A shock wave of sexual awareness surged through her, and she snatched her hand back. But not before she’d seen an answering glint in Vito’s eyes.
‘Can’t we move past this anger and mistrust?’ she asked, trying to speak calmly, despite the way her heart was beating out a furious tattoo in response to the sizzling energy that was suddenly flowing between them. ‘We can’t go back in time and alter what’s already happened between us—but we could try to get along. Maybe then you’ll be able to trust me again.’
Perhaps she was being too honest, too open about her desire to see Vito acknowledge his child. But it was dishonesty and lies that had led them to this impasse, where it seemed impossible to get through to him, and pointless for her to stay with him.
‘What are you doing now?’ Vito asked, his sensual lips spreading into a predatorial smile. ‘You failed to convince me with your emotional appeal, so now you’re trying to tempt me with another more basic form of persuasion?’
‘No, I’d never do that!’ Lily gasped, feeling her cheeks flame as she realised what Vito was implying.
‘You’re not offering sex as a way to manipulate me?’ He stepped closer and lifted his hand to mimic Lily’s earlier action. Except when a frisson leapt between them he didn’t withdraw his hand—he pushed it further, slipping his fingers deep into her silky hair.
A shiver skittered through Lily as her body responded instantly to Vito’s touch. But she couldn’t let him continue to think the worst about her in every way.
‘All I meant was maybe we could try to patch things up between us, find a way to build bridges. End the hostility between us.’
‘I’d like to build bridges,’ Vito said, sliding his free hand around her waist, and pulling her hard up against him so that she could feel his erection pushing against her. She knew what kind of bridge between them he wanted to build—and she wanted it too.
‘No, that’s not what this is about,’ Lily said, despite the way her body was trembling with sudden, urgent desire for Vito. ‘I’m just trying to find a way we can reach a truce—find a way to communicate.’
‘You’re right—we always communicated best through sex,’ Vito murmured, leaning close so that his words tickled her ear. He paused to push her blonde hair aside and pressed his lips against the sensitive skin of her neck.
‘That’s not what I meant.’ She drew in a shuddering breath and tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke, but it was difficult with Vito’s tongue flicking a delicious trail down towards her collarbone.
‘It doesn’t matter what you meant,’ Vito said, putting both arms around her. ‘It’s what you want. What we both want.’
‘Yes.’ Lily couldn’t fight the tide of rising passion any longer. She didn’t want to fight any more. She closed her eyes and leant into his embrace.
Anticipation coiled deep within her and, almost without conscious thought, she lifted her arms to loop them about his neck and tilted her face towards him. He responded in a heartbeat, bringing his mouth down over hers.
His tongue swept past her open lips and she felt herself start to melt in his arms. She kissed him back, revelling in the sinuous feel of his tongue against hers, marvelling in the glorious flood of sensations that washed through her body.
She lifted her hands to cup his face, and gently caressed his stubbled jawline with her fingertips. The feel of his masculine features beneath her fingers was intoxicating. She wanted to touch him all over, run her hands over his body in a way that she knew would drive him mad with desire—but not before she had driven herself wild with growing need.
She pulled back from his kiss breathlessly, and gazed up into his gorgeous face through a haze of longing. He was still holding her close, his hands buried deep in her long, loose hair, and for a moment she was lost in the darkening depths of his blue eyes. Then in one smooth movement he took hold of her zip and pulled it all the way down her sensitive spine.
She shivered in response, waiting to feel his hands slip inside her dress and caress her back, but instead he brought his hands up to ease the dress off her shoulders and pull the front down so that her lacy bra was revealed.
‘Your breasts are even fuller,’ Vito murmured, tracing their shape through the lace then reaching behind her to undo the fastening.
‘A little, I think,’ Lily agreed, hearing the breath catch in her throat as Vito cast the flimsy undergarment away. He guided her backwards and pushed her down so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Then he knelt between her knees and took one tingling nipple into his hot mouth.
‘Oh!’ Lily cried out. Either pregnancy had made her breasts even more sensitive than usual, or her body had gone too long without Vito’s exquisite attention. But, whatever the case, wonderful sensations swirled out from her breasts, filling her body with a mounting, shuddering need for more.
As if he sensed her need—which of course he did, Vito always seemed to know exactly what her body craved—he pressed in further between her legs, and lifted the skirt of her dress up over her hips.
His tongue was still moving deliciously against one hard nipple, filling her with wonder at the incredible feelings he was creating. She hardly noticed when, without breaking away, he tugged her briefs down and tossed them to one side.
A second later he released her nipple and dropped down between her legs.
‘Vito!’ Lily gasped as she realised what he was doing, but at that moment his mouth came into contact with her most intimate feminine flesh.
It wasn’t the first time he had kissed her there, had worked his tongue so expertly against the tingling epicentre of her desire. But her body had never responded with such an instant maelstrom of overwhelming sensation.
Her breath was suddenly coming in short, panting gasps and every conscious thought was driven from her mind. All she was aware of was a building crescendo of hot, demanding passion. It was almost too much to bear—but at the same time she couldn’t get enough of it.
She writhed beneath his mouth, trying to lift her hands to hold onto his head, but her arms were caught up in a tangle of fabric, still trapped in the sleeves of her dress. There was nothing she could do but lose herself on the spiralling rush of sensation that was surging through her.
Vito lifted his hands to cup her breasts and she cried out again, letting herself fall backwards onto the bed, as wave after wave of pure bliss crashed over her and through her, carrying her on and on in an orgasm that was more powerful than any she had experienced before.