He prowled toward her with purpose. He was perfect. All muscle and sculpted maleness. Not an ounce of softness, but still, she was prepared to be cosseted.
He cupped her breasts, kissed the top of each one and then claimed her mouth. With a deft move, he undid her bra and she spilled against him.
He pushed down her panties until they pooled at her feet. And then he was laying her down on the bed and stretching over her. He fanned her hair out across the pillow.
“What are you doing?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “This is the way I’ve fantasized about you. Your hair spread across my bed...entangling me.”
“I thought I was going to be on top.”
“You will be,” he promised before he kissed his way down her body.
When he was ready, he flipped her on top of him.
She straddled him, and then sank onto him until they were joined. They both groaned, and he helped her set up a rhythm that they enjoyed.
When she finally crested on a wave that was pure and beautiful, she heard her own gasps of pleasure as if from a distant place. Cole’s face was contorted with effort until he found his own release and spilled inside her in one long thrust.
Marisa sagged forward against him, and he caught her, their hearts racing.
“I don’t think I can survive much more of you, Marisa.”
“You don’t need to,” she murmured. “I’ve given you all I have.”
It was true—and also what she was afraid of. Cole had her body and soul. She only hoped she wasn’t just another score...
* * *
“Cole, come on up and taste Marisa’s cooking.”
Cole smiled for the camera. Which producer had come up with this stunt? Or had it been his mother’s idea? His mother was looking excited and decidedly innocent. Never mind that the dish to be sampled had more accurately been a joint production of Marisa and both their mothers.
If Marisa hadn’t been looking so horrified—but how many of her students tuned in to local television in the middle of the afternoon?—he might have suspected her of having a hand in the making of this made-for-TV moment. As it was, he wanted to laugh. He hadn’t expected to be an extra in this episode of his mother’s show.
When he reached the stage, he said gamely, “I’m sure it’s delicious, but I’m not a connoisseur.”
Camilla gave Marisa a spoon with a sampling of tiella on it—bits of rice, onion, potato and mussels mixed together—and nodded expectantly.
When Marisa turned, she made to hand off the spoon to him.
“No, no, Marisa,” Camilla said laughingly. “I always raise the spoon to the bocca when I ask my family for an opinione.”
The audience laughed along gamely, and even Donna smiled at Camilla’s exuberant admonishment.
Cole could read the defeat in Marisa’s eyes as she realized there was no way out. Unlike him, she wasn’t used to being on camera. But they both knew everyone—the audience, their mothers and the producers—was waiting for her to feed him.
Slowly, she raised the spoon, cupping her other hand under it to prevent spills. He locked his gaze on her face, and at the last second, took hold of her wrist in order to guide it. She gasped softly, the moment between them becoming molten even before the food touched his mouth.
The seafood dish was delicious. She was delicious. He wanted to start with the tiella and then have his fill of her until he was satisfied—though he had no idea when that would be. He’d always thought she was edible, but a taste wasn’t enough. Their two trysts had just whetted his appetite. He wished he could say he was sorry for roping her into an appearance on his mother’s show, but the truth was he looked forward to any opportunity to be around her these days.
Marisa finally pulled away, lowering the spoon and looking flustered.
Camilla clapped, her expression expectant. “So?”
Cole swallowed and cleared his throat, raising his gaze from Marisa. “Mmm...fantastic. You could tell it was prepared with love.”
He didn’t know where he was dredging up the words. He figured he was having an out-of-body experience since he couldn’t ever remember being this turned on without having a blatant physical sign of arousal—which would have been an inconvenient turn of events right now, to say the least, even with a kitchen counter providing camouflage from the cameras.