Except her hands landed on his chest, his muscles hard beneath her touch. His heart pulsed beneath her fingers, fast and furious. The warmth of his skin penetrated through his shirt. It wound through her veins, making her light-headed as she sucked in a breath. Her chest filled with the scent ofhim.
Dazed, she looked up. His eyes captured hers. They weren’t just molten chocolate. No, they were a blazing mahogany brown. Her lips parted. He wanted her. Desired her. She wasn’t just imagining it.
His gaze drifted to her mouth at the same time his hips pressed against hers. She gasped at the sensation of his hardness pressed against her thighs, arched into him as an ache built deep inside her.
“Antonio...”
A growl emanated from his chest. And then he leaned down and kissed her.
Danger!
Antonio had sailed clear past danger and was firmly inOh, hellterritory. But he couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to.
Which he most definitely didn’t want to. Anna fit perfectly in his arms, her slim body pressed against him as if she couldn’t bear to leave even a sliver of daylight between them. Even though his lust demanded that he claim her, he kissed her slowly, caressing her lips with his own, cradling her head in one hand while he kept the other firmly pressed against her back.
If she pulled back, he’d let her go. But, dear God, he hoped she wouldn’t. He would regret this later.
Later. Not now when she felt so good in his arms. Soright.
And then she came alive. She moaned, throwing her arms around his neck. His fingers grasped at the ponytail band, pulling it out of her hair and tangling in the long locks that tumbled down her back.
Somewhere in the far recesses of his rational mind was the fact that he was kissing not only his former best friend, but his formervirginalbest friend.
It should have stopped him. But when he started to pull away, Anna simply pressed that incredible body against his. With a groan, he reached down, grabbed her thighs and hoisted her up in the air, spinning her around to set her on the table. She gasped into his mouth and he dove in, his tongue slipping in to taste her. The intimacy of the moment made him so hard he could barely stand it.
And Anna, his sweet, innocent Anna, kissed him right back. Her hands tugged at his shirt, pulled it free from the waistband of his pants. Her fingers grazed the tip of his erection straining past his belt. He reared back.
Anna stared at him, eyes wide and luminous.
“I... I...”
Before she could apologize, he swooped in again, crushing her body against his as he kissed her once more. Her legs spread as she inched her bottom closer to the edge of the table and pressed her core against his hardness.
“Oh, God, yes.”
Her fevered words pushed him on, her hands creeping under his shirt and splaying across his rib cage. He reached down, ready to rip off his shirt, then hers, feel her bare breasts against his skin.
He wrenched his mouth from hers, started to trail searing kisses over her cheek, down her neck.
“Yes, Antonio!”
His name cut through the madness that had seized him. Hearing her say his name as she had a thousand times before sent a series of memories careening through his mind. Anna, in her black skirt and shirt, looking so lost in the palatial opulence of his parents’ home. Anna, waiting for him by his locker after class. Anna, in her virginal white, telling him how much she loved him.
You are not worthy.
He yanked away from her so quickly he nearly stumbled.
“Anna...” He ran a hand through his hair, his breath coming in short gasps as he tried to get his raging lust under control. Hard to do when Anna sat right in front of him, legs splayed, breasts heaving as she sucked in deep breaths, lips swollen, hair tumbling past her shoulders in a sexy, rumpled mess.
It almost undid him. Almost. She wanted him. He wanted her. They were two consenting adults, no longer a young man raging with hormones and a teenager who didn’t know any better.
But Anna deserved better than a quick lay. She deserved forever. And he deserved nothing she had to offer.
For the second time that week, and the third time in his life, Antonio walked away from Anna Vega.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ANNA’SARMSSLUICEDthrough the warm waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea as she made her tenth lap across the cove. It had been ages since she’d indulged in a swim. With so much energy zipping through her veins, the sight of the long stone staircase winding down to the private beach she’d discovered as she’d explored the hotel had been too enticing to pass up.