Lara ducked her head, overwhelmed by what she saw in his
eyes. ‘I’m not...truly...’
He tipped up her chin and there was something else on his face now, an expression she couldn’t decipher. Something like frustration.
‘Yes, you are. You really don’t have to put on this act, Lara. It’s just us here now.’
He thought she was acting coy. She was stripped bare, save for some scraps of material. She’d never been more exposed. And he couldn’t see it.
She realised she couldn’t entirely blame him. After all, she’d done her best to convince him she was someone else. Someone who cared more for prestige and social standing than anything else.
‘Lara.’
She looked at him and her whirling thoughts stopped. She sucked in a breath.
‘I need to hear you say it again.’
Lara’s heart squeezed. There was no going back. She needed this as much as he did.
She stepped closer, until they were touching and his clothes caused friction against her naked skin. She went up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his neck. ‘Please...’ she said.
She trailed her mouth along his jaw, up to where she could feel the rough edges of his scar on the right side of his face. He tensed, and then he put his hands on her arms, hauling her up and closer, before his mouth found hers and the whole world burst into flame.
Lara sensed Ciro shedding his clothes, but while his mouth was on hers she couldn’t focus on anything except his intoxicating scent and the dark sensuality of his kiss. Deep and drugging.
When his hot bare skin met hers she stopped and drew back, dizzy from the kiss, and even dizzier when she saw that Ciro was completely naked. The breath left her body as she feasted unashamedly on his perfect form.
She’d never seen him fully naked. Broad shoulders, a wide, powerful chest with a dusting of dark hair that dissected his abdominals in a tantalising line all the way down to where his arousal jutted proudly between his legs. Her gaze stopped there, heat rising inside her at this very potent evidence of his desire for her.
‘Cara mia...if you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to the bed.’
With difficulty, Lara raised her gaze to Ciro’s again.
He took her hand and led her over to the bed. ‘Lie down,’ he instructed.
Lara lay down on the bed, hoping that he hadn’t noticed the tremor in her limbs. Ciro stood for a long moment, his dark gaze moving up and down her body. Then he sat on the bed and lifted a hand, tracing the shape of her jaw and her mouth, which was still swollen from his kisses.
He trailed his hand down, dipping his fingers into the hollow at the base of her throat, and then over her chest to her breasts. Her nipples were two hard points, pressing against the delicate lace of her bra.
Ciro tortured her slowly, trailing his fingers between her breasts, under one and then the other, before covering one breast with his palm, its heat and weight making Lara bite her lip. She could feel the point of her nipple stabbing Ciro’s palm, and instinctively she arched her back to push herself into his hand.
His mouth quirked. With an expertise that spoke of his experience he undid the front clasp of her bra and peeled the lace squares back, baring her to his gaze. He squeezed her breast gently and Lara’s breath hitched. She was unprepared for the spiking of pleasure deep down in her core. Then he took his hand away and placed both hands either side of her body, so he could lower his head and...
Lara nearly jack-knifed off the bed when she felt the potent drugging sensation of Ciro’s hot mouth closing over first one nipple and then the other.
He put a hand on her belly, as if to calm her. She was breathing so fast it hurt—but not nearly as much as the exquisite torture of his mouth on her flesh...the hot, wet heat, teeth tugging gently at her sensitised flesh.
Lara’s whole body was on fire now, as the bed dipped and Ciro moved to lie alongside her. The hand on her belly moved down until it rested at the juncture of her legs. With the same expert economical touch he dispensed with her panties, throwing them to the floor. He touched her thigh.
‘Open for me, bella.’
Lara opened her legs and Ciro’s hand slid down to explore where she was so aroused. It was excruciating. It was exquisite. She’d never known anything like it before.
Ciro had been a model of restraint two years before, when he’d discovered she was a virgin. So much so that she’d begun to feel seriously insecure. She’d ached with wanting him but he’d always seemed so in control.
Not any more.
Lara’s nails scored her palms as Ciro massaged her throbbing flesh with his fingers before sliding one deep inside her. The sensation was electrifying. Lara instinctively reached for his wrist but he was remorseless.