Picking up her glass, she saw her hand was shaking a little. Her body was humming...fear mingling with desire. Fear of missing out. Fear of giving in to what she wanted.
And she wanted Vicè.
Her hunger, her need for him, was like a tornado inside her, upturning everything in its path so that her skin could barely hold it in.
And by bringing Vicè here she had already sealed her fate. Her father was going to come down on her hard and fast. So shouldn’t she make sure it was for something that mattered?
And what mattered more than choosing your first lover?
This might be her last opportunity to make that choice and she was choosing Vicè. Because he was handsome, charming, and most importantly she trusted him.
‘But I want to be here with you too,’ she said slowly. ‘And I don’t care how angry that makes him.’
Their gazes locked.
‘He has no reason to be angry.’
His dark eyes held her fast and heat shivered down her spine.
‘Nothing’s happened.’
Something stirred deep inside her, and she took a steadying breath.
‘Nothing’s happened yet,’ she said softly.
Her hunger for him was like the lick of a flame. Only he could put out the fire.
The glass in her hand was shaking. Reaching over, he took it from her.
‘Are you saying you want something to happen?’ he asked.
His eyes were steady on her face, his expression intent, as though he was trying to read her mind.
She didn’t know where to start, or how to ask for what she wanted. But she knew that she wanted to share it, feel it, with him—with this man. With Vicè.
She nodded. ‘Yes, that is what I’m saying.’
Her belly clenched. She sounded so formal, so uptight, but she couldn’t help it. Her body was just so wound up, so hot and tight with hope and need and anticipation. And fear of rejection.
Her stomach was a ball of nerves. ‘It’s just that I’m scared—’
‘Of being hurt?’ He gave her a crooked smile. ‘It’s a risk, and I guess it’s a particularly big risk with someone like me...someone with my history.’ His dark, mocking face was suddenly serious. ‘But if it makes you feel better I think I’m the one in danger here. You make me feel things I’ve never felt, want things I’ve never wanted before—’
Heat surged over her skin, lifting the hairs on her arms, making her breasts tingle and tighten. So many choices had been made for her already. So much decided and dictated. This night with Vicè would be hers, and hers alone.
‘I want them too,’ she whispered. ‘I want you.’
But he was gorgeous and sexy, and
he had his pick of beautiful, experienced women. Would he really want someone so inexpert and gauche?
For a moment she thought about telling him the truth. Only what if it changed things between them?
Vicè might be a playboy, but he was also a Sicilian. What if beneath the languid posturing he retained an old-school Sicilian attitude to taking a woman’s virginity? What if he backed off?
She made up her mind.
Being here with him was straight out of a fantasy, and raising the topic of her virginity would introduce a cool reality she wasn’t ready to face yet.