Trusting some unknown instincts, Pia wrapped her legs around his back and he groaned his pleasure.
She’d always wondered at the raw intimacy, at the lack of inhibition that had to go hand in hand with sex, had always cringed at revealing herself like that. Yet nothing in the world felt more natural than being beneath Raphael, than meeting his eyes and sharing the pregnant moment, nothing more perfect than the sweaty shift and slide of their bodies against each other with pleasure billowing in their wake.
His hands under her buttocks, he lifted her until every hard stroke rubbed against her clitoris. Soon, the pressure built again until Pia came in a cataclysm of pleasure.
And he watched her, every nuance in her face, as if he owned her. With an intensity that sent aftershocks through her pelvis.
“You feel like heaven, tesoro, and I have to move,” he said in apology.
Pia touched her fingers to his forehead, and the lock of hair that was always falling down. “I’m yours, Raphael,” she whispered, her heart overflowing.
Her name on his lips, her body held down tight, Raphael thrust faster and deeper inside her. She felt his spine lock. With a guttural cry that she’d forever remember, he spent himself inside her.
With his hands tight on her hips, his heavy weight pressing onto her, her body felt as if it was being thrown around by a storm. Her breathing matching his rough rhythm, Pia couldn’t let go of him.
Morning light was beginning to seep in through the curtains, bathing their bodies in an orange glow. He was hard and heavy over her, but deliciously so. Hadn’t she heard some of her colleagues whisper that men always pulled away after they were done? That they didn’t like clingy women?
She very much wanted to cling to Raphael, to breathe in the musky scent they made together, to soak in the wonderful warmth of his body. But she didn’t want him to think she was getting all gooey and sentimental over what they had done,even though it was exactly what she was feeling.
Her heart dipped as he moved away from her. She scrunched her eyes tight and felt his eyes on her back. The sheets slithered around her, and she heard his soft tread on the floor. A sharp ache—one that rivaled the one in her body—filled her heart.
Raphael wasn’t given to tenderness or sweet words, she told herself.
She didn’t know how long it was—it felt like an eternity—before she felt him tugging the duvet from her tight fingers.
“Raphael, what are you—”
“Shh, let me.”
When his hand reached her thighs with a cold washcloth, Pia flushed. “Raphael you don’t have to—”
“Si, I do.” His gaze held hers, a wealth of words that he wouldn’t say in it.
Looking away from him, heat crawling over her cheeks, Pia gave herself over. With a gentleness that brought tears to her eyes, he finished cleaning her up. And then he was back in the bed before she could arm herself against the onslaught of emotions crowding her.
A warm glow fanned out in the regions of her heart. She ran her fingertips over the back of his hand, absently stroking the veins. The scent of their intimacy was a warm blanket around them.
The sudden realization that she could spend eternity like this hit her like an electric charge to the heart. He didn’t want eternity. God, he didn’t even want a few months.
“Turn around and face me.”
When she stiffened, he pressed until she was on her back. The smallest movement made her aware of the soreness between her thighs.
With his hawk-like gaze, Raphael caught it. A furrow came on between his brows. “Do you still hurt?”
Pia blushed, and then shook her head. Then she saw the uncharacteristic hesitation in his eyes. From everything she’d learned about him, she knew Raphael didn’t do intimacy.
He tipped his head and took her mouth in a soft, tender kiss that made her chest ache. She would never tire of his kisses or that look he got that said he wanted to kiss her. He pulled her closer to his naked body and tucked his arm neatly under her bare breasts. Pia stiffened and tried to pull the duvet up.
A tussle resulted. She huffed. He growled. They made a compromise and pulled the duvet up over his arm while his hand cupped her breast.
“I like having you in my bed like this, knowing that whatever everyone else sees, I know the real, passionate you, exploding like a firework.” He said it softly as if to let her get used to it. “Only me, cara mia.” A long sigh left her and Pia settled into his embrace.