‘You pretended you were not a woman,’ he grated, painfully conscious in that moment howveryfemale she was. It was not just the warm scent of her that made his nostrils flare, but the female dip and curve of her soft, trembling body that was no longer hidden under sexless clothes. ‘Four years you managed that, so pretend now that you’re enjoying yourself. Imagine...’
His voice faded as his imagination kicked in big time. The image in his head collided with the green eyes looking up, and the encouraging remarks being made by Jake, who was circling them while adjusting his lenses, becoming a buzz of irritation that was drowned out by the thud of his heart beat.
Then one thing got through.
‘How about a kiss, guys?’
Her glance centred on the sensual outline of his mouth, Tilda swallowed hard. ‘I’m notkissing you because someone tells me to.’
‘No...?’
‘No,’ she whispered before, stretching up on tip toe, she grabbed the back of his head yanked his face down until she could reach his lips. ‘I’m kissing you becauseIwant to.’ Want didn’t really cover the way she was feeling. Need came close, in a ‘need to breathe’ sense.
She felt his lips cool under hers. It was the only cool thing. She was drowning in a hot sea of sensation. The world stilled and the crazy, marvellous moment went on and on as she drank in the texture of him, the taste... A tiny shred of sanity crept into her head.
‘Oh, God!’
She would have fallen back on her heels had the hand pressed to the small of her back not slid around her waist and dragged her up and into him, while the hand curved around her jaw meant her lips were just at the right angle to allow his mouth to cover them.
The slow, sensuous, expert movement of his mouth across her lips drew a deep groan from somewhere inside her.
Then it was over.
‘Oh, guys, that was...’ Jake was flicking through the digital images on the screen, looking happy. ‘You want I should send my choice over for your approval before I distribute them?’
Ezio locked the animal groan that ached to escape in his chest and exhaled through flared nostrils.
‘No, we’ll leave it to you.’
Ezio looked so cool that she hated him in that moment. All she wanted to do was dissolve into an embarrassed pool of misery on the floor when she thought about how she must have looked, grabbing him. How good it had felt to grab him, to press her breasts up against... She tensed, blinked hard and locked the door on this line of thought.
Tilda nodded at the photographer, who was making his apologies as he gathered his gear and headed for a vintage sports car parked a little way down the street.
Digging deep, she adopted a coolness she was several universes away from feeling. ‘Well, at least that part is over with.’ Just the actual wedding to go... She refused to think beyond it.
Over with...
Ezio glanced down at her, thinking she was right—she was a very bad actress—and she was wrong—it had barely even begun.
The innate carnality of her kiss had wiped away any self-delusion he had managed to retain that he was in control... He wasn’t. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to be.
He was about to marry a woman who kissed like a wanton, hungry angel and liked to be in control. He could work with that.
CHAPTER FIVE
WHENTHEYSTEPPEDout of the building it was not to a shower of rose petals and cheers but the distant sound of bad-tempered car horns.
While they’d been inside the sun had vanished, blocked by heavy grey cloud. Fine drizzle that was falling steadily had darkened the pavements and the sound of the steady stream of traffic moving past drowned out the bird song.
Shouldn’t she be feeling different...? Tilda didn’t know how or what she was feeling, but it wasn’t married.
She risked a quick glance up at the man beside her, the uniform grey of their surroundings emphasising his vibrant warmth of bronze colouring.
He didn’t appear to be feeling the chill that made her hunch her shoulders in an effort to retain some heat as she hovered just inside the shelter offered by the enclosed porch.
His eyes touched hers, a question in the dark depths. ‘Are you OK?’ Her green stare had a glazed quality that brought a frown to his brow.
Tilda gave a shrug. ‘I’m fine.’