked and hot around me, all the damned time. I missed this, too,” he said fiercely.
“You were supposed to come with me,” she pouted. Damn his control. She tested the sandpapery roughness of his cheek with her fingertips, unable to be truly disappointed when she felt this good and he was still hard inside her, promising another release just like the first.
With a little purr of adulation, she blanketed herself over him and took possession of his throat with openmouthed kisses.
“Make love to me again. Take me with you this time.” His hand shook as he smoothed her hair back from the side of her face so he could look into her eyes.
She felt sultry and seductive and powerful as she sat up. She was used to the stretch inside her now and began to move without restraint, wantonly, determined to unravel his willpower one rock of her hips at a time. Her skin dampened, his teeth bared, the pleasure climbed and she felt as though she was drowning in the tropical sea of his eyes.
“Now,” she told him as the waves of expansion washed up from where they were locked together. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and he pressed her hard onto his hips, thrusting up to her, releasing ragged cries of abject pleasure.
This time when she sank down to let her breasts flatten against his chest, he twisted her beneath him, withdrawing carefully before aligning her half under him, his breath still coming in pants against her cheek.
She nuzzled the prickling stubble on his chin and bit at his lips with her own.
“Mia bella moglie,” he breathed, snuggling her naked body to his own. “That was perfect. Utterly perfect.”