Whimpering as he continued to move within her, completing her pleasure, her domination, she was helpless to do anything but let the enormity of his first possession drag her into oblivion.
Eight
An eternity later, Lili surged back into her body, realizing what had brought her back. Antonio was moving, starting to leave her body.
Unable to bear separation, she clung to him. He pressed soothing kisses to her eyes and lips, murmuring reassurance in that voice that strummed everything in her as he swept her around, careful to remain inside her. Then she was lying on top of him, satiated in ways she couldn’t have imagined, reverberating with the magnitude of the experience and in perfect peace for the first time in her life.
When her heart stopped thundering enough to let her breathe, she raised a wobbling head. “Is it...always like that?”
His eyes looked as dazed as she felt, and his lips twitched. “It’s never been like that for me. Everything with you is always a first.”
“You’re telling me that’s not why people make such a fuss about sex? Because it’s that...that...” No description could do what had happened between them justice.
“In my experience, ‘sex’ has absolutely nothing in common with what we just had. This was...magic.”
Her body began to throb all over again. “It was for me.”
“You have nothing to compare it to, but I do, so I know how magical it was, and what made it so.” Before she could infer the meaning of his confession he added, “It’s because I love you.”
She bolted upright, gaping down at him.
He started withdrawing from her depths carefully as he sat up, too. In spite of her paralysis, her moan echoed his groan at the burn of separation. Her gaze remained meshed with his as he looked at her as if she were the one thing he lived for.
“I realized it yesterday. That all those overwhelming feelings I feel for you are love.”
She collapsed on the bed in a daze, could do nothing but watch him as he rose to discard the condom. Then he came back to tower over her, godlike, still fully engorged, a frown of uncertainty creeping over his face.
“I can see this comes as a shock.”
Her heart stumbling, eyes stinging, she could only choke, “That’s the understatement of our era.”
“Is it a good or bad shock?”
He seemed actually worried. Very worried. Really?
It was the only thing she could say out loud. “Are you for real? Is that even a question?”
His shoulders rose and fell. “I’ve learned to never assume anything with you. You never react in any way I expect. I also realize this could seem too quick—”
“You think?” She felt caught in a hurricane of disbelief and jubilation that uprooted her very existence. “It’s been less than a week.”
“It’s been three weeks.”
“Two of which you didn’t even see me.”
“Because I was on a mission to be worthy of you and your trust and respect. And I did see you. I was watching you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You were?”
His grin was sheepish. “I practically stalked you. At home, at work. Before you ask how, I...have my ways.”
She struggled up to her elbow, incredulousness mushrooming inside her. “I’m sure you have. But even so...”
Lowering himself to the bed, he stretched out beside her, gathering her along his hot, hard body. “I’ve always made life-and-death decisions in seconds. Taking three weeks to conclude that I love you is a glacial pace for me. I took that long only because the decision to love you for the rest of my life is way more weighty than any life-and-death issue I’ve ever dealt with.”
She shook her head. How could all this be happening?
His large hand cupped her head. “Do you know why I came back to you when I did?”