Chapter 3
3
For a long minute—maybe two—Kaitlin didn’t react. She couldn’t. Every thought she had dissolved as she felt his mouth move over hers.
Brando pulled back an inch. When he spoke, she felt his breath against her mouth and shivered.
“This works a lot better if you participate.”
She blinked at the sound of his voice. This wasn’t the sweet man she thought she knew. He wasn’t the friend who could always make her laugh no matter what the situation. A dark thread of need deepened his tone. It left her head spinning and her body throbbing. Kaitlin had never heard that before in a man’s voice. Not directed at her.
She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.
“What?”
Normally, Kaitlin would lie, but maybe because of the loss of brain cells, she couldn’t. “I…I’m confused.”
He chuckled. “Let me help you decide on the matter.”
Without another word, he lowered his mouth to hers as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tight against him. This time she knew it was coming, but wasn’t any better prepared for it. The kiss blasted through her body, leaving her head spinning, her heart beating so hard against her chest that she was sure she’d pass out at some point. She knew she had two choices. One was to run away and slam the door in his face. The other was to hold on and enjoy the kiss. She picked the latter.
Closing her eyes, she returned the kiss. He must have liked it because he growled and deepened the kiss. He slipped one hand up to cup her face as he slanted his mouth over hers again and again. As he continued to kiss her, he walked her back into the room and shut the door. Before she was finished, he tore his mouth away.
“We need to get you naked.”
His voice was rough, raw. All of the sweet man she knew had been stripped away and this man was on the edge. It sent tingles dancing over her flesh. He stepped forward and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. Then he turned her around. As he pulled the zipper of her dress down, Brando skimmed his finger down her spine. She shivered.
“Does that bother you?”
She shook her head as he kissed her shoulder. The simple gesture had her curling her toes into the carpet.
“No,” she breathed.
“Ah,” he said, as he let her dress fall to the floor. A rush of cool air feathered over her, including her very bare rear end. She closed her eyes, as she just remembered she’d worn a thong.
“Well, well, well,” he said, admiration easy to hear in his voice. He dragged his fingers over her bottom. It was a light touch, but it affected her. “If I had known you were wearing this under your dress, I would have never made it through dinner. There is a good chance I might have fainted from lack of blood to my brain.”
She shook her head again.
“You don’t think so?” he asked. Before he allowed her to answer, he playfully smacked her bare flesh. “That’s what you get for not believing me.”
She shivered again. She had never been into things like that. Or maybe she was, because heat flared over her flesh. She might be into them because it was Brando. He could drive a saint to sin.
“You don’t know how long I have fantasized about touching you.”
He undid her bra, then eased it off her. She didn’t know where he threw it, because he turned her around.
“Good God, I definitely would have never been able to pass a class if I had seen you naked. I would have been fully occupied with how you looked and then working out ways to get to see you naked again.”
He cupped one of her breasts and rubbed his thumb over her nipple.
“Brando,” she said, half embarrassed…and very, very aroused.
“What?”
She swallowed as he continued to tease her nipple. He raised his gaze to hers. “I am only telling the truth. I fantasized about you constantly. It was embarrassing at times.”
“What are you talking about?”
One corner of his mouth kicked up. “Well, there was once or twice that you were talking about statistics class and I started to come up with my chances of seeing you naked. Of course, reality is much better than any fantasy I could conjure up.”
Before she could respond, he kissed her. Then, they were falling back onto the mattress. He gave her no chance to recover. He kissed his way down her body, taking particular interest in her breasts. With ease, he slipped her thong off, then pulled her to the edge of the bed. He spread her legs and pressed his mouth to her sex. She thought she was prepared for it, but she wasn’t. He slipped his tongue inside of her, over and over, teasing her clit until she was almost out of her mind. When she thought she was about to fall over the edge, he pulled away.
She moaned in irritation and he chuckled. “Nope, darlin’. I want to be deep inside you when you come.”
He pulled his shirt over his head and slipped off his jeans. He wasn’t wearing any underwear. Of course he wasn’t. He was Brando Santini. She had a feeling that no male in his family wore underwear.
Lord he was amazing. Golden skin, long lean muscles. A spattering of hair covered his chest, which thinned to a single line that bisected his six-pack abs. His erection curved up against his belly. She licked her lips.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” he said.
She looked at him.
“No, I can’t have your mouth on my cock right now. If you did, it would be over in a matter of seconds.”
Brando moved closer, then he cussed and turned to grab his pants again. He retrieved his wallet and pulled out a condom. After ripping open the package, he rolled it onto his erection. Within seconds, he had her positioned on the bed as he kneeled between her legs. Grabbing her by the hips, he pulled her up and entered her in one hard thrust.
“Aw, damn,” he muttered. “I’m sorry, Kait. I shouldn’t have been so rough.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist as she kissed his throat. “Don’t be sorry. Just start moving.”
He laughed and leaned down to give her a kiss, then did as she ordered. Again and again, he thrust into her, pushing her back up to the edge she had been at before. Pressure built, her body readied for her release…then, nothing. She could not seem to get over that barrier. He must have understood.
He slipped his hand down between their bodies and pressed against her clit.
“Come with me, Kait.”
She could do nothing else but what he asked. In one blinding instant, her orgasm exploded. She bowed up off the bed against him. As convulsions shook her body, she barely heard him shout her name as he thrust into her one last time.
Then, he was kissing her, cupping her face and kissing her as if his life depended on it. In the next instant, he collapsed on top of her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight.
A few moments later, he leaned up and looked down at her. There was a look in his eyes that had her worried.
“What?”
He shook his head. “I just…you don’t know how long I thought about this.”
She frowned. “And?”
Slowly, his mouth curved. “My imagination could have never prepared me for that .”
Her heart did a little dance. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He kissed her nose then slipped away. He went into the bathroom and she heard the toilet flush.
He was looking around on the floor as she sat up. “What are you looking for?”
He grabbed up his wallet, then pulled out a couple more condoms. “Glad I thought to bring these.”
After tossing them on the bedside table, he grabbed the comforter, helped her under it, and joined her there. He pulled her down with him, holding her tight as she settled her head on his chest.
“Brando?”
“Hmm?”
“What did you mean when you talked about thinking about me that way?”
“Naked?”
She nodded.
“You had to know I had a crush on you in college.”
She raised her head and hit him in the chin.
“Damn.”
“Sorry,” she said, rubbing the top of her head.
“No problem. I’m a Marine, I can take it,” he said with a smile.
“What are you talking about? You had a crush on me?”
He held her gaze as he nodded.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugged. “You were engaged. I couldn’t overstep that line.”
She studied him for a long time, looking for any kind of deception in his expression. She found nothing but raw honesty. Brando might tell a fib every now and then, but he was one of the most honest people she knew.
He held up three fingers. “Marine’s honor.”
“Okay,” she said, settling against him.
“Now, give me a few minutes, and I’ll let you take advantage of my body again.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I know you haven’t gotten enough of me. We only have a few hours, and I aim to use every single minute I can.”
He said the sexiest things to her. How could she resist a man like him? She sighed.
“Okay, that did it.”
Before she knew what was happening, she was flat on her back with a very sexy Brando leaning over her. Heat darkened his eyes.
“What?” she asked, her voice sounding breathless. It was probably because the man stole the breath right out of her.
He gave her that lopsided smile of his. “Time for round two.”