Jaw set, mouth hard, Silvio stared at her from the other side of the room. ‘Let’s get one thing straight. At no point have you ever embarrassed me. That isn’t what’s going on here.’ Even standing still he exuded raw male virility and something about the way he was looking at her made her heart thud uncomfortably against her chest.
‘Then what is going on? Up there on the deck you were making a point of not looking at me! You had your back to me, Silvio—you—’
‘Maledezione, why do you think I had my back to you?’
‘Because you’re embarrassed that—’
‘Don’t give me “embarrassed”. Don’t use that word again,’ he warned in a driven tone, his voice unsteady and his fingers curled into a fist by his side. There was no evidence of his usual cool control. Instead he looked as though he was on the edge. ‘Does no other explanation present itself?’ Aggravated to the point of explosion, he simmered like a nuclear reactor on the brink of meltdown. ‘You are surely not that naïve, tesoro. You know what there is between us. You know what it is that I’m fighting.’
Did she?
Jessie’s heart was thundering like a drum roll building up to some startling climax. ‘You hate the fact you’re attracted to someone like me…?’
‘Someone like you?’ His tongue barely made it around the words before he finally lost control and blasted her in Italian. Before she could point out that she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, he was across the room. ‘Why do you put yourself down all the time? Why do you do that to yourself?’ His eyes were narrowed to slits and he planted his arms either side of her, trapping her against the door. ‘The reason I stay away from you is not because you embarrass me, or because you don’t fit some preordained stereotype, as you seem to think, it’s because I’ve never allowed myself to think of you like that. But I’ve discovered I’m not as strong as I thought I was.’
‘Silvio—’
‘Where you’re concerned, I’m not strong.’ His mouth brushed against hers—a subtle warning, like a predator testing the scent of his prey before devouring it. ‘And I can’t stay away from you any longer.’
Chapter Six
JESSIE was mesmerised by the hot blaze of sexual intent in his eyes—by the tantalising brush of his sensual mouth against hers.
Her stomach curled in delicious awareness and her excitement level rocketed skywards, making her quiver with anticipation as his hard body flattened her to the wall. His muscles were p
umped up and hard, his jaw shadowed by stubble, his open shirt showing a hint of bronzed skin and dark body hair. He was irrevocably, unapologetically male and Jessie was completely transfixed by him, so shockingly aroused that she felt as though she was burning alive. The shocking thrill of sexual chemistry arced through her body. When he took her mouth in a hot, demanding kiss she moaned at the erotic slide of his tongue taking the last of the strength from her knees.
Her insides swooped. It was like being back on the helicopter—her senses tumbling over one another, caught in a vortex of excitement so intense that it was almost unbearable.
His hands sank into her hair, his grip almost painful as he held her fast and kissed her as she’d never been kissed before.
And Jessie kissed him back, her response to the explosive chemistry every bit as fierce as his. Her fingers clutched the front of his shirt, her knuckles grazing the hard muscle of his chest, her thighs pressed hard against his.
When he lifted his head, she opened her eyes in shock and tried to focus, only to feel the warmth of his breath on her throat.
‘You think you embarrass me, tesoro?’ He growled the words against her skin, his hands sliding confidently down her back to the base of her spine. ‘Do you have any idea how much self-control it has taken not to do this before now?’
Her eyes had closed again and she was panting for air.
With a soft moan, Jessie tore at his shirt and his hands covered hers, completing the task with ruthless efficiency as his mouth found hers again. His kiss was urgent and demanding and she answered that demand with her own. She slid her arms around his neck and rose on her toes to try and get closer, dimly aware that her dress was now in a heap on the floor and she was wearing nothing but a tiny pair of panties. And she didn’t even care. She just wanted this wild, delicious excitement to continue for ever.
Without taking his mouth from hers, Silvio scooped her up swiftly and carried her across to the enormous bed. Still kissing her, he deposited her on the centre of the satin cover and came down over her, the weight of his powerful body sending her pulse rate flying.
The pace of it took her breath away and suddenly he reminded her of his Ferrari—super-charged, super-powered, in a different league from others.
Somehow he’d managed to dim the lights in the room and a soft glow came from the illuminated glass balcony and the full moon. Through the open doors she could hear the soothing sound of the sea lapping against the yacht and in the distance the sound of music and laughter. Here, in the intimacy of the master’s cabin, it was just the two of them. Nothing but breathing and heartbeats as he kissed her with relentless expertise. And he gave her no time to think, reason or falter.
When his hand covered the swell of her breast, she gasped, and as his fingers gently teased the soft peak the gasp turned to a moan. And when he dragged his lips from hers and took her nipple into his mouth it was as if someone had plunged a burning sword from her neck to her pelvis and she curled her fingers into the silk sheets and arched her body against his.
Governed by the sensations he’d unleashed in her body, her only focus was relieving the intolerable ache that was building low in her abdomen.
Stunned, shaken and transported to a different world, Jessie was one step behind him all the way so that when she felt him slide down her body and spread her thighs with determined hands, she was unable to do anything except comply.
She felt his strong fingers snap the delicate fabric protecting her, his warm breath tantalisingly close. And then there was only the unerring accuracy of his tongue and each skilled stroke was so maddeningly good that Jessie almost exploded. She shifted and struggled against the silk sheets, desperate to relieve the almost agonising ache, but he gripped her thighs hard, holding her where he wanted her as he continued his erotic feast.
It was too much. Too intense, too shockingly good, and Jessie sobbed his name in desperation as the sensations in her body rocketed skywards. And then he was above her again, and he slid his hand under her bottom and lifted her against him.
‘Look at me.’ His husky command penetrated the sensual fog that surrounded her brain and her eyes flew to his.