As for his offer of an apartment and the mention of money—with his reputation, and given that he’d said he wanted her and had kissed her—she had to wonder if he expected her to come with the apartment too....
Beth glanced up at him, big and strong—all raw sexuality—and wondered whether she would be that averse to the idea if he did mean it. If she was brutally honest, she had to admit that she probably wouldn’t be. She was still hot from his kiss, and looking at him simply increased the heat... But she was not cut out to be any man’s mistress. She had suffered more than most for her freedom, and she was never giving it up again for anyone.
She could not help thinking that Dante Cannavaro had haunted her dreams for long enough. But he thought her guilty of just about every sin in the book, and maybe at twenty-seven it was finally time she tasted those sins. And who better to do it with than the man before her? Exorcise him from her head, her life, for good...?
At least it would show him that she wasn’t the femme fatale he had accused her of being, with a string of lovers in her wake. It might even do him some good—show him he wasn’t infallible—and maybe he would not be so quick to judge others, she reasoned. Though, being honest, she knew it wasn’t just reason driving her. She wanted him in a physical way she had never felt for any man in her life.
‘That’s an idea,’ she said slowly, her mind made up. She never flirted with men, but there was always a first time for everything. She half closed her eyes to shut out the disturbing darkness of his handsome face, then, drawing in a shaky breath, deliberately glanced up at him through the thick veil of her lashes and ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. ‘I will certainly consider it.’ She saw his eyes glitter with triumph before darkening with a different emotion that brought an answering response in hers.
‘Good,’ he growled as his hand snaked round her waist, his long fingers splaying across the naked band of skin. She shivered at his touch. ‘I knew you would see sense, Beth.’ And as he spoke the last word he pulled her gently against his long body and brought his mouth down on hers again.
This wasn’t sense, Beth thought, and panicked for a second. But with the lazy heat of the summer afternoon filling the shadowed confines of her bedroom her pulse quickened and her body turned hot and sensitive beneath her clothes. Willingly her lips parted to the slow penetration of his tongue, stroking and exciting all her senses. She ignored the voice in her head that tried to warn her that this was wrong on so many levels. Her slender body melted against him, the long, passionate, drugging kiss driving every sane thought from her head.
Her eyes were tightly shut, and she was conscious of the swelling fullness of her breasts against his broad chest and the damp moistness between her thighs. She was floating blindly on a sea of erotic sensations she had never knew existed before. Involuntarily her hands grasped his arms. She could feel his body heat through the fine silk of his shirt as her fingers traced the contours of muscular biceps and moved up to curve over his broad shoulders. She had felt an instant affinity with Dante the very first time she had seen him and had never understood why, but now she did—with every atom of her being.
When he pulled his head back she was clinging to him, her hands tight against his neck, her face uplifted. Her emerald eyes slowly opened and her soft lips parted, swollen with passion.
‘Dio! You are beautiful,’ he groaned, one hand lifting to sweep a few strands of her hair from her brow. Long fingers stroked the delicate arch of one eyebrow and the curve of her cheek before finally moving to the outline of her lush lips. ‘So beautiful,’ he repeated, his head lowering.
His kiss and the almost feverish movements of his hand on her back, her hips, and down her thighs to her bare legs, sent a white-hot flame of passion through her, consuming them both. Her lips clung hungrily to his, her hands stealing up his neck until they buried themselves in his black hair, twining among the thick strands.
Without removing his lips from hers he lifted her and carried her to the bed. Lowering her onto it, he slid down beside her. She felt the pressure of his great body against her, his kiss burning her lips as though he could not bring himself to stop.
‘Wait...’ Beth murmured against his mouth, her heart thudding like a jackhammer. The sensations he was arousing were so overwhelming she was having second thoughts—but not for long. Her body seemed to have a will of its own and she was aching for more.
‘Why wait?’ Dante said hoarsely, lifting his head to stare down at her. ‘I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you and I believe you feel the same.’ His eyes burned black. ‘Tell me it is so.’
She saw the dark stain of desire in his face and knew it was reflected in her own as he shrugged off his shirt. She felt her throat tighten, and knew she could not deny him—didn’t want to. ‘Oh, yes...’ she said breathlessly, totally enthralled by the sight of his broad muscular chest, the golden skin and the light tracing of black curling body hair. Eagerly, like a child, she reached out to touch him, her fingers stroking over his chest in a caress.
He reared back. ‘In a moment you can touch me everywhere,’ he said huskily, and reached for her.
With the deftness of long experience he removed her clothes, and the rest of his, and leant over her.
She had never seen a totally naked man in the flesh before, and Dante was magnificent—from his broad shoulders down over his flat stomach. Her eyes widened at his powerful erection; it was vaguely frightening, but fascinating, and she was totally mesmerised by the beauty of his big golden body. Beth didn’t have time to be embarrassed by her own nudity or the aroused male scent of him. The hard-packed muscular length of him was a potent aphrodisiac and excitement exploded
inside her. So this is what sex is about, she thought, and then stopped thinking altogether.
His lips and hands were all over her, touching her, kissing her throat and her shoulders. His fingers caressed her and the incredible sensations searing through her obliterated everything except this moment. His mouth found her breasts, and the hot, seductive suckling and nipping went on and on until she was mindless, her hand grasping the back of his head to hold him there.
He moved to kiss her mouth again and their tongues duelled in the thrust and parry of passion. She reached around his broad back, her slender fingers stroking over his satin-smooth skin, her fingertips tracing the length of his spine before trailing over the hard curve of his buttocks. She trembled as he leant back and stared down at her with molten black eyes, his strong hands shaping her breasts, the indentation of her waist and her hips, before parting her legs.
‘You are a redhead,’ he said huskily, his palm cupping her feminine mound.
She gasped as his long fingers delved into the hot, wet warmth, a finger pressing on the nub of feminine nerves, and she shuddered uncontrollably.
‘You like that,’ Dante growled, his eyes burning into hers, and he bent his head to lick the tip of one breast while his fingers continued their skilful torment.
She could not speak, she could barely breathe as a sensual storm spread like wildfire to the core of her. She reached out to him, her hand roaming over his massive chest, her nails grazing a hard male nipple, and felt him shudder. Her hand slid lower to his rock-hard erection, touching and exploring him intimately. She wanted him with a passion and a hunger she had never felt before in her life.
His breath caught audibly in the back of his throat. ‘Beth...’ he growled, and grasped her wrist to pin her hand to the bed. ‘You are sure you want this?’ He lowered his dark head and kissed her breasts and her mouth again, whispering her name between kisses while his fingers renewed their torment at the very centre of her femininity, driving her into a vortex of sensual pleasure she had never even imagined existed.
‘Yes,’ Beth whimpered, as her body bucked and writhed beneath him. The incredible seductiveness of his mouth and his hands and the heat of his powerful body, sweat-slicked and taut against her flesh, was driving her insane. Frantically she ran her hands over his shoulders, her nails digging into his broad back, lost to everything but Dante.
He eased back her thighs and rose over her. He was there, where she ached with need for him, probing gently, then thrusting harder, and suddenly her body tensed, torn by a sharp pain.
He stopped, staring down at her with shock widening his smouldering black eyes. ‘No!’ he growled, his face taut with passion.
Instinctively she locked her long legs around his waist and with a low groan he moved again slightly, slowly stretching her to accept him. Miraculously the pain was gone, replaced with unimaginable pleasure as he gradually thrust deeper and deeper.