Last night Cesare had teased her to the edge of bliss time and again, but she felt nowhere near sated. Time was running out. They’d had their night together. If she wanted more, she needed to take it now.
Pushing herself up on hands and knees, she began to move down the bed, pausing to swirl her tongue around his navel and feel a shot of adrenaline as Cesare shuddered and groaned. Then she moved lower, fascinated as his erection swelled before her eyes.
Tentatively she touched him, surprised at the combination of incredible softness over such rigidity. His thighs were rock solid, and his body moved with each stroke of her fingertip. He was so incredibly sensitive.
A smug smile curved Ida’s mouth, her hair curtaining her face as she bent over him.
One delicate lick of her tongue and she was blown away. All that virile power, straining for her attention. Another stroke then she settled her lips around him.
Cesare rose, lifting her up and pulling her hair away from her face. Looking up, she met coal-dark eyes and heat punched her, rolling down through her body. When he looked at her like that she felt...
‘Come here, Ida. I want you.’
She shook her head. She’d only just begun and had so much to discover.
‘I promise you can do that later. But now...’ She heard the catch in his voice. ‘I need you.’
They were only words. They didn’t mean anything. Yet something tumbled over inside because he needed her and admitted it. Besides, as fascinating as this was, she wanted him inside her. The empty clenching between her thighs told its own tale.
Soon she was poised above him, knees wide on the bed while he sheathed himself.
‘Guide me in,cara.’
Cesare’s hands went to her breasts as she gripped him and sank down. Sheet lightning blasted through her. The sensations were like last night. That incredible fullness, the friction. But above all, the way he held her gaze with his sultry, hooded stare as he told her how good this felt.
Ida didn’t understand Italian, but she knew they were words of praise and encouragement. His hands worshipped her as his body took up a harder, insistent rhythm and she learned to ride him. It was as if they’d been made for this, for the dancing race that grew faster and more urgent with every buck of his hips and every slide of her body.
Until there it came again. The tendrils of fire, the combustion, the white-hot light that caught her just as Cesare called her name and pulled her, shuddering, onto his chest. He wrapped her in his embrace as the world spun and bliss took her, and she felt the hard pump of his orgasm deep within.
Sharing this with Cesare felt elemental. Too profound for words.
Ida just hoped it wasn’t addictive.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEYBREAKFASTEDINa secluded arbour. The air was warm and scented and before them tranquil gardens stretched towards a landscape of golds and greens, the undulating hills of Tuscany.
Ida had seen the view yesterday but was still entranced. Shifting shadows and colours painted an ever-changing scene. It was even more beautiful than she’d imagined.
Or maybe that was because her blood still fizzed with elation after last night. It had been a revelation. An interlude of glorious joy that cast her grim, difficult world into the shadows, just for a while.
She wished their night together hadn’t ended. One night hadn’t quenched her desire. If anything, it had taken her awareness of Cesare, her fascination, to a higher level. Her body hummed just from being so close.
But since leaving his bedroom neither had mentioned the night they’d shared. Ida because it felt momentous and far too new for idle conversation.
And Cesare? She couldn’t tell what he felt. He was the perfect, solicitous host, but he didn’t touch her.
Ida was surprised at how much she wanted him to.
Cesare leaned towards her. ‘Coffee?’
Its rich fragrance hit her nostrils like a benediction. In London her budget was so tight she had only powdered instant.
‘Yes, please.’ She eyed the basket of pastries warm from the oven. ‘This is glorious, thank you.’
‘Thank Dorotea. She did all the work.’
That made Ida look at him as he passed her cup.