As she started to stand, the deck tilted. A small movement from the lapping of the waves, but enough of a surprise that it threw Calandra off balance. He stood and caught her.
And then she was in his arms and he didn’t know whether it was the roaring of the ocean or the blood thundering in his ears. All he knew was that her hands still lay on his chest, his arms were still wrapped around her waist. They stared at each other, waiting.
Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to contain himself any longer, her arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed her lips flush against his.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HEBURSTINTOFLAMES. His body hardened everywhere as he crushed her against him, running his tongue along the seam of her lips, demanding entry. She gasped, opened beneath him, moaning as he tasted her.
Their lips fused together as he sat down on the chaise, stretched out with her body clutched against his. His hand slid under her shirt. Her mouth opened on a gasp as he cupped her swollen breast. He teased her by tracing his tongue over her lips as his fingers plucked at her nipple.
Until she nearly undid him by grabbing the back of his head and crushing his lips to hers, slipping her own tongue inside in a brazen, seductive move that made him so hard it almost hurt.
Dios, she was incredible. Fiery, strong, fearless. He couldn’t get enough of her, needed more. He pulled her shirt up, the cup of her bra down and sucked her nipple into his mouth.
“Alejandro!”
A tiny thread of sanity pushed through, whispering that they could be discovered at any moment. But he didn’t care. This was his yacht and she washis. His, and he couldn’t have stopped touching her even if he wanted to.
He reached down as he continued to kiss and suck her breasts, bunched up the material of her skirt until his fingertips met the bare skin of her thigh. She arched against him and—querido Dios—he could feel the heat of her core against his erection straining against his jeans.
“Alejandro...”
Hearing her name tumble from his lips drove him mad. He tore his mouth from her breast, trailed kisses over her cheek and down her neck. With a quick yank, her skirt ended up around her waist and he peeled away her panties.
Her red, lacy panties that made him so hot with desire it was all he could do to keep himself from stripping them both naked and making love to her right then and there on the sundeck.
“I just...they’re not...” She stumbled over her words, withdrawing into herself. “I don’t—”
He tucked the panties into his pocket, rolled and laid her beneath him. Then he pulled her skirt up and placed his mouth on her. She arched, thrusting her hips against him as he tasted her sweetness.
“Alejandro!”
She was liquid fire in his arms. Stripped bare of not just the unexpected lingerie but all her defenses. He looked up, caught her gaze in his and watched as her eyes flamed molten silver as his tongue danced over her most sensitive skin. Knowing that he had been her first, that he was her only, made his fingers tighten on her thighs as he upped his sensual assault. A maddening urge drove him onward as he used the cues of her body—the hitch in her breathing, the clench of her thighs, the arch of her back—to guide his lovemaking and ensure she never even entertained the thought of sharing her body with another man.
Just the idea of another man touching her, let alone engaging in this kind of intimacy, made him see red. Jealousy like he’d never known before shot through his veins and he buried his face between her legs, savored the sound of her crying out his name.
Mine, mine, mine, an inner beast roared.
Her fingers tangled in his hair. He paused. He hadn’t planned on ravishing her like this, of being brought to the edge of his control. It would be a very long night, but if she wanted him to stop, he would.
And then her fingers tightened and she spread her thighs even more with a whispered “Please” that made his blood boil. He licked her, kissed, nibbled, experimented with what made her whimper, what made her gasp, what made her demand more.
Her thighs clenched. Her breathing grew more frantic, her hips thrusting harder. He buried his tongue inside her as he envisioned what it would be like to finally sheath himself inside her tight wetness again.
She exploded, writhing against the chaise as he kissed her most vulnerable spot, made love to her with his tongue until she collapsed, body shuddering, fingers still tangled in his hair but limp.
He stretched out next to her, tugging her skirt back into place as he cradled her body against his. She leaned into his embrace, her head resting on his shoulder.
Something sparked inside him. Not just the lust that was roaring through his veins, not the desire that was tightening his chest until he thought he would explode if he couldn’t feel her luscious body wrapped around him.
No, this was something else. A protectiveness, a need to not only claim her body with his own but to keep her safe. To wipe away whatever pain had fueled the defenses she normally kept in place with icy precision.
Slowly, she raised her head. Her eyes glowed silver under the light of the stars. Luminous, bright with satisfaction and...
Fear.He saw the fear flickering deep in the gray depths, felt her uncertainty as her hands rested on his shoulders.
“Calandra, what just happened—”