But the tiny voice of protest inside couldn’t conquer what she felt.
Aurelio’s breath was an audible hiss and he shuddered as he withdrew his hand to her shoulder.
‘I want you, Amber.’ The words seemed dragged from him. ‘I have no right to, after how I treated you, but I do, more than ever.’ His voice hit a low note like mountain thunder, its vibration tracking right through her belly.
She told herself she’d misheard. That she’d projected the words she wanted to hear, but the way his eyes ate her up told their own story.
A pulse flickered hard and fast at the base of his throat. ‘Tell me to go, Amber, and I will.’
There it was, the moment she could exact revenge for the distress he’d caused, turn the tables and make Aurelio feel just a tiny bit of the aching loss she’d endured.
The thought only lasted an instant. For Amber didn’t care about vengeance. Just that Aurelio wanted her. It wasn’t love. For him it could never be love. A pang of loss filled her at what might have been, if only Aurelio could—
No! There was nothing to be gained dreaming of what was clearly impossible. But this was a chance to experience one last time the bliss of being with him, before she turned her back on him once and for all and moved on. As she had to do. She couldn’t keep working with him, she’d decided tonight. Even if they shared the parenting of their child in years to come, they could do that at a distance. Being so close to Aurelio, loving him as she did and not being able to have him was too much.
She captured his hand in both of hers, tracing the calluses and scars of more than a decade of winemaking. He had strong, capable hands that could nevertheless be incredibly gentle.
‘I don’t want you to go,’ she whispered. The admission was a release. The weight of tension pressing down on her eased and relief welled.
Amber pushed his hand under the lapel of her bathrobe till it reached her breast. Instantly his hand moulded to her. There was no need for her to press her fingers against his, anchoring them there, except that she liked it.
Amber watched the burst of shock in his face, the wide flare of his nostrils and the way his veins stood proud in his neck.
‘I want you to stay and make love to me, Aurelio.’
Her lips were still shaping his name when his mouth slammed onto hers.
This kiss wasn’t gentle or tentative. It was urgent and needy. His grip on her breast tightened to that point of shocking pleasure just this side of pain. His other arm wrapped her close and his mouth pressed against hers, ravaging and demanding.
A shiver of carnal excitement sped down her spine as she arched against him. Their loving had always been passionate but never before had she felt this frantic urgency.
He powered her backwards, half carrying her across the carpet till she felt the mattress at the back of her legs and then they were falling together in a tumble of bodies. It wasn’t graceful or coordinated. But it was magic.
Hands plucked at his shirt buttons, ripped off his bowtie and pushed her robe aside.
For what seemed a full minute Aurelio was still but for the heave of his chest as he sucked in more air, his gaze transfixed by her bared body. When he touched her again his hand was unsteady as it skimmed from her collarbone to her breast, across to her other nipple then down to her waist and hip.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he breathed. ‘Even lovelier than I remembered.’
Amberfeltbeautiful in a way no makeup or jewels or designer gowns could achieve. The fierce adoration in his dark eyes made her feel like a queen.
‘Take me, Aurelio. Now.’
His urgency as he tore his clothes off fed Amber’s arousal. Before, even in the throes of passion, Aurelio never totally lost control. Now he looked like a man functioning at a purely primal level. She adored it. The sound of cloth tearing. The sudden fumble as, in his eagerness, he realised he’d forgotten to take his shoes off before trying to strip away his trousers.
She reached out to help but he shook his head. ‘No. Don’t touch me. I don’t trust myself.’ His voice was strained and unrecognisable.
For once Aurelio wasn’t in command of himself and the thrill of that was headier than any draught of fine wine, more exquisite than any gift she’d ever received.
But before she had time to revel in the knowledge, Aurelio was prowling back up the bed towards her, caging her with his naked body. Instantly her satisfaction died as urgency climbed. What was he doing? He was so close yet held himself above her, not touching.
Amber tilted her hips, slid her thighs wide and felt the solid muscle of his legs against hers. A quiver ran through him. She saw his shoulders shake and his lips thin. Then, as if she’d given a signal he’d been waiting for, Aurelio lowered himself onto her.
Fire scorched from the contact. He was burning up and so was she. But it was a delicious fire, the friction of his chest with its smattering of hair against her nipples detonating tiny explosions of pleasure. The weight of him pressing her into the bed, the urgent way he invaded the space between her legs with those powerful thighs — all ramped up her desire from need to desperation.
Amber curled her arms around his ribs, feeling the rise of each laboured breath, drawing him hard against her.
When their mouths meshed it was unlike any kiss she’d ever had. There was no finesse, no teasing, just a dive straight into bliss.
As their tongues tangled and she swallowed the rich taste of him, Aurelio settled his erection against her. Then, without pause, there came the sure, steady thrust of his body entering hers.
There was no need for foreplay. Amber was primed for him, only him.
To be together again was so perfect it took just one thrust, one growl of approval from Aurelio, for sensation to bombard her. Like fire in her blood, heat roared through her. There were no tiny ripples to signal an impending climax. There was simply a blast of rapture, so strong, so all-encompassing that Amber could do nothing but give into it and hang on.
It was the same for Aurelio. His hips bucked against her, hard and needy as he spilled himself deep within, his whole body taut and shivering with the force of his orgasm.
Amber’s hands clawed his back as the world dropped away and there was only the pair of them left in a swirling, dizzying, stunningly beautiful galaxy of shooting stars.